A/N: Chapter 2 is here! Thank you for the reviews! My friend loved it so hopefully you guys will to! Please don't forget to review the story if you can and if you want to, favourite or even follow it as well!
This chapter is mainly focussed on Toby and Ginny's arrival in the Capitol and the shenanigans that ensue!
Enjoy the chapter!
Arwen4eva xxx
"Good morning." Toby says as Ginny wakes up, lifting her head from his chest. They refused to leave each other the night before so slept in the same room, just in case they were separated.
"It wasn't a dream then." Ginny says, looking around the room, noticing nothing from her dormitory at Hogwarts; a sight she has grown accustomed to over the years.
Toby kisses Ginny's forehead and rubs her back comfortingly. "Unfortunately not."
"Do you think McGonagall can do anything about this?"
Toby releases his breath and kisses Ginny's forehead again.
"I genuinely have no idea." he says, holding Ginny slightly tighter.
Ginny rests her head back down and sighs.
"What is going to happen to us?" she whispers, fear creeping in.
"We arrive in the Capitol today and get waxed and polished in time for the Tribute Parade tonight. Although, they usually dress each District up like a symbol to represent each Districts' trade. So, as District Four we would be dressed up in something to do with fishing but that probably won't be the case since we are from Hogwarts."
"We?" Ginny asks.
"We. I moved to Hogwarts putting my life here behind me. I have no family looking out for me here whereas at Hogwarts I do."
There is silence between the two as they remember their home; the Wizarding World, away from all of the trauma they are experiencing.
"Will we be dressed up as something stupid?" Ginny suddenly asks, changing the subject away from something that is painful for either of them to think about.
"It seems that is all the Capitol ever do. Wait until you see their hideously ridiculous clothing."
"Do they wear robes like us? Or perhaps shabby clothes?" Ginny asks, intrigued by Toby's words.
"Try vibrantly coloured and stupidly shaped. Not to mention what stupid things they do with their bodies." Toby says, sitting up now. He looks at the small chest of drawers on the other side of the room. "We have clothes in those drawers, although they may only be boys. Girls will probably be in the other room that you were meant to be in."
Ginny sits on the edge of the bed before standing, pulling her fire-y hair away from her face with a small band. Toby walks over to the chest of drawers and pulls out the top section. Inside are all different styles of trousers. Toby picks out a plain dark brown pair and tests the depths of the pockets to see if he can conceal his wand there.
"Not deep enough. I'll have to stick my wand in the pocket in my jacket." Toby says and turns to Ginny. "You'll have to do the same and hope that our clothes aren't taken from us. I refuse to have my wand taken from me."
Ginny nods and then kisses Toby's cheek.
"I will see you in no later than 5 minutes." she mumbles. "Hopefully my clothes will be similar. Although, I don't want to lose my regular clothes."
Toby quickly hugs Ginny, trousers still in hand. "Neither do I. But there are expectations the Capitol have."
Ginny draws back and smiles slightly.
"I shall see for breakfast. Get dressed."
"Yes, my lady." Toby says mockingly, bowing to Ginny. This brings forth a smile from the young wizard.
"Don't be late."
...
Toby stares at the Capitol guard in front of him.
"What do you mean we will be split when we arrive?" Toby asks.
"Those are the rules." the guard says simply.
"The rules are that Tributes are chosen from the Districts of Panem to compete in the Hunger Games! Neither of us, especially Ginny, live in Panem!"
The guard takes a step closer to Toby and pokes his chest.
"You live in Panem."
"No, I don't. I moved to Hogwarts; that is my home. I will not be split from her and everyone else would be saying exactly the same. Your rules seemed to have changed so will this one will do the same." Toby says defiantly. The Capitol guard looks at Toby, then Ginny who is standing behind him. He looks down at their joint hands.
"Fine. I will talk to President Snow." the guard says, his tone bored as if he will not take action upon his words. He looks out of the window and then back at the teenagers before him. "Get ready for your arrival into the Capitol."
The guard then stalks off leaving Toby and Ginny in the main compartment of the train; their unfinished breakfast on the table behind them.
"Make sure you keep hold of me when we get off the train." Ginny says, stepping forward to look at Toby. "I don't want to lose you."
"I will not let you go, Ginny. I told you I would protect you; that remains true."
Ginny smiles. "Good. Maybe we could find a way out of this horrible place and go back to Hogwarts. They will never be able to reach us there."
