Harry Potter and the Games of Hunger

"Dead!" Voldemort cried, raising his boned wand in the air. His red eyes gleamed with accomplishment, blazed with giddy fury. "Your 'boy who lived' is dead!"

The castle was in ruins. Whips of different colored smoke curled around the debris, hung in the air with a certain foreboding feel. Witches and wizard of all ages stood in two opposing groups, separated by a mere twenty ominous steps. Both sides stood haughtily, tense and seemed pose for attack. The once beautiful and peaceful Hogwarts castle was at last at its doom.

Harry's limp body was held tightly by Hagrid's large, calloused arms. Ginny's eyes froze on the sight, taking note of the charred fabric on Hagrid's clothing, the state of his hair, more wild and clumped than usual. She noticed his crestfallen face, the fat tears that trickled down his darkened cheeks from his beady eyes. She tried to notice anything but the truth he held in his arms.

The scarred boy she loved, draped dead.

Ginny tuned out, only hearing the rushing pound of blood in her ears, the twisting pain in her stomach, and sharp bite in her throat. Ginny couldn't find words in her thoughts, no reasonable explanation coming to mind.

She only realized her crazy scream and lurch forward when her dad grabbed her arm to stop her. Ginny fought for a moment, wildly struggling, until sounds crept back into her capabilities.

"You may choose now!" Voldemort sneered, brandishing his wand. He stepped slightly out of the ranks of his followers, his thick black robe swooshing around his bare white feet. Naigini slithered around him protectively, hissing slightly. "Join us, your life may be great. Join us, serve me, and you are ensured a life of power, of comfort. And to those who deny my power...you will die, you fools, you will die."

He finished softly, but with more power than Ginny had ever heard in her life. Part of her scoffed at his words, but other parts panicked. Who would betray? Who would fall for his lies? Thoughts swirled in her head, making the poising in her head more powerful in the heat of the money than the loss she felt all over her body. Her breathe picked up as the people that surrounded her tended even more, something she didn't think was possible.

The crowd she stood before, the followers she had been battling with hours before, was silent as a sinister smile crept onto Voldemort's pale face. His slitted eyes gleamed with pleasure, churning Ginny's stomach and flooding anger through her veins. She felt the grip on her wand tighten as he drawled, "Draco, perhaps?" a small pause. "Your mummy and daddy are waiting."

Ginny quickly scanned the other side, full of darkly cloaked and proudly standing wizards and witches, a few injured standing limply, but all with the same condescending, steely face. They banned together without touching, she noticed. While her side held each other, helping few stand due to injury, and others due to loss felt closer to the heart than in ways seen. Ginny saw her dad holding her mother, her face buried in his blood splattered cloak. Yet his father held a strong face, one full of mourning, but pride.

Ginny's eyes widened in disbelief as Draco scurried over to join them, embarrassment tracing every step he made onward his parents. The stood next to each other, carefully keeping at least three inches between them, as they waited for their son.

She wasn't sure why she was surprised as the scrawny git met his parents, awkwardly shufflin beside his mother with unsure footing. Draco bowed his head, not meeting the eyes of Ginny's side, or his new one. He eyed the foot of the invisible wall between the groups.

Perhaps she had thought after everything they had been through the past hours, days, he would feel some sort of comradeship with his school. That even the most hateful Slytherin would find in the bit of heart they had the strings that bonded and forged herself, Ginny, to the school and people she loved.

Her heart was heavy as she watched a great amount of Slytherins follow in Draco's shamed steps, traveling in one mass pack as if to shield themselves from the judgement of others.

Ginny, tingling with a mix of loss, denial and anger, felt her senses sharper. She saw Professor McGongall, her face taught and lips pursed, watched the pack of students stumble across the boarder with anger as well. Under that, though, Ginny saw what she felt as well: hurt and betrayed. Ginny watched Professor McGongall slowly take her eyes from the crossing Slytherins to meet Voldemort's dark, luminous figure. He stood with his arms crossed lowly, his wand lazily held by his left hand. His eyes took in the amount of students to cross to his side, some to meet parents equally as cold as Draco's, other bundling together behind the front line cowardly. Voldemort paused until all was silent again.

"That's all? So be it," If possible, the snake like smile grew. His eyes wandered across Ginny's side, taking care to meet individuals eyes. Ginny's heart stopped as he passed over her with a sheer grin of ominous joy upon his lips. "Fools, so marks the announcement of the first annual Hunger Games begin."

As these words hung in the air, he drew his cloak over his body using his arm, disappearing with a silent whoosh of a cloak. No trace of him remained as he left behind seemingly unrepairable damage, both on the beautiful building of Hogwarts and it's annual inhabitants. Ginny caught the look on Draco's face: a mixture of many emotions, some that Ginny couldn't even place. There was a sure look on his face that he couldn't mask: utter confusion. Ginny felt it sweep over her as well as Voldemort's words echoed in her mind.

Black smoke curled with other colors over the building, some creating crackling noises like fire, others combining and growing in density. The smoke was the only thin that moved until the sudden change of plan set into the minds of Voldemort's followers. Both sides stood cautiously, holding their ground with certainty, until followers slowly began to evaporate as well. Many Apparated with a sharp crack. Draco's mother gripped his arm tightly and snapped away, leaving his father alone for a moment. Ginny watched a woman with dirty short brown hair and freckled skin grab his right wrist before he had a had a chance to follow his wife and son. The woman pulled herself up to Lucious's height, whispering something with sharp, deep red lips. She disappeared the moment her arm left his.

Ginny watched with uncertain curiosity as his face blanched, and he hesitated before following in suit, disappearing.

In a matter of moments, everyone of Voldemort's side were gone, one way or the other. Ginny's side faced open space, a light, hot breeze whispering across the debris and chunks of stone. They were all silent, until somewhere amongst the thick crowd of surviving rebels, a girl began to sob.