---The Platform---

The girl looked in the mirror mounted above the bathroom skin. With one hand over the other she slowly formed her black hair into a single braid behind her head. It was always the easiest way to keep the hair out of her face when she was doing her daily chores or reading. She slowly turned the faucet handle, cupping the water into her hands before leaning forward and gently immersing her face with it. She bent over the bathroom counter with a sort of submission, her forearms resting on the countertop to either side of her. Letting the cool liquid slowly slide from her face, the tiny drops hit the small white sink before slipping down the drain in an almost soothing manner. The girl stayed like this for a moment before raising herself to the mirror again.

She grabbed the towel from the rack to her right and wiped the remaining dampness from her sharp nose and high cheekbones. Double checking the mirror for anything she might have missed in her morning routine, she slowly hooked the stems of her thinly rimmed glasses over her ears. As the lenses slipped in front of her eyes, the green face in the glass before her became focused. She had on her old simple blue blazer paired with a run-of-the-mill skirt of a similar color. She was as ready as she'd ever be for this day.

"Elphaba?" A young female voice called from down the hallway.

"What is it?" Elphaba echoed back, turning her face from the mirror.

"Would you mind helping me with a few things?" The voice said in an almost too polite way.

Without delay, Elphaba made her way down the hall, making a turn at an open door. She leaned her forearm against the doorframe of her sisters room, drifting her brown eyes downward. The small room that was usually kept exceptionally neat was now covered with half a dozen half packed suitcases, splayed out across the hardwood floor. In the center of the room sat Nessarose in her wheelchair. Embarrassed, she pointed her small porcelain hand towards the top shelf of the nearby closet.

Elphaba sighed.

"If you needed help packing you should have said something, Nessa." Elphaba sighed as she went to fetch the desired trinket box from the top shelf.

This was the way it had been ever since Elphaba could remember. Although bound to a wheelchair from birth, Nessa, who was two years younger than Elphaba, was blessed with not having the same unfortunate green skin as Elphaba. Their father saw Nessarose as the "normal" child he had always wanted and he treated her the way he had always imagined having a daughter, giving her everything he could to show his affection and always treating her like a princess. Unfortunately, Melena had passed away during childbirth. Frex saw Nessa as the last reminder he had of his beloved wife, bearing her exact same blue eyes and mousy brown hair. Unlike Elphaba, who was seldom aloud to leave the house, Nessa went with her father every time he went out. Nessa had always done wonders for his career as well. The people he governed had begun to see Frex as kind and admirable man who would do anything to help his daughter feel normal in her tragic state, and less like the father of some monster. Elphaba, when not causing an embarrassment to her father, was simply there to assist him in taking care of Nessa. Nessa was his true daughter, and Elphaba was to simply there to help him in his delivery of never ending kindness towards her.

While always being very over protective of Nessa in her limited state, Frex had always avoided ever sending his daughter abroad for schooling. Instead, he had arranged for a tutor to come to the house to teach Nessa, and by default, Elphaba (as she was never aloud to leave the house). However, what they had learned as girls was mostly just the practical reading and writing skills, both of them had yet to learn to harness magical abilities.

Now that Nessa had turned fifteen, she had expressed to her father that she felt she was old enough to attend a real school. At first, Frexspar was not big on the idea of sending his daughter away, expressing that there would be no one to look after her while at school. Nessa quickly proposed that Elphaba would be able to go with her, as she naturally had no commitments. Frex thought this to be an even worse idea. Ever since Elphaba was a young girl she had always had a certain "reaction" to magic. With out any training in the magical arts, Elphaba had had the ability to caste (or more like cause) spells. Lights would flicker violently, objects were known to morph or be thrown across the room, Elphaba had even caused a lighting bolt to strike the house of boy down the street who had made fun of her green skin. Although because he could see that Nessa wanted to attended, he decided to over look it and agreed to let Nessa attend Hogwarts in the fall. Although Frex had always had a strong loathing for his eldest child, (especially after the passing of his wife) he could not deny that in his absence, she had always taken care of Nessa.

Elphaba let out a small yawn just as she gave the small box to her sister, stretching her arms out slightly.

"Please don't tell me you were up early reading again." Nessa said sticking up her nose at her sister as she quickly took the item and placed it in a nearby suitcase. Although she had always been flawed from the waist down, Nessarose's appearance was not without compensation. Nessarose had the slender and pretty face of a model, complete with flawless skin. While Elphaba's figure was straight up and down and at times quite rigid and awkward looking, Nessa had fit well into her young and flattering fifteen-year-old curves.

