~*~Part Three~*~

It took four days total for Bill Weasley to receive the response back from the owl he had sent to his old Headmaster. Four days of wandering around a Hellmouth, seeing creatures straight out of his DADA class for the first time and getting the Hell scared out of him at other times. Four whole days –

Of spending time with one enchanting red head.

Not enchanting in the literal wizarding sense; but enchanting in the sense that just being around her made him crave more time with her. She was smart, pretty, and shared common interests. She enjoyed the stories he had to tell her about curse breaking and magical treasure hunting. And he found that he enjoyed learning about her, too. Her life had been a full one, and she was only in her early twenties. Much too young to have done things like preventing apocalypses or slaying demons. Far too young to have almost been burned at the stake or to have helped blow up her school to end an Ascension.

But, she had.

So, when his owl came knocking on his window early one morning, he was almost disappointed. Here would be the answer he had been waiting for. He’d pass along whatever information was in it and then be on his way. There were assignments waiting for him at Gringotts since his job with the Ministry was finished for the moment. Maybe if he was lucky he could arrange to meet up with Willow next time he was in this part of the world.

As unlikely as that would ever be considering this was the first time in years of working for the Ministry that he had ever been sent to the States. How many more years would pass before he was assigned here again?

He untied the piece of parchment from the owl’s leg, patting it familiarly on the head before tossing it a bit of cracker. The owl hooted its thanks and started to eat its snack, as Bill unrolled the response.

~Mr. Weasley,

You did the right thing in contacting me. We would be greatly remiss if we did not get this young woman you spoke of some training. Hogwarts, as you can imagine, is out of the question due to her age.

However – I do know of one witch who would be more than happy to take up some side work tutoring a student such as Miss Rosenberg. I have already spoken with her and she is quite willing to have her come and stay for however long it takes for Miss Rosenberg to learn all she desires.

Who is this remarkable witch, you may be thinking?

I am delighted to say it is your own mother. She is most excited about having someone to tutor. Please reply back to her at your earliest convenience so that she may prepare a room for Miss Rosenberg if she is amenable to the agreement.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                            Albus Dumbledore~

Bill shook his head in amazed shock. His mother would be tutoring Willow. How much better could things get? Not only would she –not- be half the world away, she’d be in his parents’ house – giving him a good reason to drop by and visit her and them on a regular basis.

"Regular meaning ‘every free moment I get’, of course." He smirked to himself.

He pulled a hand back through his hair, still hanging loose around his face. The thin band of elastic that he used to tie it back was still sitting on the hotel nightstand, just waiting for him to have enough motivation to actually get dressed.

This was all the motivation he needed, however.

The eldest Weasley child threw on a pair of faded jeans and a plain black t-shirt. The shirt was a little tight on him, just the way he knew the women liked it, and showed off the muscles of his chest and stomach. Willow liked those muscles. She had admitted such, much to her embarrassment, during one of her all too cute babbling moments. And, while he normally wouldn’t take what someone said too much to heart –

He was happy to know that she found him attractive.

‘More than just attractive, mate.’ He told himself, chuckling softly as he tied on his worn pair of sneakers. ‘She thinks you are smart, handsome and fun to be around.’

Bill had to admit that he felt the same way about Willow. She was terribly smart, beautiful, and a blast to spend time with. They had already gone to dinner, the movies, and ‘slaying’ during the time he had been waiting on a response from Dumbledore. The slaying had been his favorite part by far. He had gotten a chance to kill not one, not two, but –three- vampires. They had exploded to dust right in front of his very eyes!

Ron and the others would be green with envy when he told them.

Of course, his mother would have a fit.

But, all in all, it was still worth it. Slaying vampires was a once in a lifetime experience usually reserved for Aurors and the like. Yet he, plain old Bill Weasley, had been able to do it as part of a date with a hot red haired witch.

