Chapter 3 – Arriving at the Capitol

I wake up to a loud banging on my door, and am suddenly reminded of home – that's just how my mother wakes me up on a daily basis, since I tend to sleep until the afternoon during the summer. Even at Hogwarts my friends would have to force me up since it took me forever to open my eyes. Thinking of home just makes my heart ache. Speaking of pain, I think my stomach is getting worse. The slightest movement I make brings my body right back down to my bed, kind of making me feel a bit winded. Maybe I slept in one position for too long and it's just stiff. Some movement will do me good, so I should get up.

"Time to get up!" I hear a voice from behind my door, then a giggle, "It's a big, big day!" Yep! That's Umbridge. I'm really not in the mood to seeing her. She wasn't here yesterday… maybe she was busy greeting the other houses until she finally settled on one she would stay with. Groaning, I get up slowly, holding my stomach as if my organs are about to pile out of me. I'm a bit hunched over before I can straighten up right. A hot shower is what I need since I'm suddenly freezing. On the plus side, my head feels better, but not for long. If Umbridge is staying with the Slytherins that means more headaches to come.

I take the clothes off of my nightstand, just where I left them, before heading on over to the bathroom. Umbridge is still knocking on my door, so I turn on the shower to block out her obnoxious: "Get up, Malfoy!"

Besides, I'm not even hungry, and I don't want to go down to breakfast and see Goyle, smirking at my hunch and limp.

The hot water is already helping the bruise. Maybe I should have used something hot last night instead of the ice. While I'm in here, I should probably think about what's happening today. Alright, let's run down the list. First we get to the Capitol, which will be our home before we're executed, and try to make it through the screaming crowd. Then we meet our stylists, who try to make us look decent for the Tribute Parade, which is 20 minutes of hell! It takes us around the city circle, and once we're lined up, the anthem plays, and finally we're escorted to the training center. Oh, also, did I mention that the city circle is also my father's mansion? That's why he needs to come with us, only he has a car (on this train) all to himself.

Anyway, I've wasted enough time; I should probably get dressed and get downstairs. Hopefully breakfast is almost over so I don't have to sit through another lecture. The mentors usually talk the tributes to death over a meal. Which I see as kind of nerve wracking. When someone is talking to me about my near death in a few days, I'd rather it not be while I'm eating. Because then you'll feel nervous and get the feeling like you'll throw up.

"Draco, Draco! There you are!" Umbridge says. I don't look at all happy to see her, and today she's looking more pink than usual I might go blind. I even have to blink my eyes a few times when I see her. It's like she's a whole new world. She's wearing a really puffy pink dress with a pink jacket, pink boots, pink hair, pink make up, pink, flowery hat – pink, pink, pink! My eyes hurt…

I try not to look at Umbridge anymore and go over to sit next to Pansy. The table is lined up with food, but I just take an apple from one of the fruit bowls. Goyle has his plate piled up with bagels, muffins, toast… I'm too nervous to eat all that. The apple is just fine for me, and even on the first bite I start to feel nauseous.

"Finally decided to join us." Snape says from across the table.

"Unfortunately." I say.

"Someone's crabby." Marcus says. I just roll my eyes.

"You really should eat, Draco…" Pansy says.

I hold up my apple, "I am."

"No, I mean something else; you'll need your strength for today! You gotta make those people fall in love with you!"

"Why are you helping him!?" Goyle says from next to her.

"I just-"

"He's not helping us, so shut up!"

I scoff and sink in my seat. I'm just going to ignore all these people for now, "I'm not good at making friends; besides, I don't want anyone to like me."

Umbridge is sitting a few feet away from us, watching the TV on the black leather sofa – a live broadcast of the Capitol. I'm too anxious to pay any attention as to what's going on though. She turns around to listen to the conversation.

"Well, you better, otherwise you're done for." Snape says, leaning over and staring at me seriously. I glare right back, unthreatened. "Did you not hear me? I don't want people to like me! I don't need support!"

"Listen, boy, as far as I'm concerned you need all the help you can get, and if you don't get the support of others you won't get sponsors! You have to make people like you!"

Goyle smirks, "Yeah, good luck making that happen." Oh, shut up and eat your ten pound plate of food, you pig, before I come over there, and gladly make you choke on it!

"You got the looks. Show them off." Umbridge says.

"He needs more than just looks, Deloris!" Snape says, "He needs gumption, confidence – he needs to make those people think he wants to win! Draco," He turns back at me, "even if you have to fake it – even if it kills you-"

"Let's hope it does." Goyle mutters.

"—Sooner or later you'll have to at least smile."

