A Game of Hunger

Chapter 1 -In the Beginning...

A/N: AU! This isn't canon. Basically in this fic Snape doesn't hear the prophecy and therefore doesn't tell Voldemort who as a result doesn't see Harry as a threat. He kills James & Lily anyway because he knows they could pose trouble as they're in the order and have defied him before, but he spares Harry because Sirius & Remus manage to get away with him before he can kill him. He doesn't have an obsession with killing Harry because he doesn't understand what Harry is. Also Harry is slightly different (but not much) because he's grown up with Sirius rather than with the Dursleys. This first chapter is basically a prologue and the second chapter will actually be delving into Harry himself more rather than him as a baby. Oh also, I know Lily died in Harry's bedroom, but for the sake of this story both she & James died in the hall trying to stop Voldemort from getting upstairs.

ALSO. I should mention. By 'crossover' I mean this is the idea of the Hunger Games applied to an AU Potterverse. There is a strong plot crossover, but no actual characters from the HG involved in the fic.

That's all,

Enjoy!

'REMUS! GRAB HARRY!'

Sirius was screaming to his best friend as he tried to hold off Lord Voldemort while standing over the dead bodies of his best friend and his wife in the hallway of their home in Godric's Hollow.

Not waiting for further instructions Remus rushed up the stairs, following Harry's screams. Sirius was slowly backing up them, all the while trying to keep Voldemort at bay and dodge the killing curses that kept missing his head by centimetres.

'Don't be foolish!' Voldemort hissed, 'save the boy by all means. What do I want with a mere child?'

'I don't know,' Sirius replied, ducking to avoid another killing curse, 'but I know you kill children just to wipe out entire families.'

'I'm thorough Black,' Voldemort hissed as he advanced on Sirius who by now was at the top of the stairs.

'Remus go!' Sirius yelled, dodging yet another killing curse.

Remus nodded and with Harry in his arms apparated away from the house. Knowing Harry was safe Sirius dived around the corner out of Voldemort's firing range and apparated to his home, Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

'Is he okay?' Sirius asked breathlessly when he landed hard on the cold tiles of the kitchen floor.

'He's fine,' Remus said as he tried to soothe Harry, 'just confused and upset.'

Sirius nodded and tried to get his breath back, 'James and Lily are dead.'

Remus nodded, the pain in his eyes impossible to miss, 'I know.'

'What happens now Remus?' Sirius asked in a quiet, scared voice.

'I don't know,' Remus replied honestly, 'but I don't think we should leave this house. I think we should stay here a while, for Harry's sake.'

'We have to fight!' Sirius objected as he got to his feet, 'we can't let James and Lily die in vain!'

'And how would fighting help that?' Remus asked calmly, 'surely we would be doing more for them by ensuring Harry is safe and is raised by people he loves!'

Sirius went silent as he considered this and then with a stiff nod agreed that Remus was right.

'Sit down Sirius,' Remus said, lowering his friend into a chair, 'you're still in shock.'

'Do you think he'll try and find us? To kill Harry?' Sirius asked Remus quietly.

'No,' Remus said honestly, 'he would only have killed Harry to wipe out the Potter line and I don't think he feels he needs to go to that much effort just to do that. After all, Harry's only a baby, he isn't a threat.'

'Yeah, now he isn't,' Sirius said darkly, 'but he might be one when he grows up.'

'That's true,' Remus agreed, 'but with everything else going on I doubt that's how Voldemort's thinking right now.'

Sirius nodded once more and stared at the baby in Remus's arms. He had stopped crying now but his face was still red and puffy from all the tears he had shed in the last few hours.

'Try and get some sleep Remus,' Sirius said as he took Harry from his friend and walked towards the sitting room, 'I'll stay up with Harry.'

Remus sighed as he got to his feet, 'I'll try,' he said simply, but they both knew as Remus went to his bedroom and Sirius to the sitting room that neither of them would sleep a wink tonight.

'Remus I can't just sit around and watch this anymore!' Sirius snapped one morning as he read the Daily Prophet, 'look how many more have died today! People we know! People we love! We can't just hide in this house and do nothing!'

'That's exactly what we have to do Sirius!' Remus said in an angry undertone so as not to alarm Harry, 'we can't risk going out to fight and leaving Harry an orphan! His only family are Muggles, do you really want him to be raised that way?'

