Disclaimer: See Prologue/Chapter One.

A/N: I mis-counted how many chapters the fic will have. There will be eight total. Please review!


Chapter Three


Murmurs ran throughout the crowd while several people cried out in astonishment. Harry felt his body freeze when Draco declared his love for Harry in front of the entire country and he held his breath. Draco loved him? But how? Why? They hadn't spoken to each other at all until they were on the train to the Ministry.

He felt the eyes of everyone in the room settle on him until Dumbledore's voice broke through everyone's train of thoughts.

"Harry Potter? Your fellow tribute?"

Draco nodded, a forlorn look on his face while his eyes were turned towards Dumbledore.

"Yes, the very same one."

"And Mr. Potter has no idea?"

"No. We never spoke to each other before we came here. I'm sure he's as surprised as everyone else."

Dumbledore nodded, his own look pensive at this turn of events. A love doomed from the start all because of the Games. Only one could survive and it was impossible for anything to come of Draco's declaration.

"This is very tragic news, Draco. Only one of you could possibly survive."

"Yes, I realize this, but you asked for a secret and I gave you one."

The bell chimed, ending the interview and any further questions about the new grievous turn of events for the tributes of 12.

When the door opened to the room all eyes except Harry's moved towards Draco. He refused to look at the blonde, not sure what to even think about what Draco had told Dumbledore and thus all of the Ministry and Districts.

Everyone was ushered towards an elevator and Harry ignored the sidelong glances that Snape sent towards him as if trying to gauge his reaction. Slowly the other tributes and their teams left until they were alone.

As soon as the doors opened Harry fled the elevator and went to his room, ignoring Snape calling his name and his grumbling stomach. He refused to eat dinner with the rest of them and just wanted to crawl into bed. Instead he went to the bathroom and turned on the taps to the shower, shedding his costume and stepping under the hot streams of water.

How could Draco say something like that? Did he not realize that it was impossible for Harry to return his feelings? The Games were less than two days away and soon they would be fighting one another, perhaps even forced to kill the other. What good did Draco think his declaration of love would be?

Harry refused to think about the issue any longer as he got into bed. Nothing good could come of what Draco had said and Harry could do nothing about it so it was pointless to continue to think about it. He needed to focus on the Games and trying to survive. Yes, that was more important than love.


Harry found himself first at breakfast the next morning and minutes after Snape arrived the man began to question him.

"And why did you suddenly disappear last night?"

Harry shrugged, refusing to rise to the bait as he buttered a piece of toast.

"I was tired."

His mentor narrowed his eyes and glanced around the room to make sure no one was approaching.

"What Draco said last night is good, Potter. Don't you realize that? The Ministry will eat up a tragic love story and you two will be favorites. If it wasn't for Draco I think the two of you could have been doomed."

Harry noted the jab to his own interviewing skills, but he brushed that aside.

"So what are you telling me to do? Pretend to love Draco back? If you haven't already noticed I'm not the best actor," he said dryly.

Snape leaned forward, his jaw set and eyes focused on Harry entirely. "If you want to get as far in the Games as one can hope then you'll realize what is best for you and this is it. I expect you to do as told."

Harry glared and it was only due to the entrance of Draco and Lockhart that the turned away from each other and back to their meals.

"Good morning, good morning!" sing-songed Lockhart. "Today is your time in the training arena and later this afternoon you'll have your private show with the Gamemakers before you'll receive a score."

All of the tributes would go to the arena to learn or show off skills that they knew that could help them in the Games. After the training period they would eventually be called back one by one to show off their best skills to the Gamemakers who would give them a score between zero and twelve, twelve being the best. These scores would tell who had the best chance at survival in the Games based off of their skills and the scores would be televised that evening.

Harry chanced a glance at Draco who appeared calm and collected as if last night he said nothing about loving Harry. He frowned, thinking that this was oddly strange, but he pushed the thought away. It was for the best anyway.

They would be leaving for the arena shortly, but they had a brief training session with Snape first or so Harry thought. Harry was waiting in the sitting room for them both when only Snape entered.

"Where's Draco?"

"He's asked to be trained alone from now on."

What? So Draco tells everyone his love for Harry and now wants to be away from him? It made no sense. In fact it made him angry and he was sure Snape could perceive this since the dark haired teen wasn't good at hiding his emotions.

"Fine," Harry spat back. "Well, let's start."


Harry took to ignoring Draco in the training arena, although if the blonde noticed he didn't act like he did. The training arena had several different stations such as camouflage, knot making, wand spells, archery, and even broom flying. He began with the knives station because he knew at the start of the Games there was no magic allowed and he didn't want to show off his archery or wand skills. Only when a good number of tributes had been killed off did that come in to play.

