The next morning, I wake to a maid opening the curtains.
"Oh, hi," I say. She does not say a word. I find that odd, as usually, at least in books, the servants always greet the guests as sir or miss or ma'am. Then I think. Maybe she's mute. So instead of saying something else, I get out of bed and dress for training. I put on a green t-shirt and black stretchy pants that seem comfortable enough.
After about fifteen minutes, I clasp on Ginny's necklace and head for the dining room. Gabrielle is there, as well as the other girls, Marcus, Savan, and Jessamine.
"Where are the others?" I ask.
"Not here yet," Savan says. "Jessamine is going to help you girls with you strategy for training."
"Yes. First, if you like, I'll coach you separately."
There are advantages to being coached separately, but none of us really have anything to hide.
"Nah," I say. "I've got nothing to hide."
The others agree.
"All right," Jessamine says. "Genevieve, I want you to focus on weapons for today. Learn something, make alliances if you can." The look on Genevieve's face shows that she has made arrangements with someone, maybe Owen. "Vanessa, try the survival stuff. You can learn how to build shelter or make a fire. No weapons today. Hazel, I don't want you and Gabrielle to do weapons either. Do some climbing, agilities, endurance things. Save weapons till another time. Jonathan will help you boys when he gets here."
After we eat a quick breakfast, the eight of us crowd onto an elevator and head to the training center.
A man at the entrance pins our house animal on our backs, so I have a lion. Gabrielle has a badger on hers. The tributes from the districts have their numbers on their backs. Prim has a twelve.
"No maiming or fighting with other tributes during training. Save that for the arena. There are personal trainers on hand if you want to practice. Now… begin," says the head trainer, a tall woman named Atala. The tributes head to the stations, and I notice that the tributes from one and two have exceptional skill with swords and knives. The boy from One, I don't remember his name, is a master with a mace. The girl from Two is excellent with a serrated knife, sending it straight into the heart of a dummy. She grins evilly at me.
At the climbing station, I excel, mainly because I am small and lithe. I also excel at concealment, because of my slight frame and darker coloration. Gabrielle, I watch her climbing. She is decent, but not a great one by any means. Concealment is the same, because her blonde hair is very obvious in the woody landscapes they provide here.
The next few days are rather repetitive. I learn survival skills, such as which plants are edible or not, and how to build shelter and things. Prim aces the edible plants quiz without a hitch. She says it's because of her older sister Katniss, the dark haired girl on the recaps.
Finally, the third day comes. Before lunch, we train some more. But after lunch, the Gamemakers call us in by our names to show them what we can do. I eat lunch with Prim and Gabrielle. The girl from Eleven, Rue, seems to be good, but we haven't talked much.
"Primrose Everdeen, District Twelve," the automated voice calls.
"Good luck," I say to her.
"You too," she says, and walks to the training center. Finally, they begin the witches and wizards. They begin with Ravenclaw, so shortly Gabrielle is gone. Then, Hufflepuff and Slytherin are called. then they call Marcus, which makes me very last.
"Hazel Potter, Gryffindor House," the voice finally calls. I get up and head to the training center. There is an air of lethargy in the Gamemakers. They are bored and want to leave, not watch 32 tributes embarass themselves.
I grab the knives from the table and throw them at the dummies. They all make their mark: head, heart, lungs. But the Gamemakers aren't paying attention. They're paying attention to a roasted pig that has just arrived. And this annoys me. So I grab a long hanled knife. I take careful aim. And I let it soar. It impales the apple in the pig's mouth, pinning it to the opposite wall.
The effect is… satisfying. They all shriek, and one falls into a bowl of red punch.
"Thank you," I say, taking an unneeded bow and leave the room. I head to the elevator and punch the button to the 13th floor. As I shoot up the elevator, I think my move was not very wise. Angering the Gamemakers? Who knows how low a score they'll give me? Maybe they will arrest me on the spot as soon as I get to my room. But they still need a girl from Gryffindor, right? So who would they take if they did arrest me. And now I fear for Hermione, because she was reaped, and so surely they'll take her as my replacement.
But after a few hours of waiting, I quit worrying. No one comes. I have locked my door, and I am alone until Savan insists that I come for dinner.
"So, what did you all do?" Savan asks us girls while we eat lamb chops smothered in gravy.
"I really don't think it made a difference," Vanessa says. Her voice is quiet and meek, just like a Hufflepuff. "They weren't really paying any attention to us."
"Yeah," Genevieve agrees. Wow. A Slytherin agreeing with a Hufflepuff. That has to be a first.
"I climbed a tree, and they weren't even watching me," Gabrielle says. Mathis notices my silence.
"Hazel? Are you all right?" she asks.
"I, er, threw one of my knives at the Gamemakers. Well, not exactly at them, at the apple in their stupid pig's mouth."
"What?!" Savan shrieks.
"They were ignoring me and I couldn't stand it, so I threw my knife at their stupid roasted pig," I say defensively. Savan rants about how unladylike that was of me, blah, blah, blah. I didn't pay attention.
After dinner, there was the airing of the scores for the sponsors and tributes alike to see. I sat on a couch with Gabrielle and Vanessa.
"I wonder if they've ever given a zero," I whisper to Gabrielle before the scores begin. She shrugs.