Sirius glared at Remus and stormed from the room. Remus sighed, what Sirius was saying was true. People did keep dying, first Gideon and Fabian Prewett who had been close friends. Then fellow order member Edgar Bones along with his wife Elizabeth and their two young children. Marlene McKinnon and her husband Matthew had fallen too, as had fellow order members Benjy Fenwick and Dorcas Meadowes. The name they both kept wanting to appear never did however, Peter Pettigrew, their former friend who had betrayed Lily and James and was the reason that they were dead. Lily and James had been under the protection of the fidelius charm because they know Voldemort would see them as a target and Peter had been the secret keeper, the rat. There was good news with the bad, from coded letters Sirius and Remus knew their good friends Frank and Alice were in hiding with their son Neville, and after his brother had been killed Edward Bones and his wife Emily fled with their daughter Susan, they too were safe and in hiding.

The bad news was that the war was petering out slowly. More people were running away or going into hiding. Less people were fighting, Voldemort was winning. The only stronghold that he had not yet breached was Hogwarts which was still very much in Dumbledore's firm hands. The Ministry and the Prophet were now both controlled by Voldemort. Hogwarts was the last step, the last piece in his twisted, sick puzzle.

Remus got to his feet and picked Harry up, carrying him into the sitting room, 'Sirius, it can't be that bad. Dumbledore must know we're here, he'd have sent a coded message if he was worried.'

'I guess,' Sirius said with a deep sigh, 'but I still feel like we should be doing something.'

'I know,' Remus said simply as he sat down next to his friend on the sofa.

'It's been a week and already it feels like years,' Sirius whispered and Remus noticed for the first time what he was holding in his hands. It was James and Lily's wedding photograph.

'At least we have Harry,' Remus said quietly as he looked to the one and a half year old boy on his lap.

'Yeah,' Sirius said as he looked at Harry with tears in his eyes.

'Remus!'

The way Sirius shouted his name frightened Remus, he sounded panicked and scared so Remus rushed into the kitchen as fast as he could.

Sirius was sitting at the table, Harry was in a pen on the floor next to him. He was staring at the newspaper with wide eyes.

'What is it?' Remus asked anxiously as he grabbed the paper and looked at it himself.

Like Sirius his eyes widened in disbelief as he took in the words on the front page.

'HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE MURDERED'

'No,' Remus whispered in shock.

'He's dead,' Sirius choked, pointing to the picture of Dumbledore's dead body.

'How? How did Voldemort do it?' Remus asked, despairing because with Dumbledore dead they were surely doomed.

'He put McGonagall under the imperius curse' Sirius said darkly, 'she killed him in his sleep last night. He didn't even have a chance to defend himself.'

Remus sank down into the chair next to Sirius, 'I can't believe he actually got to Dumbledore.'

'Which means he now has Hogwarts,' Sirius said darkly, 'the wars over Remus. He's won.'

'What the hell is he going to do now?' Remus asked under his breath, 'kill all the Muggles and Muggle-borns?'

'I don't know,' Sirius answered honestly, 'but Hogwarts has been evacuated for the safety of the kids.'

'Until he makes attendance compulsory,' Remus said angrily.

'Yeah, I expect it will happen within the next couple of months,' Sirius said, sounding defeated.

'I know what you're thinking Sirius,' Remus said honestly, 'but it wouldn't have made a difference if we had fought. He still would have gotten to Dumbledore through McGonagall.'

'I know,' Sirius admitted but after that he said no more.

'I think we ought to wait around, stick to staying here for a bit,' Remus said after some consideration, 'until we know what's happening around us.'

'Yeah, okay,' Sirius replied, his eyes staring into the distance, he was still in shock, and Remus didn't entirely blame him.

'Sirius! We need a Muggle television!' Remus burst out when he hurried into the kitchen one morning a month after Dumbledore's death.

'Why?' Sirius asked with a frown as he tried to keep an eye on Harry who was eating his cereal.

'We need one, can't you just conjure one?' Remus asked frantically.

'Sure…' Sirius said and with a flick of his wand he did just that, 'I don't know if it will work in the house. I don't feel comfortable disabling the wards at the moment.'

'Don't worry I'll make it work,' Remus said and he got to work tapping the television and murmuring different spells.

