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The letter had come on a rainy Friday afternoon when Katniss was helping her mother prepare supper. The day had gone on like any other; hunting with Gale, going to the black market to eat and trade, watching Prim milk her goat, and then cooking. This mostly consisted of her mother staring off into space after she got the water to a boil, and Katniss taking over the job.
She hadn’t been the same since five years ago, when Katniss’ father was killed by a dark wizard. An old follower of Voldemort, a death eater, had escaped Azkaban and had been said to be wandering a nearby muggle village. Katniss’ father was an auror of ten years, and was sent to investigate. He never returned, and though it should have been comforting when his killer was captured, Katniss’ mother went into depression. She never talked, barely ate, and spent most of her time staring blankly at whatever she happened to be facing.
Five years didn’t make much of a difference. Now she cooked a bit, tidied up the house every few days, and occasionally joined in on Katniss and Prim’s conversations, but other than that, she was as unresponsive as she was on the day they got the terrible news from Cornelius Fudge.
Now she sat staring at the constant run of the rain down the window, closed off from her daughters as her mind traveled to times of happiness and the love of her husband. Katniss turned away from her mother and went back to chopping up the carrots for tonight’s stew. She knew it would be so much easier to just use a wand- many daily tasks would be less tiresome. The problem was, her father’s death was caused by a wand, and though Katniss reminded her mother that it was ‘a wand in the wrong hands’, she no longer allowed magic of any sort in the house. After a year or two, Katniss stopped trying to convince her.
Katniss lived in a family of witches. This should have been a good thing, and to Katniss it had always appeared to be. But witches without magic isn’t so spectacular, and so she began to feel quite ordinary. On her eleventh birthday, Katniss had received three acceptance letters for wizarding schools across the globe. One was on the other side of the continent, another in Germany, and the final, the most exciting, was located in London- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Finally, Katniss had felt that she had a purpose. She could imagine the hours she’d spend sitting up in her house dormitory, talking to other witches her age and eating all of the treats her father used to bring her and Prim when they were little. But her birthday was a month after her father’s death. Her mother forbid her to go. She felt it unfair that her mother could keep that from her; it was such an amazing opportunity for her. But she hadn’t dared argue. Her mother was unstable, and arguing only made her worse.
And so, each year Katniss received a letter from Professor Minerva McGonagall offering her a chance to enroll in the school. Her trip would be paid for and any supplies provided. It was some sort of charity system for children of dead aurors, and though usually Katniss didn’t like people’s pity, she wanted this more than anything.
She hadn’t bothered to show her mother the letters since the second time; she knew what the answer would be. It was pointless, and it would only make her mother upset. Prim had gotten her letter the year before, and she followed Katniss’ example with discarding the invitation.
Supper was ready. Katniss set the pot of steaming broth on the table, and set three places at the table. Prim came in the front door and removed her boots from her feet, setting them on the floor beside Katniss’. She followed her nose to the table, and sat, eyeing the food hungrily.
“Mom, supper’s ready,” Katniss said. She tried to make her voice gentle, but it wasn’t natural. Prim had always been the sweet one. Katniss still held a grudge against her mother for with-holding the use of magic from the family because of her own fears. She tried to feel sorry for her, but she couldn’t. The feeling felt forced. Katniss pitied no one- except maybe muggles, who couldn’t use magic even if they were allowed to try. There were always opportunities as squibs, but only if the muggle knew about the existence of magic, which was rare.
“Mom,” Katniss repeated, her voice harder now.
Katniss’ mother looked up at her, surprised. She looked over to the pot, and understood. She moved her chair to the table, where she sat and tried to focus on the bowl in front of her.
Katniss took a seat herself, and smiled at Prim, who looked at the pot with longing.
“Are you waiting for an invitation, little duck?” she asked her blonde little sister. Prim grinned at the use of her nickname, and reached for the ladle to serve herself some food.
“I got some strawberries from the market,” Katniss said when it was her turn to dish herself.
Prim was overjoyed, and practically knocked her bowl off the table in excitement.
“Strawberries? How? They must have cost you a fortune!” Prim babbled, her face brightening. Katniss would do anything to make her sister smile.
