Mistress of Slytherin

Chapter Five – Indubitably Slytherin






Hey guys! Sorry about the wait, but
I was on vacation all last week. Hope you enjoy!!! Luv, Ricky Roo.

 

Chapter Five – Surely Slytherin

 

At
a quarter of five, Snape stood up from his chair and leaned over the desktop to
turn down the oil lantern. The office was suddenly cast in black shadows, but
that bared no hindrance to the Potions Master finding his way to the door.

The dungeon corridors were not much
brighter than his office had been. Snape was sure to ward his office door shut
before making way towards Jessica’s private chambers. He skipped up the stairs
to the Entrance Hall and marched against the flow of students coming down for
dinner.

The
older students coming down the second set of stairs knew best to quickly move
aside pressing themselves tight against the right of the stairwell to allow
their irascible professor ample room to sweep up along the left. He was glaring
at anyone whose expression dared to wonder what business he had in the castle
above the main floor.

“Watch
your step, Creevey!” Snape hissed as Colin nearly lost his balance on the
stairs rushing to get out of Snape’s way. The first year had struggled to
regain his stability on the stairs and steady his camera at the same time. His
fingers slipped and just as Snape was passing him by, a bright light flashed in
his face.

“Argh!”
Snape grunted and squeezed his eyes shut as he brought his arms up to shield
his blinded eyes. He stopped and pivoted away from Colin as he tried to blink
the flash out of his eyes.

Snape
heard short gasps of horror come from all around him and then heard the scurry
of footsteps follow as the other students hurried to clear the stairwell before
the antagonized Potions Master could see properly again.

“Creevey!”
he roared with his eyes still flickering rapidly.

“I’m
sorry, sir,” Colin whimpered. “I didn’t mean – ”

“The
next time I see that wretched thing will be your last!” Snape squeezed his eyes
shut one last time and then glared ferociously at the small boy standing two
steps down from him. The pale colour of Colin’s face was enough to rival the
ghosts of Hogwarts. “Your careless behaviour has just cost Gryffindor ten
points! Now get out of my sight!” he said, although Snape could barely see
Colin to begin with.

Colin
had learned early in the year not to prolong any sort of lame apology where the
Potions Master was concerned and instead hopped speedily down the stairs to the
Great Hall.

Snape
carefully stepped up the remainder of the stairs periodically rubbing his eyes
to get rid of the last of the flash. By the time he reached Jessica’s door
almost nothing was left of the irritating flash. He knocked softly and waited
for her to answer.

A
moment passed and he heard nothing. After knocking again Snape reached down to
the door handle and rattled it to see if it were locked or not. The door
clicked open and Snape eased it forward and slipped inside. After shutting the
door behind him, Snape turned around and perused the empty sitting room. The
fire was still crackling keeping the room warm and cozy.

“Jessica?”
he called and peered towards her bedroom.

The
door was slightly ajar and Snape went to investigate. With the drapes pulled
shut and the candles unlit Snape could barely make out the rise in the middle
of the bed. Jessica’s covers and quilts were pulled up to her neck and her hair
lay in a tangle about the pillow. Her robes were tossed over the back of the
chair at the vanity and her shoes were tucked in a slapdash fashion beneath.

Stepping
up to the side of her bed, Snape looked down fondly at Jessica and reached a
hand out to touch her hair. He combed his fingers through her silky mane before
she responded to his touch with a tiny moan.

“Severus,”
she whispered in a dreamy voice. Her hand came up from beneath the covers and
closed around his long fingers pulling him towards her. Jessica’s thumb rubbed
along his palm caressing his warm flesh as he leaned over the bed.

Snape
weaved his free hand into her hair and hummed dotingly into her ear before
nuzzling his face into the folds of blankets in search of a spot of flesh to
settle his lips upon. He quickly found way to her neck and wrapped his mouth
around the hollow of her throat before drawing her flesh between his lips and
suckling affectionately.

“Are
you ready to go down to dinner?” Snape asked her.

Jessica
slowly turned around to face him and stared into his black eyes, which stood
out vividly against his pale white skin. “No, I don’t quite fancy the idea of
going anywhere right now,” she answered.

“Very
well then, I shall have dinner brought up to us. Put your clothes back on and
come on out when you’re ready.” Snape started back towards the door when
Jessica sat up and turned herself around to face the other way.