"Speaking of hot red haired witches." He muttered to himself as he pocketed the room key and left the hotel. It was time to give Willow the tutoring offer and see what she thought about it. He already knew what her answer was going to be, though. She had told him time and again how much she appreciated him trying to find her a tutor; that she was sure that not being trained was where all her problems were coming from. He didn’t argue with her, for all he knew she was right. Willow would jump at the chance to learn from an ‘expert’, and his mother was definitely full of all sorts of useful knowledge for a witch to have.

There was the whole deal about her leaving her friends, he knew. But that, also, didn’t seem like such a big worry. Not once during the time he had been getting to know Willow did any of her friends show up. He didn’t doubt that these Buffy and Xander people that she was talking about were real, but he would be hard pressed to give proof of that. It seemed to him as though they were friends that had been steadily drifting apart, leading to a conclusion that she might miss them when she went to the The Burrow, but that it wouldn’t be a heartache for her.

As far as he could tell she was in no mood to forgive Giles any time soon for hiding this half of the world from her. Not that he blamed her. To have someone you know keep something so vital to your very existence from you had to be hard to find out. But what could you really expect from a Slytherin, after all?

~*~

"Are you ready for this?"

Willow looked from Bill to the fireplace and then back to Bill, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and excitement.

"Um – not really?" She blushed, embarrassed to admit that she was scared to death. Big time vampire slaying, demon killing, vampire soul restoring Willow Rosenberg was scared to try out a new method of traveling. Who would have thought? "It’s not everyday I hop in a fireplace and try to send myself somewhere else. Won’t I get burned?"

Bill chuckled and pulled her to him, breathing in the faint scent of the body wash she used. He had come to associate that smell with her – strawberries and vanilla. Very entrancing.

Willow, for her part, simply leaned into Bill’s arms. He was a very strong, nicely formed man. One that she had been indulging herself with for the past week. Smoochies and cuddles – she never wanted it to end.

And now it looked like it might not have to.

At least, for a little while.

"All you do is throw in the floo powder and step in and say ‘The Burrow’ – that’s my parents’ house." Bill murmured to her, his hands wandering in soothing patterns up and down her back. "It’s magic. You won’t get burned."

"Promise?" Willow muttered in sad fear, pulling back to stare into his face. She loved his eyes, she really did. They seemed to say a lot about who he was, like she was staring straight into his soul.

And she liked what she saw.

Bill thought hard on her question and, coming to the conclusion that he had never actually heard of anyone getting burned when they used floo powder correctly, he answered.

"Promise."

Willow nodded, seeming to take his word that she wouldn’t get hurt. Of course, that did little to allay the fear that was currently running laps through her heart.

"Incendio." Bill murmured, pointing his wand at the fireplace. Within seconds a blazing fire was roaring. He waited patiently for Willow to gather her wits about her and grab two of her suitcases from the floor. He would bring the rest with him when he apparated back home. She couldn’t apparate, of course, thus the reason he had been forced to ask Dumbledore to pull some strings and get her house attached to the floo network for just this one day.

"Go on, then." He smiled at her.

"One last smoochie?" She pleaded, begging with her eyes and mouth.

How could he resist?

Bill leaned down, brushing his lips against hers so softly that it was a mere whisper of a kiss. She wasn’t to be denied, though. If this was to be her last kiss, she’d be damned if it was so teasing, so soft. She grabbed hold of his lips with her own, her hand snaking out to grab the front of his shirt and pull him forcibly towards her. Their lips parted, her tongue darting out to gently tease along his own. Within moments they were locked in a heated embrace, neither one wanting to let go.

But they had to.

"You need to go now." Bill murmured into her lips. He didn’t bother to hide his smile at the look of disappointment on her face. She wanted him and it was a heady feeling.

"Fine. Fine." Willow sighed and grabbed her suitcases. "Just remember – if I burn up and die – you don’t get anymore smoochies."

"Merlin forbid." The wizard smirked. "I don’t know how I would be able to survive without my daily dose of Willow ‘smoochies’."

"And don’t you forget it, either, Mister."