"We will do that. We shall survive this and get back to where we belong." Toby says, quietly as if saying it louder would make their dream cease to exist.
The train lurches beneath them, their footing lost momentarily before regaining it, and they look out of the window. They both gasp at the sight of the gleaming Capitol.
"How can the Districts be so different from this place?" Ginny asks, seeing very clearly the wealth that the Capitol displays.
"The Capitol leeches any, and all, money for themselves and leave the Districts struggling to survive." Toby says, anger causing his jaw to tense.
"That is horrible. I cannot wait to go back home."
"Me too. Come on, if we finish our breakfast then maybe the citizens of the Capitol may be easier to handle."
...
A small girl dressed entirely in pale blue, forcing herself to keep her eyes downcast, gestures for Toby and Ginny to follow her as they enter the heart of the Capitol.
"She's an avox." Toby whispers to Ginny. "Her tongue has been removed so she can no longer speak."
Ginny says nothing and sharply looks at Toby. He places his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer as they walk as an attempt to comfort her without words.
They stop and enter a room with two hospital style beds there. The avox steps aside and admits 4 brightly dressed Capitol men and women who have smiles plastered to their faces.
'What a bunch of loonies.' Toby thinks immediately looking at their appearances.
"Hello!" one woman shrills. Her electric blue hair stands on end on the top of her head. "We will be your make-up artists until the Games! We cannot wait to make you look so pretty!"
Toby looks over to his right and sees Ginny's reaction; she is shaking her head and retreating backwards into Toby.
'They must look completely crazy to her.' Toby thinks.
"Not going to happen." she says and the make-up team all gasp as if they have been greatly offended.
"Young lady." a man with vibrant yellow tattoos around his eyes like a masquerade mask, says. "It is our job to make you look pretty."
"She already is." Toby says, dryly.
"If you say so." the man replies, unconvinced at Toby's words.
"What are your names?" Ginny asks.
The man speaks up first followed by the woman.
"I am Hunret." the man says, placing his hand under his chin as he studies Toby and Ginny.
"Turnety." The woman, now named, announces. "I am the best make-up artist and dresser in the Capitol"
"If you say so." Toby comments, mirroring Hunret's previous words.
The other male and female in the room step forward.
The female has had her lips engorged so much, particularly the lower lip, that her chin is barely visible. "I am Sogin." she says quietly, nodding her head before stepping back.
The male, his eyelashes extended 5 inches from normal length and dyed a shocking pink, continues to smile and hold out his hand to Toby so they can shake. Toby, however, does not accept the handshake.
"My name is Rowtan." he says, dropping his hand and stepping beside his team.
"Now we have that out of the way," Toby says. "what stupid costumes are you going to dress us up in?"
Turnety places her hand over her heart, a gasp escaping her lips.
"My dear boy, you are going to look absolutely fabulous." she says then giggles squeakily.
"I don't want to look fabulous. I want to look normal and I do not want to be associated with Panem or District Four. My home is Hogwarts." Toby says, feeling Ginny edge even closer to his body. He kisses her temple and looks back at the men and women in front of him.
"Well then... You will be wearing nothing then!" Hunret exclaims. "We already have your costumes made. You are going to wear some wonderful fishing nets-"
"No." Toby says forcefully.
"I did have an idea to dress you in flowing robes." Rowtan says. "I wanted to stay away from Districts considering things very suddenly changed the day before the reaping."
"What do you mean?" Ginny asks.
"Our wonderful President Snow decided it would be more entertaining to add those from that stupid school as we do love to see some suffering here in the Capitol." Hunret explains. Ginny has to hold on to Toby before he goes to punch the man in the face; just like he did with a foul Ravenclaw who was disrespecting Ginny after a potions class.
"Wonderful is he?" Toby asks, seething with anger.
"Truly wonderful."
"He is not. He is a cruel and wicked man. A coward!" Toby shouts then spits on the floor.
"That is it! I will not have you talk about him that way!" Hunret shouts. "I quit!"
"Good!" Toby shouts back and watches as Hunret storms out of the room, shouting down the corridor.
"Now, about those flowing robes?" Toby asks Rowtan.
"Umm, yes. I can get those made within the hour for you both. They will be black but is there a certain colour that should be included on the outfits?"
"Red and gold." Toby and Ginny say in unison.
