A/N: Hello guys! It's meee! So this time I have a shout out to one of the first reviewers who reviewed this story!

Katnissfire87654, thank you for reviewing and reading this story faithfully! Guys, check out her profile. She's part of the rebellion against the Capitol admins who have decided to take out the option of Submit Your Own Tribute stories (SYOTS) and ended up deleting millions of loved stories concerning fan-made tributes. Join the rebellion!

"Fire is catching, and if we burn, they burn with us!" ~Katniss Everdeen.

Now, onto the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, my name would be J.K. Rowling, which it is not. Also, this plot bunny was made possible by Suzanne Collins' book "the Hunger Games". Check it out!

May the odds be ever in your favor,

~*Writergurl24*~

"Sometimes paranoia's just having all the facts."
~William S. Burroughs

Ch.2: Paranoia

Hermione Granger's first day in the virtual game arena was hell. Oh, she survived fine physically, but it was a test of mental skill. Not mental in the intelligent way that Hermione was gifted in, but mental as in mental endurance.

And Hermione hated every minute of it.

She had no contact with any other witch or wizard for a painstaking amount of time. She had not left the safety of her camp and by mid-afternoon she was going crazy with the need to do something.

So, with this thought in mind as well as a growling stomach, Hermione Granger cautiously took her first step into the woods beyond her camp. Feeling satisfied, she began to creep through the forest, intent on finding some game for dinner.

Not far into the forest, she began to have an irksome case of paranoia. Every step that she took was a fear for land-mines, knifflers, or some other hidden horror. Every breath was breathed carefully, as if the air was filled with a poisonous gas. Even the tiniest sound made her jump and flex her fingers, creating a fireball that would burn her opponent to nothing but cinders. Twice she thought she heard footsteps or the cracking of a twig behind her. Twice she turned to find no one.

'This is ridiculous' Hermione thought to herself. 'It's only the first day. The other students will be settling in and trying to survive before the actual killing begins.'

She stopped when she heard a noise coming from a few feet in front of her. She peered through the leaves and underbrush that was blocking her vision to find a handsome buck grazing on the overgrown grass. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Reminded by her growling stomach that she needed food, she wondered how to kill the deer. Perhaps it would be enough to send a fireball toward it. Would that singe and burn it? She decided to try it out.

Flexing her fingers, she willed a fireball to appear in her right hand. As if on cue, a magnificent orange and gold flame leaped to life in the palm of her right hand. The flame neither burned nor hurt her hand, as if she were protected by some fire-proof glove. She had no doubt, though, that it would burn the objects of the environment surrounding her.

She aimed and flung the fireball toward the deer, pinpointing where she guessed the heart would be. In a mere second, the deer gave one final cry and then was dead. She crept forward to see the damage she had done.

It was dead and not burned and seemed to be edible, so Hermione hefted it onto her shoulders and made her way back to her camp. Once there, she began preparing a fire and a spit to cook the deer upon, taking care not to use materials that would make the smoke thick and noticeable. She willed another fireball into her hand and let the flame catch onto some kindling, starting the fire. She fitted the deer onto the spit and decided to head back into the forest to gather some herbs that she thought would be useful.

Hermione had brought her book bag with her into the game. Quite frankly, she brought it wherever she went. Harry and Ron often asked her why she had to bring a portable library everywhere she went. Her answer was simply that, in case an urgent situation arose and she needed to look up something, the books were always right there with her, as was the case now.

She pulled out a herbology book titled "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi" and opened it to the section containing information about plants with healing properties. She would use this book to identify the plants she came across.

With her finger still holding her place, Hermione crept out of her camp in search for herbs. Once again, a strong feeling of paranoia hit her and she looked over her shoulder, sure someone was following her.

The woods were completely silent, except for the occasional rustle of a leaf in the afternoon breeze. Satisfied that no one was following her, Hermione turned back around and began walking again , looking for herbs.

After a few minutes of searching, Hermione found a patch of mint. She picked a few leaves and slipped them in her pocket, thinking perhaps she could use them to season her venison.

Not far after the mint patch, Hermione found some yarrow, which, as she read in the book, was an herb that induced vomiting and could help her expel poisons and other toxins, should she need to.

Behind her, a twig cracked. Hermione stopped dead, now positive that someone was following her. Slowly, she turned around, still seeing no one.