With that she took a pinch of the powder he was holding out to her and tossed it into the flames of the fireplace. They roared up for a moment before turning greenish. That was her cue. She took a deep breath, suitcases firmly in hand, and stepped into the fire. It didn’t burn, unlike what she had feared. She saw Bill through the flickering flames, waiting for her to complete the journey so that he, too, could leave. She flashed him a smile and called out clearly –

"The Burrow."

She felt a tightening in her stomach and the world tilted upside down, inside out. She felt the suitcases still in her hands and clung to that as reality went wacky on her. The back of her mind screamed that this, for sure, was what being in the middle of a tornado must feel like, the awful gut-wrenching feeling that you’re being torn in two, twisted up beyond belief. Her chest was tight with the effort not to breathe, for fear that she’d loose her breath entirely in this whirling feeling of being completely and utterly lost.

And then it stopped.

She opened her eyes, the tightness in her jaw belying the fact that she had her teeth clenched together. Cold sweat had broken out over her face and she felt very, very sick.

Much too sick to open her eyes and see not one person, but an entire house full. She plastered a weak smile on her face, opening her mouth to greet the people that would be her host family for the duration of her tutoring.

But the plump, red-haired woman at the front of the group rushed forward before she could say a word, taking her hand and leading her to a well-worn, yet very comfortable, chair.

"You poor thing." She bustled about, urging two of the waiting teens to take the suitcases ‘up to the guest room’. "Traveling by Floor is upsetting the first time, I know. You just sit here and relax. I’ll get you some tea."

Willow nodded dumbly, wishing that her stomach would settle enough for her to risk opening her mouth further than to just mumble a whispered, ‘thank you’. She took the cup of tea that was handed to her, sipping at the hot, tangy liquid, her eyes down. Where was Bill, anyway?

"I’m Molly Weasley." The woman introduced herself, giving Willow a kind smile as she settled across the room from her, gesturing for the others in the room to take a seat. "My husband, Arthur, is still at work. He works for the Ministry, but I’m guessing Bill probably already told you all of that."

The American witch nodded, giving the other woman a hesitant smile.

"Bill told me about everyone, I think." She ventured. "I know there are the twins, Fred and George, who I’m assuming are the ones that disappeared with my bags?"

"Yes, that was them." Molly Weasley smiled. "Take care when you open them later, dear. My boys are good at heart, but pranksters by nature."

Willow laughed aloud.

"That’s pretty much what Bill told me, too."

"Did I hear my name?"

Willow looked towards the far side of the room, near a hall that she could only assume led somewhere else in the house, and there was Bill, leaning against the wall, looking as though he had been there for more than just a moment. His eyes were sparkling with amusement and he had a smile on his lips. Had it really been only ten minutes ago that they were kissing in the middle of her living room, nearly the entire world away now?

"Bill!" Molly Weasley jumped up to greet her eldest son, throwing her arms around him in a hug that looked, to Willow, quite painful in both duration and strength. She took that moment to look around the room, her eyes glancing curiously over the rest of the people that were waiting, albeit not very patiently, to be introduced. The twins, who she already knew were Fred and George, had reappeared. That left another boy, younger looking than the twins, and a girl. The girl, of course, was Ginny. Willow knew from Bill’s stories that he also had two more brothers, but they were undoubtedly busy with their own work and lives. Percy and Charlie, she thought she called their names being. Older than the twins, with Ron and Ginny being the youngest. It was amazing how much she had learned about her beau during the short week they had spent together.

"Oy, Mum!" One of the twins called across the room, shaking his head at his mother when she didn’t so much as look up from the conversation she was having with his older brother.

"Guess we’ll have to do this ourselves. The way Mum’s talking to Bill you’d think she hasn’t seen him in years." The second of the twins grinned. He walked across the room to Willow and held out his hand. "I’m Fred and that’s George. I’m guessing that Bill’s probably already mentioned us."

Willow nodded, standing up to shake his hand and then that of his brother.

"George." The only female child sighed, standing up and pushing her way between her brothers. She glared at the one that had previously introduced himself as ‘Fred’. "Don’t confuse her from the beginning."

