Chapter 30 - End

~*~The Forgotten One: Part Thirty~*~

“You’ll see them again, you know.”

Willow nodded, not bothering to even turn to look at the man that had spoken. She knew she’d see them again. That’s what being friends meant, after all. But that didn’t make it hurt any less when they left. It had been hard to hug them, say her goodbyes, and watch them get on the plane. The plane that was now taking off, winging its way back across the Atlantic and to the US.

She missed them already.

A firm hand was placed on her shoulder, a soft squeeze given in comfort. That was more than she expected, and the red head turned now to face her companion.

“It’s hard to watch them go, you know.”

“I realize as much.” Severus nodded, sparing his daughter a tight smile. “But you will see them again. Perhaps they can visit during that Spring Break thing your friend Buffy seemed so excited to discuss with you?”

Willow’s eyes lit up.

“Really? You’d let them come visit in the Spring? For the whole week?”

The Potions Master groaned internally. Had he really just offered for those infernal teenagers to visit again, so soon after he had only just gotten rid of them. He forced that tight lipped smile back to his face.

“Yes. If they wish to.”

“Oh! They will!” Willow nodded frantically, already planning the numerous things they could do during their second visit. She would still have classes during that period, of course, but that wouldn’t stop their escapades. She could introduce them around to all of her cousins, since they hadn’t had a chance to meet during this last visit.

“And, of course, you’ll see them when you return for summer holidays.”

A swift gust of pain engulfed Willow’s heart and she nearly stumbled. Regaining her composure, the young witch fought to overcome the agony coursing through her. He didn’t want her to stay with him during the summer holidays? He wanted her to go back there, to Sunnydale? Was she really supposed to live in that house where she had been raised, knowing that those people weren’t her parents and that that part of her life was over, completed, finished?

She sighed, shaking her head. It had been stupid of her to assume, of course, that she would be able to stay with her biological father during the summer break. And how idiotic was it for her to be worrying about it, months before it even happened? But that was just the way she was, the way she would always be.

“Are you alright?” Severus looked askance at his daughter, narrowly dodging a Muggle that was running down the hall in haste to get to her flight’s gate.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Willow murmured, refusing to meet his eyes. She turned her head fully away from him, looking out the windows on her side of the hallway they were on. Only a couple more minutes and they would be somewhere quiet, somewhere that they could portkey back to the Manor. Or Hogwarts. And then she could go to her room and just deal with this newest blow all by herself, as usual. She had been foolish, after all. And that’s what he would say if he knew why she was upset. He would tell her she had been foolish to even think that he wanted her around that long.

Severus Snape prided himself on his ability to read the emotions of others. It was one of the things that had made him such a successful spy. He knew how to read body language, voice tone, and could even, on rare occasions, view those mystical convergences known as auras. This was not one of those austere moments, however he didn’t need that part of his abilities to know that something was definitely wrong with Willow and that she was lying when she said she was ‘fine’. What had happened? One moment she was busily babbling on about her friends and their spring visit and then the next she was close mouthed and looked about as friendly as, well, he did.

Which, for her, was quite an undertaking.

He stopped in the center of the hallway and grabbed hold of her arm as she made to walk by without even noticing that he was now stationary. She blinked, startled.

“Miss Snape. Willow. What. Is. Wrong?”

She blinked up at him, her eyes full of tears he could tell she was trying to hold back.

“Nothing.”

“You are lying to me.” He sneered, falling back on the defensive mechanisms that worked so well with everyone else.

It didn’t even take him five seconds to realize that it wouldn’t work with her.

“Maybe I am.” She replied, her voice cold and calm. “That’s what teenagers do best, you know.”

She turned, storming off down the hallway, towards the back of the airport and an unused room they had used to apparate into initially.

“So much like me.” Snape muttered, shaking his head and finding the entire situation vaguely amusing despite the fact that she was, it appeared, rather upset with him. He followed her, ducking into the room where she now waited, arms crossed.

“Are we ready?” She snapped, her eyes fixed on a spot immediately over his head.

“I will not tolerate you speaking to me like that, young lady.”

“Fine. Don’t.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “Take me back to the Manor so I can get my things and then I’ll go back to Hogwarts for the last few days of the holidays. I wouldn’t want to be in your way any longer than necessary, anyway. I know you must be just dying to get rid of me.”

And, for one of the few times in his life, Severus Snape found that he had nothing to say. No witty comebacks. No biting retorts. There wasn’t even a snarky reply that he could use. In place of all of those normal conversational devices he found that he was instead left with complete and utter confusion.

“Get rid of you?” He repeated blankly.

“Yes. You know. Ship me back to Hogwarts. Or Sunnydale. Out of your life?”

