Journey To Passion

Chapter Fourteen – Christmas






Chapter
Fourteen – Christmas

 

Snape walked around the corner just as Lucius was
getting to his feet. Still weak in the knees, Lucius backed away from Jessica
and flashed her one more wicked scowl before swivelling his body around and
storming out of Diagon Alley.

Jessica could sense that Snape felt completely
perplexed when he saw the way Lucius stammered away. An illustration of grave
suspicion and curiosity shone noticeably in his eyes and one of his eyebrows
curved slightly higher than the other in speculation.

“I do hope that you intend to tell me what all that
was about,” was all he said before wrapping a secure hand around her arm.

The rest of the evening seemed to last for hours.
Even amidst the familiar faces that she had missed for many months, Jessica
could think of nothing other that the terrible words Lucius Malfoy had spoken
to her.

‘You look just like
your father.’

She had never been told
that before. No one had ever told her what her father looked like. Over the
years his face had always been a blur and that was just the way Jessica liked
it.

Then there were the words
that threatened the very gift Jessica intended to give Severus on Christmas
Day. It was a decision she had reached after realizing that she had fallen in
love with him. Although he wasn’t quite ready to admit it, she could feel that
he deeply loved her, too. She recognized that his feelings for her were no
longer smitten or tainted solely with physical desire. He no longer wanted her
for the simple pleasure of her body, but for the love and companionship she
offered. Jessica was ready to give him the satisfaction that was once the only
desire he sought after… or at least she had been before meeting Lucius Malfoy.

‘Your father chose a
mate for you long before you were born.’

Jessica felt certain that
Lucius wasn’t lying to her when he said that Voldemort wouldn’t tolerate having
Jessica draw any man to her heart in her most intimate embrace other than the
one he chose for her. From what Lucius said, it was obviously crucial that her first
lover be the man intended to take control of the powers she possessed. So
crucial that Voldemort would rather have her killed than let anyone else have
that control. He even killed the very man that brought her into this world
because he had failed to bring Voldemort that power.

‘You’d become
expendable, just like Espiranza, and so would the man who robbed him of his
glory.’

It didn’t make any sense.
Why wouldn’t Dumbledore have told her such a thing when he encouraged Jessica
to befriend Severus? She knew right from the start that it was more than a
friendship he wanted her to have with Snape.
It was marriage!

“Because of who you
are, you will be sought after by the dark wizards day by day until the time
comes where your powers will no longer be of use to them. Therefore it will be
necessary for you to remain by the side of a wizard capable of protecting you
until that day. You understand that now, don’t you?”

It seemed so long ago that
Dumbledore had spoken those words to her. At that time she thought she did
understand. But now, now it didn’t seem so clear. Once she gave her love to
another her powers would be of no use to the Death Eaters, and nor would her
life. They’d kill her and her lover out of spite.

Dumbledore must have known
if it were true or not. Although Jessica felt certain that Lucius spoke no word
of a lie, it seemed implausible to believe that her own uncle would keep
something like that from her – especially when it threatened her life.

“Something vexes thee, my
dear?” Dumbledore had asked after following his unusually silent grandniece
from the lounge after she’d excused herself.

Jessica set her untouched
cup of tea down by the sink and turned to look into the concerned eyes of her
love’s Headmaster. “I’m fine, uncle,” she lied. “I’m quite tired, that’s all.”

Dumbledore nodded and
turned his eyes down to the floor. Jessica sensed the disappointment he felt.
He knew there was a lot more on her mind than the need for a good night’s
sleep. Nonetheless, he nodded and respected her wish for privacy and turned
around to join his family back in the lounge.

“If you’d like, there are
plenty of owls willing to battle this storm to bring Severus a message if you
wish to write him,” he said as he walked. “Or if it will brighten your spirits,
I’ll escort you back to Hogwarts myself tonight.”

“Thank you uncle,” she
said, “but that won’t be necessary. I need this time to think about…
something.”

“Very well,” Dumbledore
said. “Perhaps you should retire to your room and give yourself some peace and
quite. I’ll be in the lounge should you wish to talk.”

“Thank you,” she said
again. He had nearly reached the lounge when Jessica called out to him. “Uncle
Albus,” she reached her hand out as if to stop him. “May I ask you one
question?” she asked.

“Of course dear,” he
assured and came back into the kitchen. He set his hands down on the counter
and gave her his full attention.

In nothing more than a
soft whisper, Jessica turned her head and let her guard down. “I’ve been
thinking a lot today about… about what will happen if I… if I decide that I
want to settle down, with a husband and a family. What I want to know is… will
the Death Eaters want to kill me if I do?”

