Title: Time Warped
Author: Aerohead
Email: in my profile
Website: In my profile
Pairing: Possible Hermione/Ron, Fiyero/Elphaba, Fiyero/Glinda
Rating: "T"
Disclaimer/Dedication: JK Rowling and Gregory Maguire have created a wonderful universe which I am now destroying.
Warning: If you want to keep your brain cells, I suggest skimming this and hoping you don't lose a lot. Also, there may be some spoilers for Broadway fans, though I'm not too sure.
Genre: Humor, Action/Adventure
Summary: Hermione gets distracted while trying to learn how to apparate, and sends Ron, Harry, and herself not only into another world, but another time period. Can two young sorceresses help her to get home before the spell cannot be reversed?
Author's Notes: Wow; it's been an hour since I posted the last chapter, and I already have two reviews. Thanks you guys. This is the promised extra chapter because I went to NYC on Thursday. This will be short, considering the fact I have company coming in fifteen minutes.
Chapter Seven: Bathroom Chats
Hermione, after several failed attempts, made it to the bathroom. It was a communal bathroom, but at that time of day, no one would be in there, anyway. She walked in. It was pure white, a deadly quiet. "Elphaba?" she called, not too loudly.
Elphaba looked around the corner, where she was. "Oh, it's just you." She said. She was wiping off the lipstick at the sink. Hermione walked over to her, watching. Elphaba dipped a disposable towel under the faucet. She rubbed the wet towel across her lips and stared at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm surprised you weren't attacked, too." She said, looking at Hermione through the mirror. "Galinda's a very…forceful person when she wants to be."
Hermione laughed, leaning against a sink. "She tried, before we went to the OZdust." She watched Elphaba for a few more minutes, before she rubbed the back of her head. Her hand got tangled in the braid Galinda had started, and she sighed, trying to pull it out. "Doesn't that hurt?" she asked.
Elphaba stopped, and turned to Hermione, one eyebrow raised. "Doesn't what hurt?" she asked. Hermione pointed to her lips, before shrugging.
"It's just…aren't you allergic to water?" she asked, delicately. Elphaba laughed.
"Don't listen to everything Galinda's friends tell you." She said. "I don't like water, that doesn't mean I'm allergic to it." She ran her tongue over her lips, satisfied that the lipstick was, for the most part, gone. "Besides, even if I were, I'd only use my lips to talk, nothing else." She said, almost to herself.
"What about Fiyero?" Hermione didn't realize it was the wrong thing to say until Elphaba slowly cut the water off and turned to Hermione, her eyes darker than normal.
"He's Galinda's." She laughed. "Besides, I don't think he can comprehend the skin color; I don't think we'd be much of a pair."
"Maybe he just doesn't see the skin color." Hermione said. She swallowed. This girl in front of her was not what she had expected at all when she had seen the green skin. Smart, hurt, and opinionated, she was not the woman from the movies that Hermione had expected to meet when she had first seen Elphaba. She remembered the books on Elphaba's desk, and cocked her head to the side, finally freeing her hair from the braid. "Why can't you just turn you skin to a normal color magically?" she asked.
Elphaba's eyes narrowed. "How do you mean?" she demanded.
"I saw the sorcery books on your table, and I was there when Morrible gave Galinda that wand. Isn't there a spell that could change your skin to a normal color?" she asked.
Elphaba threw the towel away, before turning to Hermione. "Look, I know you don't know that much about magic, but it's a very precarious business. If I messed up and turned, let's say purple, there'd be no way for me to change it back; the first rule or sorcery is that you can't reverse a spell." She realized what she said and closed her eyes. "And besides, I like the way I look. I'm not going to conform just because it annoys some spoiled prince and his entourage."
Hermione tried to find a way to veer the conversation away from Elphaba's skin. "Well, why do you take sorcery then?"
Elphaba opened one eye, trying not to look proud of herself. "I'm studying to be the Wizard's vizier." She said. Hermione was impressed that Elphaba could be so casual about such a thing.
"The Wizard? As in the Wizard of OZ?" she asked.
Elphaba smiled. "Yes, of course." She said. She bit her lip, before looking at Hermione. "Do you think that Galinda will be hurt if I don't go along with this foolish plan of hers?" she asked finally.
Hermione thought about it for a moment. "I think she may be hurt, but she'll get over it quickly; she seems to get over a lot of things rather easily." She said, remembering how easily the blonde's worry about Elphaba had only come in spurts while they were at the ballroom.
Elphaba nodded, smiling. "Alright." She said. She looked at herself in the mirror, before taking the flower out and holding it in her hands.
The door of the bathroom slammed open, and Galinda walked up to them. "Here you two are! I've been worriefied!" she said. Hermione opened her mouth to correct Galinda, but Elphaba stopped her. When Hermione looked at her, she shook her head minutely. Galinda grabbed Elphaba's hands, beaming. "You've got to come see, Miss Elphie! I've picked out exactly what you'll wear tomorrow!" she said, beaming. Elphaba was about to protest, but sighed.
"Alright, Galinda; let's go." They started out of the bathroom. Galinda turned to Hermione.
"If you want, I can pick out an outfit for you, too!" she said.
Hermione shook her head. "No, that's quite alright." She said, forcing herself to smile. A clock somewhere struck the time, and Galinda yawned.
"Good; I need some sleep anyway; it's very late." They reached their room, and Galinda moved Elphaba's outfit onto the door so it would be hanging up, before cutting off the lights. The three girls climbed into their beds. Hermione wasn't sure if Elphaba was asleep yet, but it was obvious Galinda was. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out how a girl who looked so much like the infamous Wicked Witch of the West could turn out to be…well…Elphaba. She drifted off to sleep still trying to find the connection.