About 10 minutes later the screen flickered to life and Remus told Sirius to watch the Muggle news.

The news reader looked anxious as she spoke, 'Earlier today an announcement was made by a man in a cloak who called himself 'Lord Voldemort'. In Trafalgar Square he issued a warning telling the world that there are people who possess magical abilities and people who do not which he called 'Muggles'. This man ordered all Muggles of the United Kingdom to leave or be killed. We have received intelligence from Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher that what this man says is true. A mass evacuation begins today in the capital cities of each country within the UK. More to follow on this changing situation.'

'What?' Sirius asked in disbelief when the television flickered out.

'Voldemort has given the Muggles an ultimatum. Leave or die,' Remus said.

'And they're leaving?' Sirius asked, still stunned.

'What other choice do they have? You and I both know Voldemort would kill them all,' Remus said desperately.

'If this is how he's treating the Muggles…' Sirius muttered, 'what the hell is he going to do to the Muggle-borns?'

'Or the half-breeds,' Remus muttered, referring to himself.

'Regardless of your condition Remus, you're still a pureblood,' Sirius said, trying to reassure his friend.

'I don't think that's going to mean much in this new world Voldemort is building,' Remus said darkly.

It turned out that Remus had been right. After one week most of the Muggles had left for Europe or places further afield such as America. The large country had taken in a lot of refugees from Britain, but there were still some too poor to leave. Some didn't leave because they didn't believe in the nonsense that had panicked the rest of the nation.

Needless to say each and every Muggle that chose to stay was killed by Voldemort's followers when he sent them out to round up the strays. In one week almost 5 million people had been killed across Britain. As they followed the story in the Daily Prophet Remus and Sirius were terrified about what would happen next, they watched sympathising Witches and Wizards creating mass graves for the Muggles who had died. They surprisingly weren't punished for this, just laughed at and ridiculed by the prophet. It had been 2 months now since James and Lily had died, almost 2 months since the war had been lost. Christmas came and went without any presents or any fancy food and the New Year wasn't celebrated because it brought a new start, but it wasn't a pleasant one.

On the 1st of January, 1982 a message from Lord Voldemort appeared in the Daily Prophet, and it did what it was meant to do. It put fear into the hearts of every witch or wizard across Britain.

'A MESSAGE FROM YOUR MINISTER FOR MAGIC'

The headline itself disgusted Sirius and Remus as they sat in the kitchen with the paper between them, but the Daily Prophet was delivered to every wizarding house in Britain now. There was no way to avoid it.

'New Years greetings. As always a new year is a fresh start, which will not differ this year for it is the year I bring into force a new way to stop the people of this nation defying me again. I am your Lord, your ruler, your Minister for Magic and you must all respect this or suffer the consequences. I now control the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I will make several announcements today, most of which involve these two locations.

Attendance at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry becomes compulsory as of September 1st 1982 to ALL students of magical ability. Those who do not attend will be seized and forcefully taken there.

In addition to this, the rules of sorting will change. All purebloods will automatically become Slytherins. The sorting hat will randomly distribute half-bloods, blood traitors, half-breeds and muggle-borns into the three remaining houses.

This last point ties in with the most major change I shall be enforcing. With Britain now free of Muggle scum we have much more room and free reign on how we use it. The statute of secrecy no longer exists. The kingdom of Britain will be divided into six districts where witches and wizards will be distributed accordingly. Please read below and understand which part of the country you will be assigned to.

London city and Greater London: Pureblooded witches and wizards who are in some form affiliated with myself or have aided me in my cause. You will all be personally notified if you are included in this category.

Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire: Pureblooded witches and wizards who can trace entirely pure lineage back through 6 generations. If a couple, both members must be pureblood and both members must be able to trace their lineage this far back. If this cannot be provided the couple must separate or agree to live in the area appropriate to the lesser of the coupling.

Surrey, Kent, Sussex, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Suffolk, Norfolk: Pureblooded witches and wizards who can trace entirely pure lineage back through 4 generations. If a couple, both members must be pureblood and both members must be able to trace their lineage this far back. If this cannot be provided the couple must separate or agree to live in the area appropriate to the lesser of the coupling.

