A/N: "It's not a Friday!" you cry! "Toasty, why are you posting a chapter today?" you implore! Patience, dear readers, I will explain. (Although I don't know why you are complaining.)
I am coming up into midterms week here at college, and as such my life for the next two and a half weeks is going to go bye-bye as I try not to fail my mid-terms. (This is what we call fun.) So I'm taking a fic-internet-life hiatus until Halloween. But I did not want to leave you guys in the dark, wondering what the Oz happened to my fic. So I'm posting this chapter early, in hopes that you all will forgive me.
There will be no update on Oct 18 or Oct 25. Regular chapter postings will hopefully return November 1st!
Enjoy the early chapter, you guys!
(Warning, towards the bottom there is a bit of ~strong language~ because angry Elphaba is a swearing Elphaba. Also a bit of squicky wound stuff, but nothing too bad.)
A Surprise Apartment Assignment of Fate - Chapter 11
Approximately Two Years Previously...
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"You know, I hear pure water can melt her!" Sixth Year Hufflepuff Galinda Upland whispered to her cohort of friends, who giggled in unison. The Hufflepuff table was generally misconstrued as the nicest, quietest table at Hogwarts. This was inherently not true. The Hufflepuffs, if anything, liked a good gossip more than anything else. The current object of their gossip, Elphaba Thropp, was sitting with her back to them, eating porridge and reading her potions textbook.
"No way," said someone from down the table. "That's just some silly old rumor!"
"Oh—no—I have it on the best accounts," the blonde assured them, a picture of confidence. "One of her dormmates says that she never bathes."
"Ewwwwwwwww!"
"I know!" Galinda was flourishing in the presence of getting to gossip about her not-so-favorite human being. "Instead of showering like a regular human being, she uses oils or something."
"Is that why she always looks shiny?"
"You know gossip is a sin, right?" Nessarose had arrived to breakfast, her Nanny pushing her chair. The slight Ravenclaw was afflicted with the unfortunate malady of having no arms with which to push or stabilize herself. She was pitied by many in the school, and envied by others, because she never had to write a note herself. That job was instead up to her Nanny, who, among other things, helped push the girl around, take notes, and help her read her textbooks. Nessarose Thropp never seemed to care for anyone's pity or envy—she was too busy with her faith and her studies to care much of else.
"While my sister is no doubt in need of God," Nessarose was continuing, "I would thank you not to tarnish her already quite blemished name. Only God can judge her in the end." She gave a little nod of her head, and her Nanny pushed her down the row between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables until they found a spot where the two of them could sit together.
"Man, I hate that preachy little bitch," someone muttered from the Gryffindor table behind them. "Who the hell does she think she is, anyway?"
There were murmurs of assent from the surrounding students. The Thropp sisters were not at all popular at Hogwarts. Elphaba for her acerbity and her skin tone, Nessarose for her handicap and her faith. They were, of course, a favorite topic of gossip and rumor. Nobody knew the reason for Elphaba's skin tone or Nessarose's handicap, but that did not stop the rumor mill from spinning out ideas. They were, of course, all wrong, but the only three who knew were not telling.
The Next Day...
"Hey, Thropp!"
Galinda looked up from where she was elbow deep in dragon dung for Herbology. N.E.W.T.s level Herbology was not exactly her favorite class, but she had gained the Exceeds Expectations required and her Popsie had wanted her to take it. So she did, but only after her father had bribed her with a new winter cloak. It was pink, trimmed with Puffskein fur, and magically augmented to keep the cold out. It was her favorite, and she wore it out as often as she could.
But the thought of her cloak left her mind as she saw two Gryffindors, the hulking beaters for the Qudditch team, standing in front of Elphaba's work station. The green girl in question was studiously ignoring them, her focus primarily on the Flutterby bush which she was transplanting.
"Hey, we're talkin' to you!"
She finally looked up, annoyance etched on every angle of her long, green face. "Yes?"
"Little birdies told us you were allergic to water!" One of the Gryffindor boys said with bravado.
"And I'm certain that asinine observation came from one perfectly idiotic and currently eavesdropping birdie named Galinda Upland." The blonde flushed and looked down at her own Flutterby bush. Idiotic was she?! She could think of some words to describe Elphaba herself, and none of them were at all pleasant. "Did she put you up to this? This attempted harassment?"
"She didn't put us up to nothin'."
"Yeah, we came on our own accord."
"Yes, because I'm certain two oafs like yourself are capable of free thought," the green girl sneered. Galinda's blood boiled. Why did she have to be so mean all the time?! What a bitch!
Then there was the sound of a scuffle and a shouted curse, and then the worst sound Galinda she had ever heard. The sound of sizzling flesh. The sizzle was quickly followed by a bloodcurdling scream as Elphaba reeled back, clutching her face. Some brave soul tried to assist her but she hexed them and tore out of the greenhouse, but not before the entire room had seen the damage—ugly purple and red welts which bubbled up from her green skin, making her even more hideous than before.
