The title for chapter eighteen is from…Dreamgirls. Congrats to Easterly Winds, Yank2324, CardboardCreative, and LeiaSedai and EragonEldest.

maureen is me: Well, actually, I didn't write that part. Mara did. And she says that Fiyero was just trying to be courteous to Hermione and get her a drink instead of having her drink Elphaba's. She merely wrote it in such a way that would make Fiyero seem suspicious.

It amuses me how different my Elphaba is from Mara's. She writes a much happier Elphaba and her writing is very fluffy and light (the shopping scene) and my Elphaba is darker/more serious and my writing is way blunter.

And if you don't recognize a store in this chapter, it's probably because it's one of Mara's own creation.

Chapter 20: Close Every Door

Glinda gasped. "Whoa!" she said slowly as she looked at the twisting road, lined with exotic-looking and old-fashioned shops.

With a grin, Elphaba nudged Glinda. "I know…Diagon Alley!"

The blond witch started jumping up and down. "Sweet Lurline, this is a magical shopping paradise! Okay, where's the nearest clothing store?"

Instead of responding, Elphaba groaned and gave a weak gesture to a store on their right between the Apothecary and Quality Quidditch Supplies. And with a squeal, Glinda grabbed Elphaba's arm and started dragging her to the colorful shop.

A light pink sign with small flowery olive green writing hung over the matching light pink door. "Renaissance Wear & Ware," Glinda whispered under her breath as she pulled Elphaba into the shop. The blond marched the pair of them past the elaborate swords, painting, and antiques over to where beautiful Renaissance-like dresses hung on the most elaborate metal rods Elphaba had every seen.

Glinda instantly pulled out a pale pink dress with a beautiful cream bodice and held it up to Elphaba, who glared at Glinda with such hatred that no one who saw her glare would have ever thought the two were lovers. "That's such a lovely color with your skin tone!" Glinda breathed admiringly.

"NO," Elphaba said, her voice so determined that Glinda sighed and put the pretty dress back. She quickly pulled out a shiny fairy-like blue dress with big flowing sleeves and a bright pink bodice and squealed a note so high-pitched several other customers in the shop turned to give her looks of pure hatred.

"I swear to Merlin, if you even suggest that I—" Elphaba began in a quiet, forceful tone between clenched teeth, but Glinda cut her off. "Oh, I wouldn't make you wear this! This is for me! Now be a dear and hold it, will you?"

Then, Glinda draped the frighteningly colorful dress over one of Elphaba's arms and continued searching for dresses before Elphaba could say, "No."

Glinda hummed an incredibly cheerful, upbeat melody under her breath as she brushed dresses aside, pulled the most colorful or most pink dresses out, threw them to Elphaba, and continued her search. This pattern continued for nearly ten minutes when Glinda suddenly stopped humming and gasped. She reached into the racks to pull out a dress while Elphaba buried her head in the enormous stack of bright, poofy, sparkly apparel which she was unwillingly holding and wished with all her might that she was anywhere else right then.

But the dress that Glinda pulled out wasn't some shiny ball-gown or puff-sleeved pink thing. Instead, it was a long, ivory-colored, flowing dress with a simple elegance of its own. The blond witch held it up to Elphaba's buried head and smiled. "Yes, off-white! Why didn't I think of it before?"

Elphaba looked up, scared. "Oh, no, you don—"

"Come on, Elphie!" Glinda interrupted her. "You have to try this on!"

And Elphaba was dragged into a stall in the back of the store. Glinda almost slammed the door behind them, making Elphaba wince at the noise as she dumped the enormous stack of dresses Glinda liked on the bench (the dresses, of course, took up all the room on the bench, leaving no place for either of them to sit).

Reluctantly, Elphaba pulled off her black frock and slipped into the ivory dress, half-wishing she hadn't worn black lingerie which would probably see through the dress, but then remembering she didn't own any underwear that wasn't black and that her skin was probably going to look weirder with the dress than her bra straps would.

But to Elphaba's surprise, it looked good. It fit remarkably well and even Elphaba was able to recognize how pretty the dress made her look. The off-white color turned Elphaba's green skin from looking weird and sickly to looking dark and mysterious. And the dress fit in all the right places.

Glinda was practically bouncing with joy. No, correct that—she was bouncing with joy. "Oh, Elphie, you look so pretty! Are you going to buy it?"

Elphaba stared at herself in the mirror. She liked how the dress looked, but when was she ever going to wear it? And what would people say when they saw her wearing a color far closer on the color wheel to white than to her traditional black? She shook her head.