The Remainder of Southern England & the entirety of Wales: Pureblooded witches and wizards who can trace entirely pure lineage back at least 2 generations. If a couple, both members must be pureblood and both members must be able to trace their lineage this far back. If this cannot be provided the couple must separate or agree to live in the area appropriate to the lesser of the coupling.

The entirety of Northern England: Half-blooded witches and wizards. By this a person who has one magical parent and one Muggle parent. Equally a person who has one pureblood parent and one muggle-born parent. If part of a couple both members must be half-blood to reside together unless the person with higher status chooses to stay with the person of lower status in this region.

The entirety of Scotland: Muggle-born witches and wizards. By this a person who has magical ability but was born to two Muggle parents. Magical children born to Muggles were all seized before the Muggles departed Britain. These Muggle-born children will be placed with families in this region. This area will also house blood traitors, by this a person who sympathises and willingly associates with Muggles or Muggle-borns.

The Orkney and Shetland Islands: Half-breeded witches and wizards. By this a person who is for example a werewolf or vampire. This is deemed the safest option for the remainder of the wizarding race.

Shortly you will receive notification of your new address and you will be ordered to register there within a week. Failure to do so will result in immediate execution.

Happy New Year.'

'We're going to be separated,' Remus whispered as he finished reading the horrendous message in the prophet.

'We aren't doing it, we won't go,' Sirius said firmly.

'We have to,' Remus said quietly, 'if we don't he will find us and kill us, and he won't stop at you and I.'

'Harry,' Sirius whispered, thinking of the boy who was still asleep upstairs.

'He's a half-blood, and I'm a pureblood,' Sirius said sounding panicked.

'He'll stay with you,' Remus assured Sirius, 'you're his legal guardian. Me on the other hand, they're sending me to an island where I can't hurt anyone. I suppose I can't blame them.'

'Remus-' Sirius began helplessly.

Remus shook his head, 'We can't do anything about it Sirius. We'll be allowed to visit.'

'I wouldn't be so sure,' Sirius said darkly, 'I don't know why he's doing this but I'm pretty sure he's not going to let us have free roam.'

'We could just leave, run away with Harry to somewhere in Europe, America maybe,' Remus said hopefully.

'You know we can't,' Sirius said in a quiet voice, he sounded very unlike himself, 'he'd find us and kill us, all of us.'

'So we're supposed to just play his game?' Remus asked angrily, his voice louder than usual, 'we're supposed to let him split us up? Put us miles apart from each other?'

'Yes!' Sirius snapped, he wasn't angry, he was upset, 'yes Remus that's exactly what we have to do if we want Harry to live! And if he dies then Lily and James died for NOTHING!'

Remus didn't shout back, he was quiet for a moment, 'I've lost Lily and James, I can't lose you and Harry too Sirius.'

'You won't lose us,' Sirius promised as he hugged his friend, 'we'll find a way. We'll see each other again, I'll make sure of it.'

Remus nodded, knowing that what Sirius was saying wasn't possible.

'We have a week,' Sirius said as he pulled back from the hug, 'let's not waste it.'

Two days after the release of the article three letters materialised in the kitchen when Sirius and Remus made their way downstairs from another sleepless night. They both swallowed lumps in their throats as they realised what the letters were.

'Let's just open them and get this over with,' Remus said miserably as he grabbed the letter addressed to him and gently opened it, sliding out the parchment inside.

'Dear Remus Lupin,

You have been assigned a one-bedroom cottage in the village of Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands due to your half-breed status. This region will be known as 'District 6' henceforth.

You are required to check in with officials before 12 noon on the 11th of January. If you fail to do so you will be taken to the Ministry for further trial. It is advised that you take this letter seriously and relocate to your new address.

No communication is allowed within the new districts so it is advised that you say your goodbyes before moving to your new home.

Yours Sincerely,

Secretary to the Minister for Magic,

Serafina Finn.'

'Well I'm getting sent to an island as suspected,' Remus said, trying not to let the tears spill out as he realised he would never see Sirius or Harry again.

Sirius frowned deeply as he opened his letter and cautiously read it.

'Dear Mr. Sirius Black,

I am pleased to inform you that you are being relocated to District 2 as our Ministry officials have been able to trace your pureblood heritage back at least 4 generations. If you feel that you have reason to believe your pureblood lineage reaches 6 generations please come to the Ministry to dispute this.