There were no rules in the Games, unlike life in the districts and Ministry. When wands were available in the Games any spell was able to be used. Back in the day the Unforgiveable were the main ones that were wielded, but once they were banned within the country less and less people used them because they had become forgotten and they certainly did not the tributes them how to cast them in training.

Only one other girl was with him at the station. She had bushy brown hair and chocolate eyes and she eyed the knives warily. She looked to be around Harry's age, maybe a year or two younger. He couldn't remember what district she was from.

The trainer at the station told him he was already pretty good with a knife, but he showed Harry how to be more accurate with his hit. The girl floundered and was still there when Harry moved to the next station on his list, that with the brooms.

Brooms were expensive and hardly anyone in District Twelve owned one. He wasn't even sure if Draco did, but the Malfoys could quite possibly afford one since Draco's father worked for the mayor. He hadn't seen Draco go to this station so he was unsure. The instructor show him how to hold the hand over the broom and command it to come to him by saying forcefully "Up!" The broom instantly went to his hand and the instructor praised him. He demonstrated how to kick off although in the training area they only hovered a few feet off the ground. He was sure that it was quite different out in the open when one wasn't restricted by space.

Soon they were all called to the cafeteria to lunch and he immediately noticed the Careers, the Asian girl and the boy with the thick accent, the two redheaded siblings, along with another boy with auburn hair and girl with dark brown hair sitting together. Harry knew that the first two, Cho Chang and Viktor Krum, were from District One while those from District Two were the Ron and Ginny Weasley. Harry recalled the other two from District Four were Oliver Wood and Pansy Parkinson.

He sat down at a table observing the other tributes. Some tributes appeared extremely young with hardly any strength and others, like dark skinned boy who was sitting with the girl Harry was at the knives station with, were extremely toned and muscular. He wondered why this boy wasn't sitting with the Careers even if he didn't come from a Career District.

"Mind if I sit?"

He instantly recognized Draco's voice and for a moment he wanted to turn the blonde away, but nobody else seemed willing to join Harry. He wasn't desperate for company, but he wasn't going to be spiteful towards Draco just because he didn't return the other's feelings.

"Go ahead."

Draco sat down and didn't speak for several moments until he gave a slight nod towards the Careers.

"I see they've already formed a pack. Didn't take very long."

"No, but that's the way it always is, isn't it?"

Draco nodded in assent. "I suppose. So who do you think the leader is?"

They both assessed the Career group, finding their heads all put together with furtive glances towards the other tributes.

"Not the Weasleys. There's no way one would let the other be leader before the other had a chance. It has to be a male because neither Chang nor Parkinson look like they would take charge over Wood or Krum," replied Harry.

"It's Krum," Draco replied after they were silent for a few moments. "Watch the others."

Harry saw that Krum was speaking and the others were listening attentively although Wood seemed to be glaring slightly.

"Either Krum or Wood will kill the other before the Games get too far into it," Draco added. "It'll be a battle of dominance between the two and my bet is on Krum. He's larger and quicker with a weapon."

Harry's head turned towards Draco and he peered at the blonde. "How do you know?"

Draco shrugged in reply, his fork swirling in his mashed potatoes and gravy. "I saw him in the arena this morning. He wanted to show off to the others, to make sure they knew he was a threat." Draco rolled his eyes. "As if we didn't already know."

"You're observant," Harry stated, setting down his utensils and pushing away his tray of food.

"Sometimes it's better to sit back and watch others before you make a plan."

Were those words meant for Harry? Was Draco trying to tell him something, perhaps about what had transpired last night during his interview? At this thought Harry felt himself frown, that maybe Draco had only said the words for the Games.

As soon as lunch was over they went back to the arena for a short period of time before being ushered back to the cafeteria where one by one they were called to perform for the Gamemakers. They were given fifteen minutes each to show off their best skills and halfway through the waiting process Harry took to pacing. Draco didn't say one word to him the entire time.

Finally his name was called and he followed a trainer out of the cafeteria and towards the arena.

All of the objects were in their place at the appropriate station. Above the main floor was an area that the Gamemakers could look down on to observe the tributes. Harry noted that they had an array of different foods sitting before them and several of them were eating.

He first went to the archery station where he practiced with the slightly different bows, each of his shots hitting the intended targets. A sidelong glance towards the Gamemakers showed Harry that they were hardly paying him any attention and the Head Gamemaker who was in charge of the design of this year's Games, Barty Crouch, was busy indulging in a turkey leg.

With eyes narrowed and anger bubbling inside him he went to the wand station and picked up a wand. It felt different than his wand, but it was light and with a swish and flick he thought it would do. Green eyes trained on the Gamemakers' table and he pointed his wand at Barty Crouch.

"Imperio!"

The casting of the spell caused several of them to pause with wide eyes, wondering who among them the curse had been cast on.

"Pay attention to what I'm doing," Harry said evenly and with venom in his voice.