“Can we have some tonight?” Prim asked eagerly.
Katniss smiled knowingly. “I don’t see why not,” she replied. “As long as you finish your-”
“Done!” Prim interrupted through her final mouthful of soup. “So where are the strawberries?”
Katniss couldn’t help laughing. “Not so fast. Why don’t you help me with the dishes first?”
Prim sighed, but nodded. “Okay,” she said, standing up from her seat. “Mom, are you going to help? You can dry while Katniss and I wash.”
Her mother blinked a few times, before turning to Prim in confusion. “Sorry, honey... what?”
“Oh. I was just asking if you want to-” Prim started, but Katniss put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s not worth it,” she murmured. “Let’s just go get it done.”
Prim nodded slowly, and her eyes became glossy as they usually did when her mother didn’t understand her. They both missed her, even Katniss, beneath all of her anger and abandonment.
Prim and Katniss went to the sink, and began washing the dishes side by side, listening to the sound of the rain outside, thinking of how things could be if magic could once again be a part of their lives.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Katniss, when's your birthday?" Prim asked as she plucked a strawberry from their basket. She pulled back the green leaves, and bit into the sweet red berry.
Katniss leaned back in her chair. "It's tomorrow."
"What? Why didn't you tell me? We could have save the strawberries. Maybe we can have a little party with Gale and his brothers and-"
Katniss groaned. "Prim, this is exactly the reason why I didn't tell you. You want to do some big get together or something. I HATE being the center of attention, you know that. And anyway, it's no big deal. I'm just turning sixteen."
"Sixteen IS a big deal," Prim insisted. "At least, it is in the muggle world. Which I suppose we are, in a way, since we don't use magic."
"Just because we don't use magic, doesn't mean we aren't witches," Katniss sighed, taking a strawberry. "Speaking of which, my letter could get here any day now."
Prim's eyes fell from Katniss' face, and settled on the table.
"What is it?" Katniss asked in concern.
"Oh," Prim shook her head, and looked back up to Katniss, forcing a smile. "It's nothing."
"Prim," Katniss said.
"Okay," her sister sighed. "It's just, I know we aren't supposed to, but I can't help but... well... wanting to accept. I want to go to Hogwarts more than ANYTHING. I know it would break Mother's heart, but I think maybe... someday... I'll leave. Maybe become a healer."
"Mother was a healer, you know," Katniss put in, nodding in approval. "I bet you'd make a wonderful one."
"You think so?" Prim asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Katniss replied honestly. "You're so calm, and loving. I could never do that."
Prim took another strawberry. "So, what do you think you'd be? If you could, I mean."
Katniss thought for a moment. "I'd probably do what Dad did."
"You'd want to be an auror?" Prim asked, her eyes wide.
Katniss nodded, her eyes downcast.
"Wow," Prim breathed. "I could never be that brave."
"You are brave, little duck," Katniss said warmly, lifting Prim's chin. "I can't handle seeing people sick or injured... and you act like it's no big deal. I remember when father was still here. You helped Mother a lot with healing when you were young. Do you remember that?"
"Vaguely," Prim said with a nod. "Anyway-"
Something crashed against the window outside, and Katniss jumped from her seat out of instinct. She looked to Prim, who shrugged. At first she thought that maybe Prim's cat, Buttercup was trying to get in, but then she saw that the feline was nestled on Prim's lap.
"I'll be right back," Katniss said calmly. "It may be the village kids throwing rocks again."
Prim nodded, but she wore a frown.
Katniss turned away from the table, and made her way across the small house, past her mother, to the door. She opened it, and peered out into the rain. On the ground near the window lay a small brown owl, holding its wing in an unnatural position. Katniss breathed in deeply. She knew that she couldn't leave the poor bird out in the rain, but if she brought it in, her mother would be upset. Although, she didn't really notice things nowadays, anyway...
Katniss knew that, as she often did, she needed her sister's advice. She opened the door a bit more so she could see Prim in the next room over, and motioned to her. Prim stood in her chair, and hurried across the old, wooden floor to the door where Katniss stood.
