Willow was in the kitchen baking cookies for another spell gone awry, this
one leaving Giles with purple hair, when Xander called to her from the
living room.
"Hey, Wills, there's some guy on the phone for you."
"For me? Who is it?"
"Like I said, some guy. How should I know?"
Willow shrugged and wiped her hands on a towel as she went to the phone. "Hello?"
"Miss Rosenberg, this is Severus Snape." His dark, silky voice was unchanged by the phone lines, and she'd have known who it was even without him saying so.
Now she just had to find out what he wanted. When they'd talked at the Bronze last week all he'd been interested in Buffy, and Willow had no intention of getting involved in that little love triangle. Especially since she kind of liked Severus with his dry, barbed humor and unrelenting sarcasm. She didn't want to see him hurt anyway, and that's where this was headed because Buffy was completely smitten with Sirius.
"Um, hi. You can call me, Willow, you know."
"Alright, Willow, then. I was wondering if you might not be free tomorrow evening. Black mentioned that he and Buffy were going out of town with those other friends of yours."
"Xander and Anya?" Willow felt her brow crease. Tomorrow was her birthday, and while no one had mentioned anything specific recently, there had been some discussion of having a party or something. Maybe Severus was mistaken?
"I believe those were the names, yes."
"Um, Severus, oh, can I call you that? I mean, you didn't actually say—"
"Severus is fine, though most just call me Snape if they are referring to me at all." "Oh, okay. Anyway, are you sure it's tomorrow? Cause we all kind of had plans and I'm sure they'd have told me if this other thing was going on."
"I had thought he said this weekend. He's been babbling like a moron about it for a few days."
"Oh. Well, um, let me ask Xander. Can I call you back?"
"Certainly. Do you have the number?"
"Yeah, Buffy posted it by the phone."
"I'll look forward to hearing from you then." And then there was the sound of a disconnected line. He'd hung up. Not one for all the frills of society. But, Willow had already gathered that from their earlier conversation.
She put the phone down and plopped down on the couch next to Xander. He was watching some movie and munching on popcorn.
"So, Xand," she said trying to sound normal. "What are you and Anya up to this weekend? Anything special?"
"Um, no." he replied looking startled. "Why would we be doing anything special? Or at all?"
"Well don't you usually go out on Friday night?"
"Oh, yeah. Of course. But, you know, nothing special."
"So nothing involving Buffy or a trip then?" Willow said this as Xander took a gulp of his soda. She had her answer when he started choking. Either they were planning a surprise party or they'd made other plans. There was one way to find out.
"So, I'll take that as a yes. What's going on?"
"Wills, why would something be going on? It's just this thing. No big deal."
"If it's no big deal why didn't anyone tell me about it? Is it something I'm not allowed to know about or something?"
"Um, no. Not really. See, the thing is, it's a sort of long party. It's just...It's a couples' thing, and we didn't want you to feel bad cause you're not, you know, in a couple, so we all just decided not to mention it at all."
Willow took a deep breath. "So you and Buffy are going to this "couples' thing" tomorrow with Sirius and Anya?"
"Yep."
"So, are you, Buffy, and I going to hang out beforehand?"
She watched Xander frown. "I don't think there'll be time. It's a weekend trip sort of thing. We're leaving pretty early. We can hang out when we get back on Sunday though."
"You weren't going to tell me you guys were going to be gone all weekend? What? You thought I just wouldn't notice my roommate and best friend weren't around?"
Xander smiled sheepishly. "I guess we didn't really think about it. I mean Anya just won the tickets for the on the radio, it's a weekend party on a ship by the way, a few days ago. I guess we just got excited and didn't think it through."
"Oh. This is a big deal to you guys, huh?"
"Yeah." Xander said with a big grin. Then he apparently caught on that Willow might be upset. "But, if it's a problem, I can talk to Anya. Maybe we can sell our tickets. She might get mad, I don't want you to feel like we were excluding you or abandoning you. You're my bestest bud. You know that, right?"
Willow forced a smile into place. "Sure do. And it's not a problem. It looks like I have plans for tomorrow anyway, and there's a paper due Wednesday I can get done."
"Thanks, Wills. You're the greatest."
Willow didn't say anything, just returned the offered hug. It looked like she'd be calling Severus back. She might be spending her birthday listening to him ask about Buffy, but it was better than spending it alone.
***
Snape had been a bit surprised when Willow actually did call him back, but not so much so that he'd failed to set up concrete plans. They'd arranged to meet for lunch at a small place Willow preferred. Which worked wonderfully for him since it was more informal than he'd hoped. It should give him plenty of time to get the girl to talk. And, since he'd wasn't convinced his rather unused conversational skills would be enough, he'd also sent an owl for some of the relaxation potion he'd had the students make. It should make her more inclined to speak freely around him.