Everyone watched in awe as Barty Crouch set down his food and turned his head towards Harry.

"Now watch me."

Harry knew the curse would last for several minutes and he took the opportunity to go back to the archery station. He picked up an arrow and set it in his bow before turning it towards the Gamemakers' once more.

There were gasps and several of them ducked, but Harry aimed for the large turkey sitting in the center of the table. The arrow flew through the air silently and hit the target causing more gasps although many of them sounded like those of relief.

He set the bow down and picked up the wand again and whispered "Finite."

Barty Crouch appeared to be dazed for a moment before wide eyes rested on Harry below.

Harry smiled and said, "Thank you for watching me."

With that he walked out of the arena, not caring that he still had five minutes left.


"You what?" roared Snape.

Harry had told them at their last training practice before dinner and the televised scores what occurred during the training session.

"They weren't paying any attention and I had to make them notice me so I imperiused Barty Crouch."

"You cast an Unforgiveable on the Head Gamemaker," Snape stated monotonously. Harry knew he was in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Potter!" Snape shouted in anger, his normally pale face becoming red.

"What's wrong?" Draco peeked his head into Harry's room, grey eyes taking in Snape's form and Harry's nonchalance towards whatever the issue was.

"You've ruined your chances!" Snape hissed at him and with a swift turn he barged out of the room, not caring that he almost knocked over Draco.

As Draco stepped into the room he raised his eyebrows at Snape's actions. "He seems rightly ticked off. It wouldn't have anything to do with your training with the Gamemakers would it?"

"He wasn't pleased with my talents."

Draco laughed in disbelief and shook his head. Harry thought Draco had a nice laugh, but he pushed that thought out of his head. He couldn't afford to start liking Draco now when the Games started tomorrow. And what about what Draco said earlier? Harry wasn't even sure if what Draco had said was true.

"How do you think yours went?" Harry asked politely.

"Alright I suppose," Draco replied with a shrug. "Definitely not a Career score."

Careers usually scored an 8 or above and those were the scores everyone aimed for.

"I'm sure you did fine."

"You don't have to do that," Draco said softly.

Harry looked up from where he was sitting on his bed. "Do what?"

The blonde smiled wryly. "Try and make things seem better than they are. Everyone knows what the Games hold."

Harry glanced back down. He wasn't trying to make things easier than what they really were and he wasn't quite sure why he said what he did in the first place. Maybe Draco was rubbing off on him.

"I think we should get to dinner."

Together they walked down the hall to the dining area, Harry not surprised when Snape didn't eat with them. That was perfectly fine with Harry and one good thing about the Games' start tomorrow was that he didn't have to see his mentor anymore.

When it was time to see the scores revealed both Draco and Harry's prep teams along with Fleur, Gabrielle, Lockhart, and Snape came to watch too.

First came Minister Tom Riddle's face on the screen with the country anthem playing in the background. The man had black hair and skin with a grey pallor, but the most striking feature of Minister Riddle was his eyes. They were a few shades darker than blood red and Harry couldn't look very long at the screen due to the piercing eyes. Minister Riddle recited the reasoning for the Hunger Games and then he led into the scoring.

Cho Chang's picture came up first and her score beneath. 9. Next was Krum who received a 10 and so on. As predicted, all the Careers received an 8 or above. Harry was surprised when he saw the girl from training with the brown hair, who belonged to District Eleven, receive a 7. The other tribute from 11, Blaise Zabini, received a 10.

When it finally came to District Twelve Harry knew that his score would be as low as could be due to the spectacle with the Gamemakers. How could they possibly give him an even remotely good score after placing Barty Crouch under the Imperius?

"Harry Potter," recited Dumbledore's voice on the television. "11."

There was silence as they all took in what they just heard. He received an 11. The highest score yet.

He took a chance and glanced at Snape who was staring at him like Harry was a puzzle and he was trying to figure it out.

Their attention was turned back to the screen when Dumbledore announced Draco's name.

"Draco Malfoy. 8."

Draco's picture disappeared and Minister Riddle came back on the screen to inform the country that the Games would start tomorrow afternoon. The anthem played before the screen went black.

The television was turned off before the stylists and prep teams congratulated the two young men on their scores and then left.

Snape turned towards him, the surprise at Harry's score erased and replaced by a stern look.

"I think we should watch old tapes of the Games now," was all that he said. The two boys agreed and settled in for a couple hours watching as old victor's won and what had caused the other tributes' deaths.

Eventually Snape turned the videos off and bid them good night, but it was only minutes after Harry got to his room that there was a knock.

"Potter."

Harry said nothing as Snape entered and hovered near the entrance.

"It would still be wise to play along with what the Ministry wants. A fated love story that will no doubt end horridly, but they thrive off of that."