Yeah, okay, go look in the mirror and tell yourself that, Snape. You're the one that needs to smile.

I just roll my eyes. I'm not smiling! I won't! I don't want anyone's help – I'm just going to lose anyway, so why does it matter?

Suddenly I hear screaming. Not like someone is hurt, but it sounds like a crowd. Are we there already? All the Slytherins jump up to the window and I'm left sitting at the table having a staring contest with Snape. I won't be happy! You can't make me!

"Oh, boy…" Pansy says from the window, "Dray, come here!" Oh, no, what now?

I get up, still keeping my eyes locked with Snape's before I get to the window. As soon I poke my head though the screaming only gets louder. What is this? They can't possibly be going crazy of me. Wait, could they?

I look at Pansy, she smirks at me, "Give a wave."

"No!"

"Come on, they'll love it."

I grumble before lifting up a hand awkwardly. All of the girls in the crowd go crazy, even some guys were freaking out. Well, I guess being praised isn't so bad. So I give a sly smirk and a wink. One girl actually passes out and I can't help but laugh at how the others just ignored her and walk over her to follow the train.

I turn around at Snape, who is actually smirking! Oh my God, he's smirking! I didn't even know he was capable of such a thing!

"Oh, how wonderful!" Umbridge says, getting all gitty and runs over to hug me, so tight, I can't breathe, "Oh, Draco that was perfect! What were you talking about, Severus? Looks are all he needs!" She starts shaking me in her arms like I'm a rag doll.

"Maybe Slytherin isn't doomed after all." Snape says. I look over at Goyle when Umbridge finally releases me to see him giving me the death stare. I just smirk. I hope he's having second thoughts about killing me now. Although, this might only make him want to kill me even more – It seems like whatever I say or do only gets me into more trouble with him.

"Draco." Umbridge says, grabbing my shoulders, "You do this during your interview, and you got this in the bag!"

I chuckle softly, "You're forgetting the killing part."

She squeaks happily and wraps her arms around me again. "Oh, he's so cute!"

"Yeah, adorable." Goyle says, sarcastically as he backs away from the window, "I wonder how cute he'd look covered in his own blood." And then he walks away with one last glare at me when the train comes to a stop.

Umbridge taps my nose with a long, pink nail, "Oh, don't listen to him, sweetheart. He's just jealous." I smile softly at her. I know Goyle isn't jealous – that's the last thing he is. Why is he even so hooked on killing me? I never did anything to him; we just stopped talking ever since the first annual Games. I won't lie, I kind of miss having him as a friend – I was closer to him then I was with Crabbe, which is how I got closer to Blaise.

I sigh before following the other Slytherins off the train.

"Wait, Draco." Blaise says, pulling my arm back in the car. Speaking of Blaise…

"Yeah?" I ask him.

"Uhm. I just want you to know, this doesn't change anything…" I tilt my head. What? "No matter what happens, we'll still be friends. Right?" He sounds uneasy, like he knows these Games will change us, but doesn't want to admit it.

I nod with a light smile, trying to look convincing, "Right, Blaise."

He smiles back before letting me off the train before him. As soon as the door opens, my ears pop with the screams of this pathetic crowd. I only just got picked to die, and I already have fan girls. What is this?

I follow Snape, Umbridge and the other Slytherins on the red carpet leading to the Capitol building. This place… I've never seen a city like this. The buildings are enormous and seem never ending. Looking around me, I see some far off shops that look like they sell pretty odd things. I can't make anything out too much since people are blocking my vision, but what I can make out looks odd – a lot of weird colors and designs. Over all the Capitol is… pretty abnormal yet really beautiful. I've never been to America, but I know what New York looks like – the Capitol is a lot like NYC; very busy and kind of futuristic. Not to mention a lot of people. I'm not a big fan of crowds and it's just a whole new feeling to be getting this much attention.

They treat us like royalty before we go to kill each other, though. I'm a bit awkward and afraid to make eye contact with any of these crazy girls. Instead I look around for the other houses. Gryffindor are just getting off of their car, Harry being the first – seems like all the girls on the Gryffindor side are going crazy for him too. I smile softly to myself. I can see why…

Every which way I'm hearing my name being called. These girls are nuts! Get me out of here! I seriously feel like I'm in a cage, I don't like this! The attention felt good at first, now that I'm actually out in the open I just want to run away.

Snape's looking at me and I notice his mouth twitch. Is he telling me to smile? Okay. I better "put these looks to use" I straighten up, turn my head to a group of girls closest to me, and give a somewhat mischievous smirk, trying to look a bit mysterious. I can hear Blaise laughing behind me as they practically fall over. I turn to look at him over my shoulder and smile more normally. "Nice." He says with a laugh.

