I don't own Harry Potter or the Hunger Games!


Hermione's POV

I was shattered.

It was the morning of the second day of the Games, and although I didn't know for sure, I felt as though I had less than two hours of sleep. I long since abandoned attempting to tame my unruly hair, which now stuck together in sweaty clumps around my face. All of the girls had been provided a thin, low-cut white sleeveless vest to wear beneath their t-shirts, and even before midday the previous day, I knew that I was faced with a dilemma; stick with two layers and risk heat exhaustion, or strip down to my vest and have sunburn to worry about. In the end, I chose the sunburn, and now my skin was bright pink and tender from my shoulders all the way down her arms, sensitive to even the most gentle of touches. I winced as the straps of my backpack rubbed against my shoulders as she walked through the arena alone, my bow always ready for action at any moment.

Having left the Cornucopia in a panic the following morning, picking up a small black backpack as she couldn't face being left with nothing, I had fled northwards, covering a mile within fifteen minutes as she looked to rid herself of her pursuers. There, as the forest thinned out and the sun began to force its way through to her more easily, l finally decided she was safe. For the time being, at least.

For much of the rest of the day, I was stuck. I knew that, having made a hasty retreat from the Cornucopia, I didn't have enough supplies to sustain myself for more than a couple of days; I needed a new food source, if nothing else. Knowing that there would be too much activity around the Cornucopia for it to be worth turning around, she looked to make do with what I had, scouring the rolling plains in the north of the arena for any supplies she could find. Aside from a few berries that she felt confident enough were safe to collect, she remained without luck until late afternoon when, exhausted and dehydrated, she reached a large, wide, clear lake, ringed by hills, maybe a mile or two long and a couple of hundred yards wide. Desperately needing to cool off, l stripped off and bathed in the lake for a while, relishing the cool water, offering her a reprieve from the stifling heat.

It was only there in the water that she began to notice the effect the sun's burning rays had been having on her skin; deep pink in places, already starting to peel in others. And she was so far from the shade of the forest...

I knew l had little to choice but to make her way back. So, gathering as much water as she could store from the lake (it was risky, but she really needed to keep hydrated at all costs), l made my way back in to the forest for the night.

As dusk fell, I returned to the shelter of the woods, feeling far worse for wear than she had done that morning. Needing a rest after an exhausting day, she needed somewhere to stay the night. I remembered advice Katniss had given me days earlier; get up high. At her size, there would be a chance that if anyone found her (which, obscured by leaves in the dark, would be highly unlikely), they wouldn't be light or strong enough to climb up and reach me, and most likely wouldn't be good enough with ranged weapons to pick her off. And she had a bow to boot, albeit precious few arrows... I only had four left after my brief encounter with Malfoy.

It took her twenty minutes to find a suitable tree; an old oak with a fat trunk and several sturdy, low-hanging branches that let her get fifteen feet into the air with ease. From there, I wedged myself in a crook for the night, hoping to at least catch a few blissful hours of sleep before the sun rose again.

Then came the death recap at sunset, and peering through the branches at the faces projected into the sky, My got the answer to the question that had been driving me mad all day; Harry and Ron were safe. They had both made it through the day and were still out there somewhere among the fifteen survivors. I hoped they were together, and in somewhat better shape than I was, struggling with an undersized bag of supplies and a weapon she daren't use too much for fear of losing all my arrows and being left with nothing.

But just because Harry and Ron had made it through didn't mean that there weren't losses. A couple of Ravenclaws she had spoken to on occasion, some Slytherins she didn't care much for, and Lavender, who despite their recent hostility, had still shared a dorm with each her for almost six years.

And then there was Neville...

I cried myself to sleep that night.

Woken by the first glimmers of light a full hour before dawn, try as she might, I couldn't get any more rest. Finally giving up as the sun crept over the horizon, I slowly lowered myself back to the ground and set off feeling even worse than she had done the night before. Still, l now had a clear plan; I knew I wouldn't be able to survive much longer with what I had.

An hour and a half later, and I was hanging in the shadows at the edge of the woods looking out across the glade, the golden horn of the Cornucopia shining in the morning sun just sixty metres from her position.

I was expecting resistance; usually, the Career tributes' alliance would take control of the Cornucopia and its supplies. If there was too much for them to carry (this was often the case), the Careers would usually be content to stay put in the centre of the arena; everyone knew the Cornucopia was their turf.