"Just trying to have a little fun, Gin." The one now known as George grinned good-naturedly. He turned back to Willow. "I’m George, that’s Fred. Was just playing around."

"That’s okay. I sort of expected something of the sort to happen." The American woman grinned. "Your brother is just full of tales about you two."

Fred and George grinned at each other.

"Our legend precedes us." Fred chuckled.

Ginny shook her head in amusement at her brothers, extending her own hand to Willow.

"I’m Ginny, though I guess that was obvious."

"Just a little." Willow smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"And I’m Ron." The younger brother greeted, shaking her hand. "Percy and Charlie couldn’t make it – work and all."

"Understandable." Willow found herself nodding. So far they were all just as Bill had described them, from red hair to differing attitudes and personality traits. They all seemed very friendly, though, very warm. The type of family she had never been graced with as a child. She was going to enjoy her time here, she could tell already.

"Did these louts introduce themselves to you?"

Willow turned, her face brightening noticeably at the sight of Bill standing behind her. She felt his hand come out to take hers, squeezing gently. The gesture didn’t go unnoticed by either Bill’s mother or his little sister; and Willow saw their faces light up with excitement. So Bill hadn’t told anyone that he was dating her yet? She hid a smile at the hopeful look on his mother’s face.

Wasn’t that the same type of look that mother’s gave when they saw a chance to finally have their children start a life with someone?

~*~

"She likes you."

Willow arched an eyebrow at Bill.

"Who does?"

"My mother." Bill smirked. "She went on and on about you while you were washing up. ‘Such a pretty little thing.’ ‘Fits right in with the rest of us.’ ‘Perfect for you.’"

"Am I?" Willow smiled in partial seduction at the older man, her eyes half-closed and thoughtful.

"Are you what?" Now it was Bill that was confused.

"Perfect for you?"

Recognition dawned on the curse breaker’s face and it lit up like the sun coming out from behind a cloud. He sat on the edge of her bed, pulling her forward until she was straddling his knee.

"You are the most perfect creature I think I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet." He murmured, his hands sliding up under her shirt, trailing patters of seduction across her skin. He allowed a sly smile to cross his lips when she shivered in pleasure.

"Really?" She breathed, her eyes cloudy with passion.

"Yes." He answered. "*However*, as much as I would like to show you just how perfect you are – I just don’t think I can in my parents’ house."

Willow stuck out her lower lip in a pout, purring in delight when he caught it between his teeth in a playful nip.

"Okay, okay." She sighed in heated frustration. "Guess that’s all the more reason for me to be a quick learner."

"Don’t rush through learning on account of me, Willow." He cautioned her. "You deserve all that my mother has to teach you. We’ll have time for being ‘together’," He winked at her. "Later."

"Later." Willow agreed. She didn’t want to rush into things with him anyway, her rational mind argued. That would only lead to heartache in the end, if they didn’t turn out to be perfect for each other. So she’d just play things by ear.

For now.

~*~Part Four~*~

Magic could be used for just about everything in life, Willow quickly found out, living in the Weasley household. For instance, she was made aware within only a day of being in their house that the guest room she was staying in hadn’t been there before. It was a new addition to the house, provided graciously by Hogwarts, for Willow and any other student Molly Weasley may take on in the future to stay in.

And the room had been made completely by magic.

Bill had tried to explain it to her, the way that the room was crafted of various, well laid out spells with only a minimal amount of actual physical material going into the making of it, but Willow had been forced to ask him to stop after fifteen minutes of getting no where. Perhaps it would all make sense to her one day. Or, perhaps not. She really had very little interest in learning the art of magical architecture, after all.

Magic could be used for cooking entire meals, for cleaning dirty rooms, for mowing the lawn and getting garden gnomes out of their hiding places. It could be used to grow your hair long or cut it short, dye it purple or bright red. Luckily for Willow her hair was already quite red and of a decent length and style to begin with, she didn’t want to risk what would happen if she attempted one of those spells and it went wrong.