"At least I already packed." Elphaba smiled to herself. She parked herself on the floor to help with the suitcases. Although Elphaba was forced to look after her sister, she always found a small joy in seeing her comments get a rise out of Nessa. Ever since the two sisters were little, most of their conversations were limited, that is until Nessa needed something. Every day, Elphaba would prepare meals and help her sister get around the house and never would she hear any means of thanks or gratification. The strange thing was that however odd their relationship was, Nessa's presence had always given Elphaba a sense of purpose in what little life she had.

"All of those things you read are nonsense." Nessarose's face soured, clearly unamused. "Old books on the history of Animal rights you're into now, isn't it?"

"What could be more important than history? It's an absolute injustice some of the things that have happened over the centuries to Animals! If we don't pay attention and study these events that have happened they will happen again!" Elphaba said to her sister sincerely.

"Elphaba." Nessa said with pained voice, slowly rolling her eyes so that her sister would understand the full effect of her annoyance that she was yet again bringing up the importance of something.

"All I'm saying is that it wouldn't hurt you to be informed." Elphaba stated, raising her hands in defense just before closing the last of Nessa's suitcases. Elphaba turned her head away from her sister's chair for moment. It was simply no use to try and inform her sister of such things.

"Pumpkin!" A man's voice rang out from the doorway, causing both girl's heads to pop up in unison. Nessa greeted the sound of the voice with a bright smile, while Elphaba however, lowered her head right back down in instant realization that that particular tone of voice was not meant for her.

Frexspar Thropp was a fairly tall man with a presence that seemed to reflect that of paperwork knowledge. With his broad shoulders and stern face, his voters always saw him as a sort of beacon of protection and hope in a world of injustice for muggle-borns. He was now in his late forties and although a victim of male pattern baldness, he took the road that many in the same situation do and decided to shave his head in it's entirety.

"Father!" Nessarose said as she wheeled her chair towards the door in order to meet her father half way in a warm embrace. All six-foot-four of Frexspar had to lean over in order to hug his daughter. They hugged for a moment before their father returned to his full height once more, not so much as making eye contact with Elphaba. The green girl proceeded to gather the six suitcases, organizing them upright against the wall. Nessa always loved to play up the favorite daughter role in front of Elphaba in an attempt to put her in her place. Elphaba always wondered who Nessa thought she was fooling.

"You're going to miss the train if we don't hurry sweetheart." Frexspar said with a kind smile as he placed a hand on his daughters shoulder. "And I have a special surprise for you when we get to the platform." Nessa giggled as he moved around to the back of Nessa's chair and began to ease her through the doorway.

Elphaba was left to sit there for a moment in silence.

"Elphaba!" A stern voice barked. "Suitcases now! Or Nessa will be getting on that train without you."

Bingo, she thought. That was the voice that she got to listen to.

---

Although the carriage ride to platform nine and three quarters was only an hour away from their town, to Elphaba, who knew that she would merely be a caretaker in this entire adventure, it felt like the entire morning would never end. As the carriage pulled to a stop at the edge of the platform, Elphaba glanced out the window in utter amazement. Kings Cross could be described only as industrial; loud whistles blasted as the large trains pulled in and out of the station noisily. Steam from the trains filled the air. Hundreds of young witches and wizards scurried across platform nine and three quarters. They were chatting happily with their friends and kissing their parents goodbye.

Elphaba took a deep breath and placed her hand on the door handle, she had hoped it wouldn't be this crowded. As soon as she opened the carriage door one pair of eyes after another turned to face her. Some looked sick as if about to faint, while other simply burst out in a sort of panicked laughter, not knowing what else to do. Elphaba, went around to the trunk of the carriage to retrieve the luggage, being sure to keep her head down as to pretend to not notice all of the people staring at her. Frex helped Nessa and her wheelchair out of the carriage, his face flushing violet under the eyes of all the people looking at Elphaba. He glanced at Elphaba as she lifted the suitcases out of the back, scolding her mean-fully with his eyes. Elphaba sighed. What did he expect her to do? If she had stayed in the carriage, he would have gotten mad for not getting the bags. There was no winning with him. He seemed to have it in his head that she wanted to attract attention just to embarrass him.

As the three moved across the platform to the Hogwarts express, Elphaba tried her best to not draw attention to herself in an attempt to not anger her father even more. Both Nessa and Elphaba were taken back by the time they had reached their destination. In was unlike anything they had ever seen before; the train, while being bright red in color was nearly twice the size of the other trains. Both sister's jaws dropped slightly as they read the golden letters painted on the side that boldly read in capitals "HOGWARTS".

