Chapter Text
I trudged through the swamp, mosquitos swarming around me I couldn’t swat away. There wasn’t a cloud in sight to protect me from the blaring sun. The only relief was the cool water that went up to my ankles. Pond skimmers gracefully arced on the water's surface, dancing amongst themselves. With every step, I pulled up emerald weeds that clung to me like a second skin. In the corner of my eye, a beautiful Green Kingfisher snatched up a lazily flying dragonfly. My fingers ached from the grip I had on my trident. Fish were swimming in the deeper parts of the swamp but that wasn't what I was going for. Fish are protected, fish are regulated. A fish could get you five lashes and an unpayable fine. The croak of my prey under a mat of tangled sedge was like music to my ears. I could barely see the frog from under it, only a speckled leg sticking out from the vegetation. The water rippled from every step that I took. I could feel the soft mud squish against my feet and try to grab onto me. When I was close enough, I pulled my trident back and stabbed down, impaling the frog through the back. Unseen fish swam away from the frogs' sudden movements. It thrashed around from the shock of the attack. I held it under the water until the thrashing stopped. When I was sure it was dead, I picked up my trident. The leopard frog hung limp on my weapon. It was the biggest one I had gotten today, the legs thick and meaty. I put it in my bag full of frogs, washing my hands from the foul smelling slime. Water rippling behind me interrupted my search for my next target. I twirled around only to see my brother standing behind me. His shock of orange hair was neatly combed. The water reached his knees, the rolled up pants almost touching the water.
“You scared me Ron, you shouldn’t sneak up to someone with a trident.”
“I knew you wouldn’t do anything, the only thing that has to worry in the swamp is frogs and mosquitoes.”
“I’m surprised you are here, you hate this place.”
“Well, we have a perfectly fine coast where you could do your hunting. I just prefer the ocean to this.” Ron said, messing with a purple flower between his fingers.
“I’m sure that everything would taste better too but it’s too risky. You won’t see a peacekeeper come out here. Besides, I like this place. It’s peaceful out here. It's just me, bugs, and birds.”
“I’ll take your word on that.”
“What are you doing out here?”
“Today is the reaping, Mom sent me to come get you.”
“Shit, I almost forgot. How long do we have until we have to be home?” I sighed, trudging through the cool water. Weeds grabbed my ankles as I went and made me shudder with each step.
“Mom said she wanted us back now.”
“Let’s stop into town first, I promised Mr. Green I’d trade him a few frogs.”
“What are you going to get? Can you get candy?” Ron said excitedly.
“I’ll see what he has.”
It was only a five-minute trek from the swamp to the edge of town. The trek back through the thick mud was always the worst part. My legs were sore and my back was aching from the sack of frogs. Ron was running around, chasing dragonflies as they leapt off their rests to avoid him. I steered us to where the mud bottom became rocky, the brackish water turning into salt. We washed our legs with the ice cold water, erasing any traces of where we were. A rusty electrified fence separated us from the town. There was a convenient hole that I would slip through to enter civilization again. This gap had been here long before I started coming out here, a friend showing me where this was to avoid school. It was in the last couple years that I started hunting out here, after Dad’s job stopped bringing in as much fish with the Capitol deciding to take over his fishing hole. Making sure there weren’t any guards to catch us, we slipped under the fence. Ron went through first, taking my rucksack from me. I crawled through after him, dusting any evidence of the swamp from me.
Town was bustling, people swarming the shopping area before the reaping. The reaping always had a weird energy to it. The energy felt rancid today. Ron was too young to understand the worry in the air, he had only been through two hunger games where his name could get picked. I would not show it but the anxiety I had felt for the last four years was racking my body. The only thing making me feel better was none of my siblings had to take meal tickets that would put your name in more than once. I took that duty off their shoulders. I currently had 15 tessarae in the bowl from over the years and each one weighed me down like a lead sinker. There were more guards than normal, the pristine white outfits standing out like sore thumbs against the various shades of blue and brown that our district favored. On their chests, a snake eating its tail stuck out of the black metal. I gripped my bag tighter to myself, picking up my pace for the walk deeper into the town square. A flock of sparrows burst into the air, scared from whatever crumbs they were feasting upon. The many potholes in the gravel streets had become puddles from the early morning rain that birds could bathe in. I walked into the area of shops we called the Nursery, weaving my way until I saw a stand decorated with flowers. Mr. Green was working his shop, the usual grimace set on his face. His white hair was unusually tidy, the normal shocks of curls tied back into a bun. He was wiping up a spill of some mysterious yellow liquid while muttering to himself. This store was the go to for hard to get items in the Nursery. Mr. Green was a sour and crotchety old man but he was my best customer and had good things to trade. Mr. Green looked up, and he was halfway into a sigh until he saw Ron. Mr. Green’s face softened into something kind of close to a smile.
“George, shouldn’t you be getting ready for today?”
“Is that why you look so sharp today?”
“Flattery won’t get you better trades, Weasley. Do you have something for me?”
“I have some fresh frogs to trade, I got them this morning. I know they are some of your wife’s favorites.”
“Low blow bringing her into this. Ok, I got some fresh bread today. I can give you a couple loaves for the frogs.”
“Add in some of those peanut clusters and you have a deal.”
“You are lucky I’m in a good mood today.” Mr.Green mumbled, bagging the loaves and chocolaty clusters.