Okay, keep walking, almost there. The huge glass doors ahead are held open for us, and when they finally close behind me I let out my held breath. I can hear again, even though my psycho fans are still screaming outside and banging the windows to get my attention. Nuh huh, they can break the glass for all I care, I'm not turning around.

I hardly have time to look around because suddenly Umbridge grabs my arm, and starts pulling me away to God knows where. I look over my shoulder only to see the other Slytherins being dragged away elsewhere. Now what!? I look up at Umbridge as I try to keep up with her, "Uh… Where are we going? Do I get to die early, because I won't complain…"

"Nonsense! You're about to meet you stylist!"

"Oh, right the Parade…"

"Yes, sweetheart the Parade! We have to make you look nice and handsome if we want to impress those ladies." I hardly have any time to look around this building since she's dragging me down a long hallway. From what I could make out it's dimly lit with torches and the walls look black. This must be the hallway that leads to the Slytherin section of the building.

"But you're already a cutie." She says as she tosses me into an empty room with nothing but a table… Well… This isn't awkward or anything.

Did the door just shut behind me? I turn around. Yes, it did. So that leaves me alone with just a table. Uhm, I'm not really sure what I have to do in this empty, cramped room so I guess I'll just sit up on the table and wait… and wait… and wait some more…

I'm starting to feel claustrophobic in here; this room is really small and there's absolutely nothing in here, but me. I sigh… I'm bored! Where is my stylist? And what is that noise? Sounds like hissing, and it's coming from under the table.

Since I'm curious, I take a peek under the table I'm sitting on and spot a snake – a green tree python with silver eyes and white freckle stops down its body. I'm not sure if I should be afraid or just ignore it. It does seem harmless, and it's not hissing at me – just sticking out its tongue. If only Harry taught me to speak Parselmouth, I could probably talk to it.

"Hey." I say to it, calling it over. It looks at me for a moment before slowly slithering on up to me. It's actually kind of cute, and not attempting to hurt me yet.

"I see you've met my friend." Someone says from the door way. I jump with a gasp, scaring the snake, and making it hiss. I was paying too much attention to the snake that I didn't even notice the door open. Finally the snake just stops its hissing fit like nothing ever happened when it sees the person in the doorway: A tall girl with really long dark black hair and green eyes, very pale skin and a jacket with the Slytherin shield on the front starts walking over to me.

"I'm Juniper." She says to me, pulling up a small stool from the corner of the room, dragging it over, so she can sit down in front of me.

"Draco." I say simply. The snake crawls on up to her lap, and just looks at me.

"This is Sasha." Juniper says petting the snake's head with an index finger. "I think she likes you."

I smile at it. It really is cute, I won't lie. Hesitantly, I reach a hand out to touch its head only to have it press its muzzle in my palm. Ah, it feels kind of weird, and its tongue keeps touching my fingers. "Don't worry she won't bit you." Juniper says. I guess she can see how uneasy I am around this snake. "She actually hates most people, but she seems to be taking a liking to you."

Sasha looks up at me before reaching out to crawl on my table. I get tense and stiff as she slithers on my lap.

Juniper laughs, "She won't hurt you Draco, relax – you've already made a friend here."

I smile at Sasha nervously and I swear this snake is smiling back at me. I gently reach a hand out as if asking her for permission to touch her head. Sasha actually nods at me. I loosen up a bit when I'm sure she won't strangle, bite or kill me.

"So, Draco." Juniper says, "How would you like to take care of Sasha for me in the Parade?" I'm not sure what she means by this, but if she's talking about "snake sitting" I wouldn't mind. Sasha does seem to like me. I shrug and gently rub Sasha's head with my index finger. "Sure." I say.

"Perfect! Because she won't be the only snake there."

I pick my head up.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's too dangerous to put actual snakes in the carriage so there will be some slithering around. A king cobra will be among them."

"I thought you just said it's dangerous. King Cobras can kill with one bit…"

"Yes, but it won't be in the carriage. Don't worry Draco."

"Okay, but what about the horses? Won't they get scared?"

"They'll have blinders on, and the snakes will be out of their sight, I promise you. We did this last year, and everyone was okay. The only new thing we're adding are real weapons to the carriage to give a more realistic look."

I can just picture how cool this will all look in my head… Even though Pansy doesn't really like snakes, and I'll have Sasha with me…

I just won't sit next to her. Nodding at Juniper's statement I look down at Sasha, who looks like she fell asleep on my leg. "Everything okay, Draco?"