"Oh father!" Nessa said with utter joy as she reached up for yet another hug. "This is like a dream come true!"

"I'm so glad pumpkin." Frex said with the brightest of smiles. He reached to get a small box from atop of the pile of luggage that Elphaba still held and knelt down beside his daughters chair. "These belonged to your mother." Nessa gasped. He lifted the lid off the box to reveal a pair of silver shoes that would have put the sparkles of a thousand diamonds to shame.

"For me?" Nessa said in her, what Elphaba liked to call "Nessa's utterly amazed face".

Who else? He's sure not giving them to me. Elphaba thought while rolling her eyes and continuing to stand there with the suitcases.

"Yes, they are all for you my dear." He put the lid back on the box and placed it on Nessa's lap. "They are befitting of someone who will one day take my place as governor."

"Oh father!" Nessa squealed in her "Nessa's really utterly amazed face".

"Yes Pumpkin," He nodded with a small laugh. "and there is no doubt in my mind that you will make a fine one."

Behind the suitcases that hid her face, Elphaba made a brief gagging noise.

Nessa embraced her father in one last hug before two young men in red suits stepped off the train. One of the men proceeded to help Nessa onto the train. The other, who looked so taken back by Elphaba's appearance that he could have jumped out of his skin, quickly grabbed the bags and began to make his way to the storage car near the back of the train. Elphaba sighed at him and motioned to follow the first man and her sister. The green girl was just about to step onto the train when a large hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned to see her father's cold piercing eyes.

"Remind me." Frexspar scolded. "Why are you getting on this train?

Elphaba's eyes fell to the ground. She knew what was coming.

"To take care of Nessa." She said flatly as if an automatic response.

"That's right, and if I hear anything about you causing any," he repeated through his teeth "any trouble at all I will have no problem putting you on this train again to come straight back here. Is that understood?"

Elphaba raised her eyes to meet her fathers face again, this time with her own sense of anger.

"But you know I've gotten better at controlling--"

Frexspar tightened his grip immensely. The pain from the man's hand caused Elphaba to want to flinch, but Elphaba refused to give her father the satisfaction.

"Yes, it's understood." She said without so much as a crack or wince in her voice as her eyes fell to the ground again.

"Good." He spat, releasing his death grip on Elphaba. He swiftly turned and began to walk back to the carriage without so much as another word. The green girl stood watching after her father in anger for a moment just as the whistle on the crimson train blew. An announcement sounded overhead:

"Last call for Hogwarts! Last Call!"

Elphaba turned and stepped onto the train. For the first time in her life she realized that for once she wouldn't have to answer to her father. Now that she was leaving, she would no longer have to take his looks of shame or hate. Although she was still under his rules to take care of Nessa, this was the closest thing to freedom she could get, and she was glad to take it.

"At least one good thing will come out of this."She sighed.

---

Down the platform, another girl had just stepped onto the Hogwarts Express.

She pulled out her compact mirror just in time to see the train doors close behind her in its reflection. She turned her attention to her face and smiled. Her eyes were the richest of all blues, each sparkling between two sets of lashes perfectly applied with mascara. On her full pink lips lay a newly applied layer of moist lipgloss. She slowly swiveled her head to further examine her rosy cheeks for a moment before lifting the mirror further out and upwards to examine her head. Her hair was very artfully tied back into a tight bun behind her head, complete with a stylish white hat that let just a few tendrils of curly blonde hair fall to the side of her face. She flipped her golden locks.

Galinda Upland could have looked at herself in the mirror all day. In fact, Galinda could recall several days when she had done just that. Trying all of the different hair styles in existence with her expensive ever-growing wardrobe to get one that was just perfect for every occasion. Always a short and sporty style for outings, usually a tennis skirt with a relatively simple hairstyle that wouldn't be blowing about her face if a wind picked up. An elegant up do and ball gown for dinner parties and social events that would be sure to keep others attention all evening. Today being a day of travel, she decided on a fairly conservative outfit: an eggshell colored, long sleeved, button-over jacket that hugged her full curves closely accompanied with a loosely pleaded white skirt and sparkling silver heels.

She put her mirror back into her small hand bag which, naturally, matched the color of her top. She would have loved to have had a day of admiring herself but the jerk of the train pulling out of the station reminded her that now was not the time. Right now, what was important was getting back into the social scene that would make or break her seventh and final year at Hogwarts.

Galinda smiled with joy. That would be easy.

