The title for chapter fourteen is from…Pippin. Congrats to Easterly Winds.
Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I don't own Harry Potter. End of story.
Chapter 15: Memory
"Stupefy!" Elphaba whirled around as a jet of red light barely missed her head. "Crucio!" "Avada Kedavra!"
Great, Elphaba though. Just great. Three on one. She ducked under another spell and tripped the closet Death Eater, who clearly wasn't expecting Elphaba to resort to Muggle methods. However, another Death Eater took this time to grab Elphaba and pulled her wand hand behind her. "Say goodbye, Thropp," he hissed.
Elphaba fought desperately to get loose when suddenly, said Death Eater let her go, stunned. Elphaba turned to see Harry standing there, his wand out and pointed at the Death Eater. "You mess with my friends, you mess with me!" he warned. He looked at Elphaba. "You alright?"
"Yes," Elphaba nodded, then leapt at the Boy-Who-Lived, tackling Harry to the ground.
"What the bloody hell was that for?" Harry asked, annoyed.
"Returning the favor," Elphaba answered, nodding towards a Death Eater who looked particularly annoyed that his Killing Curse had missed Harry. She held a hand out to help Harry up. He did so quickly and they separated, running to assist the other Order members.
It had been two hours, and the Death Eaters didn't look like they would be letting up the fight anytime soon. If they kept this up, the Order would be too exhausted to do anything else. Elphaba winced as a particularly nasty Cutting Curse hit her upper arm. For her part, exhaustion led to mistakes. And in a battle such as this, mistakes could lead to death.
They (meaning the Order) had been unable to get a glimpse of the Minister yet- the Death Eaters had been prepared for a battle and was keeping them occupied. Jets of light flew through the air at breakneck speed. If Elphaba wasn't currently fighting for her life, she would have sat back and enjoyed this spectacular display of fireworks.
According to Dumbledore, Aurors had arrived in time to stop Fudge from being captured- however, they had been too preoccupied to defend themselves from the back-up Death Eaters to do really anything else much. However, they had been able to put up shields around the Ministry that would stop anyone from Disapperating or Portkey-ing out of the building. Therefore, the Order knew that Fudge was in here somewhere. They just had to find him before the Death Eaters could get him out of the building.
Elphaba paused as the frenzy of the fighting mellowed out a tad bit. Through the corner of her eye, she saw one of the inner circle Death Eaters (McNair, she believed) disappear around the corner of the doorway. With another glance at the battle, Elphaba ran after McNair, although making sure to keep out of the Death Eater's sight.
McNair quickly ran down several flights of stairs into the basement of the Ministry. It was evident that no one had been down here for a long time- dust covered the numerous cardboard boxes; Elphaba had to work very hard not to sneeze and give her location away. She lodged herself in a shadow that two boxes created and watched as McNair strode purposefully towards the corner of the room.
Elphaba tightened her grip on her wand as she heard a sound- some kind of muffled plea for help. McNair walked over to the sound and pulled out a bound and gagged Minister of Magic. "Why, good afternoon, my dear Minister," he grinned insanely. "I do hope that your temporary quarters were to your liking."
Fudge attempted to say something to McNair, his entire body shaking in fear. He looked like he was about to pass out. Although Elphaba thought that the Minister (and generally the Ministry) was an idiot, she actually felt a bit sorry for him.
"Well now," McNair said, still grinning, "I think we shall go now. I do believe we've caused enough damage here. Our Lord has been looking forward to having a chat with you for a few weeks now- you don't want to disappoint him, do you?" It was at this point that Fudge actually did pass out. McNair looked down at his victim. "Oh well. Makes this job all the easier for me."
Elphaba decided that this would be the time to make her presence be known. "Sorry to burst your bubble," she said smoothly from the shadows, "but imagine how angry Voldemort will be when he finds out that your mission has failed."
"Who are you?" McNair demanded. "How dare you speak the Dark Lord's name without fear?" McNair glared at his new opponent, walking closer to the green woman's hiding place.
"No one in particular," Elphaba replied evenly.
"You'll pay for that one, Mudblood." This was definitely not the plan. He was supposed to slip away unnoticed, get outside the shields with the Minister, and Portkey away. He subtly aimed his wand at the person in the shadows, a spell on his lips.
However, instead of inspiring fear, as he usually did, McNair was confused as Elphaba cackled and stepped out into the light. "Mudblood? Well, there's a new one. Usually, I'm merely termed 'Artichoke'."