"What is it?" she whispered once she reached her.
"THAT." Katniss said, pointing at the injured bird.
"Well Katniss, don't just stand there!" Prim exclaimed. "We need to get it out of the rain!"
"The bird or the letter?" Katniss mused as Prim bent down to reach it, but she knew that Prim was too kindhearted to mean the letter. She gave Katniss an annoyed look, but a small smile played on her lips.
"We need to get it inside. I can probably help it with its wing, but it'll need to stay here for a week or two," Prim reasoned.
"Prim, what if Mom sees it?" Katniss pointed out. "We can't risk it."
"It's HURT," Prim said, aghast. "Who cares what Mother says?"
Katniss sighed in exasperation as Prim went back into the house with the bird cradled in her hands. She set the animal on a towel at her place on the table, and inspected the wing. It nipped at her finger, and she jumped back slightly, looking down at the small slice.
"You okay?" Katniss asked. "Owls usually come expecting a treat. They get feisty when you don't feed them. Especially when they flew through a storm to get there."
"Oh," Prim said, nodding. "I should have remembered that." She took a strawberry from the basket, and held it in front of the wounded animal. It nipped off a piece, then another, and stripped the berry clean of the red flesh bit by bit.
"Good. Now will you behave?" Katniss asked, laying her hand on the table.
The owl hopped toward her hand, cooing, and rubbed its head against her fingers. She pulled her hand away in surprise. "What is it doing?"
"I think it likes you," Prim said, grinning.
"What? Why?" Katniss asked in genuine surprise. "I would have just let it sit in the rain. You're the one it should like."
"Although it IS delivering to you, not me," Prim reminded her.
Katniss looked back to the owl, and hesitantly took the letter. The same one she'd seen every year since she was eleven, but hadn't opened since the second time."Open it," Prim said quietly.Katniss looked at the letter with longing. Would it hurt to just read it again? She slowly began to tear it open, and pulled the letter from the enveloped."What's that?" asked a voice from behind them.Katniss and Prim turned in surprise to meet the eyes of their mother, who stared at the letter in question.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Katniss' mother stared at her expectantly, a hint of curiosity behind her eyes that Katniss hadn't seen in a while. She hesitated. She knew that she could pretend it was nothing- but her could easily become suspicious. Katniss looked to Prim, who's blue eyes were full of worry, hoping for some help."It's not important, Mom," Prim said in a sweet voice, though her act of innocence was obviously strained."Katniss," her mother said in a warning voice, pretending as if Prim hadn't spoken. Katniss was startled. Her mother hadn't used a tone like this one in years, and the directness of her stare banished any fogginess that had covered her view before. "It's my acceptance letter," Katniss mumbled. "They'll still let me enroll. I'd have to take extra classes, and it would be a few extra years, but they think I could catch up." Her eyes fell from her mother's face, and she looked down at the letter in her fingers again. "Like I said, it's nothing. I know you don't want to hear about it. That's why I haven't shown you."Katniss' mother's eyes filled with tears, and her hand went over her stomach as if she was about to be sick. She sat on her chair slowly, and put her head in her hands. Prim put a hand on her mother's shoulder."It's okay, Mom," she said in a soothing voice. "I'm sorry you had to be... reminded."Her mother wiped away the tears, and after a moment, spoke. "It's not that. I do miss your father... more than anything. But I feel like I haven't seen sense. Not since that man from the ministry showed up on our doorstep with the news..." she let out a sigh that sounded more like a hiccup, and continued, "But now I understand.""Understand what, Mom?" Katniss asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion."How cruel I've been. It was unfair of me to keep magic from you. I've taken a way so many opportunities from you. So many experiences you can never get back. But this-" she looked pointedly at the letter, "Could be it. Your chance.""Do you mean it?" Katniss asked in surprise. She couldn't process what her mother was saying. "I do," Her mother said quietly. She turned to Prim before Katniss could even mentally catch up with what she was saying."Have you gotten a letter as well, Primrose?" Prim nodded, her mouth hanging open in surprise. "Then its settled," her mother continued, forcing a smile onto her face. "We'll respond to the professor right away, with a letter of confirmation. You'll both be going to Hogwarts."Katniss and Prim stared at their mother in silence. They certainly did not expect this turn of events, and though she knew she should feel happy, Katniss felt startled."Why?" she asked plainly. "Why are you doing this, Mom? After all these years?"Her mother smiled a small, sad smile. "Because it's what your father would have wanted."