A/N: Oh my God, I am the absolute worst. I'm sure some of you are surprised to be getting emails saying this was updated, huh? I swear I had no idea it's been this long since I've given you an update! I'm constantly working on this story but totally let time get away from me. Besides leaving it for a whole year on a cliff hanger :0
Welp, it's here now. I can't apologize enough for the abysmal amount of time I made you guys wait. For those of you who haven't given up on me, I hope you enjoy :)
My attempt to scream is cut off quickly by my assailant's hand on my mouth. He pulls me flush against him and holds me there before he speaks.
"Ay now, no reason for the screaming. You lost?" He drawls. I don't recognize his voice. "Light witches like you usually don't come down this part of the Alley on purpose."
I struggle to pull my mouth away from his hand before he finally loosens his grip enough to let me speak. "I fail to see how that is any of your business, nor why you felt the need to grab me like this."
He chuckles, "Aw, you know how it is. I was watching you when you walked into the Alley and figured we could have a bit of fun."
My stomach rolls at the thought, and I can't hide the noise of disgust that escapes my mouth. "Go to hell."
"That's not very polite."
"I don't give a damn. Get away from me and let me go."
"Not until you make it worth my while, Sweetheart."
I start struggling against him now, but he has a better grip on me than I expected.
"I'm not giving you anything!"
"Well then, I guess I'll just have to take it."
I feel him move slightly, but before I can wonder what he's up to, I feel the tip of what must be his wand pressing against my side. I move a little, trying to get my arm away from him enough to free my wand as well, but he grabs my arm back against him roughly, twisting it between us to make sure I can't do it again. I wince at the pain the awkward angle causes in my wrist.
"Ah, ah, ah. None of that, Sweetheart."
Shit. Usually I'm better than this. A year ago I would have never let myself get into a situation like this. I've gotten too comfortable here knowing that I'm out of reach of the threat from the Wizard, the Witch Hunters and Madame Morrible and stupidly let myself think that it meant there was no danger elsewhere. Idiot.
I take the momentary pause to assess my options. He has eliminated the possibility of using my wand, and although my next obvious choice would be to fight him off, I honestly don't feel it would do any good. Even in the state this man is obviously in, he's better prepared than I am.
Albus! Where is he? He has to be finished with his last errand by now, right? He should realize I'm missing and is probably looking for me. Maybe if he could just hear me…
"Alb-"
The man's reflexes are quicker than I'd anticipated, and his hand is back around my mouth before I can even finish half of Albus's name. He comes closer to me, whispering in my ear.
"Shut up. You're starting to piss me off. You're only calling more attention to us, and trust me, you don't want my friends to hear you."
I cringe away from the disgusting smell of stale liquor on his breath as it touches my skin. I look around us and realize he's right. More people in the Alley are noticing us now, and I see smirks on their faces. I guess I should be happy no one has decided to assist him in this assault.
"I am going to say this one more time. Let. Me. Go."
He just laughs at my threat, "I'll give you some friendly advice. Don't come down here alone next time. Most people aren't going to be as nice as I am. Now be good and follow directions."
He tightens his hold on me and presses his wand even harder into my side, making me flinch.
"Minerva?"
The relief that floods through me when I hear his voice would have surprised me in any other situation. I look over to find Albus a few feet away looking directly at me with a mix of concern and relief on his face.
"Albus!"
The man releases me almost immediately when I say his name, even pushing me slightly away from him.
Albus is in front of me in an instant.
"What happened? I came back and you were gone."
"I'm sorry. I decided to look around and I got a little... held up."
Albus looks over my shoulder now at what I assume is the man that was holding me a moment ago. His expression changes to a much less friendly one.
"Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
I'm about to respond when I hear the man speak from behind me.
"H-hey, we was just havin' a bit of fun, right?"
Albus glares at the man. "Holding a woman against her will with a wand against her is your idea of fun?"
I turn to look at the man, who looks nervous. It's obvious to me that he knows exactly who Albus is and knows it's better not to cross him. It looks like he's starting to realize he's gotten more than he bargained for.
Shuffling in the alley catches my attention and I look around to see people trying to distance themselves from us as quickly as possible without being noticed. It's almost funny to me that they were the same ones smirking at the situation only moments ago.
"It wasn't like that! Tell him, Sweetheart."
The man's reassurance seems to do nothing but make Albus angrier, and he even makes a move toward him. I stop him before he can take more than a step, grabbing his arm when I see him reach for his wand.
"Don't."
Before he can say anything I turn back to the man, "Leave."
The idiot actually hesitates, staring at me.
"This is what common decency looks like. Go now, before I change my mind."
