It wasn't hard for Elphaba to find a distraction from her confused feelings; she had far more pressing things to concern herself with than Galinda and Fiyero.

That evening she found herself alone, holed up in a corner of the dimly lit, hushed library with books and half written essays surrounding her. She had watched the sun go down through the window beside her and now looked out at the bright moon peeking through the clouds. Even as groups of different students circulated in and out and hours passed she remained hard at work.

Shiz was a difficult school to get into, but an even more difficult school to succeed in. And Elphaba, not wanting to ruin her dream of meeting the wizard, was putting her all into her studies. It was her only chance to change her life.

Currently she was bent low over a piece of paper, her ink covered hand scratching back and forth quickly as she worked on the closing paragraph of her essay for Dr Dillamond. She paused, thinking of how to form the last sentence, then quickly scribbled it down with a satisfied sigh. She leaned back in her chair with a stretch, scanning the finished assignment before closing her history book with a snap.

So far, she had yet to disappoint herself as she excelled at each of her subjects, quickly rising to the top of her classes. It had originally attracted a lot more unwanted attention, giving everyone another reason to be annoyed with her, but she didn't care. Especially now.

She had gotten through a full day without a single nasty comment or look; in fact, many people went out of their way to smile and say hi to her. Granted Galinda had been present for every incident, but this was still a vast improvement to the disgust she was usually met with. And who knew, maybe one day Galinda wouldn't have to be there for the world to be kind to her.

After a short break she grabbed her sorcery book and dug into chapter 13: simple transfiguration. Levitation had proved easy enough for her, but as far as she knew she had been causing things to fly through the air since the day she was born. Something that brought her father the greatest shame, yet now here she was utilizing her talent with pride rather than humiliation.

Even Nessa had a hard time accepting her sister's odd talent; whether from jealousy or fear Elphaba was never sure. She hoped with time and success at Shiz this would change. So far Nessa had been a bit more accepting, no longer casting her glance away at the first sign of magic.

The longer Elphaba read the more students slowly filed out of the library until soon she was entirely alone, the only sound was her breathing and the soft ruffle of pages as the librarian read at her desk.

Elphaba's eyes were growing tired and heavy, but she itched to try her hand at transfiguration. Excitedly she plowed through the chapter, reading the theory and history behind the spell she was going to attempt. As soon as she finished the last page she looked up with a smile on her face, looking around for something to test her new spell on.

Her eyes fell on her ink bottle. Small, inanimate and unassuming—it would be a great test subject. But as she cleared her throat to read the incantation she felt a burst of doubt course through her. What if she couldn't get the spell to work? What if levitation was her only true talent? The thought made her stomach twist into knots.

The minutes ticked by and yet Elphaba remained silent and motionless, thoughts of success and failure running rampant around her mind. She took a steadying breath, closing her eyes as she tried to visualize the ink bottle losing its shape, slowly transforming into a smooth, white chicken egg.

"It's just an ink bottle, Elphaba, you can do this," she whispered into the quiet air, even though she wasn't sure she could.

When the image was burned into her brain she slowly opened her eyes with another deep breath. She could do it. All she needed to do was read the spell.

She looked down at her book, leaning in to ensure she got every word correct while she held onto the image of the egg. Her shoulders relaxed, her eyes focused on the page, her toes curled, and she began to quietly read the incantation in a firm voice.

She paused. Nothing happened.

She checked the spell once more, making sure she had said the right words, then peered down at the ink bottle. Had it changed color slightly or was it a trick of the light?

Determined, she tried again, this time with more conviction behind her words and a clearer image of the egg. Once again the bottle remained firmly in place. Her face fell as she tried not to be too disappointed, reminding herself that magic wasn't easy.

With a frown and a heavy sigh she began to pack her things. It was late. Perhaps she wasn't ready to learn new magic without Madame Morrible just yet anyway. "Tomorrow. You can try again tomorrow," she muttered to herself as she closed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

She was halfway to the door when a noise froze her in place.

Cluck.

Her head snapped up. Clearly she had imagined it. "Okay, you're hearing things n—" cluck, cluck. There it was, clear as day.

Slowly, she revolved on the spot, her pulse quickening with each passing second. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the shelves near her. Nothing.

Cluck.

It was louder this time and seemed to be coming from near the front desk. She looked around nervously, clutching the strap of her bag as she slowly approached. What was she scared of? A chicken?