"Why?" Harry replied bitterly, taken aback by his tone of voice. Was he really that upset over what Draco had said to him in the cafeteria during training? "Do you want to know what Draco said to me yesterday? He said sometimes it's better to sit back and watch before making a move. Do you not think that's what this all is? Some part of the Games where he is trying to gain sponsors?"

Snape sighed in frustration and glared at Harry. "Honestly Potter, you think Draco would do that? Not everyone is as calculating as you are."

With that parting shot Snape left Harry in an even more turbulent state than before. Is that what he really was, a calculating bastard on the path to being like Snape?

The thoughts rattled Harry as he tried to sleep that night, but sleep was not coming to him so he threw back the covers and wandered out of the rooms.

He ended up in front of the elevator and he examined the different buttons seeing the numbers 1 through 12 and a button that read ARENA. One more read ROOF. He pushed this button and the silver doors closed as it rose the single level above.

When he stepped off the elevator he found that he was not alone. Draco was staring out at the sprawling Ministry below, its buildings and bright lights shining while they saw small cars drive by on the streets below.

"Hey," Harry said quietly.

Draco turned and smiled sadly. "Hello."

Harry joined him and looked at the city that was so different than what Harry was used to.

"It makes you think of District Twelve. This is like a palace compared to what we're used to," he said.

"I know, but then again we're in the Ministry where they live the life of luxury. The products that all the Districts use go to the Ministry so of course they can live this way."

They fell into silence until Draco slid down the wall and sat on the concrete ground, his eyes falling closed. Harry eyed him warily, wondering if he was going to sleep out here, but he said nothing and sat down next to him. After the long period of silence Harry really did think the blonde was asleep until he spoke quietly.

"Are you afraid?"

There was no need to ask of what Draco was referring to because what else could he be speaking of besides the Games?

"No," Harry replied honestly. "Not yet anyway. Are you?"

Draco opened his grey eyes and he stared at Harry. "I don't think it really matters whether or not I'm afraid. I'm going to die in the arena and I've been preparing for it ever since my name was called."

"You don't know that," Harry told him, his voice sounding hollow to his own ears because they both knew what the chances were. He wondered once more why he was trying to cheer Draco up.

"There are twenty-four of us, Harry. Only one wins. I'm not the strongest and more than likely not the smartest. The odds aren't in my favor. I just wish…"

At this Draco broke off and he looked away from Harry. His expression was one of helplessness and for the first time Harry felt something other than the pressure and worry from the Games. Draco turned back to Harry and shook his head.

"I just wish there was some way to show the Ministry that even though I'm a part of their games that they don't own me. That I'm still Draco and they can't control me."

Harry said nothing for a long time as he thought about Draco's words because in a way the blonde was right. Everyone was a part of a game that the Ministry controlled and they used the Hunger Games to prove this. They could kill the children at a whim and should people ever be forced to kill one another just for the amusement of people? But there was nothing Harry or Draco could do so what point was it to wonder over it? The only thing that he had to focus on was surviving the Games.

"I can't think like that," Harry finally said. "I need to survive."

"Don't we all?"

Draco stood and bid him goodnight, Harry watching Draco in the elevator, his form so utterly defeated that Harry was sure he didn't stand a chance in the Games when there was no will to win.

Eventually he went back to his room and had a fitful night's sleep. His dreams were filled with the reaping and Draco's interview and when he finally awoke there was no going back to sleep.

He went down to breakfast where everyone was eating in silence because the Games were only a few short hours away. They had one last training meeting each with Snape.

"Remember," Snape told him. "Don't go for the cornucopia first. Run where you can be hidden and find water first. That is most important."

In every Game there was a cornucopia that had weapons, food, and other highly prized items that could help in their survival. The Careers always went after it first and several tributes were always slaughtered.

Harry nodded and was dismissed to a light lunch before Fleur whisked him off his rooms to dress.

"You want to wear sometheeng light and eazy to run in," she explained. "But it also must keep in your body 'eat."

The outfit was indeed light and his shirt was a green lightweight and he hoped that she was right about keeping in his body heat in case the weather conditions were less than desirable.

"'Ere," she said. She took the phoenix pin that Teddy had given her and pinned it over his chest.

"Ze phoeniz that burns," she stated.

Harry hugged the woman, knowing that words could not express his thanks. Together they walked to the elevator and went to a private room. Snape would be gone to wherever mentors went for the duration of the Games and Draco would be led by Gabrielle to where he would enter the Games.

The room held a round glass cylinder surrounding a raised platform that would transport Harry to the transformed arena. He stepped on the platform, the glass column closing around him, and stared at Fleur.

"You will win, 'Arry," she said. "You must believe that."

Harry could only nod before the anthem began to play and then an automated voice began to countdown from twenty. As the voice counted down the platform began to rise, Fleur disappearing from sight as all became dark.

For the first time since the reaping panic rose in Harry's chest.