"You!" McNair narrowed his eyes as he recognized one of the more prominent Order members. "Avada Kedevra!" he roared, suddenly bringing his wand up to Elphaba's head. Elphaba's eyes widened, and she threw herself to the ground, out of harm's way. McNair swore rather violently as his green Killing Curse missed the green Order member. Now, he'd lost his advantage; Elphaba would be on the lookout for the next curse.
As it turned out, Elphaba wasn't on the lookout for the next curse. She fired it. But McNair wasn't in the inner circle for nothing. With barely any effort, he threw up a shield, causing Elphaba's own curse to rebound towards herself. "You'll have to do better than that, Thropp," McNair laughed tauntingly.
The two enemies circled each other, both looking for a weakness in their opponent. Elphaba's arm shook from exhaustion and from blood loss due to the Cutting Curse she had received earlier in the battle. McNair could sense this and was therefore confident, almost overly so. Once again, he fired a second Killing Curse. Elphaba, expecting this, ducked, letting the boxes behind her explode.
Elphaba was breathing hard by now. The earlier battle had taken its toll on her, and the blood loss was beginning to making her head spin. A small voice in the back of her mind told her to get out before she was killed, but she quickly squashed said voice.
She mostly felt the curse coming towards her before it actually hit her; however, she had no time to move out of the way. With a dull thud, her head hit the stone wall as she was violently thrown backwards. She fell to the floor and was aware that the floor seemed to be tilting about 45 degrees. She tried to get up, to no avail, hoping to keep McNair in her line of vision. However, her former clarity of vision was momentarily gone and everything turned to a blurred blob of colors.
Unable to see, Elphaba guessed McNair's location and threw a weak Stunning Spell. Her vision cleared for an instant, long enough for her to see that her spell was off by about five feet. McNair laughed sadistically and leveled his wand at Elphaba. No! Elphaba thought, willing her brain to work with her legs.
"Avada-" McNair said for the final time.
"Stupefy!" someone called from the stairwell. McNair didn't have time to do anything; he crumpled to the ground, stunned. Elphaba's vision blurred again and she strained to make out the figure that was approaching her. It felt like someone was taking a hammer to her head. She pointed her wand at the figure.
"Fae!" Harry. "Fae, it's me. Harry. Are you alright? Can you walk?" His voice sounded almost distant.
Harry? Elphaba wondered. Oh, yeah. Potter. Prophecy. Voldemort. Battle. Minister. Capture.
"Fae, talk to me," Harry sounded worried.
"Harry," Elphaba muttered thickly, wanting nothing more than to lie down. "Battle. Upstairs. Where?"
"The battle's over," Harry answered, bending down to help Elphaba to her feet. "The Death Eaters suddenly retreated- I have no idea why."
"Minister," Elphaba waved her hand over to the general area where she thought Fudge was lying.
"We have to help you first," Harry replied. "You look really bad. Come on." Elphaba briefly wondered why there was warm liquid dripping down her face for a moment before deciding that she didn't really care at this point.
Leaning heavily on Harry, Elphaba was able to make her way back up to the main floor of the Ministry, where most of the Order was, recuperating from their injuries and getting ready to leave.
"Remus," Harry called to the werewolf. "Could you help Fae back to Hogwarts? McNair's down in the basement with Fudge- I have to deal with them," he looked disgusted at this prospect.
"Fae? What happened to you?" Remus asked worriedly, hurrying over to guide the green woman to a chair.
"She was battling McNair," Harry answered for Elphaba, who didn't seemed inclined to talk anyhow.
Elphaba's headache turned into a dull roaring that got louder and louder with each second until every noise sounded as if it were under water—far away, slow, and unintelligible. Once again, her vision blurred for a moment before mostly clearing: although she could vaguely discern objects and people, everything seemed to be in black and white. When Elphaba's brain finally decided to switch into sleeping mode, Elphaba did not object. She was not aware of Harry and Remus's worried calls to her as her vision quickly grew darker and she collapsed.
A pale figure with red eyes sat on a throne, glaring at the cowering Death Eaters before him. "I confess myself…disappointed," he said at length. "I sent you, my group of most loyal, most trusted, most talented Death Eaters, to do a simple job. And what happens? You fail. Now why would that be?"
There was no answer from the cowering Death Eaters. "McNair!" Voldemort snapped. "Come forward!"
