The title for chapter twenty is from…Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Congrats to Firstlady1408, X-Kate-X, Wickedgreenchild, Yank2324, Easterly Winds, Haley, and maureen is me.
This should have been up Monday, but Mara sent me the Glinda hysterical scene just today. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up by next Monday. It should be. I think.
And actually, it's still fine that it was updated today, because...Happy birthday to Idina Menzel! Yeah!
Chapter 21: Here Alone
Harry had encountered many strange and dangerous situations in his career as an Auror. However, nothing had prepared him for a hysterical blonde whose green girlfriend had just been captured by the darkest wizard in England's history. Harry, who had few mean or impatient bones in his body, wanted to smack Glinda across the face and tell her to be quiet. However, he held back his urge and berated her instead. "Calm down, Glinda!" he harped. "We'll figure out something."
At first, Glinda had reacted with shock as she watched Elphaba disappear. She'd stood there, wide-eyed, pale—looking so much like a little child that couldn't find its mommy, didn't know where she was, had fallen down the stairs, and on top of it all, had dropped her lollipop in the gutter. Harry's heart had gone out to Glinda.
Like a boy that finds an old stuffed teddy bear in a closet, abused to a point where stuffing was falling out the side and one of the eyes had fallen off, Harry had rushed over to Glinda and wrapped his arms around her.
"She's gone," Glinda kept whispering again and again, over and over.
"She'll be okay. She's strong. We'll get her back. Don't worry." Harry said soothingly. "Come on, we need to get back to Hogwarts. We have to figure out what to do."
And that's when Glinda passed the line from lost child or abused teddy bear into furious, psychopathic woman. "NO!" Glinda suddenly screamed, shocking Harry's nearby earlobe with her ferocious volume. "WE HAVE TO GET HER BACK!" And then Glinda began stumbling towards the spot where Elphaba had disappeared, driven by a motivation that Harry could not comprehend.
"When we get back to Hogwarts, we'll plan how to get her back," Harry said, with uncharacteristic calmness. Perhaps he was shocked with the loss of Elphaba, too.
Harry grabbed Glinda. They needed to get her home before she caused a giant scene. But too late. Glinda screamed an unearthly howl as Harry winced and clenched his fingers into Glinda's skin, which only made her scream louder.
How Harry managed to get Glinda back to Hogwarts by himself would have been beyond anyone watching this scene. But getting her into her room proved an even tougher challenge. In the end, he ended up literally pulling and grabbing and shoving her in the right direction. Harry didn't even want to think about all the bruises he was receiving from this experience.
He was getting quite annoyed as Glinda flailed, hit, smacked, whacked, punched, kicked, screamed, tossed, pulled, and pushed at him. For Merlin's sake, he was only trying to help.
The victory of pulling Glinda's door shut behind them was overshadowed when Glinda tried to punch Harry in the eye, then shrieked because she'd of course, hit his glasses and only hurt her own hand instead. He grabbed her arms, shoved her into an armchair, and held her down.
"Listen, Glinda," he said, talking slowly and letting his annoyance seep into every word, "we are going to get Fae back. But to do so, we need you to calm down. You need to stay out of the way so we can figure out how to get her back, okay? So don't you dare move. I need to go meet with the other Order members and figure out how to save her. So the least you can do is sit still and not leave your rooms. Do you understand?"
The blond witch's eyes were large with fright as she nodded.
"Good," Harry said curtly, before whipping around and slamming the door behind the two of them.
After telling Dumbledore to call the Order members to convene, however, Harry knocked on Glinda's door. He felt bad about his treatment towards Glinda. After all, she had just lost her lover. And not only did Elphaba have a high probability of being killed, but who knew what horrible things they would do to her before that?
Glinda rocked back and forth on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, rocking and holding her knees to her chest. Tears made little rivers down the sides of her cheeks and wet the bottom of her chin. She trembled all over. The shower was running, but Glinda didn't feel it. The mist from the shower sprinkled Glinda, who seemed oblivious to the cold dampness being sprayed on her.
"Elphie…Elphie…Elphie…" she chanted in a sing-song whisper.
Elphaba, the strong one, Elphaba the brave. Elphaba the noble, the clever, the wise. The one with guts. The one who would actually be doing something now instead of curling up in a ball and crying had Glinda been the one captured. Elphaba, the beautiful, Elphaba the kind, Elphaba the sarcastic. The exotic green girl who had captured her heart. Taken away.
Glinda was scared. Images of Elphaba being kicked, punched, and beaten within an inch of her life flooded Glinda's mind. What if she was already dead?
The picture of Elphaba, red blood trickling down from a line across her throat, flashed across the inside of Glinda's eye.
She didn't make it to the toilet in time and vomited all over the floor. So much for the ice cream. Glinda wiped tears and vomit from her face with the back of her hand and returned to rocking and crying in a little ball.
"Glinda!" Harry's concerned voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Go away!"
"Glinda!" Harry repeated.
"Go away! I'm taking a shower!" Glinda screamed as she turned the water up even higher.
"Come on, Glinda, I'm sorry!"
