Title: Those Secrets We Keep
Author: Jinni (druscilla@cox.net or jinni@moonlitpaths.com)
Rating: PG13
Pairing: W/Oliver Wood
Genre: BtVS/HP Crossover
Disclaimer: All things BtVS belong to Joss Whedon, et al. All things HP belong to JK Rowling, et al. I make no money off of writing fanfic, please don’t sue.
Distribution: WLS, WLF, NHA, BMP, Aislin.
Author’s Notes: For Brooke, who won a drawing on my list. Here’s a Willow/Wood fic for ya!

~*~*~

“He’s cute.”

Willow smiled at the girl next to her, nodding in agreement.

“Sure is. . .and have you heard him talk? That accent is enough to make my insides get all wobbly.”

“Wobbly insides? Isn’t that something you should go see a doctor about, Wills?”

“Oh shush, Buffy.” The red head snickered, shaking her head. “He makes my tummy do that nice little flippy thing. Sorta like being on a roller coaster at the top of the hill.”

“So the butterflies dance the clog when he’s around, huh?”

“Yeah.” The smile on the witch’s face was dreamy.

“So – what’s stopping you from going on a date with Mister Tall-Dark and Scrumptious? He asked, right?”

Willow nodded.

“Yep. Three times, in fact. Always at the end of class, when he’s walking me to my car.”

“So he’s cute, sexy, has a voice that makes you get all squirmy, *and* a gentleman – yet you won’t date him?”

“It’s more complicated than that . . .”

“Why?” The Slayer cut her off. “Why does it have to be more complicated than that?”

“Because of what I am. Who I’m friends with. Where we live. I let him get close and then there’s all of this explaining to do. And then he’ll run away and never speak to me again – at least this way he talks to me and is all friendly-like.”

Buffy snorted.

“So tell him ahead of time, before you get any closer. Tell him. Show him. I’ll drag Spike over to the dorms if you want just so we can show him a ‘real’ vampire. If he freaks, I’ll break his legs. You deserve someone that can love you for who you are, Wills. If he can’t be that person now, at the very beginning, then he shouldn’t even be on your friend list.”

Willow sat quietly, thinking on what Buffy had said. Truth be told, she had been thinking the exact same thing. If he really cared for her, as a friend or otherwise, then he would need to be able to accept her for what she was. He needed to be strong enough of mind and will to make it through time with the Scoobies or else there would just be conflict later. And her friends would always come first.

So, for once, Buffy had a good point.

“Fine. I’ll tell him tonight. But – no Spike.”

Buffy laughed.

“Okay – no Spike. Not like he’s a real vampire anymore anyways.”

~*~*~

Tonight was the night.

He could feel it.

Tonight was the night that she would finally succumb to his charm and agree to go out on a date with him.

And, if that didn’t work, Oliver Wood was seriously considering owling back home for a coercion potion.

He didn’t get it.

Why was she so cute and friendly one minute, only to clam up the second he asked her to dinner or a movie or anything that even remotely resembled a date?

But tonight --- well, tonight would be ‘the night’; he just knew it.

He could see her out of the corner of his eye, studiously taking notes as their Religions Professor droned on and on. He had stopped with his own note taking not even five minutes into the class, hoping that everything the boring woman was reviewing was also in the textbook. It wasn’t the smartest tactic, he knew. But it was one that had served him well during his days at Hogwarts.

A soft smile crept over his face at the thought of Hogwarts and the world he had left behind this summer. It had been his own idea, of course, to go out into the Muggle world and get an education ‘their way’. He had said his goodbyes to his friends and family, all of whom thought him to be a nutter, and had boarded a plane for the States. California was somewhere he had read about before – sunny and bright.

And that’s where he had gone.

UC Sunnydale was a far cry from the University of Arcane Sciences back home; but it was just what he needed – a sharp contrast to the world he had come from. Something different for a change.

Though. . . different was beginning to equal boring, in his opinion.

The only bright spot, for that matter, was Willow Rosenberg, the girl that was sitting next to him.

The one that would give in to his begging plea of a date tonight.

He hoped.

~*~*~

“Sure.”

Willow nearly laughed aloud at the look on Oliver’s face.

“Did you say, ‘sure’?” He asked dumbly.

“Yep. As in, I agree to go on a date with you. Is ‘sure’ not a word they use back in England or Scotland or wherever it is you hail from?” She teased gently.

“It’s not that. . .” He spared her a smile. “I guess I’ve gotten so used to hearing ‘no’ that ‘yes’ threw me for a loop.”

She giggled.

“There is one condition, though – some things I have to tell you before you can actually take me out on that date.”

“That’s fine by me. Just name the time and place.”

Willow smiled.

“Right now. . . my dorm – unless you have something else to do tonight?”

But he didn’t.

So to the dorm they went.

~*~*~

Oliver was confused about what Willow could possibly need to tell him before she would let him take her on a date; though he was willing to admit that this could possibly be some sort of odd American Muggle tradition, the spilling of secrets to the potential suitor. Seemed like a fine way to never find a husband, if you asked him.

He had secrets of his own, of course, things that he hadn’t shared with her despite the fact that they had been friends for months. Good friends. The type of friends that, well, wanted to date one another; as was evidenced by the fact that he was now following her into her dorm room to hear whatever dirty little secrets she had.