You have been assigned a 5 bedroom detached house in Canterbury, within the English county of Kent. You are required to check in at the centre of Canterbury before 5pm on the 11th of January 1982 where you will be officially assigned your new property and where you will be blood-tracked so that you may operate the wizarding house in all ways. This property comes with one house elf and you may bring your own house elf with you if you require.

District 2 is a prestigious district which will provide luxury items for the new capital London where the Minister for Magic and his most loyal followers will reside. You will be required to work as part of the district to provide this. However you will have a comfortable existence here.

Communication will not be allowed once everyone has been relocated so it is advised that you say your goodbyes before moving to your new home.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Yours Sincerely,

Secretary to the Minister for Magic,

Serafina Finn.'

'Well at least you'll have a comfortable existence,' Remus said bitterly, he had been reading Sirius's letter over his shoulder.

'I don't care about having a comfortable existence!' Sirius snapped as he threw the letter down on the table, 'I care about being with the people I love! I care about being with my friends!'

'I'm sorry,' Remus said quietly.

'So am I,' Sirius said.

'This is really happening, isn't it?' Remus asked, resting his head on the table.

Sirius gave a stiff nod, 'one week from today.'

'We should probably read Harry's letter,' Remus said as he picked it up and after a moment of thinking handed it to Sirius, 'you should open it, you're his Godfather.'

Sirius nodded and opened the letter carefully. He read through the letter inside quickly, praying he and Harry wouldn't be separated.

'Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

Due to your Half-blood status you should be relocated to District 4. However due to the fact you are under 17 years old and are legally bound to a Godfather of magical birth and descent, this will be void for the moment.

You will be relocated to District 2. You are assigned a 5 bedroom property in Canterbury, Kent, with your Godfather Sirius Orion Black where you will reside until you reach 17 years of age. From this point you will be relocated to District 4 where you will reside with other Half-bloods.

Yours Sincerely,

Secretary to the Minister for Magic,

Serafina Finn.'

'So he won't be with me forever,' Sirius said quietly.

'But for the next 16 years he will be,' Remus said, placing a hand on Sirius's shoulder, 'think about that for the moment.'

Sirius nodded and sighed deeply, 'I feel like after everything we went through we're losing each other too,' he said to Remus.

'I think that's what Voldemort wants,' Remus said darkly, 'to separate and divide the wizarding world. After all alone we're weak, together we're strong.'

'And he doesn't want another war,' Sirius said with a nod, 'I know his reasons, but it doesn't make this any easier.'

'No,' Remus agreed, 'it doesn't.'

The morning of the 11th of January was painful. Sirius was carrying Harry in one arm and had a rucksack that had all of his important belongings shrunken and inside. Remus was standing with a small bag that contained everything of importance to him.

The two friends were facing each other, aware they needed to leave, aware they needed to say their goodbyes.

'Are you sure you don't just want to run away?' Remus asked Sirius, 'take our chances and hope he doesn't come after us?'

'I can't do that to Harry,' Sirius said painfully, 'you were right. James and Lily died for a reason, they died to protect Harry. We can't jeopardise that.'

'I know,' Remus said, and he did, but he had hoped that Sirius might have changed his mind.

Putting Harry down on the floor Sirius crossed the room and hugged his best friend tightly, 'I promise we'll see each other again,' he said quietly.

'How can you know?' Remus asked tearfully.

'Because this won't last forever,' Sirius said, 'there will be a rebellion one day and I'd bet my life we'll both be involved in it,' his eyes were burning and for the first time Remus actually believed that they might see each other one day.

'Okay,' Remus said simply as he picked Harry up and kissed the little boy on the cheek, 'goodbye Harry,' he whispered, 'you grow up into a good boy for Sirius, you be a strong little warrior.'

'Don't worry, I'll make sure he is,' Sirius said with a faint smile as he took Harry into his arms.

'I should go,' Remus said reluctantly, 'or I'll miss check in.'

Sirius nodded and watched Remus walk to the door of the kitchen, 'goodbye Sirius,' he said with a final glance.

'Goodbye Remus,' Sirius said, his voice catching in his throat slightly as Remus spun on his heel and vanished. It only really dawned on Sirius then that he might never see Remus again, and that if he did it would be in many years' time.

Swallowing his pain Sirius made sure he had everything he needed and then he too apparated to his new home.