When she reached the front desk it was to find the librarian missing, only an open book lay waiting. "Hello?" She whispered, too scared to speak any louder as she cautiously looked over the edge of the desk, hoping to find the chicken. To her chagrin there was no sign of poultry…only a crumpled pile of clothing and a pair of glasses sitting on the chair.

Her breath hitched as she cast a glance around for the missing librarian. She was nowhere to be seen. "Oh my oz," Elphaba groaned as she slowly began to realize what happened.

There was a soft rustle behind her followed by a loud cluck. She turned sharply, just in time to see the tail end of a white chicken whipping around the corner. Her eyes grew wide… she'd found the librarian.

Jumping into action, she dropped her bag with a loud thud. If the librarian hadn't currently been a chicken Elphaba would have felt bad for the disturbance, but she was a bit preoccupied running around with feathery wings at the moment to care much about the ruckus. Elphaba took off after the chicken, streaking down the aisle, her footsteps pounding on the floor and echoing throughout the empty library.

"Where'd you go?" She panted desperately as she checked each row while she dashed past. This was exactly why her father was so stern with her, she was constantly messing up, she thought to herself bitterly. For oz's sake, she had turned the librarian into a chicken and promptly lost her. How was she going to explain this?

As the last echoes of her footsteps died out she quieted her breathing, waiting for a tell tale cluck. She didn't have to wait long, finally, after searching more than half the library, there she was in the rare book section, pecking at the spine of one of the rare books. Elphaba stopped short, breathing hard as she planned her approach.

She figured she had two options: use magic or don't, but whatever the choice was she needed to make it quickly. Chickens aren't exactly known to stick around when you need them to. If she tried to levitate Miss Greyling she risked hurting her if she couldn't control her powers properly. But then again she'd never tried to catch a chicken with her bare hands before either.

Each second wasted felt like an hour. Elphaba stood frozen when suddenly she forced a decision. She moved into the aisle slowly, trying her best to not scare the pecking chicken away. "Miss Greyling, it's Elphaba Thropp, I know you're probably not thinking clearly right now, but I can assure you, that is not the best idea," she said calmly, with her hands outstretched, hoping that the librarian would understand. The chicken stopped pecking, looked at her and tilted her head to the side, observing Elphaba as if she finally understood what was going on.

"Thank oz," she heaved a sigh of relief, her shoulders slumped and a small smile graced her lips, "okay let's go—" any thought Elphaba had of communication went out the window as the chicken went back to pecking the book with renewed fervor. Clearly the librarian was only thinking as a chicken or she would stop what she was doing and let Elphaba help.

If she could only get close enough to grab her, then she could take her to Madame Morrible and everything would be alright.

"Good chicken," she cooed, dropping to her knees and softly grabbing the bird. "That wasn't so bad was it? We'll fix this right up and then no one else ever has to know," she said softly, scratching the chicken's neck. She shuddered at the thought of the rest of the school finding out she turned someone into a chicken. Turning proudly, ready to make her way through the school clutching her prize, Elphaba was unprepared for when Miss Greyling suddenly decided she did not want to be carried.

At first it was a peck at her chest, then another on her shoulder. "Woah, calm down! It's okay, I'm trying to help you," Elphaba insisted, swatting at the chicken as it continued its assault. "For Oz's sake," she gasped as wings beat hard against her chest and arms making it hard to hold onto her, but Elphaba refused to let go.

The bird became more agitated the harder she held on until she felt sharp claws slice through her forearm and screamed in pain, blood immediately started flowing from deep cuts left by the chicken. "Miss Grey—"

With one more slice of talons that cut through her other arm the chicken wriggled free in a flurry of feathers. Elphaba stood momentarily shocked by what had just happened. She looked down at her chest to see her shirt had been ripped and specks of blood were rising from the peck marks. Her arms stung as warm blood ran down her wrists, standing out brightly against her green skin.

She sighed, knowing she had no other option than to try again. Gritting her teeth, she turned slowly and walked out to the center of the library, taking each step with extreme care.

It didn't take long to find Miss Greyling again. She was standing in the doorway to the library, pecking at the ground without concern. Elphaba's eyes shot to the doors, if Miss Greyling got out of the library she would have an even harder time catching her again.