“You
go on and have enough brought up for yourself,” she said. “I’m afraid I haven’t
much of an appetite. Besides, I don’t feel like getting dressed again either.”

Snape
stopped in mid-step and pivoted himself around. He paced slowly back towards
the foot of Jessica’s bed and watched her put her head back down on the pillow.
Snape crossed his arms tight against his chest and began tapping his boot
softly against the floor. “Do you plan on just laying in bed all evening?” he
asked bitterly.

“Yes,”
Jessica answered without making a single move beneath the blankets. Snape had
just opened his mouth to utter his protest when he heard her speak first. “I
would like it very much if you’d join me. I could use some of your console
right about now.”

Snape
closed his mouth and breathed heavily through his nose. “Do you want to tell me
what happened back at the Hospital Wing today?” he asked as he stepped around
to the opposite side of the bed and bent down to slip his boots off. He heard
Jessica sigh as he pushed the boots under the bed with his socked foot.

“Not
in its entirety,” she said, “I can’t really explain what happened. It
was so… strange.”

“Try
me,” Snape challenged as he shrugged off his cloak and began unbuttoning his
thick frockcoat.

Jessica
knew quite well that the experience she’d had in the Hospital Wing may not seem
particularly peculiar to a man like Snape, but the larger part of her felt that
a vision of her father as a teenager was a bit more unusual than he assumed.

Last
year she’d confided in Snape almost each time Voldemort appeared to her in
frequent nightmares. Sometimes her nightmares were so real she could open her
eyes and still see him before her in the form of a phantom. Once, when Jessica
had only just met the Potions Master, the phantom had appeared and left her
with an unruly scar. Since then Jessica had not felt any comfort in sleeping
alone for fear that Voldemort would come back for her. Understanding her fear,
Snape obligated himself to protect her and spent nearly every night spooned up
against her body shielding her intricate mind from such intrusion with the
comfort and protection of his devoted affection.

After
lying his frockcoat overtop of Jessica’s robes Snape lifted the blankets up and
slipped into the bed with her. Jessica felt warm and was clad in nothing but a
sleeveless cotton vest and a pair of matching pyjama pants. Snape wrapped his
hand around her stomach and curled himself up against her.

“Are
you feeling ill at all?” Snape asked and brushed a hand across her forehead
before lightly kissing her temple.

“No,”
Jessica whispered. She turned around to face him and brought her knees up to
her chest in a comfortable position. Snape settled his hand atop her waist and
gently began stroking up along the smoothness of her back and stomach. “I think
I just had a very strange experience this afternoon. I can’t explain how it
happened. It was like I was having a dream, only I couldn’t have been because
no one around me even noticed something was happening to me until it was over.”

Snape
tucked his bottom arm beneath the pillow and looked deep into Jessica’s eyes.
“You were talking to the Weasley girl, and the moment she left you looked as
though you were going to pass out cold.”

“I
was feeling rather dizzy,” she said and began to smooth his hair out of his
face.

“What
happened in this dream?” Snape asked.

Jessica
grasped the collar of Snape’s shirt and pulled herself closer to him. She
closed her eyes and put her head on his chest and settled her leg on top of
him. “I had an encounter with my father, in a matter of speaking. He was young
and he wanted me to help him return to the wizarding world so that he could
bring about peace and become a proper father.”

Snape
exhaled deeply and combed his fingers behind her ear. “Rubbish,” he uttered.
“The Dark Lord wishes nothing of the sort. His only wish is to have control
over our world, and he needs you to acquire that.”

“I
know.” Jessica wrapped her arms tight around his lean chest and listened carefully
to the beating of his heart. “He seems quite confident that he’ll succeed.”

“He
probably will,” Snape told Jessica, regardless of the fact that he knew she
didn’t want to hear anything confirming her suspicions. She wanted to believe
that the goodness in the wizarding world would come to defeat him indefinitely.

“Why
does he want me so badly?” Jessica asked, practically sobbing into his thin
shirt. “What is so special about me that he cannot do without?”

Snape’s
stomach suddenly turned to knots and his heart sunk into his chest. Jessica
could sense this sudden change in his emotions and sat up promptly to stare
down at him.

“What
is it?” she asked again. When he wanted to, Snape had a way of blocking his
thoughts and emotions from Jessica and tried very hard to keep her out of that
particular section of his mind.

“What?”
Jessica demanded. “You know Severus, I know you do! Now tell me.”

