Journey To Passion

Chapter Eight -






Chapter Eight – A
Call in the Night

 

If it
wasn’t Jessica’s prevailing ability to bewitch him, it was the sensual look in
her emerald eyes that persuaded Snape to dance with her. It had made her happy
and to let her enjoy herself today was his top priority.

“You
weren’t kidding,” Jessica began. She looked up into his dark eyes and let the
friendly twinkle in her eyes dazzle him. “You are a wonderful dancer.”

He
moaned low in his throat and gently raised an eyebrow. “Just promise me one
thing,” he said in a deep, velvety voice. “Never do that to me again.”

A
small hand reached to the side of his neck and Jessica placed a small kiss on
his cheek. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I just wanted to hold you close for a
little while.”

As the
music slowed, Jessica nestled the side of her head against his shoulder and
smoothly ran her hand up and down his chest. She breathed softly and listened
to the beating of his heart.

His
body was warm. When Severus wrapped his arms around her body Jessica closed her
eyes and cuddled herself in his tender embrace. She felt him kiss the top of
her head and then rest his cheek upon her. Each breath he took, Jessica could
feel. Every time she heard his heart beat within his chest, Jessica felt more
at peace in the comfort and security of his embrace.

This
must have been the care and protection Dumbledore knew Severus would give his
beloved grandniece. No one had ever held Jessica so closely before. His embrace
had a way of making her feel like he was all around her. Like she had bewitched
him earlier, Severus’ warm and loving embrace, his overwhelming presence and
his soft dotting kisses put a spell on Jessica. She didn’t know why she was
letting him get away with kissing only the top of her head when she could
easily look up into his dark eyes and let him plant one luscious kiss after
another on her lips. After all, that is what she wa.
.

Then,
as if he had been reading her mind, Severus glided his fingers under her chin
and lifted her head to meet his gaze. He looked serious, genuine and passionate
all at the same time. Jessica couldn’t help feeling as if her body was melting
in to his.

She
didn’t know what he was waiting for. He was desperate to kiss her, to touch her
and to somehow show her how much he loved her without saying a single word.

Unable
to wait any longer, Jessica reached her hands up to touch his face and then
pulled herself closer to the beckoning of his lips. Her eyes closed and then
she felt his lips finally touch her own.

Before
he could really kiss her, an unexpected sound coming from one of the
instruments grabbed Snape’s attention. He looked over at the instrumentst
at
as they began to play out of control. Jessica jumped at the sudden clatter and
twisted her neck around to see what had happened.

Snape
thought someone had tampered with the instruments, but there was no one in the
room with them. Jessica was sure of it.

“What
in the bloody name of Merlin is going on?” Snape asked her as he pulled his
wand out from his robes. He pointed it at the orchestra and commanded for it to
stop. A bolt of white light rippled through the room and a split second later
the room was silent.

Just
as he was putting his wand back into its place, Snape looked at Jessica and a
startled expression appeared is fis face. At that moment Jessica’s entire body
felt cold, like an icy hand had touched her.

“Peeves!”
Snape howled and pointed his wand justind ind Jessica. “Get away from her!” he
demanded.

Jessica
turned her head to look over her shoulder and a shiver raced up her spine as
her eyes met those of the reckless ghost known as Peeves the Poltergeist. He
rolled his eyes around and laughed loudly at her before sweeping right throuher her body. Jessica let out a scream that echoed throughout the room. The loud
bolts of magic that escaped the tip of Snape’s wand quickly drowned her screams
out.

Each
blast missed Peeves by only a few inches. The ghost laughed and laughed as he
fluttered around the room. “Ha ha ha! I saw you dancing! I saw you kissing!
Wait until I tell them! Ha ha ha!”

Snape
pointed his wand one last time at Peeves and then a blast finally struck him.
Peeves let out a tiny yelp and then his transparent body disappeared through
the roof and the echoing of his voice slowly faded.

Snape
hurried over to Jessica’s side and put a hand over her shoulder. She was
breathing heavily and her hands we clutched against her chest. Her heart was
pounding fiercely and the immense anger she sensed from the professor made her
head spin.

“Are
you all right, Jessica?” he asked softly.