"Okay, okay…I can do this," she whispered, extending a shaky hand toward the chicken who remained unphased. With all of the energy she could muster she concentrated on pulling the library doors shut. They wiggled then came flying into the room, slamming shut with a bang that sent the chicken scrambling.

Claws scratched at the floor and wings beat furiously as Miss Greyling fought to escape. "Miss Greyling, stop being so unreasonable!" Elphaba called, reaching up with the other hand at the same time.

One moment Miss Greyling was flapping on the floor and the next she was suspended in air, twirling in a circle as she desperately tried to right herself. The clucking had reached a decibel that was sure to alert the whole school when Elphaba ignored her pain and concentrated even harder on steadying the librarian. This was why she had been scared to try levitating The chicken in the first place, she didn't want to send her spinning to her death.

But the revolving chicken slowly came to a stop, quieting down as its terror subsided.

"Okay, Miss Greyling," Elphaba shuffled toward her bag, doing her best to keep the chicken airborne as she bent down to grab it, "we're just going to go pay a little visit to Madame Morrible."

—————-

The journey to Madame Morrible's dormitory was a precarious one. Elphaba crept through the halls, painfully aware of how exhausted she was and how scared she was of getting caught with a librarian pretending to be poultry. She kept having to stop and take breaks so she wouldn't lose her concentration or tire out and drop Miss Greyling. The constant interruptions turned a five minute walk into a fifteen minute one.

She thought about how this time the night before she had been treading the same path on her way to ask Madame Morrible to take Galinda into her seminar. So much had happened since the moment Galinda gave her the hat. She had a friend now…and a chicken she thought to herself with a delirious chuckle.

It was with great relief that she nervously knocked on Madame Morrible's door, quickly refocusing on keeping Miss Greyling suspended. She had quieted down now and seemed to be enjoying the ride as much as she had originally hated it.

For a moment Elphaba worried Madame Morrible wouldn't answer, two nights of interruptions in a row might be too much. When the door creaked open she nearly shed a tear.

"Madame Morrible, I'm so sorry to bother you so late again, but—" she watched Madame Morrible's eyes glide over her current state, her disheveled hair, her torn clothing, coming to rest on her bloodied arms.

Before Elphaba even finished her sentence she had stepped to the side and was quickly ushering her into the room. "My dear, what happened?" Elphaba entered, grateful for the warm welcome, and Miss Greyling followed behind floating gently through the air. Madame Morrible shut the door behind the odd duo with a curious look.

Elphaba's stomach constricted as she thought about divulging the truth. Would Madame Morrible be mad? Would she ban Elphaba from practicing without her? Had she just ruined her chances at meeting the wizard? For the moment she felt her new world crashing down around her, fear gripped her insides as she prepared to tell her story.

When she finally spoke it was far too fast, the words tumbled out of her, "I—I…well I was doing some extra practice and I was just trying to change my ink bottle into an egg. It seemed simple enough, I thought I could do it, but—but I couldn't. I tried a couple times but…oh, oh, please don't be mad—"

"There is nothing you could have done to anger me," she smiled kindly at Elphaba who felt herself relax a fraction. The response was slightly off putting for Elphaba, no one had ever extended such kind understanding to her.

"Okay," Elphaba replied slowly, steeling herself for the truth. "I accidentally turned Miss Greyling into a chicken," she whispered into the room. "And..and I didn't want to try to fix her, because I wasn't even trying to change her in the first place!" Elphaba's eyes had grown slightly wild in her hurried explanation.

She didn't know what she had been expecting, but it wasn't Madame Morrible chuckling with a shake of her head and a soft smile.

"Thats…certainly unexpected, but most impressive, deary."

"Oh?" Elphaba couldn't hide the shock from her voice. "Um, you did hear me say I turned the librarian into a chicken, right, ma'am?" She grabbed nervously at her forearm but quickly let go when she felt the crusting blood.

Madame Morrible smiled and for a moment Elphaba thought she saw a flash of something dangerous. Something unfamiliar within her professor. "You are excelling far beyond your years! Not many can accomplish live transfigurations so…early. But do be careful, child—power can sometimes make you careless. This however…is easily remedied."

Elphaba's jaw dropped, was she hearing this correctly? She wasn't in trouble? In fact, Madame Morrible seemed truly pleased with what she had done. "You mean…you're not mad?"

