Well, it's Monday and I'm on vacation, but as long as you plan ahead and have a compy, you can post new chapters from anywhere in the world. This time, we are left to decide if it takes more guts to be brazen, or more to say no.

Thanks to those of you who have read, and even more thanks to those of you who have reviewed. To the ever faithful KRP, yes, this is their first game of the season. Cho is obviously still affected by the loss of Cedric, but as the year goes by, things will get better. And it is a shame for Esdras, the more people who get used to him, the fewer people he is able to intimidate. However, the benefits outweigh the costs, as this is what Azkaban has wanted for centuries. To buffalo1, there will be a small break in toad activity as we approach the holiday season in this story. But don't worry, in a few chapters, she'll be in deep, deep trouble.

Those of y'all who haven't reviewed, should. It's good for me as a writer and it's good for you because it builds good karma. But seriously, reviews help me as a writer, so please press the little button at the bottom of the page and let me know what you think.

And by the way, if anyone can identify what movie I pulled my traditional Azkabaaner curse from, I will be very impressed.

And the usual notes apply. Text in italics is in Azkabaaner, and I don't own HP.

Chapter 10 – Brazen Acts

Breakfast time was a peaceful time for Esdras, and anyone who knew anything about the Dementor knew that it was a bad idea to get between him and the pancakes. It was therefore only after all the pancakes at the Ravenclaw table were consumed that his friends would converse with him or his subordinates would bring dispatches and fleet paperwork for him to sign. Today, however, was not like normal days. Esdras sat down in front of his plate intent on eating pancakes, but was interrupted by an owl, which dropped a neat scroll on his plate.

Cho looked up curiously from her bowl of oatmeal. "Who's the letter from, Esdras?"

Esdras shrugged slightly and picked up the scroll. "I don't know. It's not Azkaban post…" As he unrolled it, the first thing he noticed was the letterhead. The snake and skull were unmistakable, it was the Dark Mark. The contents were equally unmistakable, a request for royal alliance with the grammatical error corrected, just like Esdras had required when he had finally responded to Voldemort's initial request. Esdras' eyes glowed a fierce green. "That no good mother…"

When confronted with any foreign language, most people learning to speak it invariably learn the curse words first, usually because they are the ones most used. Knowledge of Azkabaaner at Hogwarts was much along the same lines; many people knew exactly what Esdras was screaming as he rolled the scroll back up. The Dementor closed his tirade with a traditional curse. "Son of a bitch must pay!"

The other Ravenclaws looked on in shock as the Dementor rose up and floated angrily down the aisle. In front of the High Table, he was met by Katie, who held a similar scroll. She held it out to him. "I take it that you got a letter from the same person?"

Esdras took Katie's scroll and read on in awe:

"My dear Ms. Bell, as I am sure you now know, I have been courting an alliance with the royal house of Demnin. Your Esdras has, thus far, delayed his response for whatever reasons he may have. I would like for you to know that, should he agree, no harm would come to you and you would be treated on equal footing as a pureblood witch of the highest standing. Please consider this should Esdras have any doubts about his decision in regards to my request. Sincerely yours, Lord Voldemort."

The Dementor glared as he rolled up the scroll and took Katie's hand as he led her up the dais to stand in front of Dumbledore. His voice was cold and harsh as he spoke. "Your office. Now."

No less than five minutes later, the three were standing in the headmaster's office, the two scrolls out before the wizened wizard. Dumbledore looked up from the parchment and sighed. "Well, this is quite serious. It is quite daring of him to send them both directly here to Hogwarts."

Esdras scowled. "Daring like hell. The man must have balls the size of Quaffles. What I can't believe is that he actually sent a letter like this to Katie. This is a flagrant attempt to influence the royal house. By law, I can refuse his request without cause or concern. And I'm going to!"

Katie looked up at the pair. "How will this affect my parents and my brother?"

The Dementor was quick to answer. "It won't. I'll double the patrols around Bellmont and your brother's apartment. They will have a full security detail when they go out. No harm will come to them, of this I swear."

Dumbledore nodded. "And if worst to worst come, we can always move them to Headquarters." He was lost in thought for a moment before speaking again. "Ms. Bell, I would like for you to again consider moving in at Headquarters, at least for winter break."