"I'm just… I'm just nervous I guess…"

She sighs, "I'm sorry about all of this, Draco… You know, I'm here to help you in away way that I can?"

I look up at her. "Really? No one else says that. Usually I just get congratulated…" I say flatly.

"I'm not like most people – I don't see any point in that."

No kidding. I look back down at the snake. For some reason she seems to calm me a bit.

"Have you been told about sponsors yet?" Juniper asks.

"Yeah, but I'm not the best when it comes to making friends… I don't really like people."

"Well, we'll see." She says. "Now, upstairs, in your room you'll find a set of clothes on your bed. Head on up there, get dressed and I'll come up in about an hour."

I pause for a moment. Why do you have to come in my room? Well, temporary room… Either way it's still my room! "Why?" I ask.

She looks confused. "Why, what?"

"Why do you need to come up in my room? Can't I just come back down here?"

"Yes, but I'd want to look you over before we get ready for the Parade. You need to look perfect! I want Slytherin to be the best house there is."

"Yeah, well, that's because it is the best."

She smiles, "Good boy! That's what I like to hear! Now off you go. Oh, and Sasha can come with you if she likes." Sasha slithers on down to the floor and I hop off of the table. This snake is actually following me as I'm walking out of the room. Where's Harry when you need him? Yeah, sure the snake would be good company I guess, but it's not like I can actually talk to it.

Now that I'm not being dragged around like a stray puppy, I can actually take the time to look around this place. I only have an hour to get dressed, but it doesn't take me long to get ready, so I've got time to kill. I look down at Sasha, "Wanna take a look around?" She nods. Maybe she can understand me.

I walk down the hallway I was recently dragged down. This place doesn't look anything like I've ever seen. Everything is brightly colored and oddly shaped. The hallway is pretty plain with nothing but wide space, and black walls, but when Sasha and I get to the main staircase to go up to my room, we have to walk through the dining hall. It looks similar to the Slytherin car on the train, only the dining table is shining in polished silver. The chairs around the table are pretty simple and completely black. Underneath, the table is standing on a green and silver stripped carpet, resting on the black hard wood floor. The walls are covered in famous Slytherin wizards, only the pictures aren't moving. I get a pang of sadness when I'm reminded of Hogwarts – that awful place – I kind of miss it. I think they tried to make this look like the Slytherin common room… wait, where's Sasha? I got too caught up in looking around that I didn't even notice her disappeared. "Sasha?" I say aloud. Suddenly I heard a hissing noise near the living room. I look down near the square shaped sofa and see her green nose poke though as if she's calling me over. The living room looks a lot more like the Slytherin common room than the kitchen does. The chairs and sofa are black with a similar rug like the one underneath the kitchen table. A giant television sits on an entertainment center with our Slytherin emblem on the wall behind it. In the center is a crystal coffee table with a centerpiece in the shape of two snakes coiling around each other. Basically this is where we go after dinner or breakfast to watch the recording of that day. Since tonight is the Parade, we'll all probably gather around the TV tonight and watch everything from the Reaping to the Parade. It's not a lot of fun, trust me. I really don't want to re-watch Ron volunteering for Ginny. Maybe Pansy didn't feel bad, but I sure did.

I look down at Sasha who's right by my foot now, "Let's get upstairs." I turn to leave and she follows me up the staircase. This hallway is very plain, and widely lined up with six different rooms – one for each tribute. Like the hallway downstairs, this one is also black, but the doors to rooms are dark green. Between each door is a lightly buring torch to give the hallway an eerie sort of lighting to it. I'm about to turn the door knob on the farthest one down the hall when I see a hand slam on the door, preventing me from opening it. I sigh. "What do you want now, Goyle?" Sasha slithers behind my legs with her coils wrapped in ball. She's hissing up at Goyle, angrily. "Good girl." I whisper to her.

"Are you talking to that snake?" Goyle says.

"I can't talk to snakes, Goyle, that's Potter." I say as if he's stupid, "Now let me in my room before I break your fat hand off of my door, and feed it my snake!"

Clearly I have either offended him or really made him angry because just then, his hand slides off my door and he starts walking towards me with the ugliest glare I have ever seen. I back up, quickly making sure there's no wall behind me this time, so I don't get cornered again. I really don't want him to hit me! My stomach is still sore. "Goyle stop! I'll tell her bite you, really, I will!"

"You're snake can't hurt me! It's probably not even yours!" He says, still inching closer.

"She's lethal – very poisonous." I lie, "Almost killed my stylist." Sasha hisses as if she's agreeing with my lie. I smile down at her. I'm glad I'm not the only one who hates Goyle.