"Mad? Mad, my dear? When my most promising student continues to prove exactly why I extended my class to her? No, Miss Elphaba, I'm not mad. I am very pleased and beyond impressed with both your transfiguration and levitation skills."

She nodded to the chicken and Elphaba felt her cheeks grow warm with embarrassed pride. She had never been given as much praise as she received in her time with Madame Morrible. It was a welcome change from the disgrace she usually felt when magic happened around her.

"Oh!" Madame Morrible jumped to her feet, gently grabbing Miss Greyling from the air and tucking her under her arm. "Relax, Miss Elphaba, you must be exhausted from holding her for so long. I'll take care of everything." She looked thoughtfully down at the chicken, "I might suggest I remedy this after you leave, it'll be best for Miss Greyling to get an explanation from me first. You may of course apologize for the inconvenience later."

——-

Elphaba stepped out into the hall, her heart thudding heavily in her chest while her mind reeled. She pressed her back against the cool surface, relaxing for the first time in hours as she breathed deeply. Her arms throbbed painfully, but even that couldn't remove the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. She wasn't in trouble. Madame Morrible had actually praised her for the mishap. Her father wouldn't have anything to hear about.

"Maybe I am good at this," she whispered to herself as she thought about all of the magic she'd just performed. She had just transfigured a human being after all, and no one else was doing that on their first try. It was impossible to keep the excitement below the surface and she found herself, despite her pain and exhaustion, nearly skipping back to her dorm.

The hallways were dead silent and dark except for the moonlight pouring in through the windows. Her heart sank slightly as she approached her door; Galinda was most likely asleep. They'd not slept the night before and it was late now. Her face fell and she unlocked the door pushing it open into the softly lit room.

Galinda wasn't asleep.

In fact, she was laying on her bed with her feet straight up in the air as she hummed gently to herself. Her head hung off the edge of the bed making her hair waterfall down. Elphaba tilted her head to the side and watched as she performed a number of scissor kicks in a row with a little chuckle.

Galinda Upland was endlessly charming.

At the sound of the door she looked up excitedly, "Elphie, you're home!" She offered a dazzling smile then rolled over onto her stomach. The smile was quickly replaced with a look of concern when she took in the current state of her roommate. "Elphaba, what happened to you?"

She clambered off her bed and rushed to the door to meet Elphaba who was already taken aback by this showcase of concern. Galinda gently grabbed her hands and turned them over in her own, gasping when she saw the marks left by the chicken. Her eyes traveled to the green girl's chest where her shirt was torn and speckled with dry blood.

"It's nothing," Elphaba mumbled as she tried to ignore how Galinda's touch was warming her skin rapidly. "It's just a few scrapes, really, nothing to worry about." She went to pull her hands away, but Galinda held fast.

"Miss Elphaba," Galinda groaned, clearly not believing her. Worry laced her voice and her eyes misted over, "Come with me, I'll take care of you," she gently held one of Elphaba's hands in both of hers and pulled her with her towards her bed.

"You don't need to do that, I can just—"

"Sit," Galinda demanded, pointing at the bed simultaneously.

Elphaba almost argued but then decided against it. She obeyed as Galinda set about finding supplies. Elphaba wasn't entirely sure Galinda had caretaker in her system, but she was pleasantly surprised. After collecting everything she needed she settled down softly beside Elphaba and took her hand again.

"Now you must tell me what happened." She grabbed a bowl she had filled with water and a washcloth and started gently washing away the blood caked to Elphaba's skin.

For a brief moment Elphaba considered making up a lie, sure, she had performed some pretty cool magic, but she'd also made a bit of a fool of herself. Not to mention, Galinda had struggled enough with her own magic, or lack thereof, today as well so she really didn't want to rub her success in her face.

Galinda was looking at her so earnestly though, she couldn't deny her the truth. She launched into her story while Galinda continued to tend to her wounds.

Galinda was a fantastic audience. She oohed and ahhed in all the right places, she asked questions and gasped when it was appropriate. And Elphaba's favorite part, Galinda's musical laugh rang out at all the right moments. She wasn't sure if it was the wounds getting cleaned or Galinda's presence, but slowly she was starting to feel a bit better.

