Chapter 10: Dobby and Hedwig

When Harry arrived back in the sitting room of sorts, he brushed the debris off one of the couches and spread out his supplies. He had the sleeve of crackers that he'd picked up right at the beginning, as well as some dried fruits, sticks of beef jerky, and a handful of energy bars. In addition to food, Harry had procured a pack of matches, a hat and gloves, which would serve Harry well if it got too cold, a small bottle of water, a piece of wire, and a square piece of material that Harry assumed was supposed to be a facecloth, though he couldn't see what it was supposed to provide him with in terms of survival.

Since he wasn't desperate yet, Harry decided to save his food and water for when he really needed it. He packed his things away in one bag, packing everything in tightly, and disposed of the second bag – carrying two bags would only be a hindrance. Suddenly, the canon blasted again and Harry jumped, caught off guard, and spun around in fear, finding himself face to face with Dobby and Hedwig – the tributes from district 10.

Before Harry could say a word, both tributes raised their hands in fearful defeat, their eyes wide open in panic. "Please don't hurt us!" Dobby pleaded, taking a step back.

Harry lowered his arms, which he now realized had been held out in front of him and clenched into fists. "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised. "I was just leaving, you can stay here." Harry knew that Dobby and Hedwig didn't stand much of a chance of lasting very long, but he also didn't want to kill them himself.

"You don't have to leave," Hedwig said, taking a tentative step forward.

"Its fine, I was leaving anyway," Harry said truthfully. The tower wasn't very defensible and if someone attacked, there was only one entrance and exit which meant the tower would be inescapable.

Harry started for the door, but was stopped in his tracked when Dobby opened his mouth and said, "Please don't leave."

Harry paused, closed his eyes and sighed. These kids weren't going to make it to the end, and chances were if he stayed with them neither would he. But they were so young and innocent that Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

"Alright fine, I'll stay the night," Harry promised, reluctantly agreeing to team up with the district 10 tributes.

Dobby and Hedwig smiled widely, entering the room properly. "This is going to be great," Dobby said with a grin.

Harry decided the best course of action would be to barricade the door, so he began dragging over large pieces of furniture while Dobby and Hedwig made makeshift beds out of couch cushions and blankets. As Harry worked, he thought about his situation. He didn't want to just abandon the children – because that's what they felt like to him, small children. At the same time though, he couldn't stay here long. As long as he was in this tower, he was vulnerable. As long as Dobby and Hedwig were trailing along behind him, he was vulnerable too, because Harry knew he would feel responsible to protect them. With a sigh, Harry decided that he would have to sneak out in the night and hope that when the district 10 tributes were found, they at least would be killed quickly.

"I'm hungry," Dobby complained a little while later.

"Me too," Hedwig whined. "Do you have any food?" she asked, looking at Harry.

Harry paused and looked over at his pack, which he'd left on the bed that was designated for him. He did have food, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to reveal that fact. The Games were rough, and it hadn't even been a full twelve hours yet that they'd been in the arena. Harry would prefer to save his food for when he really needed in; in fact, he'd rather save his food for himself rather than sharing it with his 'allies'. But Dobby and Hedwig looked so sad that Harry found that he couldn't keep his food all for himself.

"Yeah, I have some," he said, walking over and opening his pack just the smallest bit. He didn't want them to see how much food he had at least – this way he could maintain some control over it's distribution. Out of all the food that was there, he knew the energy bars were the most precious – he wouldn't part with those. In the end, he decided to share the beef jerky, handing each Dobby and Hedwig two sticks and taking one for himself.

"Thanks Harry," Dobby said gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks Harry," Hedwig echoed.

Before Harry had a chance to accept their thanks, the anthem began to play. Wanting to know the status of the game, Harry got up and hurried up the stairs until he reached the end and could go no higher due to the apparent destruction. Since the top of the tower was missing, he could look up and see the entire expanse of the sky, in which the Capitol seal was now visible as the anthem continued to play.

The first face that appeared in the sky was that of Marlene McKinnon – the female tribute from district four. Harry noted that all the Career tributes had made it through the first day. The next face to appear in the sky was the girl from five. Harry hadn't seen her die as he had Marlene, but he still felt sadness when he saw her face. The music continued as the female tribute from six appeared in the sky.

Harry suddenly realized that he wasn't alone, and he looked down for a second to find that Hedwig and Dobby were flanking him on either side, watching the faces in the sky just like he was. He looked back up just in time to see Lavender's face and he suddenly found it hard to breathe. He'd watched Lavender die and it had been horrible. She was the only person he'd known in this arena and now she was gone. If by some crazy miracle Harry made it out of the Games alive, he knew it would be awful to return home without her.

There were only three more faces to appear before the Capitol seal flashed again one final time and then the music cut out altogether, leaving them standing in silence.

"C'mon," Harry said, turning around and leading the twelve-year-olds back down into what Harry was coming to think of as some sort of common room, or lounge. "We should get some sleep."

Hedwig and Dobby complied, following him down, climbing into their makeshift beds, and closing their eyes as they tried to fall asleep. Harry pretended to do the same, laying his head on his pillow and angling his body so that he was facing the other two. Patiently, he waited until he was sure they were asleep and then got up as carefully and quietly as he could so as not to wake them.