It didn’t take very long at all for Willow to learn just about everything there was to learn from Molly Weasley, in fact. Though, the young witch doubted very much that that was all there was to learn. Ron and Ginny had told her about entire classes devoted to things like Herbology, Divination (who Ron’s friend Hermione seemed to hate) and Potions.

Lots of classes that sounded an awful lot like fun. 

A trip to Diagon Alley and a quick conversion of some of her trust fund money to wizarding money gave Willow ample galleons to purchase some beginner’s books on various topics as well as some advance ones on things that Molly hadn’t been quite up to go into detail on – such as Animagi and Apparation.

Despite everything that she was learning, both about wizarding culture and magic itself, Willow still managed to find her time with Bill to be the most wondrous thing she had ever experienced. He was unlike any man she had ever met before. Handsome, supernatural, caring, kind, loving, doting. He was dangerously close to being ‘too perfect’, in fact. So much so that she had to step back and just think up all of the things that made him not perfect. Like the fact that he didn’t put away his clothes, just left them lying on top of his dresser. Or the fact that he was a momma’s boy, though not in a stiflingly bad way. There were other things, as well, but they were all so small. It made her feel good, though, to know that the great Bill Weasley was still far from perfect.

Bill.

Willow sighed, her attention being drawn away from the textbook she was reading simply by the thought of her red haired boyfriend. He had been gone for over a week now, off fetching another mystical artifact for the Ministry of Magic. Even though the place he had been sent to wasn’t even nominally dangerous by the standards of someone that had been raised on a Hellmouth, she still worried that he would get into trouble.

Or worse.

She had asked to go with him, but had been told that that just wasn’t possible. She didn’t even have her apparating license yet. And the spells she knew were more suitable to being a housewitch than traipsing about and treasure hunting. Sure, she had tried her best to argue with him that she had been defending herself on the Hellmouth for years before she even met him and got some ‘formal’ training and that the curses she knew from back in those days were even more powerful now that she had some control through a wand.

But Bill hadn’t been hearing any of it. He didn’t want her to get hurt. That was very noble of him, she knew; but that didn’t stop the fact that it irritated her. She wasn’t just some little girl that he could make sit at home and do the dishes. If he was looking for a girl like his mother, then she wasn’t it. She couldn’t be. After living a life of adventure she couldn’t be a ‘normal’ girl, or witch, ever again.

Molly, amazingly, understood her position on it all. She didn’t have any qualms about having someone there to watch her baby boy’s back, especially if it was someone as ‘level-headed’ as Willow. The older witch had been a gift from the goddess when it came to implementing a plan that would, ultimately, get Willow in a position to do just that.

And part one of the plan started tomorrow.

~*~

Willow stepped out of the fireplace and into Hogwarts, her face alight with a mixture of nausea and excitement; the nausea being wholly due to using floo powder.

"Miss Rosenberg." A strange looking old wizard came forward to meet her, his hand extended in greeting. "I have been looking forward to making your acquaintance."

This was, Willow assumed, Dumbledore, the notorious Headmaster of the school. She flashed him a smile and shook his hand.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Headmaster."

"Just call me Albus, dear. You’re a few years too old to be daintying about on courtesies such as that." The invitation was accompanied by a warm smile and Willow nodded in acceptance.

"So – Molly tells me that you wish to learn some more advanced curses and hexes?"

"Yes, sir. I’d like to be able to get a job as a Ministry treasure seeker."

Dumbledore grinned out right at that admission.

"Like Mister Bill Weasley, if I am right?"

Willow blushed, but nodded just the same.

"It’s more than just wanting to be with Bill, though, sir." She paused, searching for the right words to say what she really felt about getting a job in the wizarding world. "I don’t want to go back to Sunnydale, back to just being plain old Willow that helps the Slayer and slays demons and blah, blah, blah – you know? I want to be Willow, the girl that left one world for another and actually made something of herself. But I can’t really do that with the spells Molly is teaching me. She’s great at the everyday or household stuff, but I need the advanced things that’ll help me land a good job. Arthur already said that if I can just learn some more advanced defensive and offensive spells I should be able to get a job like –that-." She snapped her fingers, taking a deep breath, her babbling done for the moment.

