Journey to Passion

Chapter Nine - The Man of Principle

Snape stood up and walked over to a cabinet standing against the wall. He kept several remedies inside, some of which he had used for himself after his confrontation with Fluffy.

Jessica watched him as he came back to the couch with a bottle of clear solution and a clean cloth. With a small sigh, he sat back down on the couch and turned Jessica's back to him. "Now, I am going to ask you a very important question."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Are you going to take this off, or shall I just tear it open?" he asked as he rubbed the silky material of her shirt between his fingers.

Jessica laughed quietly and turned her head around to look at him. He had cocked an eyebrow and had put a small, crooked smirk on his face.

"It is polite to ask rather than to assume what the patient prefers," he said.

"I know," she agreed and turned back around and began unfastening the buttons along the middle of her pyjama shirt. "But at least my shirt is still in one piece, and you can't deny that you would have gotten even more angry if I insisted you take your pants off."

"Perhaps I would have," Snape admitted. "However, now that things between us are different, I promise not to be so hesitant next time."

Jessica didn't need to be an empath to feel the amount of suggestion that sounded in his words. It sent a chill through her body that made her feel uncomfortable and aroused at the same time. She knew Snape was attracted to her, but so far he had kept all of his sensual feelings to himself.

Jessica sat with each unbuttoned corner of her shirt in her hands and waited for the butterflies in her stomach to pass. Her eyes closed and Jessica took a deep breath as she reached up to her collar and pulled the material off her shoulders.

She held her position for a moment with her eyes still closed and breathed deeply. Suddenly she began having second thoughts about letting Snape nurse her wounds. Perhaps she should have gone to her Uncle Albus. At least he already knew what she had hidden behind the curtain of her thin silk shirt. Dumbledore had already been through the shock of seeing what happened to his grandniece after every time she overpowered the calling of Lord Voldemort. On top of that, when she exposed her flesh to him there were no sensual or arousing feelings, only the need to care for her wounds.

Snape's feelings for her were passionate and Jessica knew that if she let him do this to her, his feelings and his yearning to hold her against him would only become stronger.

Warm hands covered Jessica's twitching fingers and took the collar from her grasp. He gently continued pulling the shirt down her arms for her and then folded the blood stained material in half before setting it aside.

"Severus..."

"Shh," he hushed. "It's all right."

His soothing words eased her anxiety. He had her there now and he wasn't going to let her leave until he could help her. Snape was a powerful, experienced wizard and had seen many things both in his days as a Death Eater and after. Her wounds weren't going to alarm him because they were gruesome - they were going to disturb him because he loved her so much already. However, they were something he had to see eventually. Slowly, Jessica reached her hand behind her neck and began pulling her hair over her shoulder.

"Sweet mother of Merlin," she heard him cry. Just as she had expected, Jessica felt Snape flood with an abundance of fuming emotions. His hand grazed gently over her back and his eyes followed from her neck to the faded Dark Mark at the small of her back. Five long jagged cuts tore her skin in the form of a giant hand with sharp claws.

Beneath the fresh cuts, her back was scared with deep red cuts exactly like the one that bled now. Snape could tell by the direction of each set of slashes that she had been scratched at least three times previous to tonight.

"I know how horrible you think I look," Jessica said as she picked up on how appalled he felt. "I can't blame you for feeling so disgusted with my body."

"I am not disgusted with your body, Jessica," Snape ensured. "This certainly does not take away from how beautiful you are."

Jessica wrapped her hands around her shoulders and hugged herself tightly as she choked back a few tears. "I appreciate what you're trying to do Severus, but you're forgetting one thing. I can sense just how disgusted you feel."

"I am disgusted," he confirmed. "However, your body is not what makes me feel that way. What appals me is that someone would have the nerve to do this to you - to such a beautiful and perfect thing. Though it may be too late to change what has happened, it is not too late to start believing that when I look at you I see only unmatched beauty. Your body and your skin are nothing less that perfect." Snape bent his head down and dotted the nape of her neck with soft kisses.

"Thank you, Severus." Jessica smiled as the loose strands of his hair tickled her shoulders and sent tiny shivers down her spine. "You're the only one I've ever wanted to see this much of my body."

"I'm glad to hear that." His hand crossed over to her stomach and gently began to caress her skin until a thought crossed his mind. His fingers traced slowly over each scratch that ran along her back. Although he thought it unlikely, the jagged marks looked very much like they could have belonged to something else other than the illusion of Voldemort.

"Jessica," he began and hesitated as he tried to find the right words. "Tell me again, where did this happen?"

"In my bedroom," she answered.

He suddenly felt suspicion brewing in the pit of his stomach. Jessica turned around to face him only to see a nasty distrusting look on his face. "You don't believe me," she announced.

"Forgive me for being suspicious," Snape began as he stood up. Jessica picked up her pyjama shirt and held it in front of her as the wary professor stepped into her view. He crossed his arms over his chest and slowly exhaled a full breath of air. "I have been fooled enough times in one life time and I will not be fooled again. I am on my guard with everyone, especially telepaths and empaths who come to me in the middle of the night bearing the mark of an evil wizard and claw marks that could easily belong to the very same beast who attacked me on Halloween night."

