Dear Court: I wrote this for your birthday...Because I think yer magical! ILY

This is only BASED on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, so I have taken liberties with dialogue, and locations and such. All historical inaccuracies and mistakes are mine.

Enjoy!

Katniss:

Katniss stands as still as an oak tree, her hands are weighed down in front of her by the harsh metal shackles that grasp her wrists. Her fingers tug at the loose threads that have unraveled from the front of her dirty, tattered dress.

Her teeth sink deeply into her bottom lip to prevent it from quivering, and her breath is trapped in her chest. She tries to keep her chin lifted high, but when her gaze moves up to look upon the white-haired Judge Snow - who sits on the raised wooden bench at the front of the courthouse - his black serpentine eyes pin her where she stands, and the slight upward turn of his lips revealing teeth make Katniss's knees begin to quake.

"Katniss Everdeen," the judge's deep voice booms. "You have been accused and tried for the crime of witchcraft." He pauses, those beady eyes finally leaving her to dart around the crowd behind her. "Katniss Everdeen," he looks to her again. "I hereby find you… guilty of the crime of witchcraft. I sentence you to death by hanging."

"No!" she hears a male voice cry out from behind her. The sound of it brings tears to her eyes. She knows she should continue to blankly stare ahead, but her body betrays her, she turns. Although her vision is blurred, she quickly finds an exhausted and pale, but still beautiful, Peeta Mellark staring back at her. His frantic, wide blue eyes have a sheen of tears and red lines from lack of sleep.

"Please," he begs, never breaking eye contact with her. "She's innocent! I plead with you to reconsider." His gaze snaps past her to Judge Snow.

"Goody Mellark," The judge addresses Peeta's mother, who sits, her head bowed, ashamed of her son's outburst.

"Yes," she responds meekly. Katniss can't remember a time she ever saw the woman so subservient.

"You are to get control over your son this moment, otherwise there will be consequences to his behavior. His mother nods, stands and leans towards her son, whispering something that Katniss cannot hear. The words cannot be soothing in the least - she thinks to herself - as she watches rage redden his cheeks.

The judge - seemingly content with the results of his warning - looks to the guards posted around the room.

"Take the young lady to her cell, where she is to remain until morning breaks. At which point she will be brought to the hill and hanged by the neck until dead."

"No!" Peeta screams again, as the guards descend on Katniss. "Leave her alone!" he wails and the tears begin to spill down his cheeks as he tries to run towards her, but his brother traps him in his arms and holds him tightly, as he thrashes to get away.

"Primrose," he cries out to Katniss's younger sister who sits among the accusers, a group of girls whose finger pointing lead to this witch hunt. Although Primrose was not the one to accuse her own sister, she sat by and did nothing while the others singled Katniss out. "Tell them you made a mistake, Primrose. Tell them this isn't right." Katniss watches her sister stay deathly still staring at the folded hands in her lap. When she won't look up at him, he becomes more enraged. "God help you, Prim. She's your sister!"

"Enough!" Judge Snow barks. "Get him out of here, or he will also be dead by morning."

Peeta looks to her once more, defeat apparent on his face, white hot tears streak his cheeks, his eyes are almost black, his mouth is twisted in pain.

"I love you," she whispers to him, and she regrets that this is the final time she will be able to say this to him.

"I love you, Katniss Everdeen!" he wails as his family drags him out of the courtroom. "I love you, I love…"

The door slams shut, and the room is filled with quiet muttering, mostly about how the poor Mellark boy has been put under a spell by the devil.

Two guards grab Katniss by the arms and lead her out of the room. She takes one last fleeting glance at her sister, but the girl doesn't look at her at all, and so Katniss turns away from her forever.

That night the guards show her a small mercy, and feed her a hearty meal of gamey meat and root vegetables. It is the most she has eaten since being locked away two weeks prior.

While lying on her cot, she stares out the small barred window in her dingy cell. She sees that the last rays of light have begun to dissolve into the darkened sky; her last sunset.

She shuts her eyes as tightly as she can, until white stars begin to burst behind her eyelids and her head starts to hurt. Tears leak past her lids as she opens them again. She wishes she could see Peeta one last time. Share one last look, one last embrace, one last kiss.

She has loved Peeta since she was a girl of only twelve. She remembers the day as if it were yesterday. Her mother and father had recently succumbed to sickness, leaving Katniss and her younger sister in the care of their widowed, elderly aunt Sae.

It had been a rough winter that struggled to become spring. Katniss's mood matched the grayness all around her. Loneliness and despair over the loss of both her parents threatened to consume her whole. That day had been so much worse than the ones before it, that is until she looked up and saw him.