Galinda grabbed hold of the nearest handle bar to steady herself with the trains movement. She looked down the hallway of the car of the train. It was just as she had always seen it, lush dark red interior with highlights of silver here and there. The hall was empty, as everyone had already found their seat in a compartment. Galinda could have kicked herself for being late. It was all came down to finding a seat before...

"Miss Galinda!" a soft, scottish male voice said from the compartment to her right.

Oh please, she said to herself, anyone but him. As she turned her head her fear was confirmed.

"Blick!" Galinda said, putting forth a bright grin.

"It's Boq." The boy said in a shy, forgiving smile.

"Close enough!" she quickly giggled forcing an even brighter expression to mask her annoyance. At age fifteen, Boq was a mere five feet from head to toe, but what he lacked vertically he made up for in persistence. Boq had been a thorn in Galinda's side since her third year at Hogwarts. Every time she tried to go anywhere on the school grounds she couldn't turn around and seeing his face, albeit, she did have to turn around and look down to see him. He would constantly follow her and her friends around between classes, doing anything to get her attention.

"I'll See you later!"

Galinda motioned to start down the narrow hallway.

"Wait Miss Galinda!" He persisted. He nervously shifted his weight from one foot to the other. It was hard to say which foot however, the black school robe he wore dragged on the ground due to his inability to fill out the length of it.

"Yes?" Galinda said, giving a hard, frustrated blink before turning to face Boq with a forced smile yet again.

"As I'm sure you already know," he said nervously. It caught him off-guard completely that he actually got a response. "I'm going to be joining you as prefect this year for Hufflepuff".

"Is that a fact?" She said through her teeth. Galinda had been prefect for the last two years. Normally, the role went to the student with highest grades but Galinda's fellow classmates appealed to the teachers of how charismatic and skilled of a leader she was. Eventually she was granted the position.

Although she would never let her house-mates see, Galinda often looked at being a prefect as terrible bore. She was forced to attend two whole meetings every single month on the importance of student safety and leadership. It could be a total strain, but then, who was she to deny those who simply adored her? She would just have to play the martyr, she always told herself (or at least, she thought "martyr" was the right word, maybe it was "maraca"?). Of course, the perks of being a prefect; her own private room complete with a full bathroom and an the all important extended curfew, did make it easier on her.

This is just perfect. Galinda would have to think of some way out of this. The last thing she needed was for him to have an excuse to be around her.

A brief moment of silence past on the train.

"But of course... " His almond eyes panicked in fear that he had said something wrong. "... not that I'm bragging or anything! Anyone can be prefect... well no... I don't mean anyone as obviously you're prefect but I just..."

Galinda gave an inward sigh. This was just getting painful. Anything was better than watching the boy in front of her continue to dig himself into a hole. She would just have to put up with it this time. She decided that she would figure out a way to get rid of him more long-term later.

Remember Galinda, she told told herself, be a maraca!

She swallowed hard and stepped forward. This was going to be a long trip.

"Bop, dearest. " Galinda said, linking arms with him flirtatiously, she patted his hand delicately in an attempt to quiet him.

Boq's face lit up like a Christmas tree. He couldn't have stopped to correct her on his name even if he wanted to, in fact, he wasn't able to say anything at all. He stood frozen for a moment before Galinda carried on.

"Now," Galinda pouted and made puppy-dog eyes at him, "why don't you tell me all about your summer?" She motioned Boq into the compartment and sat down across from him.

"Uh, well..." he managed to spurt out.

Galinda gave him an encouraging smile, as if to say "go on".

"I visited my uncle's sheep farm in Scotland, in the muggle realm of course," he began shyly with a nervous look on his face, "and he told me that if it wasn't for--" He was interrupted by a young voice in the hallway.

"The sweater, remember? Don't you remember that wool sweater my aunt sent me during the summer? That's the shade of green she was."

Boq and Galinda both turned their heads to see two second-year Gryffindor boys pass by.

"Ew!" the second boy said in disgust, "so her skin was entirely green? From head to toe!?!"

"Yeah!" the first voice said again.

"Gross! I bet she has some kind of disease or something!"

Both voices burst out in laughter as they made their way down the hall.

Boq turned back towards the blonde across from him and continued with his story, worried for some reason that she might leave if he didn't do what she asked him; told her about his summer. Galinda looked out into the hallway where the boys had passed for a moment longer before turning back to Boq and continuing her plan of feigning interest in him.

However, she found herself, in the back of her mind, thinking for the rest of the trip:

Who on earth wears a sweater during summer?