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Nepenthe by Thelightingpillar
Fandoms: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies), Sunrise On The Reaping - Suzanne Collins
06 Oct 2026
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Summary
"Nothing's this nice for free."
Louella McCoy doesn't die on the parade route, and everything after that shifts a little.
Without a body to carry down the avenue, there is no defiant Haymitch for the Capitol to fear. It gets a boy with a sister to look after, a flock of District 6 kids who think he hung the moon, and a girl at home who has his heart "in her pocket." When the gong sounds, he could run for the trees. Instead he turns around and shouts for the others.
Or: the one where Haymitch is too gentle to be a threat, too loved to be silenced, and becomes the one thing the Capitol can't afford: a victor everyone trusts.
The more they love the sweetheart of the Games, the less they notice who is holding the door open.