Sogin removes a notepad and jots down a few notes for the costumes. Turnety goes over to Ginny.
"Can we get to work on you, my dear? We can work out what make-up works best and get you out of those clothes."
"Make-up yes. Clothes stay on until we get into the costumes." Ginny says, knowing she will not change her mind; an attempt to keep the wand on her at all times.
Turnety blinks but then smiles.
"If that is how you wish to do it." she says, glancing at Toby to see if he agrees before guiding Ginny to one of the beds and sitting her down on the edge.
"Let's get to work on you." Rowtan says, guiding Toby to sit on the bed opposite Ginny. "There is a lot to do before tonight."
...
"You ready for this?" Toby asks as he and Ginny walk towards their chariot, hand in hand. They look around at the other stylists who are touching up their Tributes and notice that there is not a single one who looks normal.
"Not in the slightest." she says and leans in closer. "At least our wands are safe with us." Ginny pats her arm where her wand is stored. The layers of fabric easily conceal the bulge formed by the thin stick of wood.
"That's true." Toby says, patting his own wand in his pocket, only just deep enough to conceal it.
The pair reach their chariot and look around. All of the other Tributes are dressed in costumes representing the Districts; they are the only ones who represent Hogwarts, their home.
"I cannot see how they went along with it." Ginny says as Toby helps her climb into the chariot. "I dislike our costumes but at least it is something representing Hogwarts."
Toby climbs in beside Ginny and places his left hand on her cheek, careful not to smudge the make-up on her face; black and brown eye shadow smudged out from the corner of her eye and dusted with silver. Made to make Ginny look formidable as Turnety put it.
"Just think; we will be out of here soon. We can help them as well but they probably don't have the guts to argue. Even those from District One and Two are kinder and more considerate. They changed so much at Hogwarts that they do not want to be in the Games any more." Toby says and kisses Ginny's glossed lips.
He quickly wipes it from his mouth using the back of his hand.
"You regret that, don't you." Ginny asks, a smug smile on her face
"A bit. Why does that stuff have to be so sticky?"
"Lip gloss just is. Deal with it." Ginny says, smiling.
"TRIBUTES. PLEASE MOUNT YOUR CHARIOTS AND PREPARE FOR THE TRIBUTE PARADE." a voice booms across the hall. Toby and Ginny look around and see the other Tributes getting into their chariots. A few seconds later:
"DISTRICT ONE."
The first chariot then begins to pull out and into the crowd. A large door opens ahead and any noise from the Tributes is drowned out by the screaming of the crowd.
"DISTRICT TWO."
Ginny takes hold of Toby's hand and squeezes it until his circulation is cut off and her knuckles are white.
"It's alright!" Toby shouts above the noise.
"DISTRICT THREE."
"Can I just not do this?" Ginny shouts into Toby's ear and sees Toby laugh.
"Sadly not. Just stare forwards and forget the crowd. We can get through this." Toby replies and looks ahead of him.
"DISTRICT FOUR."
Their chariot suddenly begins moving and they go out into the crowd. Their costumes catch the wind that is swirling around them and their flowing robes billow behind him. The red and gold accents are woven in the fabric and look partially like fire. Toby notices their faces on the screens and chooses to look up to where President Snow is standing, watching the Tributes being paraded.
Ginny follows Toby and ignores the screams and the flowers being thrown at them. When they stop in front of the President of Panem, Ginny looks at her friends and sees the terror in their body language; probably exactly the way she is now.
Toby looks at her.
"It is almost over now." he says to her and she looks at him.
"The sooner, the better." Ginny says and looks up to see President Coriolanus Snow signalling for silence from his people. The crowd dies down slowly and pay their full attention to their President.
"Welcome Tributes!" his voice booms out across the stands, echoing slightly. "This is another year that is extra special! The 63rd Hunger Games is one that will always be remembered. Both here, in our glorious Panem, and in other lands who do not experience the entertainment that the Hunger Games brings each year. Welcome to our Tributes! From both Panem and far away. You will make this year very interesting! We thank you for your courage," his eyes then seem to fix on Toby. "and your sacrifice."
Toby's brow narrows and he looks at Snow.
'What on earth...?'
It isn't until later on, however, when he has Ginny asleep beside him that those words seem to have some significance.
Your sacrifice...
Sacrifice...
End note: Please review! :)
