Chapter 20
Dylan, come with me." Harry said, his tone leaving no room for argument. Thresh had just been killed, and the careers were on their way towards the Allies' camp.
Dylan looked worried at Harry's tone. If it weren't for the fact that he had sworn their oath, he would be worried that Harry was leading him to his death.
Despite the worry that was at the front of his mind; Dylan knew subconsciously that he could trust Harry not to break his promise.
The two boys walked away from the girls and into the forest. Harry muttered a quick but powerful ward that would make the cameras and microphones misinterpret what was going on so that he could speak freely with Dylan but not have to worry about the Capitol hearing the conversation. Harry felt kind of stupid for not thinking of it earlier.
"I need to talk to you about what that medallion does." Harry said, getting right to the point.
"I thought it was a symbol of the Alliance." Dylan said, fingering the medallion.
"It is, but there's a reason why you and Rue have the same one while Katniss and I have rings." Harry said, being patient with the boy.
"I was wondering about that," Dylan muttered, looking at Harry's rings.
"The reason is because the medallions are basically free tickets out of the arena." Harry explained.
"Are you crazy?" Dylan whispered harshly. "The Games are a publicized event! You can't talk about committing treason on public TV!" Dylan said, using the same tone.
"Relax; I took precautions." Harry said, calming the boy slightly.
"Still, what makes you think I want to commit treason?" Dylan demanded.
"The fact that your choices were treason or death; and trust me, Death isn't nice." Harry said.
"How would you know?" Dylan asked; slightly weary of the man in front of him.
"I was nearly murdered at fifteen months, I was almost beaten to death at ages five and nine and I've almost died every year since I was eleven." Harry admitted.
Dylan was shocked. No wonder Harry thought death hated him.
"Why do you talk about death as if it's a person?" Dylan asked, realizing what Harry had said a few moments before.
"I've had at least twelve NDE's. I've met Death, and trust me when I say we have no love for one another." Harry said.
"So, back to the medallion," Harry suggested, leaving the subject of treason and death for a later date.
"So, it's basically what I call a Portkey. When the careers come, we will fake yours and Rue's deaths, and Portkey you out of the arena." Harry began. Dylan interrupted though.
"How will that work? Won't the capital know we're gone?"
"No, because when we fake your fatal injuries, your Portkey will deactivate your tracker chip and create a fake copy of you with the actual injury and the real chip from your arm before basically teleporting you to my home in District Twelve. There, you will meet my friend Gale and do whatever he and Rue ask you to." Harry said.
"What about you and Katniss?" Dylan asked.
"I have a plan to get us out of the arena without committing treason." Harry said.
"Will I get to see my family?" Dylan asked.
"Eventually," Harry said. He would have to convince the families that their children were still alive before reintroducing them.
"Alright, I'll go along with your plan." Dylan decided.
It was noon when the careers were around the Allies' camp. Harry knew they were there, and prepared for action. For the plan to work, he needed both Glimmer and Marvel to stay alive so that the Gamemakers would make the 'two from the same District can win' rule. He wanted to leave them for the big finish. Cato and Foxface (who had formed a temporary alliance with the Careers) were fair game though.
"Alright guys, there are four of them and four of us. We can do this." Harry encouraged. He had told the team to make it look like they wanted them all dead, but they knew to leave Glimmer and Marvel alive.
That was when the first knife flew past Katniss' head, narrowly missing her ear.
Harry retaliated, defending Katniss, by throwing a knife in the direction the first came from. He heard a yelp of both surprise and pain. He saw Glimmer in the shadows, clutching the side of her left thigh, where Harry's knife had hit.
That was when Cato and Marvel attacked. Foxface came in from behind, where Rue was.
Harry took the chance to Imperio Marvel and Foxface. The battle went on. Harry focused on Cato, and Katniss focused mainly on Glimmer, who was vicious and angry that her crush had tried to kill her.
Cato was severely wounded by the time Harry heard Rue's fake cry for help. He threw the dagger at Foxface's throat the second after she pretended to crush Rue's windpipe. The medallion did its job. It vanished the chip after making it send the signal of a death to the Capitol and it glamoured Rue's neck so it looked bruised and snapped. Both her cannon and Foxface's cannon went off.
"Rue!" Dylan screamed, but not before Marvel had the 'chance' to grab him and snap his neck. Dylan's medallion began doing its job as the cannon sounded.
"No!" Harry roared, throwing a spear straight at Marvel's head. Marvel ducked the spear and ran off into the woods to find Glimmer, who had stayed hidden. Harry removed the Imperius Curse he had cast on Marvel and ran over to where the 'dead' bodies of Dylan and Rue were.
Katniss was already beside the two, her eyes watering. She knew they weren't dead and that the two bodies on the ground were fakes, but that didn't make their 'deaths' any less painful.
"I'll kill them," Harry said; his voice cold and murderous.
He removed his knife from Foxface and stomped over to where Cato was trying to crawl away.
"Your little buddies killed my allies," Harry snapped, stomping hard on Cato's back. The injured man flopped to the ground.
Harry flipped Cato onto his back, and stomped on his chest, cracking a rib.
Harry pretended to stare Cato in the eyes as he stabbed the man's neck. No matter how much Harry hated Cato; he couldn't bear to look the man who was fighting for his life in the eyes as he ended his life.
"That was for Rue. I will kill Marvel to avenge Dylan." Harry said to the corpse.
He walked back towards where Katniss was holding Rue's 'lifeless' form, and did the same to Dylan. The viewers in Panem, the families, needed to know that Harry and Katniss really did care about their allies.
"Come on Katniss. The hovercraft will take them to be given the proper burials."
"Hang on," Katniss said, walking off into the meadow. She picked some nice wildflowers and placed them all around the two 'dead' tributes. Harry saw what she was doing, and closed their eyes.
"There, now they're sleeping." He said, putting his arm around Katniss's shoulders.
"They need a lullaby." Katniss said, before she began to sing.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when you awake, the sun will rise.
Harry joined Katniss in singing, harmonizing beautifully.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray, Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.
By now, Katniss' voice had broken from trying to hold in her tears, but they kept singing.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here is the place where I love you.
Both Katniss and Harry had tears running down their cheeks by the end of the song. Harry ushered Katniss away from the fake bodies.
"Let the hovercraft take the bodies. They will finally be able to rest." Harry said, grabbing what they needed from the pile of supplies. The duo disappeared into the forest, still crying over the loss of their allies.
Author's note: Hello! Thank you all for the reviews! The next chapter might be a little late since my new goal is to update 'Why Gryffindors shouldn't take Divination'. The poll is still up, and I've decided that I will be looking at it a different way. Less than half the votes have been in favor of no, so the current standing is yes, simply because there are three 'yes' options. I will be taking the most popular one of those and using it in my story if the grand total for 'no' isn't above 50% by the time I close the poll.
Also, my Fem!Luke/Percy story has been posted!
Just an afterthought of mine; but if you remove my story from your follow/favourites list, please tell me why. It's driving me crazy not knowing why people 'unfav' me every once and a while.