He couldn't stay here. With Dobby and Hedwig in tow, Harry was a sitting duck. Tiptoeing across the room, he began to disassemble the barricade he'd formed. Once the entrance was clear, he took one last sad look at the slumbering children and departed. It was for the best, he knew. Only one person was going to make it out of the Games alive after all.

He started off down the hall carefully, on guard once again. Now that he had left the relative safety of the common room, he had to be careful. The other tributes could be anywhere, and this was a castle, which probably had many secret passageways and hidden corners.

Suddenly, he heard loud footsteps coming his way. Panicking, Harry spun around trying to find a place to hide. There was nothing, except for the suits of armour that lined the corridor, but if the approaching tributes were paying any attention at all, he would surely be spotted. He had to at least try to hide though, so he raced to the wall and crouched behind one of the giant metal soldiers.

As the voices came closer, Harry realized that he recognized some of them. The boy from district 1, Severus Snape, had a very distinctive voice – slow and serious. He drew his words out as long as he could, as though for dramatic effect. This was a TV show, Harry supposed.

He also recognized the voice of the girl from 2; Bellatrix Lestrange. Her voice was loud and wild and she was constantly cackling at the top of her lungs. This was the Career pack approaching, Harry realized.

Just as the Careers were about to round the corner, a hand unexpectedly grabbed Harry by the shoulder and abruptly pulled him backwards. Harry closed his eyes, expecting that this was the end for him, and then opened them in surprise when he found himself falling through the tapestry behind him. He opened his eyes to discover that he was now sitting in a small hidden room – practically a cupboard.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" the other occupant of the space demanded angrily.

"What?" Harry asked, trying to get his bearings.

"Crouching behind a suit of armour? You really thought they wouldn't notice you? Do you think the Careers are blind, or just dumb?" the boy asked.

Harry blinked a few times, to get used to the lack of light, and discovered that it was Sirius.

"I didn't know where else to go," Harry said.

"Back would have been a swell answer," Sirius muttered. "Assuming you didn't know about this fantastic little hidden alcove."

"It's a dead end back there," Harry replied. "That's why I was coming back this way in the first place."

"Shh!" Sirius hissed, covering Harry's mouth with his hand as the Careers passed by.

"…been far too long since we've killed anybody," Harry heard someone saying – it sounded like the male tribute from two. "There's too many tributes still in the Games."

"Only six fatalities at the Cornucopia," a female voice responded. "That's really low."

"And only one since," another voice added. "We're got to step our game up or else the Gamemakers are going to take control."

"We can't have that," the first voice replied. "These are our Games. We make the rules here."

Once they had passed out of earshot, Sirius released Harry, who gasped for the air he'd been deprived of for over two minutes.

"Come on, let's get out of here, before they come back," Sirius said, climbing out of the hole.

Harry followed, but once they were in the corridor, he hesitated.

"Are you coming, or what?" Sirius asked.

"I – " Harry bit his lip. Logically, he knew he should go with Sirius, run away and get as far from the Careers as possible. But on the other hand, Dobby and Hedwig were back in the common room and the Careers were approaching. Harry couldn't just leave them. He had to do something.

"Sorry Sirius," Harry cried as he took off in the direction of the common room.

"Where are you going?" Sirius yelled back at him.

Harry didn't pause to explain, just kept running until he heard screaming. He picked up the pace and barrelled into the common room, unsure what he intended to do, but knowing that he couldn't do nothing.

"Harry!" Hedwig cried the moment Harry entered. She and Dobby both turned towards Harry, momentarily forgetting that they were being attacked by Careers. All of a sudden, the bright smile on Hedwig's face faltered and she looked down to find a spear sticking out of her chest. The male tribute from district two; Tom Riddle, Harry recalled, had thrust it at her while her attention had been elsewhere.

"Hedwig!" Harry cried as she fell to the floor.

Riddle rounded on Dobby and Harry sprung into action, pulling Dobby out of range of his second spear right before he would have been hit.

"Dobby come on, we've got to go," Harry said, trying to drag Dobby out the door.

"I – Hedwig – " Dobby stammered, unable to get his words out.

"I know, but we've got to go," Harry insisted, pulling on Dobby's arm.

Dobby rallied, remembering suddenly that his life was still in danger and began to scramble towards the door. Harry ran ahead of him, pushing the door open so that he could run through. As Dobby did so, Bellatrix threw a knife, which landed right in Dobby's back. Dobby stumbled and Harry reached out his arms and caught him, ducking as a second knife whizzed past his head.

"Harry come on, get out of there!" Sirius' voice cried out.

Shocked, Harry spun around and found that instead of fleeing, Sirius had come after him.

"Sirius?" Harry asked.

"Come on, let's go," Sirius insisted.

"But… Dobby," Harry mumbled, so confused and terrified and sad and mad that his feelings were all jumbled together in a mess of emotions that he was struggling to sort out.

"Leave him, we have to go!" Sirius cried, pushing Harry out of the way as a third knife whizzed by.

This woke Harry up and he sprung into action. Though he wished he could bring Dobby and Hedwig with him, he couldn't, so he lowered Dobby to the ground and then took off, a fourth and fifth knife barely missing him as he did. He slammed the door shut behind him, giving Sirius and him a head start, and then ran as fast as he could down the hallway.