The new house was nice, but it was lonely and quiet for Sirius. He and Remus had been living together at Grimmauld Place for a good few months so he knew it would take some getting used to. It burned, the fact that Sirius couldn't just owl Remus or floo him if he wanted to talk, and the pain was terrible.

Sirius followed progress of Voldemort's plan in the prophet. A few people had been killed for not going along with the plan, but most had been afraid of dying and gone along with it for that reason. After what Voldemort had done to the Muggles who had defied him they knew that the threat of death if they did not relocate was serious. District 2 was nice, it was luxurious and it was full of pureblooded assholes. The fact that Sirius was here was shocking to a lot of the neighbours and then when they found out about Harry it was worse because of his half-blood status.

Sirius knew that they would be outcasts but frankly the thought didn't really bother him. He got a job, he worked at a factory making wands to be exported into London. Harry was looked after by the house elves when he was at work because Sirius knew he would be bullied and belittled at day care.

At work Sirius heard things about the other districts. District 1 was even more luxurious than this, they made weapons for Voldemort and his followers. They perfected new spells and did Merlin knows what else there, it was all very secretive. District 3 consisted of purebloods too, but they were of lesser status. They also worked to export things into London, they made furniture and broomsticks, but other than that not much was known. He heard that District 4 was where all the food was to be grown for the use of Voldemort and the rich in London, it was the district where the Half-bloods had been assigned to. He heard a lot about District 5 and how nobody really knew what it was going to be yet, he heard food was hard to come by there due to a spell Voldemort had cast which made the place permanently cold so that nothing could grow. It was where the Muggle-borns and Blood traitors had been sent. Old mines had been discovered there and from what Sirius heard murmured at work he assumed they were restoring them so the district could mine coal to heat fires and feed trains. The worst part of it all was that he didn't hear about District 6 where Remus had been relocated at all, all he knew was that it was where the Half-breeds had been sent to protect the rest of the wizarding race from them. He overheard a pretentious woman saying that it was no wonder they didn't manufacture anything because 'why would the residents of London want anything that had been made by filthy half-breeds anyway?'

Sirius kept his head down and got on with things, he worked, he got a pretty good wage, he fed Harry, he made sure to give him a good life and raise him right. Sometimes he wrote letters to Remus, he knew he couldn't send them. He had tried once but the owl just came back with the letter in its beak. Sirius had been in his new home for a couple of months when the next bombshell hit. It was another message from Voldemort on the front page of the prophet.

'A MESSAGE FROM YOUR MINISTER FOR MAGIC'

'It has come to my attention that food is becoming scarce in certain districts. I have engineered a way to counter this that coincides with my latest announcement.

As of the school term beginning 1st of September 1982, I will be enforcing a new rule at Hogwarts. As punishment to those who rebelled and fought a war against me I present to you a compulsory competition that will be called 'The Hunger Games'. This competition will occur annually at Hogwarts and it will be an aid to those in need of food.

The rules are clear. Each year 16 students will be chosen to take part. Those students will be entered into an arena which will vary from year to year where they shall fight to the death. Only one can win, and that winner will have riches to see them through the rest of their life more than comfortably as well as the finest house their district has to offer. Students will be eligible from the moment they begin Hogwarts until the moment they leave. 4 students will be chosen from each house, 2 girls and 2 boys. It is not possible to reject this position once chosen, if a student attempts to do this they will be punished accordingly. However it is possible to volunteer to take part in place of someone else who has been chosen. This will occur at the opening feast on the 1st of September at a ceremony which shall be called 'the reaping'.

Now onto the problem of a scarce food supply in certain districts. If this is the case for you and you have a child who is of Hogwarts age they can enter their name multiple times in the reaping in return for a sack of basic food supplies once every month for a year. In order to do this the person in question enters their name into the reaping once for each family member they require food for. Therefore someone not requiring food will have their name in the reaping once in their first year of school, and someone with parents and two younger siblings requiring food will have it in 5 times. This process can be repeated yearly but the amount of times the name has been entered does not start afresh at the beginning of a new year.

With this understood the 16 students who will be called 'tributes' shall enter the arena and fight to the death. Viewing devices have been created that will be compulsory in every wizarding house, and every common room in Hogwarts. It is compulsory for all witches and wizards to watch the reaping, the lead up to the Hunger Game, the highlights of the Hunger Games and the winner's ceremony.