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Katniss knew she needed to gather her thoughts before she did anything else. Leaving Prim and her mother to help the little owl and write a letter, she took to the woods. The rain had stopped, and a curtain of gray clouds parted in the sky, revealing the beaming sun. Light pushed through the parting of the leaves above Katniss as she walked, leaving the ground speckled with glowing dots. Her boots kept the rain that was still pooled on the ground from soaking her feet, but she shivered. The air felt wet around her, and condensation ran down the sides of her face. Keeping her hands in her pockets for warmth, Katniss let the forest swallow her fully, and when she looked back she could no longer see the opening. She breathed the sweet, fresh air deeply, and sighed. Her muscles relaxed, and she felt at peace. It was only now, as she sat on a moist stump, that she let herself begin to consider the possibility that this was real. Would she really be going to Hogwarts? After all of these years of constant reminder that she, Katniss Everdeen, would never be able to become the witch she felt she could be?
A branch snapped, and Katniss was alert. She quickly regretted not taking her bow with her when she came into the woods alone. She ducked her head slightly, and looked around in hopes of catching a glimpse of a rabbit or squirrel, which could have made the sound. Instead, Gale emerged from behind a tree a few yards away, his bow clenched in his right hand. He must have seen her before, because he didn't look surprised when their eyes met.
Gale was a tall, broad-shouldered seventeen- turning-eighteen year old young man with curly brown hair and quiet grey eyes.
"I thought I might find you here," he said. He sat on the ground beside her stump.
"How?" Katniss asked out of genuine curiosity. "I didn't plan on it."
"Because, your birthday's tomorrow. If you got the letter, you'd be coming here to think," Gale said simply.
Katniss nodded in reply. Gale was smart. He could put things together like that quickly and accurately. He knew her well enough. They'd been friends since their fathers died; Gale's father, also an auror, was another victim of the wizard that had escaped from Azkaban.
"So," Gale said. "What do you think?"
"About what?"
"Anything. Everything. What are you going to do?"
Katniss was quiet. She felt selfish to go. Gale had to take care of his family. He'd gotten the letter as well- he'd been getting it for years- but he didn't want to enroll because of the pressure of his family's needs. He'd considered asking for them to be taken care of while he was at school, but he felt that would be asking too much."My... mother said Prim and I can go," she said finally. She hoped Gale wouldn't be too upset.
"Oh."
"I'm not sure if I'm going, though," she added, hoping to lessen the blow. She could only imagine how she'd feel if Gale went off to Hogwarts, and she had to stay home and support her mother and sister.
"... Why? I thought that's what you want," Gale questioned.
"It is," Katniss admitted. "But it hardly seems fair."
"Don't think about me, Katniss," Gale sighed. "You have a chance. I want you to take it. Do it for both of us."
Katniss was silent for a moment.
"Please, Katniss. Don't make me the reason you don't go. You'll regret it later," Gale persisted.
"I don't know," Katniss mumbled.
"Would it help if I told you that I finally asked?" Gale said carefully.
"Asked what?"
"Asked the 'Care for Fallen Aurors Corporation' if they'd make sure my family was okay while I was gone," he explained.
"What did they say?" Katniss asked eagerly, sitting up straighter and staring at Gale as she waited for an answer.
Gale shrugged. "I haven't gotten a reply. I sent mine out a few days ago."
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Katniss laughed, feeling rejuvenated.
"I didn't want to tell anyone until I got an answer. Which means-"
"I know," Katniss interrupted with a grin. "I won't tell a soul."
Gale nodded gratefully. "Thanks. So... if they do reply with a yes, and I do go to Hogwarts next semester... will you come as well?"
"Yes," Katniss said, not needing to think about it. "Yes, I will."