The petrified sound of
Jessica’s voice grasped Dumbledore’s attention immediately. He looked very deep
into her eyes and put his hand over her fingers. “Jessica my dear, if a
marriage is what you want, I don’t want anything you may have heard to stop you
from building a future for yourself,” he said slowly. “If you marry, I will do everything
in my power to protect you and your new husband.”

 

* * *

 

For the rest of that
evening and throughout the next day Jessica never said anything more about the
concern that had plagued her mind since meeting Lucius Malfoy. She stayed up
for a few hours contemplating what to do and awoke on Christmas Day feeling
much better than she had going to sleep. All morning and all afternoon the only
thing Jessica could think about was the moment she’d see Severus again. She
hoped that he’d have a smile on his face and would welcome her with open arms.

It didn’t go exactly as
she had planned.

“Happy Christmas,
Severus.”

He was sitting at his desk
scribbling on a piece of parchment when Jessica walked into his office. Her
heels clicked against the stone floor as she made her way up to his black desk.
The brass lamp on his right was practically all that gave light to the eerie
room.

“Hello Jessica,” he
acknowledged hardly loud enough for her to hear. He didn’t look up at her as
she neared him. Snape continued writing even
when Jessica came within reach of him and brushed her hand across from one
shoulder to the other. She stood behind him and brushed her fingers through his
hair and massaged his scalp with her fingertips.

“I missed you,” she said
and dotted the top of his head with a kiss. Gently, Jessica began to pull his
hair back and made a ponytail with her left hand. There were still some strands
in the front that dangled over his forehead. Jessica grasped those loose
strands and let them slither between the fingers of her free hand a couple of
times. His hair felt much softer than it looked.

“You were gone for hardly
more than a day,” Snape reminded in a crude
tone.

“I still missed you.”
Jessica let go of his hair and began to massage his shoulders instead to try
and get him to pay some attention to her. “Don’t you at least want to give me a
friendly ‘welcome home’ kiss?” she asked him and leaned her head over to the
side of his face looking for an answer.

“Not right now Jessica,
I’m busy.” Snape wrote quickly. Jessica could
hear the tip of his quill scratching against the parchment in a hurry.

If Jessica weren’t an
empath and couldn’t feel his eagerness to finish his work so that he could give
all of his attention to her, she would only have seen a grumpy, petulant
wizard looking as if he were trying everything he could to brush her off. He
never looked at her, nor touched her, and barely acknowledged that she was
there giving him the most soothing massage he had ever received.

Before long his
handwriting slowed to a minimal pace and then came to a stop. Snape put the quill back into the blotter and sank back into his
chair. His eyes closed and a long sigh escaped from the back of his throat as
Jessica continued to press her fingers into his shoulders and around his neck.

Moments later her touch
was rewarded by the sound of another deep moan that penetrated right through to
Jessica’s heart. She’d never heard him sigh like that before. Jessica
wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him with a hug. “You’re welcome,”
was all she said before letting go of him. “I’ll be in my room getting dressed
for dinner,” she said and made way for the door. “See you there shortly?”

Snape stood up from his
desk and pushed his cloak behinm asm as he neared her. “I’ll see you there
now,” he said and put his hand around her arm. “I suppose the rest of my
work can wait until tomorrow.”

“Oh no, no, no,” Jessica
began and pushed his hand away from her. “You can’t come with me now. I need
time to get ready and I can’t do that with you near my quarters. Go on and
finish whatever it is you need to finish. See me in a half hour.”

“You look just fine for
dinner,” Snape noticed. He looked at her and
marvelled at how well her body fit inside the purple dress she wore.

“Why thank you, Severus,
but I’d much prefer to change into something a little more appropriate for this
evening,” she said and drew him into her arms. She placed her lips by his ear
and whispered softly to him. “Something… pink.”

That was the word that
repeated over and over in his head all through the staff dinner. Snape hated pink, but something about the soft color of Jessica’s
promising evening gown and the tiny, see-through scarf that wrapped so
delicately around her shoulders had his head at an awkward angle throughout the
duration of the banquet. Barely able to speak more than a few words at a time
to her, in the corner of his eye Snape kept
his attention fixed on the long, slender-fitting dress and anxiously
anticipated the conclusion of the mandatory staff congregation.