“Yes,”
she answered and put her hands down by her side. “I’m fine. It just felt so
strange when he went through me. It frightened me when I couldn’t sense him
near me. I’ve never seen a ghost close up before.”

“I
wa
wasn’t already dead, I’d kill him,” Snape assured. Jessica knew he meant it,
too. The way Peeves angered and frustrated him was beyond ordinary.
“Unfortunately the only sort of pain I can inflict on him is somewhat like a
common bee-sting.”

Jessica
laughed courteously and pushed her locks of hair behind her shoulders. “I’ve
never been stung by a bee,” she admitted.

“You’re
very lucky for that,” he said and took her hand. “Come on, we’ll go have
something to eat.”

 

* * *

 

It was
late in the evening when Snape walked Jessica back to her quarters. They stood
outside of her door to say good night, and before leaving, he gave her one last
kiss before returning to the dungeons of Slytherin. Jessica watched him leave
and then went into her room to change into some nightclothes.

After
brushing her teeth and combing her hair, Jessica put on a blue pair of silk
pyjama pants that had a long-sleeved button shirt to match. It was cold in her
room, but once she crawled into bed and pulled the blankets up to her chin,
Jessica felt as warm as she had back in the ballroom when she had Severus’ arms
wrapped around her. It wasn’t nearly as cozy alone in her bed as it was in his
embrace, but the excitement of her day had Jessica looking forward to a good
night’s sleep.

It was
only a minute or two after her head hit the pillow that Jessica fell fast
asleep. The only sound in the entire room came from the crackling of the dying
flames in the fireplace. All other sounds came from the voices she heard in her
dreams or nightmares. There was scarcely a night where Jessica could sleep and not
be awoken by her nightmares.

Ever
since the night her mother was murdered the nightmares would come. She’d see
the faces, hear the voices and relive the pain the Death Eaters had caused her.

“I’m
coming for you, Jessica… Soon we will be together… Soon we will rule
together… Soon you will meet the Master… Get ready for me… I’m closer than you
think… Can you feel me, child?”

Jessica’s
head tossed vigorously back and forth against her pillow. She breathed heavily
as the dark voice repeated over and over inside her head. The voice did feel
close, but it wasn’t a voice she recognized. The voice she heard now was
different from the ones she had been hearing in previous dreams. Although it
sounded slightly weak, Jessica was certain that none of the other voices she
heard in her dreams sounded so malevolent and spiteful.

“Can
you feel me?” the voice demanded again.

Her
head began to nod. “Yes,” she answered in her sleep. Her entire body seared in
pain. Sweat dripped from her forehead and her hands clutched around the edges
of her pillow and squeezed into tight fists.

“Now
see me!” she heard him whisper.

Something
forced Jessica to open her eyes from her slumber. Her bedroom had disappeared
and the fire had gone out. The only source of light now came from in front of
her. Like a shimmering glow in the dark, Jessica could make out the shape of a
hooded being floating above her. Now wide-awake and looking straight into the
hollow face of a dark cloaked phantom, she realized that this time she hadn’t
been dreaming. The evil she felt in its presence was overwhelming and terrified
her far more than anything else ever had.

Unable
to move an inch, Jessica tried to let a scream escape from her lungs, only her
throat was clogged with fear and disbelief. The phantom hovered only a few feet
above her bed and breathed so heavily, Jessica could feel the warmth of his
breath on her face.

“Come
with me, Jessica.” The phantom slowly drifted down her bed and pulled her up by
her hands. “We have plenty of work to do.”

“No,”
she whimpered and tried to hold herself back. She knew that the work he had in
mind only involved the death of her Uncle Albus and the search of omnipotent
power for the return of Lord Voldemort. That was why she had been born, but
that wasn’t what Jessica was going to allow.

“Come
now!” he demanded again.

Jessica
looked into the hollow face of the cloaked phantom and held herself back. “No,”
she said again. “No!” As loudly and as powerfully as she could, Jessica forced
the phantom to let go of her and thought for a way she could use to drive him
away.

He let
go of Jessica’s wrists only to grab her around her waist. His hand touched the
bare skin of her back, and then she felt the pain again. The same pain the
Death Eaters had inflicted on her while holding her captive.