But Glinda didn't acknowledge Harry's apology. Instead, Glinda curled herself up on the wet ground against the side of the shower. Her hair was a disaster; some of her curls were soaked helplessly and others frizzy beyond control. She pulled her knees close to her body and lay there, crying. Wishing and wishing and praying and hoping that Elphaba was there to comfort her, to tell her everything was all right. But then, of course, had Elphaba been there, Glinda wouldn't be dealing with these emotions in the first place.
"Glinda, open the bloody door!"
"NO!" Glinda shouted, her voice muffled since she spoke in her knees, but her response was clear enough for Harry to get the message.
The water in the shower was icy cold as Glinda fell into a restless state of semi-unconsciousness, if there was such a thing, curled up against the shower door.
Elphaba fought to break free from the Death Eater holding her as she was forced down the drafty hallway. "Stop struggling, Thropp," the Death Eater growled, tightening his hold. "You're not going anywhere."
"That's what you think," Elphaba muttered.
Then, she almost stumbled as the Death Eater stopped short and forced her to look at him. "You think you're so powerful, do you, Thropp?" he hissed. "I can do anything I want to you and you won't be able to stop it. No one will stop me. Think about it."
By now, they had reached the end of the hallway. The door was opened and the Death Eater pushed Elphaba into the chamber. She looked up to see Voldemort watching her with half-concealed amusement.
"My Lord, we have her!" the Death Eater called.
"Yes, I see that," Voldemort said sarcastically. "Bring her forward." Elphaba was brought in front of Voldemort and forced to her knees. No matter how hard she fought, she was unable to break the grip of the Death Eater on her arm. Voldemort glanced down at the baleful green witch. "I wish to talk to our prisoner. Alone."
"Yes, my Lord," the Death Eater replied. "But what if she-"
"Alone," Voldemort repeated with more force. Once the Death Eater let her go, Elphaba stood back up defiantly. With a respectful nod at Voldemort, the Death Eater backed out of the room and closed the door behind him.
"Elphaba Thropp," Voldemort murmured. "I've heard a great many things about you. Your power, your skill, and your…exotic beauty. And I must admit, I have become curious about you." Elphaba watched him silently as the Dark Lord began to pace. "So, I had my Death Eaters bring you here so that I could personally talk to you. We are alike, you and I."
"We are nothing alike," Elphaba interrupted. "I do not see any similarity between us. There is no similarity."
"Don't you, now," the Dark Lord chuckled slightly. "We are both powerful, more powerful than most of the Wizarding World. And we're both different- set apart from others, if you will. Think about it, Thropp. Think of everything we could do together. We'd be unlimited."
Unlimited. There was that word again. It was what she had always wanted in Oz: to be accepted and loved by everyone. Ironic that Voldemort would try and use that word to sway her over to the Death Eaters. But it was different now. She was accepted here in England. Most people didn't hate her because of her skin. She was loved.
"Join me and you'll have all you ever wanted. Anything you've ever wanted. On the other hand, you could continue to defy me instead and die a martyr's death. A painful death. Is that what you want?"
Elphaba fought to keep the fear from manifesting itself in her voice. "I'd rather die than live a life of lies," she said bitterly.
Voldemort raised an eyebrow. "Such loyalty," he whispered, idly twirling his own wand between his fingers. "Why do you fight for Dumbledore? There is no good or evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Last chance, Thropp. Join me and live or continue to fight a loosing battle. Your choice."
Elphaba took a deep breath. This was it. She was about to seal her own fate. She glared at Voldemort and tried to still her pounding heart. "In your dreams…Tom Riddle."
Giving a scream of rage, Voldemort pointed his wand at the witch. "As you wish, Thropp," he snarled, his facial features twisted in anger. "Crucio!" Elphaba fell to the stone floor, twitching and writhing. Her whole body was on fire, and she screamed as red-hot knives seemed to stab every part of her.
Finally, Voldemort lifted the curse. Breathing deeply, Elphaba slowly sat up. "Changed your mind yet?" Voldemort asked.
"Never," Elphaba replied spitefully.
"Malfoy!" Voldemort called. The blonde Death Eater rushed in and bowed deeply at Voldemort's feet.
"Yes, my Lord?" he asked.
"Thropp is yours," Voldemort indicated Elphaba, who had a line of blood slowly trickling down her forehead from hitting it on the ground. "You may torture her for any information regarding the Order, but remember: she is not to be killed."
"Yes, my Lord," Malfoy said gleefully. "And I am to have her to myself?"
"All to yourself, Malfoy," Voldemort nodded. "The others can take their turns later." As Elphaba was dragged out of the chamber, she locked eyes with Voldemort for a moment, who gave her a superior look. "What you don't seem to realize is that I've won," Voldemort called after her. "And Thropp, the penalty for loosing…is death."
Elphaba tried to yell something back at him, but the door to the chamber closed. No, she thought desperately.
"Order! Order!" Dumbledore tried to establish some form of order in the chaotic meeting room of the major Order members. Finally, seeing that his polite pleas to the members weren't helping, he raised his voice. "Quiet!" he called.
That did the trick. The members looked at him in surprise. It was very rare that the normally calm Headmaster actually yelled.