The weekend was looking like a very good one. Sirius was going to be gone, his annoying little girlfriend wouldn't be around to irritate him either, and Willow would likely solve the mystery that surrounded that same girlfriend.
Snape folded himself into one of the chairs near the fire with a sigh. He'd still rather be back in his dungeons, but if he had to be here then this was the way he preferred it. And, as a bonus, for all her babbling, the Willow girl was remarkably intelligent. He'd even found himself enjoying her observations about the world during their conversation. So, all in all, he was looking at a less than miserable day tomorrow.
Of course, Black had to walk in with Buffy at that moment and ruin everything.
"Hey, git, you look a bit less sour than usual. Did you kick someone's puppy?"
Severus sneered at Sirius. "Hardly, though if I do kick a dog I'm sure you'll be the very first to know."
Sirius growled slightly. "I am so glad I don't have to put up with you all weekend."
"I assure you the feeling is mutual." Snape replied flatly. "Did you want something other than to make a nuisance of yourself?"
"As if there was anything you could offer—"
"Actually," Buffy spoke up, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
Sirius started to object but Severus just raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Indeed. And what would this favor entail?"
"Well, Sirius and I are leaving really early tomorrow, and I borrow a book from a guy named Giles that I think Willow wanted, so I was hoping you could give it to her for me."
"And you can't do this tonight because? You do live with her, do you not?"
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, but I was going to stay with my mom tonight, sort of a family night, and, well, to be honest, I sort of don't want to tell Willow about the trip and she might ask."
Severus watched Sirius gape at his girlfriend. "Willow doesn't know? Why ever not?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "She went through a pretty bad break up a couple months ago, and it seemed kind of not nice to gush about a romantic weekend when she's still feeling lonely."
"But won't she notice you're not there? Isn't she going to worry?"
Severus smirked slightly. "I doubt that. She seemed quite aware of your plans when I spoke to her on the phone."
"She knows!" Buffy shrieked at the same time that Sirius exclaimed, "You called Willow?"
"Yes to both questions." Snape replied. "And I will give her the book tomorrow if you wish."
Sirius seemed to be in shock. "You're going to actually go out of your way to do a favor for my girlfriend?"
"Hardly." Snape snapped. "I'm meeting Willow for lunch anyway, and I assure you that it is more for her benefit than yours that I'm even agreeing at all."
"Oh." Sirius replied faintly as Buffy handed the book over.
"Hey, Wills, there's some guy on the phone for you."
"For me? Who is it?"
"Like I said, some guy. How should I know?"
Willow shrugged and wiped her hands on a towel as she went to the phone. "Hello?"
"Miss Rosenberg, this is Severus Snape." His dark, silky voice was unchanged by the phone lines, and she'd have known who it was even without him saying so.
Now she just had to find out what he wanted. When they'd talked at the Bronze last week all he'd been interested in Buffy, and Willow had no intention of getting involved in that little love triangle. Especially since she kind of liked Severus with his dry, barbed humor and unrelenting sarcasm. She didn't want to see him hurt anyway, and that's where this was headed because Buffy was completely smitten with Sirius.
"Um, hi. You can call me, Willow, you know."
"Alright, Willow, then. I was wondering if you might not be free tomorrow evening. Black mentioned that he and Buffy were going out of town with those other friends of yours."
"Xander and Anya?" Willow felt her brow crease. Tomorrow was her birthday, and while no one had mentioned anything specific recently, there had been some discussion of having a party or something. Maybe Severus was mistaken?
"I believe those were the names, yes."
"Um, Severus, oh, can I call you that? I mean, you didn't actually say—"
"Severus is fine, though most just call me Snape if they are referring to me at all." "Oh, okay. Anyway, are you sure it's tomorrow? Cause we all kind of had plans and I'm sure they'd have told me if this other thing was going on."
"I had thought he said this weekend. He's been babbling like a moron about it for a few days."
"Oh. Well, um, let me ask Xander. Can I call you back?"
"Certainly. Do you have the number?"
"Yeah, Buffy posted it by the phone."
"I'll look forward to hearing from you then." And then there was the sound of a disconnected line. He'd hung up. Not one for all the frills of society. But, Willow had already gathered that from their earlier conversation.
She put the phone down and plopped down on the couch next to Xander. He was watching some movie and munching on popcorn.
"So, Xand," she said trying to sound normal. "What are you and Anya up to this weekend? Anything special?"
"Um, no." he replied looking startled. "Why would we be doing anything special? Or at all?"
"Well don't you usually go out on Friday night?"
"Oh, yeah. Of course. But, you know, nothing special."
"So nothing involving Buffy or a trip then?" Willow said this as Xander took a gulp of his soda. She had her answer when he started choking. Either they were planning a surprise party or they'd made other plans. There was one way to find out.