Jessica
could feel a burning sensation beginning to swelter in the small of her back.
Loud excruciating howls escaped from her mouth as the pain intensified. It felt
as if she had been splashed by molten lava. It burned her deeply for a number
of seconds and then the phantom released Jessica. His claw-like fingernails
scraped her skin as he dropped her back onto the bed with a small thud.

Jessica
clutched the small of her back with her hand and squeezed her eyes shut as the
burning pain began to ease. Her cries of agony sounded in short gasps and her
teeth ground together as the pain finally ceased.

When
she opened her eyes the room was empty. The fire had burned out and there
wasn’t a soul anywhere in sight. Everything was quiet, except for Jessica’s
short-winded gasps for air. Still frightened and still suffering the pain the
phantom had caused her, Jessica stumbled out of her bed and raced to put on her
dressing gown and slippers before dashing out the door.

She
didn’t know how he had done it or where he had gone, but Jessica had to tell
someone that Lord Voldemort had entered Hogwarts.

 

* * *

 

The
fierce pounding on his door startled Snape from his slumber and the glass
bottle of Wizard’s Ale that was still in his hand slipped and crashed to the
floor. Snape sat up from the couch and eyed his door curiously while he
wondered if the loud knocking had only been his imagination. Hardly anyone ever
knocked on his door, especially not after three in the morning.

Knock,
knock, knock, he heard
again.

“Severus?”

The
panic that sounded in Jessica’s voice had Snape on his feet and rushing towards
the door in two seconds flat. “Jessica?” He hurried to open the door and let
her into his room.

Her
eyes were red and her cheeks had tears trickling down to her chin. “Severus,
thank God.” She put her arms around his neck and hugged him close to her body.
When she pulled back from him she looked at his clothes and the mess the
Wizard’s Ale had made on the floor. He was still fully dressed in his black
robes and the glass from the bottle had shattered into a hundred pieces. “I’m
sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

Snape
looked at the shattered glass and quickly made it vanish with the wave of his
wand. “No big deal,” he said after the mess had disappeared. “What’s wrong,
Jessica? Why are you crying?”

“He
was here, he was on my bed,” she stuttered. “I could feel him breathing, I
could feel him touch me and-!”

“Who?”
Snape demanded and took Jessica’s wrists into his hands. “Who was in youoom?oom?”

Jessica
hastily rubbed her tears and looked away as she tried to describe the strange
feeling of her visitor’s presence. “I can’t prove it was really him, perhaps it
was just a ghost or an entity or some sort of hallucination, but I’m certain it
was him. It was Voldemort.”

“Voldemort?”
Snape repeated. His head slowly shook back and forth in confusion. “I don’t
understand how that could be, Jessica. Come sit by the fire and tell me what’s
happened.”

The
room was already warm, but Jessica followed him to the couch next to the fire
and sat next to him with her knees curled up against her chest. She kicked her
slippers off and then tucked her feet beneath Snape’s leg. His arms cradled
tenderly around her body and his fingers began massaging her head.

Being
so close to him took her fear away. With her eyes closed and her head resting
on his chest, Jessica told Snape about the nightmares she had been having. She
told him what the Death Eaters had done to her over the summer and how she
could feel the pain reoccur in her sleep.

“Have
you already told the Headmaster what happened tonight?” Snape asked once she’d
finished telling him what she had seen looming over her bed less than a half
hour ago.

“No,”ssicssica answered. “I wanted to see you first. There’s something I want to show
you.” Jessica slowly stood up and faced him.

The
stone floor was cold on her bare feet, but it felt good in comparison to the
intense infernal feeling that scorched her back earlier. Although the long
scratchhat hat ran up her back still stung, the small of her back that had been
burning now felt like nothing had harmed it at all.

Jessica
untied the belt around her robe. She let it fall to the floor and then reached
her hands up along both sides of the robe and then pulled it back over her
shoulders. Snape watched the heavy robe fall down her arms and then onto the
floor ovp ofp of the matching belt.

“Now
answer me yes or no,” Jessica began as she turned her back to him. “Do you know
what this means?” she asked and lifted her shirt just enough to show him the
small of her back. A moment ago it had been burning black, but the oval shaped
design ceased to harm her and was beginning to fade.