The young witch looked concerned at this. "I would feel bad leaving my family over the holidays. Besides, I have more than ample faith in Esdras' men. They would never let anything bad happen to me, or my family."

The headmaster nodded and smiled softly. "I understand, but let me tell you the location should an emergency come up. The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place in London. You are, of course, welcome at any time."

Katie nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir. Thank you. I won't tell a soul."

Esdras smirked. "Oh, don't worry, you can't. It's under a Fidelius Charm."

Dumbledore redirected his attention to the Dementor. "What are you going to do now, Esdras?"

The Dementor shrugged casually. "Put quill to parchment and send off the official refusal to Voldemort's request. The bastard has it coming. It's about time someone said no to him."

The rightful king of Azkaban smirked triumphantly at the sheet of parchment in front of him. He had used his best calligraphy quills and his surest hand to craft this letter. It was a masterpiece and a testament to the teaching of his father and grandfather in the ways of his royal heritage. The formal, royal reply to the request of the Dark Lord Voldemort was complete. Esdras rolled the scroll up and left the Ravenclaw common room, gliding down the hall towards the Gryffindor tower.

The Fat Lady pleasantly opened the door for him as he flashed his Guard badge. Gliding easily through the portrait hole, he saw just the person he was looking for curled up with her Potions textbook by the fireplace. He hovered behind her silently, she didn't look up. "Yes, Esdras?"

The Dementor looked down in shock. "How the devil…?"

Katie idly pointed across the room. "Mirror."

Sure enough, the mirror across the room reflected the pair. Esdras sighed. "You'd have been screwed if I were a vampire." He switched to Azkabaaner for privacy as he held the scroll out to her. "I finished the reply to Voldemort. I want you to read it over."

The mortal looked up in surprise, but quickly closed her textbook and sat up straighter. She took the scroll from his hand and opened it. Her eyes went wide as she noticed the highly formal Azkabaaner calligraphy. "It's beautiful."

Esdras nodded happily. "My parents taught me calligraphy, it took years to master. Compared to that, regular Azkabaaner print and cursive is a snap. These days, not many people know calligraphy."

Katie smiled sadly. "Well, yours is exquisite." She turned her attention back to the scroll and began to read:

By the hand of His Royal Majesty, Esdras Tarsus corvades Demnin, by the Grace of the Gods, of the Kingdom of Azkaban and of the Azkaban Dominions beyond the Seas Rightful King, Defender of the Faith, here ye find the answer to that which ye request. Dark Lord Voldemort, shadowy force and hidden entity within the mortal world, find thy request for alliance denied. Mine reasoning falls in line with the ancient laws of Azkaban. By thy letter to the mortal Katherine Elizabeth Bell, thou hast knowingly violated statute by attempting influence upon the royal house within the period allotted for royal decision. The royal house of Demnin will provide thee with no alliance. Azkaban will not hear thy call.

Katie smiled as she read the document. "It sounds as beautiful as it looks. I'd show it to Dumbledore before you send it off, though."

Esdras shrugged. "Technically, I don't have to. This is an Azkaban matter. But, since it's also an Order of the Phoenix matter, I'm going to."

From the mirror, the mortal could see the disconcerted look on the Dementor's face. She smiled softly. "You're doing the right thing, Esdras. This is for the good of your people."

The Dementor shook his head. "I know, Katie. But the number of Dementors unhappy with the way we are treated is growing. Every Dementor in the world is my responsibility. I have to have the good of the nation in my heart when I make these decisions, and this is the first major decision I've had to make in a royal capacity. This is big."

Katie rose and wrapped her arms around Esdras, feeling him melt into her embrace. "Then there is no one better suited for the job. You are true nobility."

Esdras was pleased that he was not the only one who was concerned by what Cho had just told him. Roger had all the markings of someone who had just heard a very bad idea and Ben looked like he was just going to stay out of it. Trish Cadwallader, on the other hand, was gushing. "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! Harry actually kissed you? You're so lucky!"

The Dementor merely sighed and fell back into ranks with his friends. He glanced over at Roger and Ben and sighed before whispering. "Am I the only person who thinks she's rushing things? She's still not over Cedric."

Roger nodded. "I know. But it seems to be contagious, ever since Michael Corner's gone around talking about dating Ginny, at least. It wouldn't be so bad if he weren't such a braggart about it. At this rate, her brothers are going to hear something he won't want them to hear, and I don't want to be there when that happens."