Peeta Mellark - the bread-maker's boy- she had known him her whole life, yet they never spoke. But now he was watching her, a small smile on his face. She swears he is glowing, as if the gold strands of his hair broke through the drab sky and pulled with it rays of springtime sun. The sight of him takes her breath away.

She watches his cerulean eyes move down and pinpoint a bit of earth just at her feet. When she looks down, to her surprise, standing tall, is a blazing orange flower she hadn't noticed before; a dandelion, the first one of spring. A small reminder that winter can't last forever.

Katniss reaches down and plucks the flower out of the ground by its bright green stem. She examines it carefully, taking in the different orange and yellow hues. A smile tugs on her lips. When she looks up Peeta is standing just a few feet from her, looking at the dandelion with an expression that reminds her of relief, then he looks up at her.

"Hello," he says softly.

"Hello," she responds.

From that moment on, they were inseparable.

As they grew older, the woods that surrounded their village became their home away from home. It is where they played, pretended, climbed trees, and eventually shared secret kisses and sacred promises. In the woods they were free from the judgement and cruelty of the real world.

How Katniss wishes she was there right now.

Sleep somehow finds her easily that night. There were no dreams, just infinite darkness. Even while asleep she wonders if this will be what it's like to die.

She is awoken by the sound of her cell door opening. The shadow of the guard blocks the early morning light from entering the small room.

"It's time," he tells her, then leaves the room to allow her to get ready.

Katniss has just finished up her braid, when the guard opens the door again. Wordlessly Katniss walks out. The shackles are placed back on her wrists, she winces when the cold metal rubs against the welts on her skin.

She walks into the early morning air, everything around her smells like dew, and she finds herself gulping breaths, savoring her last day on earth.

The guards help her into a cart and one of them climbs in to sit next to her. The older man does not seem to be afraid of her, instead she can see there is pity apparent on his face. She ponders begging for her life.

On the ride to the large hill where she will be hanged she quietly names all the different types of trees and birds she sees along the way, locking the images deep inside in hopes she can take them with her.

The cart comes to a stop. Katniss lets her eyes flutter shut, and she takes a long shaky breath. When she opens her eyes a few minutes later she finds a small crowd has gathered; she scans it quickly. When she finds Peeta is missing she feels a sharp pang in her heart.

"It's better this way," she whispers to herself. "Why would you want Peeta to see this?" She knows she is right, but it doesn't stop the lump in her throat from forming, making it difficult to breath.

Men have begun to tie a rope around the branch of the tree that the cart paused under. Sweat begins to form on her brow now, and her hands begin to shake. She is so close to the end, and she has never felt so alone in her life. She wonders if her neck breaking will hurt, or will the instant pass without her notice. She thinks back to whispers she heard in the jail, about how sometimes the neck doesn't break at all, and the person must slowly strangle to death instead. Although she has little faith that there is a higher being, she still prays that when death comes for her it will come swiftly.

The men have finally fashioned the noose, and one of them loops it over Katniss's head, and lets it rest around her shoulders. She shudders and lets out a little cry when the rope touches her skin.

The minister has begun to recite the "Our Father", but she pays no attention, instead she scans the crowd frantically, waiting, but for what?

No one is going to come for you, no good-byes, or governor pardons, she chides herself. So stand tall, keep your chin up, everything will be ok soon. She nods to herself, takes one last gulp of air, and looks out onto the horizon. When asked if she has anything to say she shakes her head. She was never good with words anyway.

The next thing she hears is someone yelling for the horses attached to the cart to move. They do so with a jolt, and before Katniss knows it she has lost her footing. She scrunches her eyes tight, and waits.

A loud bang startles her eyes open, and a moment later she hits the ground. The wind is efficiently knocked out of her, but from what she can tell her neck is still in one piece. The noose still dangles around her shoulders.

She hears screaming coming from in front of her, but there is a cloud of smoke so thick she can't see a thing. A strong hand grasps her arm, and she tries desperately to wrench it away.

"Katniss," she hears a whisper. She looks up to find it is Peeta who has a hold of her. "Hurry we have to go now." Peeta pulls the rope from her neck, and helps her to her feet. He takes her hand in his and begins to run in the direction of the treeline. They continue to run until the screams and cries fade away into the distance. Peeta finally stops.

"Peeta," she gasps for air, "How…" But before she can finish her question, his lips are on her's. Peeta's hands move up to cup her cheeks, as his mouth slants over hers. Her lips swell before he pulls away, he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her flush against him.