The sad puppy face Glinda made was hilarious, but Elphaba knew better than to laugh. "But Elphie, it looks so pretty on you!"

"When would I wear it?"

Even Glinda had to pause and think for a moment before answering Elphaba's question. A sly smile crept onto the blond's face. "Well, you could always wear it for me in the bedroom…" she suggested.

Elphaba returned the smile, "I thought you would prefer for me not to wear anything in the bedroom."

"I guess you're right," Glinda said absent-mindedly as she brushed the dress straps off of Elphaba's shoulders. "But it would always be fun to take it off of you," she said as she began slowly pulling the dress off of Elphaba.

Next thing they knew, their lips had locked together and the dress had fallen to the ground. Glinda's hands roamed over Elphaba's half-naked body while Elphaba just pulled the blond witch closer as they kissed. Then Glinda's lips left Elphaba's lips and began trailing kisses down Elphaba's neck. The green witch gasped with pleasure and pushed her body even closer to Glinda's, if that was physically possible. Glinda let out a small moan, and then she pressed her mouth to Elphaba's once more.

But then Elphaba remembered where she was and broke away. Breathing heavily, Elphaba whispered in hoarse voice, "Not here. Not now. Later."

Glinda nodded as she struggled to regain her breath.

The two stood there for a moment, breathing and looking at each other. Then Glinda smiled. "Wow."

Elphaba shook her head. "No, I should be the one saying wow. You're an amazing kisser."

Glinda blushed.

Elphaba looked down at the ivory dress, lying in a puddle at her feet. "Okay," she said after a moment or two. "I'll buy it."

Her girlfriend grinned as Elphaba picked the dress off the floor, hung it up, handed it to Glinda, and put her black frock on again.

Glinda began to open the door. "Wait, aren't you going to try anything on?" Elphaba asked, gesturing to the pile of dresses on the bench.

The blond curls bounced as Glinda shook her head. "We've been in here long enough; people are going to be wondering what the heck we're doing in here!"

Elphaba snorted, "And they should be!"

Glinda paid for the purchase, despite Elphaba's vehement protests, because she was just so happy that Elphaba was actually agreeing to buy herself something that looked nice.

The two of them walked past Quality Quidditch Supplies, stopping for a moment at a stationary store so Glinda could purchase a pink quill and the jar of sparkly pink and purple ink which had been glittering in the window, and then across the street to a store that came just before the ice cream parlor. "Style" proclaimed the title of the shop, and true to its name, the store seemed to be packed with the latest modern trends in fashion—with a slight magical twist. Like, for example, a wonderful denim skirt, black leather boot, blue halter top, and matching blue cape made up an outfit which a mannequin in the front window was sporting. If Elphaba's vision was correct, the mannequin's pointy hat was made of leather that matched her knee-high boots.

Luckily for Elphaba, Glinda didn't stay in this store long. Fashion in Oz was quite different than fashion in England, and Glinda couldn't handle the shortness of those skirts.

Giggling, Elphaba and Glinda made their way into Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, where they each ordered single scoops (courtesy of Elphaba this time) and stole ice cream from each other with their little pink tasting spoons.

When all the ice cream had been devoured, the napkins and spoons thrown away, and faces had been wiped clean of spots of mint chocolate chip ice cream, Elphaba was ready to go back to Hogwarts.

Glinda, unfortunately, was not.

Her eyes sparkling, the blond smiled. "Come on, just right across the street! I promise it won't take too long, you need a new robe anyway!" Glinda entreated.

And, unable to resist the blond witch's charm, Elphaba was dragged into Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions by a bubbly, sugar-high Glinda, who still had a trace of orange sherbet on the left corner of her mouth.

The blond witch frowned at all the black robes, glancing around the store for bursts of color. Lucky for Elphaba, she looked past the pink frilly robes and the light blue and cream robes. But then Glinda spotted something and, grabbing Elphaba's arm with a force one would never expect a small blond witch to possess, dragged Elphaba towards the back of the store, where an assortment of shiny golden robes hung.

"No." Elphaba said simply, but Glinda insisted. "Gold will complement your green skin beautifully! I swear! It'll make you look exotic!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, "I already look exotic enough!"

Glinda gestured wildly towards the golden robe she had picked out, "It'll make you look like an exotic beauty, then!"

The green witch pretended to look offended, "Are you saying I'm not beautiful?"