Thankfully, he doesn't need to be told a third time, but he does look at me with disbelief before he finally runs away.
Once he's out of sight I turn to Albus, who has the same expression on his face as the thief.
"Minerva, why did you-"
"It wasn't worth the energy, Albus. It was my own fault for not paying attention. Besides, I'm fine."
"Still, he was trying to-"
"I know what he was trying to do."
"Then why would you just let him go?"
"There was no point in getting into a fight with some idiot over nothing."
"Nothing?! The man was holding you at wand-point. It looked like he was hurting you."
I sigh, "I'll probably have a bruise, maybe a sprained wrist, but that's it."
He opens his mouth to argue with me, but then he just shakes his head.
"I don't understand you. The man was obviously a criminal, and he hurt you. You had every right to be angry and want him to face consequences, but instead you do nothing."
I pause, looking down at my hands and rubbing my sore wrist before I answer him. "I've spent a long time looking for revenge for other people's crimes, Albus. I showed him mercy instead."
Albus just looks at me, obviously at a loss for what to say in response. I look around us a bit nervously. People are still looking at the two of us, but no one looks like they want to even attempt anything with Albus in the alley. I don't like the feeling of everyone looking at me.
"Can we please go home now? I feel too exposed here." I ask him, and Albus seems to snap out of it, agreeing immediately. He reaches an arm out to signal me to go ahead. When I do, I hear him following me before falling into step beside me when we leave Knockturn Alley.
We walk back to the school in relative silence, but halfway into the trip Albus looks at me. "Minerva, I'm sorry to bring this up again but I still have a hard time believing you wouldn't want justice for what that man tried to do to you, regardless of the fact that he didn't actually accomplish it."
"Justice?" I laugh. "The idea of justice is different for everyone, Albus. Haven't you ever noticed that? People do awful things and rationalize it by saying it's all in the name of justice. Even paint people as evil when they aren't just because they won't submit to how they want things to be. To be seen as the hero, even if it means doing bad things to get everyone to believe it."
I pause, realizing how true the words really are. Justice is a good concept, but it's all about perspective if I really think about it. In Oz I thought I was getting justice for the Animals and all the bad things the Wizard was doing. But in the Wizard's mind I suppose he felt he was getting his own justice for me speaking out against him. Making everyone think I was wicked was his form of justice.
"It's all about perspective, Albus. There's never any real justice."
"You don't honestly believe that, Minerva." Albus says beside me.
I almost laugh again, because if only he knew how very much I believed it. So many years spent trying to do the right thing for the people of Oz and all it brought was lies, pain and a life on the run. Justice was just a fantasy I let myself believe in. I should have known better.
"It's just my experience, Albus." I say simply, leaving it at that.
"Then why let him go? If you really believe that, why show him common decency? Why mercy?"
I stop walking and look at him now, "Because I'm not a monster Albus."
His only response is to stare at me, so I sigh before I continue in a hushed voice.
"Sometimes you have to choose to let things go instead of fighting. Sometimes fighting back… looking for justice only makes things worse."
I don't give him much of a chance to respond, not that I am honestly expecting one. I turn around and continue down the path towards Hogwarts, effectively ending the conversation. I can feel him looking at me as I walk away, but it only takes a few moments before I hear him coming down the path behind me.
It takes me a few days to work up the courage to start using the pensieve I found in Diagon Alley. The idea of the memories inside being easily discovered kept popping into my head and making me hesitate every time I thought about trying it. After doing a little more research, I decided I was being ridiculous. I never got anywhere in life by letting my apprehensions get the best of me. If that were the case Oz would have never had a Wicked Witch of the West.
The pensieve is fairly advanced magic, although the object itself seems rather discreet. When Poppy told me about them, I was expecting something bigger and more noticeable. To my relief, the pensieve I found in Diagon Alley is just a shallow stone basin. The only thing that makes it stand out is the runes and stones carved into the sides.
Once I get the hang of the memory extraction spell, I take my time pulling memories and placing them carefully inside the pensieve. At first, I start with harmless memories; memories of growing up taking care of Nessarose, or sitting in my father's library reading his books while he was away being the Governor of Munchkinland. I look into the pensieve every now and then to make sure it was working the way I'd read it should.
It's almost funny, how different magic is here from the magic in Oz. I would have never been able to do anything like this there. But then again, there are quite a few things I've read in the Grimmerie that I've yet to come into contact with here, so I suppose it shouldn't surprise me.
It's actually a fairly strange experience. The memories are all viewed in a third person point of view, with me watching as if I am just an innocent spectator in my own memories. I know, of course, that storing these memories would do nothing to relieve me of my insomnia. After a few more days of little to no sleep, I finally can't stand it anymore, and begin with the memories leading up to and during my time as the Wicked Witch.