"Now, would you all sit down?" Dumbledore continued. "We need to move quickly if we want to figure out how to rescue Fae before…before it's too late."
This statement caused another wave of whispers to spread throughout the meeting room.
"For Merlin's sake," Snape snapped, annoyed at the inefficiency of his colleagues, "none of you are helping matters at all. Are you trying to leave Fae at the Dark Lord's mercy?"
"Shut up, Snape! Don't you dare say that about us. We care about Fae as much as you do," Harry yelled, his adrenaline still spiked from the earlier battle and Elphaba's capture.
"Well, you all have a funny way of showing it," Snape sneered. "You're wasting your time talking about 'what ifs' instead of actually concocting a plan to rescue her."
"And where were you during all this?" Harry shot at the Potions Master. "Why didn't anyone respond to my emergency alert during the battle? Maybe if you had come, Snape, Fae wouldn't have been captured."
"Be quiet, both of you!" Snape and Harry looked at Hermione, surprised. "Now is not the time to fight amongst each other, not if you want to help Fae. And I for one am not going to sit here and watch you two waste valuable time arguing."
"Thank you, Hermione," Dumbledore said, looking relieved that Snape and Harry seemed to follow Hermione's advice and sat down in their respective seats. "Now, Harry, could you please give us an official run-through of what happened in the battle and what led up to Fae being captured."
Harry began to speak quickly about the battle and its aftermath. "…and after the Death Eaters disapperated, Fae left the way she had come. I assumed that she was going to find Glinda, so I wasn't too worried. I had to take stock of the damage done in Diagon Alley anyone, since I would have to file an official report."
"And an 'official report' is more important to you than Elphaba's safety?" Fiyero scowled.
Harry glared at the ex-scarecrow. "How was I to know that Death Eaters would be back by Madame Malkin's Robes?"
"Continue, please," Dumbledore interrupted before another argument could break out.
"Eventually, I followed Fae because I had the portkey to get back here. By the time I got there, however, the Death Eaters had already captured both her and Glinda. I summoned the knife and Fae's wand first-"
"The knife? The first thing you did was summon the knife?" Snape yelled. "Why didn't you try to help Fae?"
"I took care of the immediate threat, Snape!" Harry snarled, angry at being interrupted. "The bloody knife was at Glinda's throat. If I had done anything else, that Death Eater would not have hesitated to slit her throat."
"And what happened to Fae, then?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"The Death Eater took her before I could do anything else. Luckily, the other one, Malfoy, disapperated as well without putting up a fight. It looks as though Fae was their main target- they didn't seem to care much whether or not Glinda was captured."
"Where is Glinda now?" Hermione looked around as she realized that the blonde witch wasn't in the meeting room.
"In her room," Harry said briefly. "I think-"
"Harry, hold on a minute." Dumbledore disrupted Harry's sentence. "When you mentioned the Death Eater that captured Fae, you never said his name. Who was he?"
"I don't know," Harry admitted. "I never saw his face and his name was never said. His voice sounded familiar, though. He's probably just another Inner Circle Death Eater or something."
"But is Glinda alright?" Fiyero pressed. "Was she hurt badly?"
"No and no," Harry answered. "She was only knocked out, as far as I can tell, but I think she might feel at least partially responsible for Fae's capture."
"And she might well be," Snape cut in harshly. "It was her idea to go shopping there anyhow."
"Don't you dare use Glinda as an outlet for your anger!" Fiyero shot up from his seat and glared at the Potions Master across from him. "How can you even think about blaming her?"
"Because, as I said, if she hadn't dragged Fae everywhere and separated from the rest of the group, Fae might be sitting here right now."
"Severus Snape!" Dumbledore roared, truly angry at how the Order members were behaving. "I know you're frustrated, but there's no reason for you and everyone else to take your frustration out of the people around you. You all need to calm down." He looked around at the remains of their not-so-organized meeting and said more calmly, "Obviously, you are all too riled up to have a productive meeting. Therefore, we will adjourn for now and meet in a few hours when we've all calmed down. Is that understood?"
"Well, we have to do something," Fiyero insisted. "We can't just sit around for the next few hours while knowing that Elphaba is most likely being tortured."
"Unfortunately for you, Tiggular," Snape spat, "we have no way of helping Fae right now. For one thing, we have absolutely no idea where the hell she is."
"Fiyero," Dumbledore thought for a moment. "Perhaps there will be some word about Fae's whereabouts in Knockturn Alley. Would you like to scout around there and see what you can find out?"
"If there's not anything else I can do." Fiyero sighed. "I'll try to find out something before the meeting later." He left the room.
"The rest of you…" Dumbledore looked at the rest of the members seriously. "Keep your eyes and ears open. And- I hate to say this, but…prepare yourselves for the worst."
Coming up: Fiyero and Glinda talk, Ron and Elphaba talk, Voldemort gloats.
As you can see, I am hopeless at making up good summaries. So…I would appreciate it greatly if you could help me with this endeavor. (Meaning write a summary of this story for me to use). The character limit is…250 , I think. –checks- No. 255. Close.
If I end up using your summary, I'll, um…credit you in chapter 22. Thanks!
-Wolfie