A/N: Thanks again to your reviews. They are appreciated :)


7. Adjustments

I'm home. I must be. I can hear Mum shouting at Ginny to get up. I can smell the bacon. I smile. Today must be the Reaping. It was all a dream.

I open my eyes, but instead of seeing my room, I see trees. I frown. Where's my bacon?

Then I realise. I was never home. My mind must have been playing tricks on me. I sigh heavily, sitting up. I untie the rope, and put it back in my backpack. Today, I have to find water.

I climb down the tree carefully, making sure I don't make too much noise. I walk slowly, still barely awake. My throat is dry, and my stomach is hungry, but I need to ration my food. Only eat when I have too; I don't want to waste any.

I start searching for mud; after all, mud leads to lakes and rivers. But sadly, it appears harder than I thought it would be. No mud is appearing.

It's still hot, so I take off my jacket and stuff it in my backpack, taking out my Dagger in the process. I need to be on gaurd. I've no doubt that the Careers worked through the night. Well, most of them. I wonder if Hermione's with them now; I hope not.

I hear a canon and if the distance, and cringe. Another dead. I take a deep breath, and continue to walk. Mud. Just find some mud.

I still can't find any mud! Whenever you don't want it, it's there. When you're desperate for it, it won't show up! I growl from frustration.

"Ron?"

I feeze. I know that voice. It's soft and dreamy and-

"Luna!" I say turning around.

Sure enough, Luna is standing before me. Her blonde hair is dirty, and there is a small cut above her left eyebrow, but other than that, she looks fine. She even has a pack too!

"Are you okay?" She asks, stepping towards me.

"Yeah I suppose; really thirsty though, and I can't find any water!"

"What? There is a small lake over there. About 10 minutes away; I'll show you if you like?" She points to the right, and I let out a sigh of relief.

"Really!" I say shocked.

"Yup," she says, smiling happily. "C'mon."

We walk in the direction she pointed out, and sure enough we come across mud! I actually start laughing in happiness, which is strange.

The lake is fairly large, and I want to dive into it. But I don't, because that would be crazy.

I pull out my water bottle and the iodine, and fill the bottle up to the top. Obviously then I have to wait half an hour for the iodine to clean it, so I start talking to Luna.

"How did you get your pack?"

"Oh. I found it. In some bushes. I think someone hid it there while hunting. I'm not sure."

"What's in it?"

"A Water bottle, crackers, blankets, a Dagger, a rope and matches," she says.

"Oh right. You have more in yours than I do."

"Really?"

"Hmm. I don't have a blanket or matches."

"Oh."

"Yh."

"Would you like a blanket?" Her offer shocks me.

"Erm, I dunno."

"Well I have two." She rumages through her backpack, and pulls out a blanket, handing it to me.

"T-thanks," I manage out.

"No problem."

"Do you want to be allies?" I ask her for 3 reasons.

1. She's my little sisters bestfriend.

2. She has already helped me twice.

3. She's friendly and it's good to have company.

"Are you sure?" She asks me, seemingly shocked.

I nod. "Yup. Us two should stick together."

"Okay," she says, smiling happily.

I smile, and we talk some more about the games so far. And it's nice, even if I'm doing this mainly for Ginny's sake; she would never talk to me again if I didn't atleast help Luna. We talk mainly about the Careers. Apparently, all of them, except one, are still at the Cornucopia, and using it as sort of their shelter. Also, Luna states that Blaise has taken charge.

"He's ruthless," she mumbles. And I nod.

"He seems it," I murmur.

We don't talk after, both of us daydreaming. I know we should be more on task, and anyone could come and kill me right now, but I want one moment of relaxation. I probably will get very few. Everything has changed. I can't sleep as much as I want, I can't eat as much as I want. I have to adjust my whole lifestyle just for the stupid Capitol. I feel myself getting angrier, when finally, my water is ready. I waste no time in drinking it all at once, and it takes my mind off being angry. I fill it up again, before we get up and leave.

"I stayed in a tree last night; think we should settle there again?"

"Yes I did too," she explains.

We walk for a while, putting a slight distance from ourselves and the lake, however not too far so we can reach it easily. Luna amuses me with talk of Nargles and Crumple-horned Snorkacks, but even talk of weird creatures can't make me feel happier when I hear another canon. That's 2 more dead today.

We climb seperate trees, Luna taking the tree closest to mine, and we each settle on a fairly high but stable branch. And I let myself eat. I only have four crackers, so I nibble on half of one, as does Luna with hers. We don't talk for the rest of the day, due to us beinf fairly far apart, and not wanting to attract any attention. When night comes, I pull out the blanket Luna gave me, and snuggle underneath it. The anthem plays.

The two dead are both boys. One is Dean, the guy from District 3, and the other is the boy from District 6; I don't know his name. I wish I did. It would be nice to remember him. Only the victors are ever remembered.

I'm trying to get to sleep, when I hear a twig break, and then hushed voices.

"Shh Neville! The Careers could be anywhere!" Someone hisses, and I squint. Harry Potter, the boy with the broken glasses in right near my tree; in fact, he's leaning on my tree.

"I'm sorry; I can't see," Neville whispers back.

"We've gotta settle down somewhere," Harry mutters, and eyes my tree. I pray for the love of Merlin that he can't see me. If he can, he doesn't adknowledge me.

"What about up a tree? One of these?"

No! Please not.

"Not here; lets walk a bit farther," Harry says, looking up; I'm sure he can see me.

"Okay then." They disappear.

Not long after, I hear more footsteps. It's only one person this time, I can tell. I glance down and see Hermione. I'm actually glad because I haven't seen her since in the hovercraft, and it's good knowing she's okay. Wow. What is this? I don't get it. How can I feel concerned for someone who was rude to me? It's weird.

She walks slowly, a Dagger in her hand. She seems really tense. She falls down against a tree. And she starts crying.

I would never have thought that the strong impassive girl at the Reaping would have broke down like this, but she has. I can hear her quiet sobs. Her head is in her hands, and I feel sorry for her. I want to comfort her, but I can't. One, she'll probably kill me before I can do anything, and two I think she wouldn't approve of having an audience while crying; that's why she probably waited until night. However, seeing her likes this makes me realise something. That she is a person who has feelings, and that maybe I took her act towards me in training wrong. Maybe she was trying to help me. And maybe, I just made it worse.