"Just a long speech from such a small woman." Dumbledore chuckled to himself.  He rifled through some parchments on his desk, searching for just the right one. "Ah, here we are. Professor Flitwick has agreed to teach you some advanced charms. Professor Lupin, our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, will be teaching you some advanced hexes and curses. And, lastly, Professor Snape will be teaching you the basics of Potions."

"Potions?" Willow’s eyes lit up. "Really? Like mixing things together and getting something you drink and it does, well, something?"

She blushed. That hateful babbling got her every time.

"You have an interest in Potions?"

Willow shrugged.

"Don’t really know. I’ve only made one or two in my entire life, you know. Never had any classes or formal training. But I can only imagine it would be fun. I mean, Chemistry in high school was always a treat. I took AP Chemistry just for the fun of it."

Though he had no clue what Chemistry or AP Chemistry was, Dumbledore nodded, filing away that tidbit of information. The wizarding world had far too few Potions Masters in it. He would have to mention to Severus to keep an eye on her, to see if she had any aptitude for the profession.

If so…

Maybe she could find a place better suited to her than traipsing about with Bill Weasley. He was a good boy, but this young lady was destined for bright things.

Very bright things, indeed.

~*~

Willow breezed into the dungeons, following the directions Dumbledore had given her before leaving her to find her way to the Potions classroom. It really was quite simple. Turn left at the first suit of armor, then right at the tapestry with the snakes on it, then another left at the statue of Salazar Slytherin. The classroom was the first door on the left.

He hadn’t mentioned, however, that the dungeons were dark, dreary, and very much lived up to their name of ‘dungeon’. She stifled a laugh. This castle was everything that a castle should be and a few things that it shouldn’t be – like those damn moving staircases. But, all in all, it was like something out of a movie.

Complete with eerie dungeons.

She stopped outside of the door of the class she had come to, schooling her features back to those of an attentive student. She had heard of Professor Snape, of course, from Ginny and Ron. They didn’t like him. Called him a ‘greasy git’, something Willow still hadn’t figured out the meaning to. Was git an animal? She’d have to write home and ask Giles. Or maybe Bill could explain it to her?

But she wasn’t going to have her friends influence how she thought about him. If he really was the slimy bastard they all said he was – well he had to have a good reason, right? Some of her best teachers in high school had been also some of the most unpopular because they pushed for higher standards and pure excellence. She had learned the most from teachers like that.

And expected nothing less from the man that was –

"Waiting for me on the other side of this door." She whispered resolutely, knocking firmly. She heard a muffled ‘enter’ from the other side and pushed on the door. The heavy wood creaked as it opened, another stereotypical dungeon-y type thing that almost made her laugh out loud.

But she didn’t.

She stepped into the class, allowing a moment for her eyes to adjust to a room that was almost impossible dimmer than the halls. There was still enough light to see by, though, a miracle considering she could only see a few straggly candles on the walls in holders. Was this what poor Ginny and Ron had to look forward to a few times a week? She’d go bonkers, too!

"Do come in, Miss Rosenberg. Or do you plan on wasting all of our time in the doorway?"

She shut her mouth with a snap, throwing a glare at the man behind the desk and trying very hard to remember that he was teaching her as a favor to Headmaster Dumbledore. She didn’t want to alienate this man, either. He was a Potions Master – one of the best in his field, as she understood it. And that meant that there was a wealth of information he could impart to her. Shutting the door behind her, Willow walked to the front of the room, standing before his desk with her mouth shut. She met his dark eyes head on, unflinching under the intense scrutiny of his gaze.

"Are you going to waste all of our time trying to stare me down, Professor Snape? Or can we learn some Potions this afternoon?" She couldn’t resist raising her eyebrow at him, exactly as he had at her.