He
sighed distraughtly and began to sit up. Still on top of him, Jessica pressed
her hands to his chest and forced him back down. She secured him between
herself and the bed and held on tight as Snape fought back trying to push her
aside.

“What
does he want?” she shouted again.

Snape
had greatly underestimated her strength and soon gave up and paid her the
attention she was demanding. “What makes you think that by knowing you can put
a stop to his ambitions?”

“Someone
once told me that the more I know of my enemies, the better I can protect
myself against them,” she said with a cruel ironic tone in her voice. “My
father is a pretty big bloody enemy, don’t you think?”

Snape
lifted his head from the pillow and stared deep into Jessica’s emerald eyes.
With her arms held stiff, Jessica held his wrists tight against the mattress.
“Knowing what he wants will only place you in greater danger,” he said. “And
telling you will only put me in an awkward position should I be recalled to his
circle. What do you suppose the Dark Lord will do upon hearing that one of his
believed supporters told his only heir how she could liberate herself of the
one thing that has kept her alive for the last twenty six and a half years?”

As
Jessica was taken aback by his reply, she immediately ceased her iron grip
around his wrists and felt her heart skip a beat. A mad rush of emotions flood
through her body at the mention of being able to rid herself of this particular
resource she possessed.

“Severus,”
Jessica began and swallowed hard. “I’m going to ask you something, and I want a
God honest answer from you.” She leaned her palms down on either side of his
head and looked deep into his eyes. “What I want to know is, if he were brought
back to power tomorrow and he summoned you to his side, what would you do if he
asked you to bring me to him in order to prove your loyalty?”

Snape
let out a long breath of air and curled his right hand up in her hair. Before
speaking, Snape looked at her for a long while as his thumb rubbed her cheek.
“I would make sure that he never acquired what he needed of you,” he confessed.
“Even if it meant I would have to destroy you.”

Jessica
could feel that this was the last thing Snape ever wanted to do, but in all
honesty would be exactly what he did in that particular situation. He loved
Jessica dearly, but if it meant saving thousands from the dark wrath of Lord
Voldemort, he would sacrifice the only form of love and affection he had ever
known.

Without
blinking, Jessica continued to stare down at him without a single trace of
expression on her face. She locked her eyes with his until they burned in need
of moisture.

“That
was the right answer,” Jessica said as she blinked rapidly. She giggled
suddenly, needing to relieve the tension for a moment. “Hopefully it will never
come to that.” Jessica began toying with the buttons of his shirt and
unfastened them one at a time.

“Hopefully
not,” Snape whispered in agreement and tucked his fingers beneath the elastic
of her pyjama pants. “I do not see how either of us could survive his return. I
predict that my death will be a result of my unwillingness to hand you over,
and yours for your unwillingness to support him. He will not allow you to exist
as his enemy.”

Jessica’s
stomach churned uncomfortably as she recalled Tom Riddle articulating an almost
identical statement regarding their coexistence. She knew it to be true and
felt certain that almost nothing, not even the combined efforts of Snape and
her uncle Albus, could save her if Voldemort returned to power.

Jessica
cradled herself in Snape’s embrace, pressing her chest against his and feeling
him rise and fal he he breathed. His arms wrapped around her back and slipped
beneath her thin pyjama top to trace his fingers up along the scars left behind
from Voldemort’s phantom attacks. It had been nearly a year since her last
attack, but the feel of her jagged skin still brought back memories and
emotions neither of the cared for.

“Severus,
do you suppose I’d have been sorted into Slytherin had I come to Hogwarts as a
child?” Jessica asked just as Snape dipped his hand beneath the waist of her
pyjama pants to caress the Dark Mark on the small of her back.

His
fingers made gentle circles around the Mark and he heaved as he considered her
question. “I have no doubts that you would have been.”

“Why?”
she asked. “Is that only because both of my parents were in Slytherin?”

“No.
That is not the only reason. If your fate had been to become anything but
Slytherin, my taste for you would be somewhat different. I believe I would find
you revolting.”

“Severus!”
Jessica lifted her head from his chest and slapped his shoulder and watched his
lips turn to a smirk as he sniggered at her. “I’m serious!”

“So
am I,” Snape assured. “Do you honestly believe I would give you as much as the
time of day if you embodied so much as one trace of Gryffindor audacity,
overconfidence and arrogance?”