His chambers were prepared
for their retirement and Snape had every
confidence that this evening with Jessica was going to be extraordinary. Since
Halloween he had fallen in love not only with her body, but also with her mind
and soul together. She was the woman of his dreams who had walked into his life
and took his heart into her hands. She cared deeply for him as he did for her
and this evening was going to attest to that love and devotion. All he had to
do was whisper those three powerful words into her ear once again. Without
prompting, without manipulation and without hesitation.

Four slender fingers
tipped with perfectly painted nails pressed gently into the sleeve of his soft
black robes to calm his senses. Snape looked
at her hand touching his arm and then met her gaze with an overwhelming need to
seize her hand and lead her away from the festive setting he hated so much. The
thought of having to do anything more than eat his meal amongst the staff made Snape
cringe. They all ended their meals with small talk
and desserts. Snape, on the other hand, almost
always left at his earliest convenience. Dumbledore knew how much Snape hated staff gatherings but nevertheless obligated all
professors to attend this particular banquet every Christmas.

Jessica’s plate was
cleared and only a drop of pumpkin juice remained in her goblet. She smiled
elegantly at him to show him that she was ready to leave with him. Snape
knew exactly what that promising look in her eye
meant and nodded his head once before standing.

Snape pulled Jessica’s chair
back and took her hand and helped her to her feet. Once she stepped around her
chair, Snape promptly released her hand and
eyed each of the professors hoping that none of them had seen his refined
gesture.

At the other end of the
table, Madam Pomfrey gave a tiny nod when she saw Jessica stand with the
Potions Master. Besides the Headmaster, only the school nurse was aware that Snape
and Jessica were involved in such a devoted
relationship. Suspicions were floating around the castle, but until now no one
had really seen the pair of them together. Snape never volunteered information regarding his personal life to the other
teachers, and his relationship with Jessica was no exception.

The nurse bared a tiny
smile of goodnight to both Jessica and Snape before
returning her attention to Madam Hooch on her right.

Jessica stepped over to
the head of the table and dotted a goodnight kiss on her uncle’s cheek. “Thank
you for letting me be a part of this Uncle Albus,” she said. “The food was
delicious.”

“Why thank you my dear.
I’ll be sure to pass the word on to the house elves in the kitchen.” Dumbledore
stood from his seat and gave Jessica a hug. “I’m very pleased the pair of you
were able to join us. Will you be on your way now?”

“Yes,” Jessica told him.

“Well enjoy your evening,
Love.” Dumbledore looked over at Snape and
nodded respectfully. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“All right, good night
Uncle.”

Unwilling to touch a hand
to her body, Snape led Jessica down from the
Head Table and out of the student-free Great Hall. Several eyes turned their
way and watched as the odd pair left together. Snape knew that if he turned around to look back at the Head
Table once more he’d probably see mouths gaped open watching in amazement as he
held the large doors open for Jessica. He kept his back to them for that very
purpose and stood aside to let Jessica through first.

She submissively slipped
by him and then took his hand in hers once they heard the doors slide closed
behind them. Not a word was spoken as they stepped quickly en route to his
chambers. Jessica’s shoes echoed loudly down the dark, stone corridors and the
heels of Snape’s boots thumped in a low beat
that nearly matched her own.

The walk from the Great
Hall to his chambers had never felt so quick before. Perhaps the anticipation
of finally being alone together had put some haste into their strides. Jessica
squeezed her fingers around Severus’ hand and let him see her lips spread into
a smile so full of happiness and excitement he practically let his wand slip out
of his hand as he unlocked the door to his chambers.

The door clicked open and
Jessica was about to step in before Snape held
her back. He looked into her emerald eyes for a moment and then nodded. “I
think you should close your eyes,” he told her.

Jessica nodded in
agreement and took his hand again before she obliged. “All right,” she sighed.
“Let’s go.”

Snape brought her into his
chambers and led her by the hand towards the warmth of the stone fireplace. The
inviting heat surrounded her body like a soft, warm blanket. She could feel the
electric current of excitement and anticipation in the air.

“This room has never felt
so warm before,” Jessica said just as Snape was
seating her down on the leather couch. She felt him sitting down next to her
and nestle his body as close to hers as he could. A warm hand pressed firmly
into her thigh and began massaging tiny circles into the soft silky material of
her evening gown.

“Go on and open your
eyes,” Severus told her, his mouth no more than an inch away from her ear. His
thumb was rubbing up and down her opposite earlobe and he watched carefully as
Jessica’s eyelids slowly opened.

A small smile appeared on
his lips when he saw the element of surprise on her face. Jessica’s lips turned
up into a smile when she looked at the Christmas champagne and two tall crystal
glasses sitting on a small table just in front of her. The entire wall
surrounding the fireplace was decorated with holly and mistletoe and above her
the illusion of snow falling from the ceiling looked so real Jessica stood up
at reached up to touch the snowflakes.