Was that a smile? Or what passed for a smile on that dark, would-be scary face? Yep, there it was, the corner of his mouth was twitching. Wait until Ron and Ginny heard this one. She bit her lip, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"You aren’t afraid of me? Of the horrible Potions Master of Hogwarts?"

His tone was so self-deprecating, so mocking, that Willow couldn’t help but laugh.

"Horrible?" She snorted. "Maybe you are. I’ve heard stories, mind you. But that doesn’t mean I should be afraid. No offense. The Hellmouth eats things like you for breakfast and I lived there my entire life. Not much can scare me at this point."

"We shall see about that, Miss Rosenberg." He sneered, the smile gone from his lips. She was just another student right now, despite the fact that she was easily four or five years older than the oldest student currently attending Hogwarts. She wasn’t going to scare easily.

And that made his job that much harder.

Or, perhaps, if she was as smart as Dumbledore made her out to be, that much easier.

"Shall we get started, then?" He gestured towards a table, already set up with the basic Potions accoutrements. Albus had said to walk her through it from the very basics and end with whatever he ‘felt was best’.

Though, Albus had also said that he should pay special attention to whether or not she had the makings of a future Potions Master. He would see if that was the case, though he had serious doubts. None of his students in all of the years he had been teaching at Hogwarts had ever shown the aptitude to make Potions their life’s work.

Why should she be any different?

~*~

Three weeks later, as they were cleaning up from one of Willow’s most recent lessons in the art of potion making, Severus had to admit that maybe Albus had been right. She certainly had that special flare, that attention to detail, that led to a great Potions Master.

"Miss Rosenberg, a word if I may?"

Willow looked up from the cauldron she was cleaning, placing it gently in the basin of water and drying off her hands with a scrap of cloth that was laying nearby.

"Yes, sir?"

"Have you given thought to making Potions a profession?" There. He had cut right to the heart of the matter, bypassing any semblance of small talk.

"Actually –" Willow bit her lip, averting her eyes from his for a moment to glance about the class, as if in thought. She sighed, turning back to him. "Yes, I have. And it seems like it would be right for me. But I don’t really know what to do next. I can’t keep taking up your time like this. I’m sure it’s getting tiresome – teaching the students during the day and me at night and all." She shrugged. "For once, I’m at a loss."

"There are numerous schools that you could attend. The Headmaster would be happy to write a letter of recommendation." He watched her eyes light up at the mere mention of schooling and he hid a smile. She soaked up knowledge like a plant soaked up the rain. "Or – you could ponder the idea of becoming my Assistant? You are right in that it is getting tiresome to teach both you and the students. You could at least help with the students portion of it."

Willow’s eyes went wide with shock. He was offering her a position. Here? At Hogwarts? It was almost too much to take in at once. She would need to talk with Bill, of course. He still wasn’t even aware that she had been going off to Hogwarts for classes a few nights a week. Only Molly and Arthur were aware of that, though they both thought she was still training to go into Treasure Seeking. And Ginny and Ron, of course, who had caught her, coming back from one of her study sessions one night. She would, of course, need to speak with all of them before deciding on anything.

"Have you spoken with Albus about this?" She murmured, still in shock.

"Of course." His tone was, as usual, mocking.

"I need to think about it all." She whispered, apologetically. "Can’t decide right now. Have to weight the options. Thank you very, very much. Please excuse me?"

Severus watched her flee the dungeons, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Had he managed to do what she said he could never do?

Had he scared her simply with one well-deserved offer?

~*~

As luck would have it, Bill was waiting when Willow returned from her lessons. She flew to his arms, holding off any questions he may have had with a kiss that left both of them breathless. It was difficult, if not impossible, to imagine what life had been life before she met him now. He filled up that part of her that she hadn’t even realized had been empty, his kindness and compassion washing over her like the tides of the ocean.

She pulled back from him, her eyes flickering from him to the stairs, then back to him; a silent question if he would like to join her upstairs.