The Death Eaters shifted uncomfortably. Not one of them wanted the burden of explaining why exactly McNair wasn't here. Then, one of the younger (and more foolish) Death Eaters finally stepped forward. "My Lord," he said reverently, "McNair isn't…isn't here."
"Isn't here?" Voldemort repeated. "Well then, Crusick, where, pray tell, would McNair be?"
"McNair was captured, my Lord," Crusick stammered, fearful of his master's reaction. And with good reason, too. With a growl of rage, Voldemort sent a Cruciatus Curse towards the unlucky messenger.
"How dare McNair disobey my orders!" Voldemort raged. "I ordered him to take Fudge and leave immediately, while the Order was busy- there should have been no problems."
"My Lord," Crusick said hesitantly. "There-there was an…interruption in your plan." Sensing that Voldemort was about to speak, the young Death Eater plowed recklessly on. "McNair was about to leave with Fudge when Thropp interfered."
"And?" Voldemort prompted.
"A-and they dueled. McNair was going to win, but as he as about to destroy her, Potter stunned him from behind," Crusick finished.
"OUT!" Voldemort roared. "OUT!" The Death Eaters stampeded for the exit, fearful of Voldemort's wrath. "Malfoy and Lestrange, stay behind."
Once all of the Death Eaters (excluding Malfoy and Lestrange) were gone, Voldemort regarded them thoughtfully. "Tell me more about this…Elphaba Thropp," he commanded. "Where does she come from? Who is she?"
"We don't know too much about her, my Lord," Malfoy began. "She appeared about five years ago and she teaches the dueling course at Hogwarts. She's never been a high-profile case for us, so we don't have any tabs on her."
"Lestrange," Voldemort turned to the dark-haired woman next to Malfoy. "What do you think of Thropp? How can she, a mere anonymous professor, hold off one of my most trained, Inner Circle Death Eaters, even though we have our new weapon on our side, until he is captured? Is she potentially a threat? Could we recruit her to our side?"
"Thropp seems to have a close friendship with Harry Potter and is also close to Dumbledore," Lestrange dutifully reported. "Judging from this, she probably will not turn, but it wouldn't hurt to try. And if she doesn't turn to our side, yes, Thropp could prove to be a major problem. She proved it in this battle. Our best course of action would be to try to persuade her to join our side, and if she refuses, to completely wipe out the problem."
"I see that," Voldemort said. "Hmm…Malfoy!" he suddenly snapped. "I want our spy in the Order on Thropp. I want to know everything about her- who she's with, where she goes…everything. And I want a report by the end of the month about her. Is that understood?"
"Yes, my Lord," Malfoy bowed.
"Oh," Voldemort finished, almost lazily. "One more thing: This is for the failure of the mission. Crucio!"
The sun shone brightly into Elphaba's rooms, promising a sunny, but chilly day. "Are you sure you're alright, Elphie?" Glinda asked for what seemed like the hundredth time to Elphaba. "You don't have to go to the meeting if you still feel dizzy."
"Yes, I'm sure," Elphaba replied, annoyed. "…mother."
"Elphie, I'm worried about you," Glinda said, sitting down next to Elphaba on the couch. "After both battles that you've come back from, you've been unconscious. And Harry told me that you were almost killed this time."
"He did what?" Elphaba snapped. "I told him not to say anything about that-"
"-and I'm glad he did!" Glinda interrupted. "You can't hide these things from me, Elphaba. I have to know."
"But-" Elphaba began.
"But nothing," Glinda emphasized. "I know you're trying to 'protect me', but Elphie, would you rather I never hear about these things and then one day find out from Harry or someone that you're dead?"
"Glinda, I'm not going to die," Elphaba tried to reassure Glinda, who seemed very close to tears. "I guarantee you that I won't die in this war."
"Promise?" Glinda asked.
"Promise," Elphaba said, kissing her lightly on the lips. "I should go now. Harry and the others will be waiting for me." Giving a slight nod to Glinda, she slipped out of her rooms with a sense of relief. After she had awoken in the Hospital Ward (as per usual), Elphaba had found herself facing a long lecture from Snape about 'being an idiotic Gryffindor and taking unnecessary risks'. Then, Snape and Glinda had taken it upon themselves to keep Elphaba in bed for another week or so. Although Elphaba appreciated Snape and Glinda's concerns, she was yearning to get back outside.