Jessica’s
eyes curiously perused the dark bedroom as she compared her own unique traits
to those of Gryffindor. Sure, she felt she was brave, willing to sacrifice
herself to stop Voldemort from returning to power. Her passion had once been to
help others less fortunate than herself. Before coming to Hogwarts she had
faithfully dedicated herself to four years of med school.

Her
mother’s family had all been in Gryffindor, but something had changed to make
Espiranza become a Slytherin. Jessica had never wondered why until after learning
that her father was in fact an heir of the Slytherin family tree. Espiranza
rarely talked about her days at Hogwarts. She made top grades and played for
the Quidditch team, but beyond that Jessica knew nothing of her mother as a
Hogwarts student.

“Perhaps
I’d have become a Hufflepuff,” Jessica deci “Th “They’re a lot of hard workers
and –”

Jessica
watched the look on Snape’s face turn absolutely foul. “Say that again
and I will have you out on your arse,” he said. “Humour me, Jessica. What could
possibly possess you to think such a dreadful thought?”

“Professor
Lockhart was a Hufflepuff.” Jessica saw by the new look on Snape’s face that
she could not have chosen a worse time to bring up his name. “Look at all that
he’s accomplished,” she continued anyway.

“Hufflepuff,”
Snape repeated distastefully, “Has that little insect’s collection been filling
your head with fictional nonsense?”

“It’s
not nonsense,” Jessica defended. “He is a very hard worker, he’s not afraid of
anything – well, except you – and he’s very sweet.” Jessica smiled in imitation
of Lockhart’s award winning smile. “Does that sound like someone you know?”

Snape
rolled his eyes and pressed his head back into the soft pillow. “You are
sweet,” he confessed, “and you are a hard worker, but you don’t amuse me, young
lady.”

“Oh,
who are you trying to kid, Severus? Nobody amuses you!” Jessica smiled again
and leaned over to kiss the tip of his nose. She grasped a lock of his hair and
let it slip slowly between her fingers.

Snape
began to rub his palms up and down Jessica’s arms in a soothing motion.
Simultaneously Jessica pressed her fingers into his chest, massaging him
gently. “You know, I think there is a lot less to Gilderoy Lockhart than meets
the eye. Have you ever seen him perform a spell properly?”

“I
haven’t seen him perform a spell since the one he used to conjure up that rose
you so valiantly found a suitable environment for.” Jessica had continued to
unbutton his shirt when Snape’s chest began to quiver in a low chuckle. She
lost her grip on the second last button and watched as he parted his lips into
a smile.

It
was the sort of smile he reserved especially for her. Jessica doubted anyone
had ever seen this man smile so genuinely before. Deciding to take advantage of
this rare moment, Jessica ignored the last two buttons and leaned herself down
to kiss him. Snape’s hands came up on each side of her face and embraced her
tenderly. His lips touched hers softly and then opened to invite her into a
more intimate kiss.

She
settled her lips ohis his and let him explore her mouth as she did his. Then,
with hands finding their way down to his waist, Jessica untucked his shirt from
his trousers and popped the rest of the buttons out.

“Jessica,”
Snape began as she spread his shirt open to expose his lean, pale chest and
massaged her hands into him compassionately. “There is still a way to discover
which House you would have belonged to. The Sorting Hat is kept in the
Headmaster’s office, I can take you there this evening if you’d like.”

“No,”
Jessica said and shook her head. “No, I’d rather not know for certain. Besides,
it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m not a student and I’m not going to be. It’s
completely irrelevant now.”

Although
Snape wasn’t an empath quite like Jessica, he could sense that she knew deep
down that she’d have become a Slytherin, and that terrified her. Snape gave a
great heave and gently rolled Jessica off of him. He laid her down on her back
and ran his hand up and down her bare arm as he draped over her.

“As
long as we have known each other, it has never bothered you that I am a
Slytherin,” he reminded her. “I embody everything that is Slytherin and I can
see a lot of it in you. You are a very shrewd, derisive, clever young lady;
your ancestry is pure, and until recently you have been determined to overcome
your father’s peril. When it comes down to it, I know you will do anything to
have your way. You will do everything you can to achieve your end, you always
have. That makes you more a Slytherin than I.”

“Please,
Severus,” Jessica begged. “I’m not all of those things. I don’t want to be.”