The room was relatively clean, much cleaner than his own small apartment was at that moment in time. There were two beds, one of which he knew to be hers and the other he assumed was Buffy’s, the best friend she always spoke about.

“Just ignore that side of the room.” Willow waved her hand towards the second of the two beds. “Buffy isn’t much for cleaning.”

“I’ll have to remember that.” He chuckled, eyes darting across to that side of the room almost instinctively.

Was that an axe on the bed?

“You never mentioned Buffy was into weaponry.”

“She – what?!?”

The red head was across the room in the flash, glaring down at the axe, hands on her hips. There was an angry look on her face, and a gleam in her eyes that he didn’t quite understand.

And then she began to laugh, which confused him even more.

“I think this was her way of reminding me about exactly what I need to tell you tonight, Ollie.”

“You’re going to give me a lecture on ancient weapons?” Okay, so now he was officially confused.

Or, more confused, that is.

The confusion was soon to fade to understanding, though; because it was at that moment that Willow began her tale.

~*~*~

“I’m going to tell you some things that are going to seem pretty darn hard to believe. Things that are out of books, movies, myth.” Willow shrugged. “Just sit back and let me explain. . .and try to keep an open mind, k?”

“Of course.”

She gave him a smile, encouraged by his acceptance of the beginning of her little speech.

“Good. Well – let’s start with this. You’ve noticed all the cemeteries in town, right? The high death rate. . . things like that? Well. . . that’s because Sunnydale is what’s called a Hellmouth. Basically, that means that this place is a mystical convergence that attracts demons, vampires, and all manner of supernatural baddies.”

“Vampires? Demons?”

Willow held up a hand, shhh’ing him softly.

“Nuh-uh. Let me finish. I told you this would be hard to believe – just let me finish and I’ll prove some of it to you, k?”

She watched as he nodded, courage building within her.

“Well. . .magic is real. . . witches are real. . . and, well, that would be me. . . I’m a witch. I help the Slayer – that’s Buffy, fight the forces of badness. So, you see, I wanted to let you in on all of this before we took things any further. Because being with me might not be the safest thing in the world. My last boyfriend was a werewolf. . . and even he had to eventually get away from this place to ‘find himself’.”

“You’re a witch?”

Willow nodded slowly.

“Yep – as crazy as it may seem. . . and I’m sure it seems pretty darn crazy to you right about now. But – here’s with the proof.”

She held her hand out in front of her, murmuring softly, bringing to life a little flickering fire sprite right there in her palm. It danced about, hopping on legs made of orange and blue flames; but it did not burn her.

“Want to see?” She held it up to him, schooling her face to neutrality as she waited for his reaction.

~*~*~

“Want to see?”

Oliver scarcely heard her question, he was too caught up in what she had just said and done.

She was a witch.

A wandless witch, at that.

And this was a Hellmouth – something they had covered briefly in seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not to mention the Slayer, Buffy. He didn’t know the Slayer had a name, but was quite surprised to learn it was that petite blonde haired girl that Willow was often seen with.

So much for finding a nice, normal, Muggle girl to hang out with.

He groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead and eliciting a startled look from the other occupant of the room.

“You can let the fire sprite go, Will. I believe you.”

“You. . . do?”

With a flick of her wrist the fire sprite was banished back to the ethereal planes, leaving the two of them staring at each other.

“This is actually sort of funny.” He laughed. “To think the one girl I fall for here is the exact thing I was looking to get away from.”

~*~*~

Now it was Willow’s turn to look perplexed.

“Get away from? Funny? Ollie – clue me in?”

She watched as his lips spread in a grin.

“I’m a wizard, Willow. I came here to get away from magic and all things magical.”

She laughed.

“You came to the Hellmouth to get away from all things magical? Didn’t really do any advanced research, did you?”

“Well, really, what were the chances?” He shook his head.

“Yeah, right.” She smirked. Her eyes were sad when she spoke again, though. “But – you came here to get away from magic. . . I guess that means you don’t really want to be going on that date now, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say that.” He murmured, stepping close enough to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “You’re something special – and someone my parents would approve of, all rolled into one. Don’t think I’ll be letting you go anytime soon.”

“Nice to hear it.” She smiled shyly, averting her eyes. “Because I was thinking I’d like to, you know, do that dating thing more than once. . . maybe on a regular basis if you were okay with it.”

“I think I can manage.” He laughed. “Want to start tonight? Get some coffee and pastries?”

She didn’t even hesitate.

“I’d love to. Let me just leave a note for Buffy. She was worried you’d run away when I told you about me. . . she’ll be happy to know she doesn’t need to beat you to a bloody pulp.”

She hid a smile at the look of fear that flitted across his face and turned to her desk, scribbling out a note for her roommate.

“So – what school did you go to? Salem Academy?”

Willow frowned, tacking the note to the bulletin board near the door.

“School?”

“You know, for magic.” Oliver prompted.

The red head whirled, surprise on her face.

“You mean I’ve been teaching myself all along and there are *schools* for this? I bet Giles knew. He knows all sorts of things. . .”

Oh yeah, someone was going to be getting his English butt kicked in the very near future.

She guaranteed it.

~*~The End~*~