This year, with no Career alliance, I didn't really know what to expect. Seeing the way Malfoy had conducted himself the day before (I shuddered every time she thought of the panic at the Cornucopia), I had dreaded a second encounter with the Slytherins, and was pleasantly surprised to find the Cornucopia guarded by the tributes of Hufflepuff.

Hufflepuff? No, that can't be right, I thought, but it was. Safe at the centre of a large open space with a good line of visibility, someone had clearly formed a cohesive group and organised an alliance. I could see that they had set up a camping area in the short grass not far from the Cornucopia's mouth; two small black tents (what she'd give for one of them!) and a campfire between them, three figures in white standing nearby. A further two were patrolling the perimeter of the glade almost opposite of me. From her distance, she couldn't really tell who was who, but she knew who they all were; Hufflepuff house, minus Megan Jones.

How am I going to get anything from this? I thought at first, almost admitting defeat without even attempting to steal anything. But as I watched patiently in the shadows, ideas began to spring up within my mind, and soon she had a plan. Or, at least, part of one. The rest she'd have to think up on the spot.

Eventually the three tributes standing in the centre of the glade walked inside the Cornucopia, and I saw my chance. Moving quicker since she had done when she was last in the glade, I dashed out from the woods and into the glade, diving flat onto the ground a third of the way between the trees and the Cornucopia.

Right into a patch of nettles.

The previous day, when she had been running through the long grass in combat trousers, I hadn't even noticed the nettles spread throughout the glade, but now in her modified shorts, she felt the full force of them. Pushing a fist into her mouth to stop herself from crying out in pain, I had to blink back tears as she silently (or, as close to silently as she could manage) rolled away from the painful plants. I felt as though her legs had caught fire.

Those weren't ordinary nettles...

Danger averted for now, I took a moment to catch my breath and accustom myself to the pain searing across her calves, still hidden from the Hufflepuffs in the long grass. Having been in the shade for such a long time, the heat of the day struck her too, the fire igniting once more in her burnt shoulders. Once again, I wasn't sure whether this was all going to be worth it.

I began crawling forwards through the grass towards the Cornucopia but carefully, carefully. I didn't want to dive into any more of those nettles. Soon I was barely twenty metres from the Cornucopia and just five from the edge of the tall grass. For a while she lay there and listened, but she couldn't hear any voices, just the hum of insects around me in the grass, and the occasional flutter of wind. I knew the coast was clear, but even so, she didn't dare to bring herself out of her hiding place and make a dash for the Cornucopia. All I wanted was one bag, one bag of useful supplies, and then she would be getting out of there as fast as she could.

Finally steeling herself for the short dash, I pushed herself up onto her knees and-

"I still can't decide," a voice said thoughtfully. It belonged to Ernie MacMillan. Panicked, I flattened myself to the ground once more, silently I myself fore missed opportunity, praying not to be noticed. "We have strength in numbers, but do we use them to attack or defend?"

"Attack," another voice replied, and I knew it was Justin Finch-Fletchley. Faintly, I could hear the sound of feet moving through grass. They were getting closer. "At least, we should attack during the day. At night, we'd do better to try and hold the fort, but now we can scout the area and make sure we claim it for ourselves."

I, unable to see a thing through the tall grass and knowing that the two boys were nearby, completely froze. A quick escape would be unlikely, given the numbers. She had to stay undetected, or she might just pay the ultimate price.

"So if you want to send out scouts, where to?" Ernie asked. The footsteps were still getting closer.

"Well," Justin breathed heavily. "I've suggested to Wayne and Susan that they head off to the south," he continued, and I breathed a sigh of relief. From the position of the sun, I knew I Said had approached the Cornucopia from the east. At least now, nobody would be walking past me . "I imagine more people would be attracted to the hills and mountains than to the unknown land to the north, so south is our best bet of finding anyone."

"So what about the rest of us?" asked another, female voice. By a process of deduction, I knew this was Sophie Roper. She sounded even closer than the two boys did. Or maybe she was simply louder. "Do we need to keep three people here?"

"No, probably not," Justin admitted. "But we definitely shouldn't send people on patrol on their own - we all agreed not to yesterday. I'm just apprehensive about leaving someone alone with all of the supplies. What if someone comes to raid us?"

"Oh, do you really think we're in any danger?" Sophie retorted. "It's the second day of the Games. Most people have more than enough problems of their own, and they won't dare attack here because they'll think that there will be more than one person defending this location."

"That's true," Ernie admitted. The voices had stopped moving closer towards me, but to me she felt as though they had already come as close to her as they could be. Forcing herself to take shallow breaths, I had to try had to stop myself from trembling for fear of rustling the grass around her and giving away her position. "I bet most people don't even expect us to have control here."