Ben turned to Esdras. "Speaking of the Weasleys, what happened to them all? They and Harry left in the middle of the night. No one knows where they went to."

Esdras lied quickly. His position in the Order of the Phoenix meant that he knew the truth of Mr. Weasley's attack at the Ministry. He was there the night before when the Weasleys left from Dumbledore's office by Portkey. So he simply shrugged. "I don't know. It's always something with them, isn't it?" He changed the subject quickly. "Hurry up; we're going to miss the train."

The trio was met at the base of the stairs by Katie, and Esdras separated himself from his friends to walk hand in hand with her. She was smiling, but the Dementor could see anxiety in her eyes. She spoke quietly in Azkabaaner as they tugged their trunks down towards the line of carriages. "What happened last night?"

The Dementor sighed and squeezed her hand softly. "There was an attack at the Ministry. Mr. Weasley was injured and Dumbledore sent his children and Harry back to Order headquarters. The most recent news I've heard is that he's doing fine."

Katie sighed in relief. "That's good to know. We ought to visit him in hospital. He's been nothing but nice every time we've met him."

Esdras nodded in reply and hefted both of their trunks into the carriage. The pair paused to give the thestral drawing their ride a good scratch on the wings before entering and settling together in their seat. They were soon joined by a familiar head of blond hair. The Dementor ecstatically pulled her trunk up, then Luna herself. "Luna!"

Luna Lovegood smiled distantly at the pair. "Hello, Esdras. Hello, Katie." She peered curiously at the mortal for a second. "That's unusual. You're the only person I've seen so far that doesn't have Milwars in their hair. It's probably because you are around Esdras so much. If they really do have an adverse reaction to Dementors, this could make the front page in the Quibbler, for sure."

Katie raised an eyebrow at Esdras, who simply shrugged. "I'm sure more testing would be needed before you could write anything. Merlin knows we wouldn't want to pass inaccurate information to the readers."

The flighty blonde nodded serenely and pulled a copy of the Quibbler from her bag. "Very true."

The conversation with his fellow Ravenclaw at an end, Esdras turned to Katie and smiled. "You have to admit, she's a very unique individual."

Katie rolled her eyes but smiled as she leaned against the Dementor, snuggling in for the short ride to the train station. "I believe that's putting it lightly, my dear."

The journey to King's Cross was pleasant as always, and when Esdras and Katie exited the train, they were immediately able to discern Katie's parents in the crowd. They were the only ones with a pair of Azkaban Guardsmen tailing them. The mortal had to laugh at the sight as they walked across the platform. When they neared, the Dementors saluted sharply and Esdras returned the action. Mr. Bell smiled. "Welcome home."

Katie's jaw dropped. "You're learning Azkabaaner?"

Her father shook his head. "Easy there, darling. I'm not that good yet. These two just taught me how to say that while we were waiting for you. What did you just say?"

Katie smiled and threw herself into his embrace. "You're learning Azkabaaner! This is wonderful!"

Mrs. Bell smiled kindly. "Well, we figured that with the Dementors wandering around, it might be good if we could thank them properly. They've been very good about helping out around the house sometimes."

She patted the nearest Dementor on the arm and smiled indulgently. Esdras smirked and regarded the lieutenant. "Good to know that you're making yourself useful, Mercius."

Lieutenant Mercius snapped to attention again and laughed softly. "Well, sir, we figure that with both of the children out of the house, we might as well help out with things if they ask. Besides, they're such wonderful mortals."

The admiral smiled and turned to Katie. "I couldn't agree more." He switched to English and turned to face the Bells. "Well, let's go home, shall we?"

The Dementor guards Apparated first, then the Bells, then Esdras with Katie in Side-Along. They appeared in the front yard of Bellmont and Katie sighed softly. "I love Hogwarts, but it's so good to be home."

Esdras nodded as he levitated their trunks and glided behind her towards the front door. He charmed their baggage up the stairs and into their respective bedrooms before retiring to the living room with Katie. The pair collapsed onto the sofa and sighed happily. After a few minutes, the mortal stirred and returned to an earlier topic. "We should visit Mr. Weasley tomorrow. I have to go to Diagon Alley anyway for Christmas shopping; we can do both at once."

The Dementor sighed and nodded. "That'll be fine. For now, let's just rest."