"Katniss, I...I thought I was going to lose you… I thought my plan wasn't going to work, that you were going to die." His voice cracks, and he buries his face into her neck, leaving soft kisses on the exposed skin.

"I'm alive," she reassures him, but a moment later she pulls away from him. "But how?" she asks. A small smile appears on Peeta's face.

"I found a way to tamper with the rope before you arrived," he beams proudly. "So when you fell, it would break."

"And the smoke?"

"Just a bit of gunpowder," he grins, but adds quickly, "don't worry no one was hurt, it was just a distraction so we could escape." His mood sobers a bit before he speaks again "But they most certainly believe you are guilty of witchcraft now, I'm afraid." Katniss plays what he has told her over and over again in her head, feeling her heart lighten considerably.

"Peeta!" she exclaims, and jumps into his arms. She kisses his face over and over again. "You saved me!" she states gleefully. Peeta spins her in his arms, They laugh, while Katniss continues to plant kisses all over his face and neck.

"What do we do now?" she asks when he lets her down. She knows she has survived, but she will never be able to go home to her village again.

"We start a new life," he responds with a small shrug. "One where we can be together always." She feels her stomach flutter at the sound of it. "Come on," he takes her hand once more. "We still have a ways to travel before we can rest." Katniss nods in agreement, and they set off, moving deeper into the woods.

A few hours have passed when they stop again. They approach a group of rocks, which surround an opening into a cave. Peeta walks inside, his hand still gripping hers tightly. Just beyond the mouth of the cave, Katniss spots a couple of sacks, a few water skins and quite a number of blankets lining the cave floor.

"When did you do this?" she asks him with complete wonder.

"Yesterday, after I left the courtroom," she smiles gratefully at him. She can't believe she ever thought that Peeta would abandon her.

They feast on some of the food Peeta has packed, including a hearty brown bread. Peeta leaves the cave so that Katniss can change into one of the sets of clothing he has brought for her.

When she has finished, she leaves the cave to go find Peeta. It doesn't take her long to spot him, leaning against a large pine tree, observing her like a wolf does its prey. The sight of him makes her heart hammer inside her chest.

He advances boldly towards her. All she can do is release a small squeak, when he grabs her face again, pushing his lips against hers, moving her back until her body hits another pine tree. His burning lips move from her mouth, to her jaw, down her neck, before making a return trip.

"I am completely in love with you," he utters against her lips. She moans quietly at his words. "Can I show you how much?" She smiles. As if risking his own life to save her from certain death weren't testament enough to his devotion to her, but she nods in agreement anyway.

Peeta's hands shake as they reach up to the strings of her bodice that she just tied up moments ago. His fingers pull at the strings until the material separates, and he is able to push it off of her. His fingers collect the loose material of her blouse, holding it tightly. His eyes connect with hers, asking permission, she nods her consent.

He lets go of the cloth, and slides his hand under the off-white blouse finding her warm flesh with his splayed fingers. She leans into his touch. Her nipples harden and press against the thin material of her shirt.

Slowly his hand inches it's way up her flat stomach until the tips of his fingers brush against the swell of her breast. Katniss sucks in a sharp breath and his movement stills.

In all the years they have been in love, they have never gone this far, but now things have changed. The only judgement now comes from themselves and all that matters is that they both want this, and Katniss does want this, desperately.

"It's alright, Peeta." Her words of encouragement barely a whisper, but they are enough and he moves to cover her whole breast with his hand, squeezing it gently. He pulls up the material of her blouse exposing her skin to the bite of early spring.

Peeta leans forward to take her taut nipple gently into his mouth, first by touching the very tip with his tongue, then by wrapping his lips around the dusky flesh. The combination of cold air and Peeta's warm mouth causes her to groan loudly, the sound of her pleasure echoing through the trees that surround them.

Peeta plants warm, open-mouthed kisses onto the soft flesh of her breast before pulling away.

"Peeta," her voice is strained, aching for more of something she has never had before.

Peeta answers her plea by sweeping her into his arms at once and carrying her back into the cave. He lays her down gently in a bed of quilts. His eyes rake up and down her reverently, then he finds her lips with his, just a single kiss before he goes to work removing her long skirt.

Katniss shivers when she is finally exposed for him to see. She watches him lick his lips hungrily then he dips his head towards her center. Her hand moves to stop him.

"What are you doing?" She asks nervously.

"I wanted to try something," he responds looking bashful. She swallows her nerves and nods once.

"Ok," her voice wavers.