While she had been bed-ridden, Harry and Dumbledore had questioned McNair for information about Voldemort's goals. Unfortunately, they had not been able find out much, as there was some sort of secrecy spell placed over the captured Death Eater. They did, though, find out that Voldemort wanted to capture Fudge as a show of strength to the Wizarding world; if even the Minister of Magic could be captured, that would mean that there was no safety from Voldemort.
Harry and Dumbledore had invited Elphaba to go over some other small details that McNair had spilled during the interrogation and then to take another look at the Grimmerie. After a lot of bartering with Glinda (honestly, Glinda should be the next Madame Pomphrey, Elphaba thought), Elphaba had managed to convince Glinda that she was fine, that she had recovered from the battle at the Ministry.
Although to tell the truth, Glinda had displayed a natural ability for healing over the course of this week. While keeping an eye on Elphaba, Glinda had helped Madam Pomphrey with injuries that other Order members had received in the same battle. Perhaps Glinda really should think about looking into healing. Elphaba made a mental note to bring that subject up with Glinda when she saw her next.
She walked through the familiar halls and up the stairs to the Headmaster's office, happy to finally be free from her rooms again.
Glinda slowly wandered across the chilly grounds. It was the first sunny day for a long time, and although it was still terribly cold, she was determined to enjoy the sun. She hoped that Elphaba would be out of her meeting soon. This past week had been incredibly worrisome for her. When Remus Lupin had brought Elphaba back from the battle, Glinda had been alarmed to see blood running down the unconscious green witch's face.
She had refused to leave Elphaba's bedside in the Hospital Wing until Elphaba woke up, a grand total of three days. No amount of persuading, wheedling, or even threatening would get her out of the Hospital Wing. While she was in there, she had found another talent: Healing. Perhaps she could help in the war, as a Healer.
Rather preoccupied with this thought, Glinda barely noticed the temperature dropping until she began to shiver uncontrollably. She looked up, wondering why it had become so dark all of a sudden. Where had the sun gone? Then, she noticed dark, cloaked figures flying down, closer and closer to where she stood.
Without warning, she was assaulted by memories:
"Glinda, come with me," Elphaba whispered, her eyes gleaming. "Think of what we could do, together." She held out her broomstick, waiting for Glinda.
Glinda took a step forward, and then paused. No. She couldn't. The Wizard was too powerful. "I hope you're happy," she said sincerely, stepping back again, "now that you're choosing this."
"Me too," Elphaba replied, just as the wooden door separating the two witches and the Gale Force broke down. She squeezed Glinda's hand quickly before using the broom to ascend into the air, evading the Gale Force. Glinda's heart constricted as she watched her best friend, the girl she was in love with, defy gravity, and knowing that it would never be the same again, and that she would regret this forever.
"No," Glinda moaned, falling to her knees and trying to block out these unwelcome memories. "Elphie, no." However, this was not the worst of it. Another memory came to the forefront of her mind:
Glinda tried to hold back her tears as she attempted to tell Elphaba how much she meant to her. They didn't have much time; even as Glinda spoke, she could hear the cries of the Witch Hunters below them. How could she tell Elphaba everything that needed to be said in the minutes they had remaining. As the precious seconds counted down, Glinda summed up her feelings for the green witch in six words: "I have been changed for good."
Glinda couldn't help it anymore. She fell forward into Elphaba's strong arms. For a moment, time stopped as the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the West held each other. Elphaba's head snapped up as she realized that the Witch Hunters had reached the door of the room they were currently in. She pulled away. "Glinda," she whispered urgently. "You need to hide."
By this time, Glinda was lying in a heap on the grass. She knew what was coming next, and she didn't want to relieve those memories again. "No, Elphie, please," she muttered subconsciously, covering her ears as if trying to block out Elphaba's dying screams.
Elphaba quickly ushered Glinda into a small closet before turning to face the murderous mob. Glinda was not able to see much through the tiny crack by the floor, but she could hear the battle well enough. And Glinda was not able to block out the horrible, gut-wrenching sounds of Elphaba's pain-filled screams as she melted.
She couldn't restrain it. Relieving Elphaba's death all over again caused pain beyond any that Glinda had ever known. As the Dementers swooped around the blonde, she finally cried out. "No," she screamed. "ELPHIE!"
Haha. I'm evil, aren't I? Well, not that evil. And I promise poor Elphie will only get hurt one more time.
Coming up: Another person is let in on Elphaba and Glinda's secret.
-Wolfie