Again that overwhelming confusion washed over him. Where had this silly girl gotten the idea that he no longer wished for her to be around him? And why was she mentioning the Hellmouth?

“Forgive me,” He started slowly, advancing on her with his hands in front of him in a gesture of supplication. “But when exactly did I say I wanted to get rid of you?”

She blinked at him and then rolled her eyes.

“Figures. You don’t even realize what you said.”

Severus tried to be patient with her, but the minutes dragged by, the silence filled only by the sound of their breathing. Finally he sighed, the sound explosive.

“What. Did. I. Say?” Each word was enunciated clearly, crisply, and full of loathing for needing to even ask since it was obvious, at least to him, that he had no clue what she was talking about.

“You’re sending me back to Sunnydale for Summer Holiday.” She snorted. “Don’t you remember. You said it only ten minutes ago.”

“Sending you back to . . .” He shook his head. “Don’t you *want* to go back there during the summer?”

“Of course not!” She exploded, a faint blush creeping across her face when her father spared her a glance and uttered a silencing charm on the room.

“Not even to visit your friends?” He asked quietly, finally understanding. She really thought that he was eager to ship her back to the home she no longer truly had.

“Well – maybe a short visit. But I don’t want to ‘live’ there anymore. I mean – you’re here. And Ollie’s here.”

“Of course. Mister Wood. A charming reason to wish to remain here.” The dark haired man rolled his eyes.

“He’s a good guy!” Willow exclaimed, glaring angrily at her father.

“Except for the part where he didn’t have enough of that famous Gryffindor courage to stand up to his own Housemates.”

Willow snorted.

“Well, there is that.” She admitted, a rueful smile managing to break through the sadness she was feeling.

“Yes, well. That is enough for myself, as your father, to think of him as less than ideal. However, I cannot change your heart and I will not even try.”

“Good.” Willow smirked. “Because I doubt it would work.”

“No, I don’t imagine it would.” He smiled, just a little. “Now, back to this matter of summer holidays. I assumed that you would want to return to that place to visit with your friends, apparently this is the case, though you seem to have misconstrued my intentions entirely. Do not think for one second that I don’t wish for you to spend some of the holidays with me, if not all of them if that is what you really want. However, if you wish to see your friends, then I shall abide by that as well.”

“Oh.” It wasn’t much, but it was all she could manage at the time. She felt like a complete ass now. “I thought –“

“That I was trying to get rid of you.” Severus Snape nodded, his eyes sparkling with amusement. “Yes, I had already gotten that impression from you. Rest assured that that was not what I was trying to convey to you in the slightest, however.”

“Well. . . Um. . . Sorry, then, I guess. I guess I’m just used to Sheila and Ira. They saw me as an inconvenience. The moment I was able to take care of myself they started leaving for trips. I hardly saw them the last year I was at home. I thought you were going to be the same way. . . “

Severus smiled tightly, a grand achievement on his part.

“Well, now that we have that taken care. Do you mind terribly if we return to the Manor? The house elves should have lunch ready and I do believe you invited Mister Wood over to give you flying lessons this afternoon?”

Willow nodded, thankful for the reprieve from her embarrassing assumptions about a man that was, honestly, just trying his best to make her happy.

~*~*~

“You know. I think you’re ready to try this on your own.”

Willow kept her head forward so that her companion couldn’t see her blush.

“I don’t know, Ollie.” She murmured, leaning back into his chest as he maneuvered them in another turn around the outside of Snape Manor. She could smell his cologne, the scnet tantalizing at best, enthralling at the worst. If he wasn’t abysmally bad at potions, she would almost assume that he had brewed some sort of aphrodisiac and used it on himself. But he was, as her father put it, ‘hopeless’ when it came to brewing potions. So that couldn’t be it.

Maybe she was just in love.

She smiled, feeling his warmth against her back, her hands holding lightly to the broom between her legs as he steered it with expert attention.

“I don’t think I’ve got a feel for it yet. Couple more times around the yard?”

Oliver laughed, kissing her cheek.

“As many times as you want, love.”

He nuzzled her neck, nibbling lightly at the creamy white skin that he found there. There was not a single doubt in his mind that she was ready to get on a broom by herself. If she wanted to maintain this charade, though, he wasn’t against it. Having her in his arms, this close, sharing something as magical as flying, was something he had never dreamed possible when he first saw her, that sparkling summer day, lying on her front lawn. He had never dreamed that anything other than friendship would be possible. And now they were flying together, her back to his chest, his arms around her, on the broomstick between her legs.

Life was perfect, he decided at that moment, whispering again into her ear:

“As many times as you want.”

~*~The End~*~