He leans forward once more and gently kisses that thatch of black curls that cover her center. She shivers at feeling his touch there. His kisses find the opening between the lips. She feels his tongue come out to move up and down the slit, and push its way inside. She hisses at the new sensation. His movement halts suddenly, but when she doesn't move to stop him he continues. Peeta's tongue dives deep inside of her, swirling around, and bathing the small nub of flesh at the apex of her thighs.

"Oh," she moans loudly. His tongue pays special attention to the area that elicited such a sound from her, making wet circles around it, occasionally dipping inside of her again.

She can't remember ever feeling this way, this amount of intensity, and want, and desire. She watches him as he pleasures her in a way she never thought possible, and she swears he is glowing again, just like that day so many years ago. Even in this dark cave, she feels like she is in the presence of the sun.

Her skin begins to burn, her body hums, her moans bounce off the walls of the cave. Finally something snaps deep inside, she shudders uncontrollably and cries out a string of garbled words that could be considered demonic. Peeta continues to lick at her gently, slower now, until he finally pulls away when her shudders subside. He leans over and kisses her top lip.

"I want you," he tells her plainly. She can't be sure what he means, but she can guess, and she aches for it too.

"I want you," she responds breathlessly.

Peeta smiles a boyish grin. She can't help but stare at his face, at his strong jaw, at the soft contours of his lips, and the way the golden strands of his hair fall in waves over his forehead.

He quickly undoes his pants, pulling himself free with a soft groan. He nudges her legs apart, then positions himself between them and leans down to push against her entrance, slow at first, until he slides into her.

In the beginning everything burns, almost to the point of pain, but as her body accepts more of him, the burning goes away and leaves her able to focus on other things. The slickness between her legs, the concentrated look on Peeta's face, The heat of his mouth as it kisses all her exposed skin. The way her stomach swoops each time he moves deep inside of her. Peeta chants words of devotion into her ear, moaning every few breaths, causing her to shudder.

Peeta's thrusts eventually become shallow and erratic. His breathing has turned to pants. He stills above her, making a guttural noise, then gasps. He leans forward and kisses her lips, nose and cheeks then rolls off of her, collapsing on to the ground next to her.

"I love you," she whispers to him after catching her breath, and she is sure it has never been more true.

"I love you," he responds. "So very much," he pulls a loose quilt over both of them, and a few moments later an emotionally and physically spent Katniss drifts off to sleep.

When they awake the next morning, a blanket of snow has covered the earth. It's not unusual for snow to fall this time of year, but Katniss worries it will hinder their travel. Peeta, however, has seemingly thought of everything. The sacks which she thought couldn't have held much seem to be a cornucopia of items both of them will need to survive. Heavy coats, and even a pair of work boots small enough to fit Katniss. If she couldn't feel the soft pelt jacket against her skin, she would have believed it was nothing but a fantasy.

After eating, and packing their supplies they leave the cave, and begin trekking further into the forest.

"Will you miss your family?" Katniss asks after a bit of silence. Peeta contemplates the question.

"My mother, no. I am certain she was the one who convinced the girls to accuse you." animosity drips from his words, but Katniss isn't surprised by this revelation at all. She knows Peeta's mother has hated that Katniss is in her son's life

"But what about your brothers? Your father?" Peeta shrugs.

"I'll think fondly of them from time to time," he sighs "But I will never regret what I did." He looks over to her. "You're the one I wasn't going to be able to survive without." She smiles broadly at his words.

"What about you?" he asks her a short time later. "Will you miss your family?"

"You're my family," she answers truthfully. He takes her hand in his, their fingers entwine and they continue to move.

The day goes by without incident, but late into the afternoon Katniss stops short, her ears detecting a sound coming from their right.

"Shhh," she says before he has a chance to question the stop, but when he turns his head towards the direction of the sound she knows he hears it too. It is not the sound of animals, but of men moving this way.

She checks their surroundings, but the trees are thinner in this area, and there are no boulders to hide behind. She looks to Peeta, whose face reflects her own worry. He squeezes her hand tighter.

"I won't let them take you," He vows as he clenches his jaw. Katniss's teeth begin to chatter, but she tightens her other fist. It's not just her she needs to worry about, Peeta will be killed for his part in her escape if they are caught.

"We need to run," she states. Without hesitation they sprint though the clumps of trees, desperately trying to get away from the angry search party hunting for the witch that got away. But no matter how fast they run, they can still hear the men coming.

"We're surrounded," Katniss gasps. She doesn't even have time to grasp at Peeta's hand when a group of men move through the trees, and advance towards them.

"Oh no," Katniss whimpers quietly, staring wide-eyed at the mob, waiting for them to make a move.