Glinda sighed. "No, you'll always be beautiful to me," with such sweet sincerity that Elphaba wanted to kiss her right there in front of everyone—but then again, that would be kissing Glinda right there in front of everyone, so Elphaba held back.

"…but I still think gold would be a beautiful color on you."

Ron watched from a shadowed alleyway as Elphaba and Glinda walked by, talking and laughing. Why didn't he see it before? It was so obvious now that he knew their secret. Ron cracked his knuckles as he continued to watch his targets. By now, they had stopped in front of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

Ron turned around to motion to the small troop of Death Eaters. Pulling on his mask, he ordered, "Goyle, you're in charge of capturing Upland and holding her hostage. The rest of you…Diagon Alley is yours for the taking. We need to draw Thropp away from Upland first. But remember, whatever else you may do, Thropp is mine!" The Death Eaters cheered and then charged into the packed streets.

"Elphie!" Glinda said, "You need to go shopping for yourself sometime. You can't avoid it forever. Might as well do it now."

Elphaba sighed. "Glinda, I love you, and I'd do anything for you, but going shopping is where I draw the line."

"Why-"

Elphaba could not hear the rest of Glinda's sentence as the windows of a nearby shop was blown out and people ran out, screaming. Glinda felt Elphaba tense up next to her. "Elphaba, no!" Glinda hissed. "Please, please don't go to play the hero!

"Glinda, I have to," Elphaba replied, pulling out her wand from its hoister. "It's my duty as an Order mem-"

"For Lurline's sake, Elphie! Why can't you think about yourself for once?" Glinda asked. "You keep going out to these battles and getting hurt! I can't lose you again, Elphaba. I just can't." She finished the last part in a whisper.

Luckily, Harry ran up at this time, saving Elphaba from this awkward situation. "Fae, come on. The Death Eaters have moved up the street. We're not prepared for a fight, but we'll just have to do the best we can. Come on!"

Elphaba nodded. "Glinda, go over there," she ordered, indicating an unoccupied alleyway. "And don't let yourself be seen. I'll be back." After sparing a last glace at the blonde, Elphaba rushed after Harry.

Glinda watched them until they were out of sight. Suddenly, she got the feeling that she wasn't alone. She turned around slowly. Strange. There was no one around. Perhaps she was just being para-

"Hello." That was the only warning that Glinda received before Goyle lunged at her. She screamed as they both landed on the abandoned pathway. She fought him wildly, kicking and biting at whatever she could.

"Goyle!" A sharp voice cut through their fighting. "You have a knife, you blubbering idiot! Use it!" Glinda froze a moment later as she felt the cool metal blade of a knife touch her neck.

"Don't move," Goyle hissed. "Don't move or I'll slit your throat." Glinda swallowed hard and then relented. Keeping one hand on his knife and one hand on Glinda, Goyle marched her over to where another Death Eater was standing.

"Tie her hands," the other Death Eater ordered, taking Glinda and the knife from Goyle. Goyle did as he was told. Then, with a nod from the Death Eater, Goyle depressed the cartilage on the back of Glinda's skull, and Glinda's world turned black.

Elphaba limped back to the front of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Thankfully, the fight hadn't taken too long. The Death Eaters didn't seem to have a goal in coming to Diagon Alley today. It seemed like they had just picked a random place to attack. However, if there was one thing that Elphaba knew, it was that Death Eaters didn't attack randomly. There was a purpose for their attack on Diagon Alley. She just didn't know what it was.

"Glinda?" she called as her eyes scanned the dusty pathway. There was no answer. "Glinda, this isn't funny!" she demanded, looking around. Making her way over to the alleyway, she wondered where her girlfriend had gone. Her heart sped up as she noticed someone lying on the cold pavement.

Elphaba unwillingly gasped. "No!" She ran over to the prone form and fell to her knees. Pulling out her wand, she cast a spell to revive Glinda and then dropped said wand next to her. "Glinda, wake up! Can you hear me?"

A voice penetrated the fog in Glinda's mind. Elphaba. She tried to speak, but no sound came out.

Three Death Eaters entered the alleyway silently, blocking off any possible route of escape for the two witches. One of them, Malfoy, quietly summoned Elphaba's wand from her side. The green witch, however, was uncharacteristically oblivious. She had focused all of her energy in reviving Glinda.

"Glinda," Elphaba said, a little more urgently this time. "Wake up! We need to get you back to Hogwarts." She untied Glinda's hands as Glinda opened her eyes.

