Elphaba and Galinda returned from Hogsmeade with boatloads of sweets between them.
"C'mon! C'mon! Hurry!" Galinda shifted the weight of the load of their candies more into her arms and tried to drag Elphaba along.
"Alright, hold on, I'm coming! I'm trying!" Elphaba muttered, nearly tripping over her own feet as she ran after Galinda. The two of them were headed to a quieter part of the kitchens in order to taste-test these sweets together. Because they were in different Hogwarts houses, going to a dorm was not really an option, but the kitchen was always open! They just had to get there without being caught first...
"Alright! We're in!" Galinda cheered as Elphaba used a quick spell to unlock the kitchen door. They scuttled right on in, nestling down in a corner near a gently burning fire. They set their large back of sugar down in relief and Galinda practically dove inside, reaching for anything her manicured nails could find. There was excitement in her azure eyes and it was mirrored in Elphaba's own dark brown orbs. Stoic though she was, even she was not above sugary confections.
"Here! Try this!" Galinda handed Elphaba a green lollipop.
"Oh, very funny," Elphaba muttered, but she took the green treat anyway. Five licks later, she was hissing, and she threw the candy right back into Galinda's lap. Normally, this would've disgusted Galinda beyond words, but Elphaba's repulsed face as she rubbed her tongue was too funny.
"Acid pops!" the little blond laughed wickedly. "The burn will last at least the rest of the day!"
"You little snake!" Elphaba spat back, still rubbing her numb tongue. Galinda only gave a flattered look.
"I'm glad you think so! It's nice to know I'm living up to the standards!" she joked, hand brushing across the little green snake on her robe.
"I'm moving on to chocolate," Elphaba shook her head. Once her tongue finally started responding again, she began to riffle through the bag of goodies. Suddenly, then, she got an idea...
"Here," she said, handing a chocolate lump to Galinda. She took one for herself and popped it into her mouth. Galinda, suspecting no danger, did likewise, but while Elphaba only held the candy in her mouth, Galinda bit down. There was a large crunch that didn't sound like nuts or sprinkles and Galinda felt something hard and smooth, tingled with little spiky things. Without even flinching, she slowly took the chocolate from her mouth.
"Elphie. What is this?" her voice was deadly soft as Elphaba spat her own candy back out, not a single bite-mark in it at all.
"Cockroach cluster," the green girl shrugged casually. Still no reaction from Galinda. Galinda slowly turned the broken piece of chocolate over in her hand. Sure enough, there was half a body and a few little legs sticking out of the candy.
After 10 minutes of Galinda freaking out loud enough for all of Hogwarts to hear, cursing Elphaba's name and throwing every cockroach cluster in the bag into the fire, Elphaba and Galinda found themselves in a slightly chillier, roomier, empty classroom. Galinda's fit had caused a stir in the kitchen and the two had been forced to flee.
"Now, where were we again?" Elphaba asked pleasantly, having shoved two of the desks together.
"I was about to fry you for that dirty trick," Galinda replied, still scowling, drawing her wand out. Even though she and Elphaba had nearly been caught by the kitchen staff, Galinda was too miffed to be that worried.
"Oh, lighten up, it was just a bit of fun!" Elphaba snickered.
"I'm slipping melted acid pop into all of your drinks for the rest of this month," Galinda replied, still scowling, but she did lean over their bag of remaining candies, willing to let this little spat die, even if only for a little while.
Taste testing became a bit more serious after that.
"Fizzing Whizbees?" Galinda mumbled as she picked up another candy. She put it in her mouth and squinted.
"Is it good?" Elphaba asked, seeing Galinda's face scrunch up.
"Tastes like sherbet, and it certainly lives up to its- woah!" Galinda had been halfway through describing the flavor when she suddenly found herself floating upward, right out of her chair.
"Oh, wicked!" Elphaba's jaw dropped as Galinda hung in the air, suspended by magic alone. She wasted no time in devouring her own Fizzing Whizbee and she joined Galinda up in the air. They didn't float more than half a foot off the ground, but there was still such a thrill about being airborne that both witches began to laugh in delight and swim happily through the air. It was with great reluctance that they felt the effects of the candy wear off, forced to return back to the ground.
The next candies they tried taste testing were a bit more typical, things like Licorice Wands, Pumpkin Pasties, Drooble Gum, Cauldron Cakes, Butterbeer and Chocolate Frogs.
"I got Dumbledore again," Galinda sighed as she opened her frog.
"And I got someone named Nicholas Flamel," Elphaba said as she opened her own frog.
"You did?!" Galinda jerked her head up from her card to look over at Elphaba's.
"Yeah," Elphaba showed the card to Galinda.
"Oh! I've been looking for him for so long!" Galinda's eyes gleamed as she reached out for the card.
"Hey, hey now! He's mine!" Elphaba warned, yanking the card back. "I've started collecting these guys and I need Nick too!" she insisted. Galinda visibly deflated, but only five seconds after she began pouting, Elphaba laughed.