But none of the men move to grab her, or Peeta. Their hunting dogs sniff the ground near her feet, but they do not attack. None of the hunters look at her, but seem to look right through her instead as if she weren't standing a mere inches from them. The men move quickly away from the area with their dogs in tow. Katniss collapses to the ground as soon as they are gone, hugging herself, as tears begin to stream down her face.

"Katniss," Peeta drops to his knees by her side. "It's ok, they're gone, we're safe."

"But how?" Katniss demands. "They couldn't see us, why couldn't they see us?," she has become hysterical, and Peeta watches her, worry etched on his face.

"It's foggy out, maybe it masked us," Katniss snorts in disbelief, "Or maybe it was snow blindness," he adds unconvincingly. "But we need to move now. I don't trust that we will be as lucky next time." Katniss nods in agreement, she rises to her feet, and wipes her face with the heel of her hand. Peeta leans towards her and kisses her lips gently, coaxing a smile from her. We're safe, she tells herself. She takes a deep breath, and grabs Peeta's hand. They were lucky, but Peeta is right, they are not safe here. So they begin to walk again.

Katniss tries to make sense of what has just happened, but nothing seems to be right, no reasoning seems to stick. She has a feeling that Peeta isn't telling her everything. He seemed too at ease with what happened, but her questions can wait. And even though she is confused she knows one thing to be certain.

As long as we're together nothing else matters.

Peeta:

Peeta loves the feel of Katniss's hand in his. The surprising warmth and strength that come from such a small and delicate thing. He loves everything about Katniss, and has since they were very young, long before she even knew he existed. She is his lover, his best friend, and now his partner for whatever life might throw their way, but even she doesn't know his secret.

The first time he remembered doing something unnatural he was no older than four. He had accidentally sat too close to the fire with one of his mother's favorite quilts and the corner of it set on fire. He hoped he could hide the char, but the area was too damaged. He knew his mother would take a switch to him when she saw. He was scared so he began to pray frantically, all the while running the scorched material through his hands. A few moments later he looked down to find the burns were gone, just in time for her mother to walk in and warn him sternly about sitting too close to the fire.

He thought it was a gift, but knew others wouldn't see it that way. Not when the old minister spoke in church about the fire and brimstone that would befall anyone who didn't follow God's plan. The villagers would string him up by the neck for sure if they knew the truth. So he kept it a secret only using it when he really needed to.

The first time he used his gift for Katniss they were twelve. He had already been in love with her for years at this point, but never had the nerve to say anything.

Occasionally he thought about casting some sort of charm on her, to get her to fall in love with him, but he didn't think he could live knowing that their love was not genuine.

But that day so many springs ago, she had looked so sad and had so for weeks. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her smile and he yearned to see it again.

It was a simple spell, just a flower, but the way Katniss's face glowed at the sight of it you would have thought the dandelion was made of gold.

Her smile made him brave, and when he was just inches from her, and her silver eyes looked to him, he knew he would spend the rest of his life trying to make this girl happy.

As the years went on he stopped using charms, he had enough magic in his life. And when innocent people began dying for the crime of witchcraft he was very careful not to even entertain the idea of doing something that would attract attention.

That is until Katniss was accused by his spiteful mother and the jealous girls in the village.

When the judge sentenced her death it was like the air had been sucked out of Peeta's lungs and he was sure he was never going to be able to breathe again.

He worried his white magic wouldn't work, he had never tried anything so intricate before. He had been so sick to his stomach knowing that just one mistake and he was going to lose Katniss forever.

But the plan had worked flawlessly, the rope broke and the ball of exploding smoke confused and scared everyone long enough for Peeta and Katniss to escape.

Of course he hadn't thought to plan for snow when he frantically packed getaway bags, but it was easy enough to add those supplies with a flick of his wrist.

It had surprised him how quickly the hunters caught up with them, and for a moment he was sure all was lost, but they didn't see them, couldn't smell them, couldn't touch them. Peeta had been surprised he could pull off something so strong.

So they managed to escape and now he and Katniss walk hand in hand heading forward to begin their new lives together. He knows the excitement of escaping has quelled her questions for now, but he also knows he will have to answer all of them soon.

But he's not as worried as he thought he would be when faced with exposing a part of him that he's kept hidden for so long. He trusts Katniss with his heart, and as long as they are together nothing else matters.

As they walk he carefully reaches behind him, waves his hand and covers their tracks with snow as they go.

Thank you so much for reading, but more importantly many thanks to Court's parents for getting it on, so I could have one of the best, most awesome, hysterically funny, smartest, giving and loveliest people in my life...ILY

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