Marvel Jacobi- 10
Glimmer Dayo- 10
Cato Mitos- 11
Clove Grenault- 10
Alexo Forbes- 5
Dinnia Asters- 4
Herold Hunter- 6
Annabelle Pinner- 5
Semual Lindetta- 4
Auden Dalton- 8
Nico Sage- 3
Waverly Atticus- 6
Cartier Arias- 4
Birch Millet- 3
Noble Ausbern- 6
Linna Uliah- 8
Rosh Caster- 4
Ivy Telesco- 5
Dominic Sadder- 6
Elle Adiron- 7
Thresh Dauro- 10
Rue Janssen- 7
Peeta Mellark-8
Primrose Everdeen- 8
Kyle Mackey- 7
Gabrielle Delacour- 6
Jacob Kepler- 7
Vanessa Randall-7
Owen Partner-9
Genevieve Harper-9
Marcus Darwin- 8
Gabrielle's score isn't horrible, but it isn't great. Both Slytherins making nines doesn't really surprise me. I hold my breath as they post my score. And I watch disbeleivingly as they flash the number ten next to my face on the screen.
"Nice job!" Gabrielle exclaims.
"Why did they give me such a high score? I thought they hated me?"
"They must've liked your spirit," Jessamine says, smiling at me.
The show cuts off and everyone is relaxing.
"So, what do we do tomorrow?" I ask.
"You'll all have an hour with me for content and an hour with Savan for presentation."
That night, I cannot sleep. So I go up to the roof. I heard Savan mention it on the second day of training. It's nice. There is a garden with tinking bells. I see a small blonde figure sitting on the edge of the garden.
It's Prim. She hasn't noticed me yet, and so I slowly walk up to her, making virtually no noise.
"Boo!" I say. She jumps and turns around, seeing me.
"Hazel! My God, don't scare me like that!" she exclaims. I chuckle.
"Couldn't sleep?" I ask, sitting down across from her.
"No, not tonight. Tomorrow I have to be with Haymitch for four hours!" she says.
"Who's Haymitch?" I ask.
"Oh, he's the District Twelve mentor. He's drunk half the time," Prim explains.
"Oh. So, what'd you do to get an eight?" I wonder.
"I thought we weren't supposed to tell anyone?" she says anxiously.
"Trust me, I did plenty of things I wasn't supposed to with my brother last year," I assure her. "We're famous."
"Why are you famous?"
"Answer my question first, girl on fire," I say.
"Well, I hit some dummies in places that were sure to be fatal, and then I climbed up a tree and did a double backflip off."
"Wow!" I exclaim. "I couldn't do that. I bet my friend Ron could though."
"Who's Ron?"
"He's my brother's best friend, and I think my friend Hermione likes him," I spill. "He's got red hair and blue eyes. He's almost youngest in his family, except for his sister Ginny."
"Now, you answer my question," Prim joked. "Why are you and your brother famous?"
My smile falls. "We were just babies. This evil wizard called Lord Voldemort came to where we lived and killed my parents. He tried to kill Harry and I, but when he failed, his power faded, and he disappeared for years."
"Did he come back?" Prim asks.
"Not really. He posessed one of our teachers so he could get the Sorcerer's Stone, which would have brought him back. Harry and I stopped him at the end of last term at Hogwarts," I exclaim.
"So he's gone again? For good?" Prim worries.
"Not exactly. Headmaster Dumbledore said that there are ways he can come back. I hope he doesn't, because that would be horrible. Thousands of innocent people would die, and not many people would be able to stop him," I say.
"Wait, you said your parents are dead, right?" she asks.
"That's right," I affirm.
"Well then, who do you live with?"
"Oh. Harry and I live with our aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. They're the worst people you can imagine. They locked us in our rooms this summer with barely any food because a house-elf dropped some pudding on their dinner guests."
"I know about being hungry," Prim says. "My dad worked in the mines, but when he died, my sister Katniss pretty much single handedly kept us alive and together. I'm glad she's not here. I don't think I could stand it."
"How did your dad die?" I ask.
"Mine explosion. I was seven. For months we had barely anything, until Katniss met Gale, and then started to gather roots and stuff from the woods."
I think. She knows hardship. And she actually knew her father, so she had actual memories, not just images and feelings. Part of me can't help but envy her.
"Well, goodnight, Prim. See you tomorrow, maybe," I say, walking out of the garden.
The next day is easy. I get first hour with Jessamine.
"Well, what's going to be your approach?" she asks me.
"Well, what do you think?" I ask.
"How's yourself?" she wonders.
"Well… I dunno. I mean, I had to break lots of rules last year when we had to defeat Voldemort and Quirrel. I guess that might work."
"Then you have the rest of the hour to yourself," Jessamine says. So I run to my room. I had an idea. I grabbed a notebook from the dresser and a pen and began to write.
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew and neice on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls.
I was writing my story from last year. I ended that first chapter with At school, Harry and Hazel had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated the odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and Hazel, with her small size and smarts, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.
I liked the beginning. I hoped I would be able to finish it.
AN: What do you think? How do you like the friendship between Prim and Hazel? Did I do good? I thought it was neat that I made Hazel be the author of the series. It'll make more sense later. Thanks to all those who have reviewed my stories! You are the best! You are the ones who give me the ideas and just plain unadulterted awesomeness.