“Now
come on, if you really thought that we Slytherins were all an ignominy, you
never would have let me give you that kiss last year in the garden.” Snape’s
eyebrow arched triumphantly before he leaned down to kiss her again.

Jessica’s
hands tangled in his hair and her legs rubbed anxiously against his body in a
zealous fashion. Her lips parted invitingly and Snape indulged in her
temptation, rocking his body against hers wanting to feel what was beneath that
thin layer of cotton.

Once
Snape retracted for a breath of air, Jessica put her arms down on the pillow
and smiled sweetly at him. “I thought I kissed you,” she said, remembering how
they’d argued over who had started their very first kiss.

“You
did.”

His
fingertips were gently grazing back and forth along the stretch of bare skin
exposed between her pyjama pants and top. It tickled a little bit but Jessica
tried to keep a straight face. Being one of the two most attentive wizards at
Hogwarts, Snape could easily spot the corners of Jessica’s lips twitching as he
tickled her.

Pretending
not to notice, Snape lowered his head to her naval and began dotting his lips
against her skin. He slipped her pyjama top up a little ways and began kissing
just above her naval. Slowly, he kissed upwards, drawing her soft flesh into
his mouth and suckling her affectionately. Snape hummed delightfully as he let
her skin slip out of his mouth only to seek out a fresh patch of smoothness.

Jessica’s
body rapidly began to boil under his titillating touch. She
breathed heavily as his lips and hands neared her breasts. He traced his
fingers along the underside of her right breast and then the left in turn. Once
his hands cleared Jessica’s pyjama top over her generous curves, Snape’s lips
immediately captured her taut nipple and began to suckle her.

Jessica’s
fingernails scraped against his scalp as his tantalizing manoeuvre spread
warmth about her body. She could feel her body temperature skyrocket,
subsequently invading her core. She captured his legs between hers and hugged
his head to her chest as he moved from one nipple to the next.

While
he held her breast pointed at his lips with his left hand, Snape used his right
to stroke up and down her opposite side and then move across her chest to feel
Jessica’s thick, taut nipple between his thumb and finger. She hummed
delightfully as his lips and tongue caressed her exquisitely.

“Severus,” she whispered slowly as
the sensations began to overwhelm her. “I want you so badly.” Between her legs,
Jessica could feel the evidence of his rigid wanting, too. Whether he realized
it or not, he was pressing himself into her in slow rhythm.

Snape let Jessica’s aroused nipple
slip out of his mouth and he studied her flushed expression. “I know you do,”
he said in a tone that Jessica didn’t quite like.

“I want to make love to you,” she
confessed.

It wasn’t the first time he’d heard
her say these words, but Snape continued to list her with reasons why they
could not make love. Jessica hated how he always closed his mind to her when
the subject of sex came up.

“Please,” she added a long while
after. Her hand came up to touch his face and Snape winced as she touched him.

“Jessica,” Snape began regrettably
and started to rub her cheek with his thumb. “Even if tonight was the ideal
night, I haven’t got a contraceptive prepared to give you.”

Jessica casually shrugged her
shoulders and smiled up at him. “That’s all right,” she assured him. “I know
Poppy keeps some in the Hospital Wing. It’s that same vulgar formula you gave
me last year, but I’m willing to brave it again… for this.” She smiled again
and chained her arms around his neck.

Snape held still for a moment but
then pulled away from her. He crawled off the side of the bed and turned his
back towards her as he frantically began tugging at the front of his pants,
trying to accommodate for his pounding erection. It throbbed in such agony he
could feel himself pulsing against the confinement of his trousers.

“Severus,”
Jessica called out irritably. She sat up on the bed and pulled her pyjama top
back over her breasts. “Severus, you don’t have to be afraid of what
happened last year happening again.”

“It
is not what happened last year that concerns me,” he said. Without looking at
Jessica, Snape walked around the bed and picked his frockcoat up from the back
of the chair. He put his arms through the sleeves and began doing up the
buttons of his shirt and then the frockcoat.

“Then
what is it?” she asked him. “I know you want it as badly as I do. You wanted to
have your way with me since the first week we met!”

Jessica
jumped as Snape’s hand slapped abruptly down on his arm in an aggravated manner
to begin smoothing out the wrinkles. “I felt very differently for you then,” he
reminded. “I was being selfish, and I was quite oblivious to your aberrant
heritage. Now get dressed, we are going down to dinner.”