AN: Hey everyone! I'm here with another new multi-chapter fic. This one is a bit different than anything I've done before for a few reasons. One, I've never done a Hunger Games Au. Two, the chapters are not almost 10k words long. Three, I'll be posting two chapters at a time because they are shorter and each chapter alternates between James and Lily. So every time I update, you'll get to see what Lily is up to and what James is up to. It seemed to work best that way.
I feel like I've been working on this so long, and I hope that you like it.

Lily Evans had gone to bed hungry last night, and she would go to bed hungry tonight as well. That was the way that things had worked here in District 12 since her father had died in a coal mining accident.

Mining accidents were fairly common. Some of them didn't seem like accidents at all, because the men that always ended up getting blown to bits, along with at least half a dozen others, were always those who had spoken out against the Capital, or who had pissed off a Peace Keeper.

The accident that her father had been in truly was an accident, or so Lily chose to believe. David Evans had made sure that his family couldn't become a target to the capital. In public or private he said nothing of his own thoughts on the Capital, though he took Lily out to the woods and taught her how to hunt, how to forage and how to take care of herself. She leaned basic survival skills and never really questioned why her father thought to teach them to her.

After he had passed, she felt like he had known that he was going to die too soon, and he had entrusted Lily with the task of taking care of their family, skipping over his eldest daughter, Petunia.

Petunia was angry and bitter and always complaining about everything. It was hard for her to find a reason to smile, though her mother did a good job of coaxing one or two out of her every few days.

Today was extra horrible.

Today was reaping day.

This meant that everyone under the age of eighteen had to dress up in their best clothes, get as clean as they could and walk toward the center of town, like cows to slaughter. Well, Lily assumed that that's what it was like, though she'd never even seen a cow. She thought that they had some in District 10 and she assumed that the idea was the same whether she'd seen a cow or not. They all walked to their probable death for the carnivorous appetite of the capital, the children and the cows.

She stood in front of the spotted and dirty mirror that hung on the wall across from the hearth. There wasn't a fire lit at the moment, and there wouldn't be for some time. It was too hot, and there was no reprieve from the heat.

"Are you ready, darling?" Her mother walked out, also wearing her best dress. The two dresses were made of the same material, because Lily had found a surplus of the material in the Hob, and her mother had made dresses for both Lily and Petunia and herself. Petunia refused to wear hers when Lily or her mother were wearing theirs.

So, Lily and Rose Evans wore blue frocks, and Petunia wore a slightly tattered floral pattern that she'd been given a few years ago by a neighbor who's eldest daughter had died in the Games. The girl had been Petunia's friend, and she'd cried the first few times that she'd worn it, but she was harder now, more severe.

"I suppose I have to be." Lily said, brushing down the sides of the dress one last time. When she turned around, she was surprised to see that Petunia was there as well.

"It's your last year." She said, looking at her little sister, and Lily could see that there was some emotion swimming just beneath the surface of her blue eyes, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was.

"It is." Lily nodded, not sure if she was ready to be relieved just yet.

"Your name is in too many times." Her mother said, covering her mouth with her hand and shaking her head. Her fingers were a mess. The nails frayed at the edges and coated in dirt. She was almost always working in her herb garden so that she could make remedies for people. Lily told her that she should accept money for the services that she provided, but Lily and her mother both knew that very few people could afford any form of medicine, even Rose's. And so, the service remained free. Though people did sometimes bring them food if they could. Offer their help to fix up the roof or bring them a few extra logs for the winter.

"We have to eat. It's the last year that I'll be able to put my name in for the extra grain."

"I've never liked it." Her mother said, her tone sharp.

"Nor have I." Petunia added, her arms crossed over her chest, boney elbows sticking out through the sleeves of her dress.

"You put your name in extra times for more food." Lily narrowed her brows at her older sister.

"Sure, but not nearly as many times as you have. And I only did it to keep you from doing it so much." Lily had heard her say all of this before, and she was still surprised by it. Her sister wasn't one for showing affection, but then she would blurt out things like this. Once, a few months ago, when Lily was sick, Petunia had snapped at her that she loved her and then stormed off. Apparently, you had to be about to die if you wanted Petunia to show that she cared.

Lily smiled at her anyway, "It's going to be fine. I didn't put my name in that many times anyway. I'm not going to get picked."

And she sounded so sure.

But sentiments like that always turn out to ring in the ears of the loved ones left behind.

It's going to be fine.

I'm not going to get picked.

The reaping was always done in front of the Hall of Justice. Lily took a deep breath as she stepped forward in line. It always felt like someone was kicking her on a bruised shin when she saw the word Justice in big, bold letters, staring out over the groups of children as young as twelve waiting to hear whether or not their government would pay for their death in the most disgusting and extravagant way that they could think of.

"Lily, there you are." Lily turned her head and saw Mary cutting the line as she marched forward, tripping over her feet a little, as her boots were actually her older brothers. "I stopped by your house, but you were already gone.