Furthermore I understand that certain former rebels may try to defy me by not getting married and therefore not having children. However I will prevent this from happening. If a witch or wizard is not married by the time they reach 25 years of age they will be entered into a marriage contract with someone of equal or similar blood-status. Refusing to adhere to this marriage contract will result in death. All couples are required to have at least one child within 2 years of the marriage unless they can present medical proof of why they cannot achieve this. Failure to birth a child in this time will result in death.

May the odds be ever in your favour.'

Sirius had to catch his breath as he finished reading the article. Harry wasn't even two yet, but one day he'd be at Hogwarts and he would be forced to be a part of this. At least he would never have to enter his name multiple times, Sirius would make sure they had enough money for food so that Harry would never need to put himself at more risk.

As the days passed there was murmuring at work. How could he do this to us? We followed him. We support him. It's our children he's putting at risk, not just the Muggle-born scum. Sirius stayed quiet and noticed those who insulted and spoke ill of the idea suddenly dropped out of work. He knew that they were constantly watched and listened to by the people who oversaw the factory.

In the days leading up to the first games Sirius grew nervous. Families like the Weasley's had at least one child at Hogwarts, he didn't want to see anything bad happen to them. Harry's second birthday came and went, the little boy had started calling Sirius Daddy which he had been forced to correct. His present had been a broomstick and he had happily zoomed about on it, he could speak now, and he could walk, and feed himself. He wasn't old enough to start asking questions yet but Sirius knew he would be some day and when the 1st of September came he made sure Harry was in bed early so he didn't need to watch the reaping.

It was horrendous. The stage at Hogwarts was converted. The students stood huddled, grouped into their separate houses which had now been shuffled around due to the new rule that all purebloods were automatically sorted into Slytherin. Bellatrix Lestrange stood on the stage, she looked far too happy and radiant in an emerald green dress with green tints in her jet black hair. She smiled around and welcomed the students to 'the first ever annual Hunger Games!'

She was cheerful as she waited next to a magical goblet called the goblet of fire. It began to spit out names, starting with the Gryffindors and Sirius was horrified when he heard 12 year old William (Bill) Weasley's name called out. He imagined Molly and Arthur at home, watching this with 10 year old Charlie and 6 year old Percy as their brother was called forward to a place where he would surely die. Sirius got some small comfort in that 3 year old twins Fred and George, 2 year old Ron and baby Ginny who was barely 1 year old would be safe in bed and wouldn't have to see this.

Sirius recognised the names of others who were chosen but he didn't know them personally. In the following days the kids were taken to London where all the lead up was to take place. Sirius had been forced to watch the ceremony as the tributes rode through the streets of a new wizarding London on floating carriages. Each carriage had four tributes, one for each house and the tributes were dressed according to the house they were in. The Gryffindor tributes had a very Lion based costume, the Slytherins were dressed in a beautiful material that was green and almost scaly, like a snake. The Ravenclaws wore bird-like costumes and the Hufflepuff's just looked embarrassed in puffy bright yellow outfits. Sirius had to watch as the tributes were interviewed before going into the arena, he watched as the host, Rita Skeeter, talked to them all happily about the games, like they should be proud to be a part of it.

Sirius did all he could to hide it from Harry when it truly began. The pain, the death, it was more than any child could bear, and Harry had already been through so much. It lasted for two weeks, and every night the highlights were forced upon the wizarding population, Sirius put Harry in his bedroom early and kept him there. Bill did well, he got to the final 3 but then he was killed by an older Slytherin, it had been brutal, the guy had broken his neck with his bare hands having lost his wand.

In the end a 6th year Slytherin won, and as the games went on and on, that pattern became very familiar, Slytherins, usually from District 1 or 2 often won, and Sirius knew they trained up the rich kids in these districts to prepare them in case they were chosen. It was against the rules but these people were rich, so nobody cared.

As much as Sirius tried to shield Harry from the games he grew up with them, he saw the pain and the death, and the blood, he saw people from his district gearing up, training, ready to go into battle. He lost his innocence because of the games, so already before he had even set one foot in Hogwarts, Voldemort had achieved what he wanted to achieve. By keeping them all down, and afraid, he was keeping them all entirely under his control.

And so it continued for the next 14 years…

TBC :)