Dimensional {Harry Potter/Hunger Games}

Chapter 6: Heavenly Fire

After they left the hospital wing of the castle, the sun had already begun to sink below the horizon; its last beams of light reaching through the many windows that had lit the castle's halls for years and turning the ancient stone walls a warm pink shade. Liv's cheek was no longer cut and bloodied, but a light scar now rested along her defined cheekbone. She and Harry turned to each other as they reached the hallway that would lead to their separate dorms and their separate lives. He belonged to Gryffindor, and her to Slytherin, instantly making their friendship something rare and frowned upon.

​"So I guess I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?" Harry asked first.

​"Of course," Liv smiled, sad that their adventure of the day had come to a close. "I owe you, Ron and Hermione since I skipped on you this morning."

​Harry grinned.

"Just don't let Malfoy or Pansy get to your head before tomorrow, okay? I still need help with the potions homework from Monday."

​Liv felt her eyes go wide. "You haven't done that yet?! It was so easy!"

She shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Harry, you need all the help you can get in that class. And I will try to contain myself around those two, I know they aren't worth my time."

​Harry laughed this time and had begun to walk backwards as he headed for the portrait door that led to his dorms.

"You know they aren't, Liv. See you at breakfast!"

And with that he turned and headed up the stairs, leaving Liv to watch her friend depart. Sighing, she turned on her heel and headed for the dungeons, the location of her house's dorms. As she walked, many of the portraits that moving throughout the frames began to gossip. She could hear their whispers and she caught one of them talking about her friendship with Harry. She could hear the words "blood traitor" and "fake Slytherin" echo through the dark hall and she was relieved to escape the whispers as she entered the common room.
The room was extremely large and was often very dark and cold, except for the nights—like tonight—where a fire blazed in the stone fireplace. Those were Liv's favorite nights because she could wait until everyone had gone to bed, grab whatever book she could find and sit in front of the warm flames as the coals popped and crackled and the flames jumped and occasionally licked the edges of the place. She loved it because it was peaceful and no one was ever awake to bother her, she could read for hours and hours and not a single soul would disturb her silence.

Without speaking to anyone, Liv went up to her room, pulled on a pair of sweatpants and her softest t-shirt and waited. It was about eleven o'clock by the time Liv crept down the stairs to the fireplace, but to her disappointment the room had returned to its cold, dreary state as someone had put the fire out. Frowning slightly, Liv instinctively reached her hand into her pocket and pulled out a thin, wooden stick. She stood there, puzzled over what had compelled her to have a beautifully carved stick in her pocket. It was about the length of her forearm and was a rich brown color that had almost a red tint to it. Along the handle of it were thin vines, intertwining randomly, that appeared to grow up the piece of wood.
As she held it in her hand, the pieces of this new puzzle began to connect and Liv realized that she was holding a wand, a real wand. She smiled to herself, imagining the power of this instrument flowing through her body.
Without fully processing the situation, she turned and pointed her want to the dark pit where the inviting flames had been earlier and breathed a single word.

​"Incendio."

​With that one word, that one spell, the logs that sat in the ashes erupted into flames and the whole room lit up with yellow light. The gust of heat that came with the initial massive flames filled the entire room, blasting Liv in the process. The strength of it hit her right in the face, making it feel as if it were searing her, and once it died her cheeks were stained with hot tears that had been blown from her eyes.
Once the fire had died to its normal strength, Liv smiled happily and curled up in her favorite loveseat that was always the closest to the warm flames.