Justin gave a short laugh that made I feel uncomfortable. "I imagine most think Slytherin must have claimed the Cornucopia."

"Yeah, well we showed them, didn't we?" Ernie replied enthusiastically.

"Maybe," Sophie said calmly. "Though without Nott and Malfoy, the numbers were in our favour anyway." She paused for a moment. "All that matters is that we have control here."

"And that we do," Justin concluded. "So, concerning the patrols, do you think two of us could go on a second one?"

"Sure, why not?" both Ernie and Sophie said together, causing all three Hufflepuffs to laugh.

"Well, that's that sorted," Justin laughed. "Where do you want to go to? If we're saying that the hills will attract the most people and the others are going south, why not go east?"

I froze.

"I don't think so," Sophie replied, and I breathed once more. "We already know what's over there. We have no idea what's beyond the horizon in the north. It would be better to scout around up there."

"Very well, then," Justin concluded. "You know the drill; be back by sundown, or at the first sounding of a cannon. Have fun, you two."

"We'll try," Ernie said as the trio separated, and

I heard two distinct sets of footsteps fading away to her right as Sophie and Ernie began their journey north. Justin stood still for a few moments, presumably watching them leave (at least, that was what I hoped, rather than taking a closer look at a girl-shaped hole in the grass close to him), before finally turning away and leaving me alone once more.

Now knowing that she just had Justin to deal with, she felt somewhat braver as the Hufflepuff walked away to inform his two other allies of their task for the day. If there was ever going to be a free path to the Cornucopia, this was it.

I waited a minute for Justin to be well clear of the golden horn, then made a break for it. I was on my feet in an instant, glad of the opportunity to move after several minutes lying completely still, and sprinted straight for the mouth of the Cornucopia, hurdling guy ropes from the Hufflepuffs' tents on the way.

It only took her ten seconds to reach the mouth, and having not managed to reach it the previous morning, she took her first look inside. Boxes and crates were stacked everywhere, loose weapons lying free on the ground. For the first time that day, I smiled. They had so much surplus material that she doubted they would even notice she had taken anything.

Not wanting to risk being caught, I quickly found the largest and heaviest rucksack she could, slung it over one shoulder (she kept her black one on the other) and grabbed a dozen or so arrows out of a quiver lying idle by a crate of fruit, and shoved them into her own. As an afterthought she picked up a dagger from a weapons rack and tucked it into her belt before loading an arrow as she exited the Cornucopia, intending to disappear once more into the -

"Justin, look!" Wayne Hopkins was shouting, tapping Justin on the shoulder and pointing the tip of his sword at me, thirty metres away where the three tributes stood talking. Justin started making a charge towards her, but in an instant I had my loaded bow aimed straight at him, and his run faltered. I had seen ranged weapons around me in the Cornucopia (spears, bows, throwing knives and the like), but none of the Hufflepuffs seemed to be holding anything other than swords and axes.

Being the shortest and weakest of the four, Hermione had no doubt that she would be overpowered should any of them reach her, and it would be remarkably easy, given the two heavy bags on her back, impeding her manoeuvrability. However, while she had her bow loaded and aimed directly at the three Hufflepuffs, none of them dared to charge her down.

Slowly I began to back off, walking backwards away from the Cornucopia while never lowering her weapon. She was going to make it! Sensing that I wasn't going to shoot to kill, the Hufflepuffs began picking up the pace, walking more purposefully towards me, I moved backwards faster and faster until-

SMACK.

I had walked back towards the tents, and had tripped over one of the guy ropes, landing on the floor in an ungainly heap. Frantically trying to pull her bow from under her and prepare an arrow, I noticed the three armed tributes bearing down on me, almost at a run.

Panicked, she fumbled around for an arrow from her quiver, cramming it into position. The moment it was ready, almost without thinking, she let it fly.

The arrow sunk into Justin's right leg just below the knee, taking out his standing leg mid-run, causing his whole body to buckle beneath him as he crashed to the ground on his face, barely ten metres from Me. His allies, just a few strides behind, pulled up short as l got back to her feet, another arrow ready for release. Having seen what had happened to Justin, neither of the other two had much more will to put up a fight, and the old stalemate was reached again.

"I think I'll be going now," I eventually said shakily above Justin's strangled cries of pain, and none of the Hufflepuffs made an attempt to stop her she turned and ran off into the forest.


So yes Chapter 11 is done. I'm so sorry for killing off Neville. I needed to so I can write this story.