No one minded that she was cutting the line, they all knew that there was no prize waiting for them when they got to the front, just a pricked finger and a cold stare from the Peace Keepers.

"I got anxious waiting for you. Petunia was about to tell me that she loved me again. I had to get out."

"How many…" Mary bit her lip. "How many times is your name in?"

Lily breathed in through her nose and shrugged one of her shoulders. She didn't want to say the number out loud. She felt like saying it out loud would make the slips of paper with her name on it multiply in the ornate, glass bowl that was sitting up on stage. "Not too many more times than last year."

"That's what you always say. My name is in forty-two times this year." Mary spite out the number like it was a cuss word.

Lily gaped at her. "Forty-two? How did you get that many?"

Mary slouched. "My brother died last year, Lily. My father the year before. I've got three younger siblings and my mom is-" She looked over her shoulder and quieted her voice. "Well she's not much help. I couldn't let the littles starve. Frankie's name is in ten times already." She spit on the ground, ignoring a look from a nearby Peace Keeper and then they moved up the line.

"Well you should have said something."

"How many times is your name in?" She asked again. "I know that your extra food goes to all those people your mom helps. I'm not going to ask you for any."

"My name isn't in as many times as yours." And just like that Lily's worry for herself transferred over to her friend. Her odds were worse, she needed the extra good thoughts being sent her way.

"Good. I'm still not asking you for extra food."

"Fine, but this is my last year. We're going to have to figure something out so that you and your little siblings don't have to ask for extra food next year."

Mary smiled at her, but it wasn't a real smile. It was a 'Sure Lily, that's what we'll do' smile and Lily's stomach tightened uncomfortably. She knew, even as she had said it, that there was really nothing more they could do.

"Next!" And then it was Lily's turn to get her finger pricked.

Her dress started itching when she was standing in front of the stage waiting for the ceremony to begin. Not many people were talking. It was like they were at a funeral for the miners again. A solitary funeral wasn't always a massively somber occasion, but the group funerals were. They always included boys that had just turned eighteen and fathers. People who weren't ready to die and who had people counting on them. Most of the deaths from the mine accidents lead to more deaths. Starvation was the biggest killer in District 12.

There was a tapping on the microphone that shot throughout the town square and Lily flinched before looking up to find Dolores Umbridge standing in the middle of District Twelve, wearing the most obnoxious, hideous pink suit that Lily had ever seen her wear. Dolores had always in their district, for as long as Lily could remember. She was truly terrible and always excited when the younger kids got chosen and always, always, always wore something ugly and pink. This one had what appeared to be cat whiskers and noses on both of the shoulders.

There was nothing specific about it really and regardless of the colorful dress, whenever Lily saw her, she was reminded of a short, stout, grey toad.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the seventy-fourth Hunger Games!"

She started going into the Capital approved speech that she was supposed to read before every reaping and Lily could have recited it from memory at this point, the words both a threat and a promise that the capital would destroy the districts if they dared to rise up against them.

"Alright!" Her voice scratched at the inside of Lily's ears and she had to stop herself from flinching for a second time. "As always, ladies first."

It was always such a switch, from the anger she felt from hearing the words from the Capital, to the fear that overtook her every time she had to stand there, feeling complacent, and listen as one of her friends was called off to die.

The idea that it could be her wasn't lost to her exactly, but it had never seemed like it could really happen. Every year before the reaping she had a nightmare that it was her, but it had always been something that happened to someone else, something that tore someone else's family apart. Because she was needed here, she couldn't go.

Which is why she didn't hear her name get called the first time. She just let out a breath that she'd been holding in when she didn't hear Mary's name get called. But then she felt Mary's hand grip at her tightly, her nails digging into her skin and Lily turned to look at her, her brows narrowed.

"Lily Evans!" Dolores called out again, looking positively gleeful as she scanned the crowd of young girls standing in front of her.

Despite the summer heat, she felt as though someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head, freezing her to the spot. She couldn't look at anyone, she didn't want to see the looks on their faces, so she looked at the tips of her shoes and willed herself to start walking.

She didn't remember walking up to the stage, but one-minute Mary was gripping her hand to the point where she drew blood, and the next minute she was looking out at a sea of faces from the stage. Dolores had her clammy hand on her shoulder as she was congratulating her on being selected for this coveted position, this honor. Lily turned her head and looked at her. She was even more hideous up close.

"Honor?" Lily chocked out. It was not an honor to die a spectacle for the Capital, to know that your family was being forced to watch whatever happened to you back home. One year, there was a girl who tore people's throats out with her teeth. She didn't want her mother or her sister to have to watch someone do that to her.

"Yes," Dolores smiled at her, and Lily could see the hatred in her eyes frothing up to the surface. From this close up it was almost all she could see. "And now, for the boys!"

an: And on to chapter two!

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