"I'm just teasing," she said. "You can have it," she extended the card back out to Galinda and, this time, let the little blond take it.
"Oh! Thank you so much, Elphie!" Galinda squealed in delight, quickly sliding the card into the folds of her robes.
"I still don't see why this brings you so much pleasure," Elphaba remarked in amusement, but she cast no further judgment. Instead, her eyes turned back to their little bag of candy. It was running low, but there were still a few more treats inside.
"And best for last!" Elphaba murmured once she and Galinda finally reached their very last candy. Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans.
"I dare you to try a green one," Galinda said the moment Elphaba pulled the little box out of their candy bag. Elphaba obliged.
"Hmmm, tastes like a granny smith apple," Elphaba murmured as she devoured the little green bean.
"How fitting," Galinda remarked dryly.
"Oh shut up," Elphaba said good-naturedly. "Why don't you try a couple pink beans, eh?"
"You're on," Galinda replied, then she poured some of the beans out of their little box, picking out the pink ones. Four rested upon her palm.
"I dare you to eat them all one right after the other," Elphaba said wickedly.
"What? Are you insane?" Galinda snorted.
"What? Are you scared?" Elphaba replied.
"No!" Galinda's pride was so quickly wounded that she didn't even allow Elphaba to respond before she started eating the beans. Each one only took one bite to devour. Four bites was all she needed, and four different expressions crossed her face all at once.
"What did they taste like?" Elphaba asked eagerly.
"Bubble gum... scabs... strawberries... and pencil erasers!" Galinda looked disgusted.
"Ha, ha, sucks to be you!" Elphaba taunted.
"Oh, shut up," Galinda pretended to scowl. She picked up a black bean and gave Elphaba a suggestive look. Elphaba didn't even flinch or hesitate as she took the bean from Galinda and tossed it right into her mouth.
But Galinda flinched, a little put off by how quick Elphaba had been to take up her dare. It was a bold thing to eat a black bean so quickly. But then again, Elphaba was a Gryffindor. Bravery to the point of stupidity was the Gryffindors' biggest feature, and Elphaba was no exception.
"Licorice," Elphaba answered Galinda's unasked question with a casual shrug.
"I was always told that the black ones tasted like tar," Galinda remarked, sounding a little bit disappointed that Elphaba hadn't gotten the nasty surprise she had with some of those pink beans. Elphaba only stuck her tongue out in response before picking up a nearby orange bean. Her smug expression changed into one of disgust fairly quickly.
"Rust," she said grimly.
"Ha!" Galinda pointed a finger at Elphaba and laughed.
"Well, why don't you try an orange one if you think it's so funny?" Elphaba demanded, tossing Galinda another orange bean.
"Just because it's the same color as yours doesn't mean it'll taste the same, Elphie," Galinda reminded with a chuckle. She popped the bean into her mouth and made a noise of pleasure. "Ahhh! Freshly squeezed orange juice!" she declared. Elphaba looked envious.
"Ok, how about this?" Galinda asked. "You try this purple one, and if you don't like it, I'll try any color you want. Ok?"
"Fine," Elphaba decided, taking the purple bean from Galinda. She chewed it for about two seconds before hissing in disgust.
"Ink!" she cried and Galinda wilted at once, silently awaiting Elphaba's verdict about what she would have to try. But after five seconds of watching Elphaba scour the beans carefully, she paused and laughed.
"I'm just kidding, that purple one tasted like a grape," she said.
"Elphie!" Galinda whined. "You scared me!"
"That was kind of the point," Elphaba replied with a smirk.
"You jerk! You horrible, mean brute!" Galinda crossed her arms and pouted.
"You're cute when you're angry," Elphaba remarked off-handedly while Galinda continued to pout.
"Then get ready, because I'm about to be ADORABLE!" Galinda shot back, which only sent Elphaba into hysterics. For a moment, Galinda continued to scowl, clearly not amused, but Elphaba's laugh was just so infectious that despite her best efforts, Galinda began to laugh too.
But in time, their laughter finally subsided and the two witches gained their bearings enough to get rid of their empty candy wrappers.
"That was so unhealthy," Elphaba joked as she and Galinda exited the empty classroom.
"But it was fun, and those sweets were... magically delicious!" Galinda replied playfully.
"You're right," Elphaba acknowledged. "Now are you ready for dinner?" she asked, pointing to a nearby clock on one of the walls overhead of them. Galinda blanched when she realized that it was about to be dinnertime. She rubbed her bloated stomach.
"I'm guessing that's a no?" Elphaba teased, but she didn't wait for a reply before asking something else. "What do you want to do instead?"
10 minutes later, Elphaba and Galinda were dead asleep, curled up in each other's arms in one of the quieter sections of the library. While other students whizzed on by, reading and studying, Galinda lay reclined on one of the couches at the heart of the library, dead to the world.
AN: Just more Gelphie fluff, this time set to the sickeningly sweet backdrop of them taste testing magic candy.