“Why are you in a good mood?” Ron asked.
“My grandson aged out of the reaping, there is no chance of that happening now.”
“Wow, you’re old.” Ron stated plainly, jumping as I thumped the back of his head.
“I guess I am. May the odds be in your favor today George.”
I took the bag from Mr. Green, giving him a sharp nod.We left the Nursery with Ron busting out laughing as I fake tackled him for his comment. I knew that wouldn’t cost me a customer but I couldn’t risk it.The cobbled street got rougher and rougher as the industrial buildings and shops became houses. Our house was in the middle of a row, a potted cactus being the only thing that distinguished it. It wasn’t much to look at; the house was in a similar state of disrepair like the rest of this row. The yellow paint had long since faded into a sickly shade of white. Our windows were covered in weather worn shudders, the wood covered in lichen. I walked up the creaky stairs and opened the door to the smell of stew cooking over a fire. My sister was sitting at the table, playing with our cat. She looked at me, zeroing in on the full bag on my back. Her face lit up as she ran over to me. While everyone else liked fish, my sister and I preferred the frog legs.
“How many did you get?” Ginny asked, her excitement palpable.
“I got 9, it’s my best hall this year. Everybody gets their own set tonight. Can you put these in the ice box though, I need to go get ready.”
“Can we prepare them together after the reaping?”
“Of course, you know that's my favorite part. I got you something else.”
“What did you get me?” Ginny asked excitedly.
“I know these are your favorites, it was a tough bargain.” I said, pulling out one of the peanut clusters.
Her eyes widened in excitement. Ginny took the candy from my hands like she was holding a pearl straight from an oyster. Ginny giggled as I messed up the braid in her head. I handed her my bag, grateful to be without the weight. A smile tugged my lips as she struggled to skip to the icebox to put them in. I could hear my mom scolding my brother Percy about his hair not looking perfect. She gave up trying that for me, my hair taking on a life of its own no matter how much gel was put in it. I stopped into the bathroom, washing my hands with the rosemary soap my mom made. I saw dirt streaking my face in the mirror. With a deep breath, I scrubbed my face to return it to its normal tan. After messing with the hair the best I could, I walked into my room I shared with my twin. Fred was sitting on his bed, tying his shoes. I walked to my closet and grabbed my reaping clothes. It was a red button up my mom had tailored for me from one of my dad’s old ones and a plain pair of slacks. I pulled my dirty shirt off, replacing it with the one for today. My nose crinkled as I realized just how much swamp smell had soaked into my clothes.
“I didn’t know if you were going to make it, Mom didn’t either. She was really panicking about it.” Fred joked.
“Yeah, I wasn’t going to if Ron hadn’t gotten me. I was in the zone, you know how it gets.”
“I do, but mine is the legal type.”
“Come on, you know you would rather be out there with me in the swamp than gutting fish all day.”
“I really would but we need the money.”
“You could get and go into business with me. It's hard to sneak fish out with just myself but it would be much easier with both of us. Imagine the money we could make and not the pennies Captain Wormtail is giving you.”
“At least he lets me take the small ones home. I’ll tell you what, I’ll ask the Captain for a day off. We can go into the swamp and I’ll see if you can convince me.”
“You have yourself a deal.” I said, struggling to pull my pants on.
I sat down on my bed, pulling a dusty box from under my bed. I opened it and pulled the dress shoes out. The leather had been creased with time and it wouldn’t change from the dull lacquer no matter how many times you tried to shine them. Fred walked out of the room, leaving me alone. We hadn’t talked about it but I could tell how he was feeling from the picked skin on his fingers. Fred didn’t like to talk about this type of stuff, not even with me. I was the same way even with how much my family would try to pry anything out of me. It was normally Ginny or Ron who succeeded in it. I pulled on the black long socks, avoiding the hole in the toes. The stiff leather of the shoes hurt my toes. I could tell they were going to blister. My mom walked into my room as I was tying my shoes. I gave her a smile through the mirror, continuing to tie my shoes. She sat down on the bed next to me, running her fingers through my hair in an attempt to brush it down. My mom was wearing a nice dress embroidered with fish jumping in the air that she made for this day. She had braided her hair in the same way that she braided Ginny’s, enough to get her hair out of her face.
“I didn’t know if you were going to be here on time.”
“I know, I’m sorry about that. I was just getting some dinner. It was a full store today, I got enough for us all to have our own legs tonight. I got us some bread to go with it too.”
“You spoil us, I’ll fry them up tonight. You look very handsome by the way.”
“It’s because I had the best tailor of Panem to help with my shirt.”
“I wouldn’t say the best tailor of Panem.”
“Definitely of District 4.”
“I will take that. How are you feeling?”
“The same I have for the last four years, how are you feeling?”
“I feel the same I have for the last decade. I’m just glad you and Fred age out soon, I finally don’t have to worry about Percy anymore. Speaking of worry, you're missing the most important part of your outfit.” My mom said, pulling a necklace of a silver dragonfly from her pocket. I took it from her, tracing my fingers along the wings.
“Thanks Mom.”
“Do you remember the story behind this?”
“It was a Weasley’s from way back. He gave it to his wife when the war was still going on. He said it would shield her from bad luck.”
“You have to give the story justice when you tell it. It was before the districts were formed.”
“We should probably go now, we don’t want to be late.”
“Ok sweetie, let’s go.”