Thinking of the memory I want, I bring the tip of my wand to my temple and slowly pull away, watching out of the corner of my eye as the cloudy silver substance stretches for a moment before lighting the tip of my wand. I let the memory fall with a swirl into the basin. Before I can talk myself out of it, I lean over the basin and plummet into the memory, finding myself in the Grand Hall at Shiz University while all of the new students that year begin singing the school's anthem.
As they start, in comes a running, hopelessly excited and very green Elphaba Thropp. I watch almost pained as she goes around trying to be nice and greet the students milling about her, only for them to faint or run away at the sight of her. I turn when I hear a new voice, and Glinda Upland glides in on her mountain of luggage like a queen, singing easily an octave above all the other voices in the room.
Seeing my once my once best friend makes me hesitate for a moment. It's been so long since I'd last seen her.
When the song ends, there's an uncomfortable silence in the room and I am reminded of all the people staring at her, me, none of them wanting to get too close. There are even people behind her staring, which I never realized at the time. I suppose that's an advantage of viewing memories from a third person point of view, seeing things you didn't see before; although I really could have gone without it in this memory.
"What? What are you all looking at? Do I have something in my teeth?"
I watch as Elphaba tries to ignore the looks she is getting, but no one responds.
"Alright, fine. We might as well get this over with. No, I'm not seasick. Yes, I've always been green. No, I did not eat grass as a child!"
The laugh that escapes me is a bitter one. I cannot even count how many times I was asked idiotic questions like those. I barely even remember saying this, but it'd be amusing how rehearsed it was if it wasn't so uncomfortable.
"Elphaba!"
I turn at the same time Elphaba does to face her father. Once again I hesitate, and my breath catches in my throat at the sight of Frexspar Thropp. Elphaba though, is completely unfazed as she walks toward her sister that just wheeled herself between them.
"Oh, and this is my younger sister, Nessarose! As you can see she's a perfectly normal color!"
Frex once again stops her, telling her not to make a spectacle of herself as he grabs her arm and swings her around to the other side of Nessa's chair. I follow behind her.
"Remember I'm only sending you to this school of one reason—"
"I know—to look after Nessa."
I scoff, how could I possibly forget? That's the only reason he let me do anything. I have zero doubt in my mind that if Nessa hadn't needed so much help as a child he never would have let me out of the house, let alone send me away to Shiz University.
"My precious little girl; a parting gift." Frex turns his back on Elphaba in favor of his youngest daughter, kneeling in front of her. He opens the basket in his hand to reveal a pair of beautiful silver jeweled shoes, which of course Nessa absolutely drools over.
Frex turns back to his daughter with the basket still open.
"Elphaba..." I watch her start to look inside the basket, thinking that perhaps her father had gotten her something as well, only to have to lid closed in her face.
"Take care of your sister." He turns back to kiss Nessa on the top of her head, before turning back to his eldest daughter, shoving the empty basket at her.
"And try not to talk so much." He looks right at her and for just a moment I swear he's looking right at me. The look of complete disdain and disgust on his face upsets me more than I expected, and Elphaba, Nessa and I all watch him go.
"Elphaba…"
I turn back in time to catch the guilty look on Nessarose's face, but the incident is quickly dismissed.
"Well, what can he get me? I clash with everything."
Nessa doesn't get a chance to respond before another voice interrupts the moment, and I feel myself cringe.
"Welcome! Welcome, new students!"
I pull myself out of the memory when Madame Morrible enters the room, and I stand once again in front of the basin shaking myself from the unpleasantness of the memory. Nessa always seemed to feel bad when father was cruel to me, but I never let her focus on it, instead responding with a sarcastic quip so she would find the humor in it. It was never actually funny, but the fact that she felt guilty always felt wrong somehow.
I sigh, deciding to stop for now and get a cup of tea and perhaps take a walk around the grounds to center myself again. I knew I shouldn't view the memory I put in the pensieve, but it's hard to resist. It's almost more draining to watch than it was to live through, and I didn't think that would possible.
A/N: Well, there it is. I doubt it was worth the long wait, but I hope you were at least a little satisfied with the conclusion of the cliffhanger. I apologize again. Please know that I have so many things planned for this story, and am always adding new sections... I just tend to jump around a lot, which I'm realizing isn't very conducive to updating regularly.
P.S. HUGE shout-out to StarDust2000 for making me realize it'd been a whole freaking year since I last updated and motivating me to get my ass in gear and finish this chapter!
I love you all, and I hope to see new reviews soon! Oh, and Happy Memorial Day!
Until next time...
~Neve