"So, I'll take that as a yes. What's going on?"
"Wills, why would something be going on? It's just this thing. No big deal."
"If it's no big deal why didn't anyone tell me about it? Is it something I'm not allowed to know about or something?"
"Um, no. Not really. See, the thing is, it's a sort of long party. It's just...It's a couples' thing, and we didn't want you to feel bad cause you're not, you know, in a couple, so we all just decided not to mention it at all."
Willow took a deep breath. "So you and Buffy are going to this "couples' thing" tomorrow with Sirius and Anya?"
"Yep."
"So, are you, Buffy, and I going to hang out beforehand?"
She watched Xander frown. "I don't think there'll be time. It's a weekend trip sort of thing. We're leaving pretty early. We can hang out when we get back on Sunday though."
"You weren't going to tell me you guys were going to be gone all weekend? What? You thought I just wouldn't notice my roommate and best friend weren't around?"
Xander smiled sheepishly. "I guess we didn't really think about it. I mean Anya just won the tickets for the on the radio, it's a weekend party on a ship by the way, a few days ago. I guess we just got excited and didn't think it through."
"Oh. This is a big deal to you guys, huh?"
"Yeah." Xander said with a big grin. Then he apparently caught on that Willow might be upset. "But, if it's a problem, I can talk to Anya. Maybe we can sell our tickets. She might get mad, I don't want you to feel like we were excluding you or abandoning you. You're my bestest bud. You know that, right?"
Willow forced a smile into place. "Sure do. And it's not a problem. It looks like I have plans for tomorrow anyway, and there's a paper due Wednesday I can get done."
"Thanks, Wills. You're the greatest."
Willow didn't say anything, just returned the offered hug. It looked like she'd be calling Severus back. She might be spending her birthday listening to him ask about Buffy, but it was better than spending it alone.
***
Snape had been a bit surprised when Willow actually did call him back, but not so much so that he'd failed to set up concrete plans. They'd arranged to meet for lunch at a small place Willow preferred. Which worked wonderfully for him since it was more informal than he'd hoped. It should give him plenty of time to get the girl to talk. And, since he'd wasn't convinced his rather unused conversational skills would be enough, he'd also sent an owl for some of the relaxation potion he'd had the students make. It should make her more inclined to speak freely around him.
The weekend was looking like a very good one. Sirius was going to be gone, his annoying little girlfriend wouldn't be around to irritate him either, and Willow would likely solve the mystery that surrounded that same girlfriend.
Snape folded himself into one of the chairs near the fire with a sigh. He'd still rather be back in his dungeons, but if he had to be here then this was the way he preferred it. And, as a bonus, for all her babbling, the Willow girl was remarkably intelligent. He'd even found himself enjoying her observations about the world during their conversation. So, all in all, he was looking at a less than miserable day tomorrow.
Of course, Black had to walk in with Buffy at that moment and ruin everything.
"Hey, git, you look a bit less sour than usual. Did you kick someone's puppy?"
Severus sneered at Sirius. "Hardly, though if I do kick a dog I'm sure you'll be the very first to know."
Sirius growled slightly. "I am so glad I don't have to put up with you all weekend."
"I assure you the feeling is mutual." Snape replied flatly. "Did you want something other than to make a nuisance of yourself?"
"As if there was anything you could offer—"
"Actually," Buffy spoke up, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
Sirius started to object but Severus just raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Indeed. And what would this favor entail?"
"Well, Sirius and I are leaving really early tomorrow, and I borrow a book from a guy named Giles that I think Willow wanted, so I was hoping you could give it to her for me."
"And you can't do this tonight because? You do live with her, do you not?"
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, but I was going to stay with my mom tonight, sort of a family night, and, well, to be honest, I sort of don't want to tell Willow about the trip and she might ask."
Severus watched Sirius gape at his girlfriend. "Willow doesn't know? Why ever not?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "She went through a pretty bad break up a couple months ago, and it seemed kind of not nice to gush about a romantic weekend when she's still feeling lonely."
"But won't she notice you're not there? Isn't she going to worry?"
Severus smirked slightly. "I doubt that. She seemed quite aware of your plans when I spoke to her on the phone."
"She knows!" Buffy shrieked at the same time that Sirius exclaimed, "You called Willow?"
"Yes to both questions." Snape replied. "And I will give her the book tomorrow if you wish."
Sirius seemed to be in shock. "You're going to actually go out of your way to do a favor for my girlfriend?"
"Hardly." Snape snapped. "I'm meeting Willow for lunch anyway, and I assure you that it is more for her benefit than yours that I'm even agreeing at all."
"Oh." Sirius replied faintly as Buffy handed the book over.