He
looked at the unique black mark she had on the small of her back and then saw
drips of blood flowing from further up her back. Snape reached hind ond out to
touch her skin and then looked at the blood on his fingertips.

“My
God, Jessica. You’re bleeding.” He stood up quickly and went to lift her pyjama
shirt enough to see where the blood was coming from.

“The
mark, Severus!” Jessica reminded and stopped him from looking anywhere else but
at the small of her back. “Please, there isn’t much time left. Have you seen
anything like it before?”

He
couldn’t quite understand it yet, but right now the mark on her back was
superior to the wounds above. Snape looked carefully at the mark and knew
almost instantly where it had come from. No larger than the palm of his hand,
the distinguishing mark symbolized everything the Dark Arts stood for. Although
he had never seen an identical mark, Snape knew that there was only one wizard
who branded his people with such a mark.

Voldemort.

“It’s
a Dark Mark,” he finally said.

Jessica
could hear him standing up from the couch and then turned her head to watch him
walk until he was standing in front of her. “Only Voldemort himself could brand
you with a Dark Mark.”

He
started to unbutton his black jacket. Jessica watched him as he pulled each
button from its place and then pull his arms out through the sleeves. He threw
the garment onto the couch and was left wearing a white long sleeved dress
shirt with a high collar. Snape began unbuttoning his shirt at the cuffs. A
moment later he rolled up his left sleeve and crossed his arm in front of him
with his fist touching his chest. Jessica looked at his arm curiously and ran her
fingertips along his bare skin.

“Am I
supposed to see something?” she asked.

Snape
nodded his head slowly. “If Voldemort did in fact return or wish to summon his
followers you would see a similar mark burning black right here,” he said and
traced Jessica’s finger right where the Dark Lord had burned the sign into him.
“You can’t see it now, but it can never be removed. It’ll always burn just like
yours when he wishes to summon us to his side.”

“When
was the last time you saw it burn?”

Snape
vaguely shook his head once. “More than a decade ago. How long have you had
this one?”

Jessica
let go of her shirt and then turned back around. “Since I was a child. For the
first three years of my life my father held my mother and I captive. Before I
was even born my mother was pred ded dead, but all the while she was under the
Imperius Curse. It was when she finally broke out of the curse that we escaped
and Apparated back to London.

“I
don’t remember very much of my life before we escaped, but what I do remember
gives me all the reasons I need to justify never wanting to learn the name of
my father. He was cruel to my mother, he was cruel to me and the last time I
ever saw his face was when he held me down in front of Voldemort and let him
stain me with this mark. I cried for my mother and I’m thankful for it. Seeing
me in such pain gave her the strength she needed to break free of the curse.”

Severus
was only a boy when he had first heard about the disappearance of Espiranza Van
Eden. She had been missing for months before the Daily Prophet pronounced her
dead. Her family continued to search for her, but not a single clue had been
found. After some time, they gave up as well.

An
eager pair of hands cupped over Jessica’s hips and gently guided her back down
onto the couch. Severus sat her next to him and then framed her face in his
hands. Looking deep into her emerald eyes, he saw the strength and courage she
had to overcome Voldemort’s dark calling tonight. He knew very well how
powerful Voldemort was, and to defeat him was nothing short of miraculous.

“I’ll
do everything I can to protect you,” he whispered before pressing his forehead
to hers. His hands glided down from her cheeks and cupped around her neck.
Severus gently placed his lips over her mouth and sealed his promise with a
kiss. “I would even give my life for you.”

His
meaningful words drew another stream of tears from her eyes. Jessica squeezed
her eyes shut and then reached her hands up to touch each side of his face. “I
know.”

With
every kiss she could taste the Wizard’s Ale on his lips. He’d had a lot to
drink, but his mind was clear and his words were sincere. Jessica could feel it
more now than ever.

When
he gently put a hand to her back a small whimper escaped from Jessica mouth.
Severus skimmed his hand all the way up from the small of her back and then
cupped her chin in his hand.

Her
pain reflected in his dark eyes. Jessica could feel his concern as if it had
jumped out in front of her. “Come on,” he began. “Now it’s my turn to clean you
up.”