"Elphie?" she whispered.

"That's it, Glinda. Come on. We have to-"

"Elphie, no! It's a trap!"

"What?" Elphaba's head shot up as she realized that they weren't as alone as she had though. By now, the three Death Eaters had surrounded them, their wands out and pointed at her. She cursed her unawareness of their surroundings and instinctively tried to grasp for her wand. However, Elphaba watched in horror as one of the Death Eaters held it mockingly between his fingers.

Jumping up, Elphaba delivered a surprise attack on the first Death Eater. She delivered a kick to his middle that caused him to bend over, coughing. Another blow and he was out cold. Idiot. She then turned her attention to the remaining Death Eater. Remaining Death Eater? What happened to…

"Step away from Malfoy, Thropp," the cool voice of said Death Eater ordered. "Do it. Or your girlfriend dies." He had planted his knife along Glinda's neck again and watched Elphaba.

Elphaba hesitated and the Death Eater pressed the knife lightly on Glinda's neck, drawing a thin line of blood. The green witch didn't wait. She dropped her hands to her side and backed away from Malfoy.

"Get over by the wall," the Death Eater continued. "And turn around."

"Elphie, don't!" Glinda screamed. "Don't do it."

"Now!" the Death Eater hissed. Left with no other choice, Elphaba did as he asked. Giving a small smirk at this, Malfoy pulled out a pair of iron cuffs and secured Elphaba's hands behind her back. She winced as the cold metal of the cuffs bit into her wrists.

"Let Glinda go," Elphaba pleaded to the unknown Death Eater. "You wanted me, didn't you? Well, you got what you wanted. She's of no further value to you."

"I don't think you're in any position to be making bargains here, Thropp," the Death Eater said with a hint of amusement in his voice. It was that voice that was bothering Elphaba. It seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place it. "Don't forget, I can kill her right now and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But I won't. Where's the fun in that, hmm?"

Leaving Glinda for Malfoy to guard, he walked over to where Elphaba stood silently and circled her. "You don't know how long I've waited for this, Thropp," he whispered. "How long I've been itching to kill you." He paused. "No. Death's too good for you. I will make you scream for it."

Elphaba tried to keep the fear from showing in her words. "You're pathetic," she spat. "You were too afraid to attack me by yourself, so you have to resort to using Glinda."

"All's fair in war," the Death Eater shrugged. "And it worked like a charm. You're just where I want you." And without another word, Elphaba felt a blinding pain on the side of her head as she was knocked down to the pavement.

"Elphie!" Elphaba could hear Glinda screaming, but she didn't look up. She could feel the tangy taste of blood in her mouth from haven bitten her tongue.

"May I remind you that you can have all the fun you want with Thropp when we get back?" Malfoy said silkily walking closer to Glinda. "Come. I'll bring Upland and you can have Thropp. If people know we're here, we'll have accomplished nothing."

"There's no one, here," the other Death Eater snapped. "Everyone's already fled from the battle earlier. There's nothing to stop me-"

"Except for me. Expelliarmous!" Elphaba turned her head to see the outline of Harry standing at the entrance of the alleyway. The knife that was previously at Glinda's throat and Elphaba's wand flew over to Harry's hand.

"Harry!" Elphaba called, trying to stand up.

"Damnit," the Death Eater holding her swore. Why did Potter have to come in, now of all times? Deciding that it wasn't worth it to fight Potter and risk losing his prisoner, he grasped the struggling green witch's upper arm in one hand and a portkey in another. He quickly whispered the keyword and disappeared, leaving Malfoy with Harry.

"No! Please, no! Elphie!" Glinda shrieked as tears streamed down her cheeks. Not again. She couldn't do this again. She couldn't lose Elphaba a second time.

"That cowardly scum!" Malfoy muttered as he realized that Ron had deserted him. He had never liked Weasley. He was too far from Upland to be able to grab her first without getting captured. And he was not going to take the blame for Weasley's stupidity.

He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry, backing up all the while. Right before he activated his own portkey, he looked at Glinda. "Thank you, Upland. You've made our job a whole lot easier." And then, he too disappeared, leaving Glinda to her guilt.

Coming up: Meeting Voldemort and an emergency meeting. Poor Elphaba.

Hehe. This was one of the longest chapters. Aren't you proud of me and Mara?

And yes, I did change my penname. I told OMG it's WickedJelly that I would change my profile, so I decided to change my penname while I was at it.

-Wolfie