when worlds collide - chapter four;)

chapter four

Ginny

When I got to the chariot, Harry was there waiting for me. He looked great. I mean, he didn't look much different, but in that red suit—Stop it! I thought. In a week, you'll be thrown into an arena where you might be forced to kill him! Of course, the irrational part of my brain fired back. Then why did you kiss him, knowing that at least one of you would probably be picked?

I still couldn't quite face that fact. Why had I kissed him? I was being stupid, that's why. Deluding myself, when I knew there was almost no doubt he'd be picked. I just hadn't known I'd be going too.

Harry held out his hand. I took it gratefully. I didn't quite trust myself not to fall and kill myself before the games even began. Though, maybe that'd be for the best…no. Not for Harry. That would probably make him sad and he'd do something stupid and get himself killed right away.

I looked at the rest of the chariots. I could barely keep myself from laughing at the Hufflepuffs' clothes—badger suits. And the Ravenclaws' book clothes? Ha. The Slytherin chariot, was a little, er, revealing in their clothes, or lack thereof, as they were covered in only silver paint and had snakes around their shoulders. I looked away. I had never wanted to see that much of Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. In fact, I'd never really wanted to see them at all.

The chariot just in front of us was amazing. A girl with black hair, and a guy with blonde hair were standing there and a man with a torch was smiling. In a moment the girl and boy were both on fire. I realized the man with the torch must've been one of their stylists. As they rolled out from the building, the man raised his hands, his fingers linked together. The girl said something, and she grabbed the boy's hand.

Harry must've noticed, too as he squeezed my hand tighter. "We're going in this together." He said.

"Together." I agreed, as our chariot began moving.

The crowds of people just made me mad. They were staring at us like were unicorns or something. I wished I'd had my wand; I'd have cursed them all into oblivion. My eyes started hurting from some bright light. Then, I realized it was my and Harry's suits.

He was smiling. "This is awesome," he said.

People were calling our names, along with others, who I guessed were from the chariot in front of us. I also heard some whistles that-I'll hazard a wild guess- were directed at Malfoy and Pansy.

I looked over at the chariot in front of us. They were smiling and waving, and the girl was blowing kisses to people. I thought it was a good strategy, trying to be nice. So I just waved a little and smiled. Harry was smiling so wide I'm surprised his face didn't freeze that way.

Once we got off, it took some effort to get our hands moving again, as they'd gone completely numb while on the chariot. McGonagall walked up, and congratulated us on our performance.

"Professor McGonagall, what are you doing here?"

"Classes ended several hours ago, and I saw how you did, so I wanted to come and congratulate you personally."

We thanked her, and then we went to the elevators that would take us to our rooms. Unfortunately, Harry and I ended up in the elevator with the Slytherins.

"Is this making you uncomfortable, Red?" Draco asked, getting closer to me.

"Shut up, Malfoy, or I'll punch you." I muttered, my teeth gritted.

"Don't be so modest," he said, getting closer.

And then I did it. I punched him, square in the mouth, and when the elevator opened on the Gryffindor floor, I got out silently.

Harry

When I got to the chariot, all of the kids from Panem were in their chariots, but I was one of the first from Hogwarts. The Gryffindor chariot was right after the twelfth from Panem. Draco and Pansy were the only other ones from Hogwarts that were there. I looked away immediately. I'd never wanted to see either one of them with their clothes on. Ugh.

I stepped onto the gold chariot. When I looked over at the elevator, Ginny was just coming out. She looked amazing. The red suit fit her perfectly. Stop, Harry. I scolded myself. You're being thrown into an arena in a week, when you might have to kill her.

She smiled at me. I held out my hand, and she grabbed it tightly. At least I knew neither of us would fall off. Suddenly, I saw something very bright, on the chariot in front of us. At first, I thought the chariot itself had somehow caught fire. Then I realized it was the kids on it. Their clothes were on fire. It was amazing.

As they rolled out of the building, a man—who I guessed was on of their stylists—held up his hands, locking his fingers together. The boy looked confused, but the girl figured it out, and grabbed his hand. I looked back at Ginny and squeezed her hand tighter.

"We'll go into this together," I said.

"Together," she agreed.

As we rolled out of the building I suddenly realized it was freezing. Couldn't they have made the suits just a bit thicker? Ugh. At least Ginny didn't seem to be cold. She looked like she was going to punch someone. I hoped it would be Malfoy.

The reflections off our suits were so bright it hurt my eyes. But people were chanting our names, along with others, which I could barely make out to be Katniss and Peeta. I smiled, so much my cheeks hurt.

I couldn't help but glance at the giant screens all around the square. Ginny and I, and Katniss and Peeta, got much more than our fair share of screen time. The cameras kept focusing on us, as it got so dark you could barely see anything else.

Once the chariot was back in the building, Ginny let go of my hand. It took several minutes of rubbing our stiff fingers to get them working right again. After a minute McGonagall came up and congratulated us.

When Ginny asked why she was there, she said, "Classes ended several hours ago, and I saw how you did, so I wanted to come and congratulate you personally."

We thanked her, nicely, and then went to the elevator. When I saw we were in with the Slytherins I almost walked back out to wait for the next one. And when Draco started getting close to Ginny, I wanted to punch him. But Ginny wouldn't appreciate it. "I fight my own battles, thank you!" She'd say. I couldn't resist smiling when she finally punched him, right in the mouth. When she walked out, I could help but admire her nerve. It was something a lot of girls didn't have.

I followed her to her room. She turned around, and looked at me.

"Harry," she said, quietly.

I smiled a little. "Did you know I was following you?"

"How could I not? You sounded like an elephant."

I started to walk away. She grabbed my arm. I smiled, and kissed her. And I knew our last week together would go by too quickly.