"You really are something else," Galinda chuckled as she wrapped each arm in a bandage. Her fingers brushed lightly against Elphaba's skin and a trail of goosebumps erupted. "I feel lucky to be your roommate, Elphie," she informed the other girl as she smoothed down the final bandage, "I live with the next great sorceress." She smiled brightly and Elphaba felt a warmth grow once more in her chest. She wasn't sure, but she thought Galinda was hiding a certain sadness in her eyes.

Elphaba smiled, "I feel the same way."

"Oh, I don't know," Galinda smiled sadly, "it's not as easy for me."

"Magic isn't about being easy though, Galinda, I mean sure it makes life easy—"

"Well don't I deserve an easy life?"

"You have one," Elphaba pointed out. Galinda started to protest then realized she had no leg to stand on and fell silent. "Listen, Galinda, I'll do everything I can to help you, but it's all within you. I know it," she poked the girl gently in the chest with a crooked smile, "we just have to find it."

The two girls smiled at each other. "Thank you, Elphie, for wanting to help me." Elphaba murmured a response, but Galinda's eyes had already fallen on her chest again.

"Take your shirt off," she said without pretense.

"What?" Elphaba's eyebrows shot up and her heart rate picked up the pace.

"Your shirt. Take it off so I can fix you up," she said pointedly.

Elphaba froze, no one had ever asked her to take her clothes off for any reason at all. Least of all extremely attractive blonde girls. Dear Oz. Elphaba wanted to kick herself, what was she even thinking?

Galinda tapped her foot impatiently, "Any day now."

Slowly Elphaba unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt, exposing her green chest that was mottled with blood and red peck marks.

"Wow, Miss Greyling really had it out for you," she said in awe as she began cleaning the wounds. Her face was much closer to Elphaba's this time and her flowery scent washed over her. Elphaba's body relaxed further while a slight panic ate at the edge of her mind.

"I imagine it had something to do with me turning her into a chicken," Elphaba grimaced as Galinda went over a particularly painful spot. "I hope she's not mad at me the next time I see her—"

"Maybe avoid the library for a while," Galinda suggested as she worked along Elphaba's collarbones. She took a step back to admire her work, "You know, Miss Elphaba, you have beautiful collarbones."

Elphaba laughed uncomfortably, "What?" No one ever paid her compliments, but even then she thought this was still a strange one.

"Your collarbones," she said again, as if she was confused by the question. "You should show them off more often, they're pretty hot."

Elphaba's eyes grew wide and her mouth opened slightly. "I—I, um, I-"

"Just take the compliment, Elphie," Galinda playfully snapped.

Elphaba tried to find her words, but all she could manage was a shaky laugh, "well, um, thank you…I guess."

Galinda peered at her, a small smirk on her face, she was clearly enjoying Elphaba's flustered state. "You're welcome," she said simply, rising to her feet with a graceful pirouette so she could put away her supplies.

Elphaba watched her, holding her breath, hoping the moment had passed, but Galinda suddenly turned to her with a much softer expression on her face.

"You really are amazing, Elphie…what you did today…that was truly astoundifying. It's more than just magic—it's you. I've never met someone like you before."

Galinda's words washed over her, warming her to her core. She looked down at her freshly bandaged arms, unsure of how to respond.

"Thank you…that means a lot" she said quietly to her lap, "I've never met anyone like you before either."

"I know," Galinda giggled in response. Elphaba rolled her eyes with a smile as Galinda flopped back down beside her with a stretch. "We should probably get some rest, Miss Elphaba. I'm going to need that brilliant brain of yours working super hard to help me with my spell work tomorrow." She winked at Elphaba and fell back into her pillows with a smile.

"You're impossible," Elphaba laughed with a shake of her head, rising to her feet to cross the room to her side.

"You know you love it," Galinda called at her back as she found her pajamas to change into. She slipped her clothes off and tried to ignore the feeling she was still being watched as she pulled on a fresh nightgown.

When she turned around Galinda was laying on her side, staring across the room at her with a lazy smile on her face. She waited for Elphaba to slide into bed then switched off the lamp on her bedside table.

Elphaba lay awake a while longer, staring at the ceiling, listening as Galinda's breathing turned slower and steadier. Her arms ached, she was exhausted, her mind was still reeling, but something about Galinda's words and presence seemed to settle her.

For the first time, she felt she wasn't alone.

"Goodnight, Elphie," Galinda murmured sleepily into the dark.

Elphaba turned her head towards the noise, a slight smile on her lips, "Goodnight, Galinda."