Snapping and crackling,
the blazing fire gave off so much heat and light, Jessica could barely look
right at it. She turned back to Snape, who
stood up, and gave him a warm, loving hug. “This is incredible, Severus. It’s
beautiful.”

She closed her eyes and
snuggled herself into his loving embrace. His arms wrapped around her tiny body
and held her tight. She felt him dot the top of her head with a kiss and then
squeeze his arms around her just a little bit tighter before letting go.

“I have a gift for you,”
he said. “Go on and sit down by the fire, I’ll bring it to you.” Snape was only gone long enough for Jessica to kick her shoes off
and stretch her legs out towards the fire as she nestled herself into the
comfort of the deep green woven rug spread out in an oval shape on the floor.
Jessica knew as soon as she pressed her weight into the rug that its soft,
bouncy feel was charmed. The rug itself was very thin but felt as soft and as
cozy as if it had been stuffed with hundreds upon thousands of fluffy down
feathers.

“Is it too hot?” Snape
asked before joining Jessica on the rug. He’d taken
off his suit jacket, which left him in a white button-up dress shirt.

“No, it’s just perfect.”

He put his elbow down
behind him and arched his leg up for balance as he leaned towards Jessica. In
his hand held in front of her was a tiny silver box wrapped with green ribbon
that glittered and sparkled in the light of the fire.

She accepted the small
gift and smiled appreciatively. “Did you wrap this yourself?” Jessica asked and
admired the perfectly proportioned bow in the center.

“Of course,” Snape told her. “It doesn’t take a genius to tie a knot.”

“Well it’s lovely,
Severus. Thank you.” Jessica touched her shoulder to his and smiled gracefully.
“And by the way, you are a genius.”

“Are you going to open it,
or do we have to lay here all night staring at it?” Severus asked impatiently.

“All right, all right I’ll
open it,” Jessica said and began pulling at the ends of the ribbon. “I don’t
know what your rush is, we’ve got all bloody night you know.” She paused her
hands for a moment and looked over at him bearing a tiny smile so full of
suggestion rougrought a devious grin to the corner of the Potions Master’s lips.

Amidst the arousal his
hand found its way over to the small of her back. He caressed her gently right
over top of where she’d been branded with Voldemort’s Dark Mark. It felt a
little bit uncomfortable to have him touch her there, but Jessica dismissed the
petty discomfort and took it for a small reminder of Lucius’ warning, which she
had chosen to disregard thanks to Dumbledore’s reassuring words.

Jessica tore away at the
ribbon and lifted the cover off of the box. Inside there was a silver chain
with a small locket that sat perfectly in the center. “Oh wow,” Snape heard her whisper as she delicately picked the locket up
and examined it in the palm of her hand. It was pure silver and had a very fine
Slytherin symbol imprinted on the front. Jessica turned it over and was
surprised to see the name ‘EVE’ engraved into the silver.

“Espiranza Van Eden,” Snape
told her. “This locket belonged to your mother when
she was a student at Hogwarts. Go on and open it.”

Jessica looked very
carefully at the initials before opening the locket. There was a tiny moving
photograph inside. Jessica squinted and looked at the familiar face of her
mother. “Oh Severus,” she managed to whisper once her voice found its way past
the lump in her throat. “It’s my mother. Where did you find this?” she asked.

Snape slowly began shaking
his head. “That you will never know,” he assured. “But it was extremely
difficult to come by, I’ll tell you that much.”

Jessica placed the locket
back in its box and gently put the cover back on. She looked deep into his eyes
and extended her hand to the side of his face before placing her lips over his.
Her eyes closed and Jessica stroked her lips over his kissing him generously.
“Thank you so much,” she whispered into his ear. “I’ll cherish it forever.”

“You’re welcome,” was all
he said before standing up to pour a glass of champagne for each of them.

Jessica listened carefully
as the cold liquid spilled into the crystal glasses. Beyond the pouring of the
champagne she could hear a slight flutter just outside of the window. She
smiled when she realized how perfect the timing was when the owl carrying a
large parcel came flying into the large room.

The snowy white owl
dropped the parcel in front of them and then flew off as quickly as it had come
in. Snape handed Jessica her glass of
champagne and then stared curiously at the festively wrapped parcel at his
feet.

“Happy Christmas,
Severus,” Jessica said with a smile. “Now don’t waste your time, go on and open
it.”