"Who's there?" she called out nervously.

Silence greeted her.

Suddenly a large sapling uprooted itself and rammed into Hermione, knocking the breath out of her and throwing her to the ground. Eyes watering, she clambered to her feet and wasted no time in summoning a fireball.

A boulder hurled itself at her, but this time she was ready. She rolled out of the way just in time as the boulder crashed to the ground where she had just been standing.

"Show yourself!" Hermione screamed.

As if on command, a bulky figure dropped from the tree in front of her. As the figure stepped into the light, it started to gain features and Hermione realized that it was the girl she had once tried to turn into by means of Polyjuice Potion- Millicent Bullstrode.

Another large sapling flew toward Hermione and she instinctively held out her hand and threw a fireball at it, incinerating it instantly. She turned to face Millicent, now realizing what power the girl had.

Telekinesis. Millicent Bulstrode had the power to move objects with her mind. Anger boiled up in Hermione and she tasted bile in her mouth. Glaring at Millicent, she spoke her mind.

"Coward! Come fight me yourself instead of trying to kill me from a distance. Or are you too afraid?" she screamed. The girl's face contorted in rage and another boulder hurled at Hermione, who ducked out of the way just in time.

"What's wrong? Afraid I'll kill you?" Hermione shouted. She knew she had done it this time. Millicent lowered her head and charged, very much like a bull would. Hermione had succeeded in bringing her nearer, but now what? Her brain worked overtime, trying to figure out a plan.

A rock-solid fist slammed into Hermione's face and she fell backwards onto the muddy ground. She sat there, stunned, for a few seconds. Once she regained her senses, she scrambled to her feet and faced Millicent. A good-sized boulder sped towards her and she only had enough time to stagger to the side slightly before the boulder rammed into her side, slicing her skin and creating a nicely-sized gash. Hot, sticky blood trickled down from the wound. She clapped her hand to it, trying to stop the flow of blood.

Blinded with pain, Hermione threw a fireball towards what she hoped was the girl, intending to scare her off. A shriek of pain made her open her eyes and look for the source.

There was Millicent, panicking as a tongue of flame devoured her clothes and burned her flesh. Uncertain what to do, she began to try to smother the flames by hitting them with her hand. The flame caught on and began to devour the flesh on her hand as well, working its way up her arm.

It was a gruesome sight to watch, but Hermione couldn't turn away. Just like a car accident in full action, so was this burning of the girl. In a short amount of time, the flames consumed her body and she was nothing but a pile of stinking ashes. Hermione felt the bile rise to her throat again and this time she retched and vomited on the forest floor.

She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, feeling more sick than ever. She knew it was just a game, not real, but she couldn't help but feel remorse. If she wanted to win this, she would have to kill more people . . . and not just people she hardly knew. She would have to go face to face with her friends. Hermione pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She couldn't think about that. That thought could be her undoing . . . Besides, Millicent still had two more chances to kill her. She would have to be careful.

A loud bang brought her to her senses. She looked up into the sky and saw a shower of black sparks. She wondered what it was for, but then realized that the black sparks must mean a death. The first death of the game . . .

She looked down and drew her hand away from her side, wondering how bad the wound was. Her hand was covered in her own fresh crimson blood. She let out a whimper as the pain suddenly shot through her. She needed to find something to heal herself with. Quickly she scoured the clearing. There, to her left, was a clump of marigold, which, as she read, treated severe wounds. She picked a few and stuffed them into her pocket.

Looking for something to stanch the blood flow, she spotted sap glistening from a pine tree. Carefully, she dabbed her finger into the sap and spread it onto her skin. Taking a few long leaves, she stuck them onto the sap, which acted as a sort of glue, and pressed them there until they stayed themselves. A makeshift band-aid.

She staggered through the forest, along the path she had came until she reached her camp. Pausing, she looked behind her shoulder.

Something was wrong, out of place. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something wasn't right.

Suddenly everything went black.

A/N: Well, what did you guys think? I'm sorry this chapter was a bit short. I'll try to have longer chapters in the future.

By the way, I made a change to my profile if you want to check it out. I created a system where I set a date that I have to finish a chapter of my fanfictions by. I have to have them published at least by that date. This will help me to have a set time in order to get the chapters done as well as to help you know when the chapter will come out.

Creatively Yours,

~*Writergurl24*~