The greenhouse erupted into chatter, and it took several firecrackers from the end of the Herbology professor's wand before they quieted down.
"What happened?" The Herbology professor asked after the class settled.
One of the Gryffindor boys who had confronted Elphaba, and had no doubt caused the reaction to her face, shrugged. "Guess she really is allergic to water after all."
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The Slytherin Common Room was a constant exercise in anxiety for Elphaba. Being in such close proximity to water—even if it was behind three feet of magically reinforced glass, always made her nervous. And she had good reason to be, when contact with water quite literally burned her. However, it was the closet place to sanctuary she could find at such short notice, and it was to there she fled.
Biting the inside of her cheek, Elphaba staggered to a halt in front of the stone wall that held the secret entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Her face felt like it had been branded. The pain was almost unbearable, and she was frankly surprised she could walk, let alone stand. Biting her cheek harder in an attempt to focus the pain there, the green girl hissed the password to the common door opened after a moment and Elphaba flew inside.
The common room was miraculously empty, as most of the Slytherins were in class. Elphaba slunk into the girl's dormitory, where she quickly hurried to the room she shared with the other Slytherin sixth year girls. She rummaged blindly in her trunk for her potions and oils, and once she found them, she shakily opened one and poured nearly the entire contents onto a rag. Staggering to the bathroom to find a mirror, she carefully pressed the potion-soaked rag to her burned face.
The almost blinding pain began to recede somewhat as the potion numbed her nerves and began to heal the damage. Elphaba pulled the cloth away to survery the damage. Nasty welts covered most of the left side of her face; they spread up over the bridge of her nose and across the right porition of her forehead. The welts were oozing fliud as the potion healed them. Thankfully the water had missed her eyes, and the damage was relatively minimal, all things considering. The swelling had already started to go down, thanks to the potion.
Pressing the rag back to her face, Elphaba processed exactly what had happened.
The Gryffindor boys had come over, trying to start something. She had suspected it was just general Gryffindor-Slytherin rival buffoonery. She had ignored them, and when they had continued, she ridiculed them. And that was when one of them had Spelled a jet of water directly into her face.
Ozdamn Gryffindors. Elphaba's hand shook with her fury as she blotted healing potions and oils onto the angry welts on her face. Fucking Galinda Upland and her Ozdamned mouth! How the hell had she known? Elphaba had stopped paying attention to the Hogwarts rumor mill a long time ago, but maybe it would be good of her to pay attention to it once more, at least to find the source of the rumors. However she was fairly certain she already knew the source of this one.
If Galinda Upland wanted to go toe to toe with her, so be it. Two could play at this game.
One impromptu duel in the Entrance Hall and a month of detentions later, neither Galinda Upland or Elphaba Thropp were at all pleased. Ninety hours of forced work together doing such menial labor as hand polishing the awards in the Trophy Room and scrubbing graffiti off of desks had, if anything, only made the two of them hate each other more.
Galinda, for her part, was right to be angry. Elphaba had attacked her out of nowhere in the Entrance Hall as she returned from Herbology. The duel that had ensued between them might have been one for the Hogwarts record books. In the end, it took three Professors to stop them from killing each other, and both of them were assigned three hours of detention a weekend day. The blonde was furious she was being punished for defending herself again Elphaba's rage, but even an appeal to her father via Owl Post could not get her out of the detentions. So she stewed and simmered, her resentment hardening with each passing detention and acerbic comment.
Elphaba was angry that she was being forced to spend time with the insufferable blonde after what she believed Galinda had perpetuated. There was, of course, no evidence that Galinda had sent the two Gryffindor boys to splash water in her face and burn her. However that did not stop Elphaba from coming to the conclusion herself. The only justice in it all for her was that the two Gryffindor boys had been suspended. She had come close to near suspension herself, but Headmistress Morrible had given her some leniency, considering she was the star pupil of the school and had not actually used any lethal or Unforgivable Curses on Galinda when they had dueled. No, instead the Headmistress had decided it would be better for the both of them to work their differences out in detention for a month.
And a fat lot of good that had done.
The two of them parted ways after their month of detention and did not speak to each other again for the entirety of their remaining year and a half at Hogwarts. Galinda and Elphaba were quite happy after graduation with the thought of never having to see, hear, or speak to one another again.
That was, of course, until fate decided to throw them together in the same apartment for the same Ministry Internship they had unknowingly both applied for.
A/N: I know I said earlier that Hogwarts wasn't going to really come into play in this fic...Oops, I lied. Sorry. This will probably be a one or two of its kind flashback, though. I promise that. I don't want to dwell on the past TOO much. So for all of you who don't like how I sorted G(a)linda and Elphaba (or Nessa...love me some Nessa), never fear, this will not be a regular occurrence!
Let me know what you think? I do love hearing from you all! :)