He nodded, curious where she had been. His parents had been loathe to say anything other than that Willow had been ‘studying’, but that didn’t answer the question of ‘where’ she had been studying or ‘with who’. He had felt the harsh tug of jealousy on his heart when he played over the possibilities in his mind. There were any number of wizarding families within short distance of The Burrow, many with boys Willow’s age still staying at home. It was completely possible, he reasoned, that she had found someone a little closer to her age to spend time with.

Though – that kiss she had given him when she appeared in the fireplace had been far from that of someone who had pulled away from him. In fact, it was full of pent up passion and frustration, just like all of their kisses had been lately. She was still his girl, he knew in his heart.

"I have something I need to tell you." She began, the moment they had entered her room and shut the door. "No, no! Don’t look like that. It’s a good thing. At least, I think it is."

"Does it have anything to do with where you were studying tonight?" He asked, apprehensively.

"As a matter of fact, it does." She put a finger over his lips before he could say something stupid. It was clear by the look on his face that he was assuming the worst and that couldn’t be further from the truth. "Shush and let me tell you before you jump to the wrong conclusions, Mr. Weasley."

"Yes, ma’m." The oldest Weasley boy murmured contritely.

"Mmm. Ma’m? I think I could get used to that." Now the red haired witch was practically purring, her hand rubbing up and down Bill’s leg.

"Willow? You were about to tell me something."

"Oh yeah." Willow blushed, pulling away from him. "I’ve been taking classes at Hogwarts. Night classes with some of the professors."

Bill just stared for a moment. So –that’s- what had been going on! And she hadn’t wanted to tell him because – well probably because she didn’t want him doting on her about how wonderful it was!

"That’s great, sweetheart!"

"There’s more." She took a deep breath. "One of the Professors asked me to be his Assistant. An actual job. At Hogwarts. Teaching and learning at the same time. He seems to think I have potential –"

"You got offered a job at Hogwarts?" Bill jumped up, interrupting her, and pulled her into his arms in excitement, spinning her in circles. "That’s great. Wonderful!"

"Yep." She smiled distractedly, watching the room spin as he twirled her around. "Don’t you want to know what I’d be assisting in, at least?"

"Of course! Tell me all about it."

"Try not to freak out, k?"

That made Bill stop. The room came to a crashing, sudden stop as he set her down, looking into her eyes.

"What could make me ‘freak out’?" He asked calmly.

"Well –" Willow drawled. "You see, the thing is, the Professor that asked me to be his assistant isn’t the most popular in the school. In fact, I think that you’ve told me quite a few horror stories about it all. But – he’s very, very good in his field and I think I could learn a lot from him. And – "

"You’re going to be Snape’s Assistant?" The look on Bill’s face was one of bewildered shock.

"Um – yes?"

"Wow. And he actually thinks you’re good at Potions? He said that?"

"Not in those exact words." Willow assured him. "But he wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t think I was worth the time."

"Snape thinks someone is worth his time." Bill chuckled after a moment of speculative silence. "That, in itself, is amazing."

"You’re not upset with me?"

"Upset with you?" Bill frowned. "Why would I be upset with you? You’ve managed the impossible – a compliment from Snape."

Willow giggled.

"So – you think I should take the job?"

"Of course!" Bill smiled suddenly. "It’s a wonderful opportunity. And I can dart over and visit you whenever I like, of course."

The witch smiled happily.

"Good. I’ll let him know tomorrow that I accept."

She leaned in, then, kissing him soundly on the lips. Her mouth parted to allow access to his tongue at the same time that his hands began to rub gently at her back. She smiled and pulled away, a mischievous smile on her face.

"You know what this means, don’t you?"

Bill gave her a blank look.

"No – what?"

"Well – I won’t be living with your parents anymore…" Her hand trailed lightly up his leg, stopping just before she made things ‘inappropriate’.

Realization dawned on Bill’s face, a sly grin spreading across his lips. He winked at her, his own hands straying dangerously close to impropriety.

"Why wait until tomorrow?" His voice tickled her ear. "Let’s see if we can move you in tonight."

~*~The End~*~