"You little prat!" Goyle says. I can't back up or run away fast enough because he has me by the cuff of my shirt, almost lifting me off of the ground. Sasha's hisses are only sounding more threatening, but Goyle doesn't seem to care. Suddenly my head is thrown to side by Goyle's fat, puffy fist and everything is going fuzzy. I can tell I'm bleeding by the taste of iron in my mouth and spots of crimson on the black floor.

I groan in pain before spitting some more blood out of the floor and looking up at him, shocked. He's smirking, like he enjoys seeing me in pain. I grip onto his fist that's holding my shirt, "Let me go you-"

"You what? Please, finish your sentence so I can hit you a few times more."

Okay, I can't take this… good thing my legs are free because I kick him so hard in the groin that he drops me and I stumble to stand. I smirk as I watch him double over in pain. Now, I look down at Sasha and nod. She hisses loudly before slithering up to Goyle and biting his fat ankle. She really isn't venomous, but Goyle doesn't know that.

He's practically crying since he's in so much pain. "Good girl, Sasha." She nods at

me, looking pleased. Quickly I run into my bed room before Goyle can do anymore damage to me. I can hear him yelling at me from outside of my room, "You'll get yours, Malfoy, trust me! When these games start, you better run so far away where I can't find you, because when I do – and I swear I will – I'll make you suffer. I'll make sure the audience really gets a death that will make history!"

Well, it's good to know that my worst enemy literally wants to rip my limbs off. He's not the only one that has a few tricks up his sleeve – I got a few.

Panting nervously, I slide down against my door. Sasha looks up at me with concern. "I'll be okay." I say. Slowly she inches near my face and I feel her tongue stroke the spot where Goyle punched me. She pulls back as if she was trying to indicate there's a mark there now. Gently I touch the side of my face only to wince in pain and pull my hand back. "Oh, great!" I say. So much for good looks, "You think Juniper can fix this?" I ask Sasha and she nods. "Good. I'm gonna go clean this blood off." Getting up, I head on over to the bathroom and Sasha follows me. My reflection scares me a bit. Under my right eye is a big black and blue mark with a lot of blood either coming from the cuts on my face or it's running down the side of my mouth. I groan before spitting out any remaining blood into the sink. Man, I feel dizzy right now. I look around in the shower for a washcloth before soaking it in soap and water. As soon as it touches my face, I cringe with pain. For some reason Sasha slithers out of the bathroom, but I don't care right now. I press the washcloth to my face to soak up the blood. It hurts, but I don't pull it away.

I hear a soft hiss and look down in the doorway. Sasha has something clamped in her mouth. I lean down to take it from her and notice she brought me my clothes that must have been on my bed. Smiling at her, I take the clothes and rub her head as a thank you. We got only 20 minutes before Juniper comes in my room. I should clean this blood off the best I can and at least attempt to cover up the mark.

Once I'm all dressed, I'm trying to fix my face up the best I can before Juniper comes in. Hopefully I don't look too bad. I turn to Sasha, who's in the doorway. "How do I look?" She tilts her head. "You don't understand me do you?" She still doesn't move. I sigh and point to my face before shrugging questionably; maybe she understands shitty sign language. I guess she gets it because all I get is a simple nod in response. So for my outfit, it really isn't any different from what I would normally wear – just a simple black suit with the Slytherin shield on my back. My hair? It's a jumbled mess right now, and I don't have time to fix it since someone is knocking on my door.

On my way there, I try to pat down some blonde hair that's sticking up just to make it look like I attempted to do it.

"Draco! What happened to your face?" Juniper says almost as soon as I open the door.

"Uhm-"

"Did you get into a fight already!?"

I open my mouth to speak but she just keeps going, "No, no, no, this is perfect! Total bad boy look, I like it. Although, I'll just add a bit of make up just so your eye isn't too puffy." Now she's starting to circle around me. I stand perfectly still, a bit nervous for some reason.

"Have you eaten at all today?" She asks me.

"Uhm… Not really. Why?"

"You're rather skinny."

I grumble softly before pressing down my hair again, only to have her smack my hand away from my head. "No, keep it like that! Remember – bad boy look!" Now that I think about it, I am hungry. All I had was an apple and that was this morning.

"Let's get you something light to eat before the Parade." She says. I guess she can hear my stomach growling. I nod at her before calling Sasha over and following Juniper downstairs.

I'm getting a bit shaky now. I don't know if its nerves for if it's just because I was stubborn this morning and didn't eat…

Either way, I'm not looking forward to this Parade…