TEAM 13: DISTRICT 6
Angelina : Anika
The President
The tribute parade, containing four times more competitors as usual, dragged far beyond what Angelina was used to. The sleek lines of her clothing—apparently based on the designs of racecars from long ago, though at least in her old world they had looked nothing like this—didn't help either; they may have been aesthetically pleasing to the Capitol but fashion was clearly not meant to be comfortable here, and it was all Angelina could do to stand in place as she waited for the latter half of the tributes to ride in behind her.
President Gaius (and that was another thing—she wouldn't exactly call him a 'president' by her definition, but here no one batted an eye) went to stand on the balcony above them when the final chariot was finally in place. He held up his hand, silencing the crowd nearly instantaneously, then stood in silence for a while, gazing regally around him. For all that he was more or less despised in the districts, the man had a presence, an aura, a way of taking up space that was noticeable even through the tv screens; it made one sit up and pay attention, made you acknowledge him as 'important' even if you didn't like him.
As he stood, being imposing, Angelina glanced around at his sycophants. In his private viewing terrace stood a great many other Capitol denizens, most of which Anika could barely tell apart, much less recognize individually. The exception was the youngest of the inhabitants: Draco Malfoy, the President's grandnephew who she first caught sight of only two years ago, when the boy had joined his relative for the first time in publicly viewing the games.
Domitian.
Angelina hid a smirk—she knew he'd hate having been placed in the same position again, but it was strangely fitting: like her, he had been placed where he could work best, no matter personal turmoil over the position. Others, she knew, seemed to fit in equally well in their districts: while she would have thought Oliver, instead of Ron, for District 2, she couldn't deny that both districts seemed to have prepared them well; Ginny's position, too, made sense: she was always the one of them that liked the spotlight the most, but then she was also always the one that (paradoxically) seemed effected by it the least after the war was done and every one of them became idols in their own right.
Hermione was the only one Angelina would have selected for District 3, and Neville's District 11 setting just made thematic sense, for all that she was sure he would have done just as well in any other. Others, like Percy's, Harry's, and Katie's placement, were less clear, but it was obvious that their positions were chosen deliberately by Death.
The most blatant example of that, of course, being the twins.
She was probably the only one of them that reacted with mixed emotions when Fred's new life was made clear. She didn't want to, of course, and most of her feelings were just as exuberantly happy as anyone else.
But his arrival also meant George wasn't here, wasn't going to be by her side for who-knows-how-long.
She had no doubt he was missing already. Their placement in District 12 and the enticing tale of District 13 made Death's reasons all too clear, and she was happy for it.
Nonetheless it hurt, it ached, to know that either of them may very well die before they could meet again, could become whole once more.
At last, at last, President Gaius opened his mouth, and she and the rest of the tributes stood straighter, listening with rapt attention to the speech that was nearly interchangeable with all its predecessors.
They all might hate it, but right now cameras were on all their faces, and sponsorships were the best chance of survival, and survival was a powerful, powerful motivator.