Jessica stared blankly up at the man who only two minutes ago felt certain that he loved her. Her jaw quivered and another tear dripped from her eye. It was difficult to decide whether she should be upset with him for accusing her of such a thing, or if she should be pleased with his faithful sense of vigilance.

"You know who I am, Severus," Jessica finally spoke. "I may be the daughter of one of Voldemort's followers, but I'm not here to do any of his dirty work."

Snape inhaled again and his dark eyes turned cold. The distrust he felt bothered him even more than it did Jessica. She could feel that his vigilance was a duty he took on to protect Hogwarts, it's students and especially its headmaster. "Prove it, Jessica. I can't read your mind as well as you can read mine, so you had better be flat out ingenuous with me."

"I don't have to prove anything," Jessica said immediately. "Uncle Albus wouldn't allow the two of us to be together if he knew either of us were here to turn against him. Regardless of what you may have done in your past, he told me I can trust you, and I do. If you can't trust me, then you don't deserve me. I don't know what attacked you on Halloween night and I'm all right with not knowing if you don't want me to, but if you think I'm trying to hide something, you're wrong."

With her pyjama top held securely over her breasts, Jessica walked around him to her dressing gown and slippers. As slowly as she could, Jessica knelt down and picked up a corner of her robe and the belt beneath it. The cuts on her back made it especially painful to stand up straight again. Jessica kept her back to the professor as her face squeezed up in the agony.

When she put the robe back on and tied herself up, Jessica took one last look at Snape and squeezed the pyjama shirt in her hands. "Once you have time to decide where your trust lies we can have another little chitchat. You know what to do until then."

With her slippers on, Jessica began heading for the door. She could feel Snape's emotions changing as she walked away, but she wasn't going to let his feelings stop her from leaving. A sincere verbal apology was all Jessica was going to accept.

A few feet away from the door, Jessica thought she had heard him say something and came to a sudden halt. She put her ear over her shoulder and listened. Snape said nothing, but the voice in her head repeated again.

Do not walk out that door, Jessica. Please don't walk out that door!

She could hear his thoughts! Only when she wanted to read someone's mind could she hear the exact words. She certainly didn't wish to hear his thoughts. It just happened.

If you leave I will follow. If you stay I will...

Jessica turned her head a little further over her shoulder and waited to hear the rest of his thoughts. For a moment there was only silence, like his mind had gone blank. His feelings of anger and remorse were still strong, but the words had faded.

"Go on," Jessica urged. She then turned herself around and faced him.

With his arms still crossed over his chest, Snape stood tall and wore the trademark smirk that named him the monster of Hogwarts. "Go on what?" he shot back. "I thought you were leaving."

"Not if you only intend to follow me," she told him.

The crease between his eyebrows slowly evened out and the horrible look upon his face turned into a penetrating stare. His hands slithered across his stomach and joined at his hips. In slow steps, he began walking towards her. "I will not going to play games with you, Jessica. I don't want you to leave, not when there is no one else to help you with your wounds, but I am not going to beg you to stay."

"Then what were you going to do?" Jessica demanded.

Snape took one step closer to her and lifted her chin with his hand. "I was going to help you," he answered loudly, "and I am still going to help you. Regardless of how this happened to you, I do not like seeing you in pain and I won't stand here and let you walk away like this. You could barely bend down to pick up your clothes."

When Jessica tried to turn her head away from him, Snape put his other hand to the side of her face and stopped her. He firmly held her face in his hands, practically forcing her to look at him. The look in his eyes penetrated so deep, Jessica wondered if he could see right through to her thoughts.

He kissed the top of her head so softly Jessica could barely feel his lips touching her hair. He held himself still for a moment and then slowly let out a warm breath of air that smoothed overtop her head.

"Let's not waste anymore time, Jessica. This foolish nonsense with get us nowhere. Sit down and I will take care of everything." Snape took Jessica by the hand and took a step back towards the couch.

Jessica squeezed his hand and kept her feet planted to the floor. She pulled him back to her and linked each of her index fingers through the belt loops at his hips. A small playful smile tilted the corner of her lips. "We aren't wasting time," she told him. "Not when we're together."

With warm affection in her eyes, Jessica tilted her chin up and closed her eyes as she touched his lips with hers. Her kiss was warm and overflowing with more affection than he thought he deserved at the moment.

He'd doubted her, quarrelled with her and nearly drove her away yet again. Nevertheless, there she was with her hands pulling him closer to her body and her lips delivering a kiss he could only have dreamed about until this moment.

Careful not to touch her back, Snape gently placed his hands overtop Jessica's shoulders and let the stroking of her lips match his own. With each passing moment, he widened his kiss and eased Jessica into a more passionate kiss. She hardly needed any coaxing. Very shortly after his tongue first touched hers, Jessica firmly pressed her fingers into his shirt and slithered her hands up his chest until she had her arms chained securely around his neck.

After sharing the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced, Jessica pulled her head back and looked into the professor's eyes and smiled a smile that came with a little bit of laughter. "Severus," she began and tightened her arms around him. "I can't begin to tell you how badly I wanted you to stop me from walking through that door tonight."

One way or another he would have stopped her. Jessica knew he would have. He wanted her to stay even more than she wanted to stay.

He smiled at her and then kissed her one more time before lifting a finger before her. Jessica locked her eyes with his as he slowly touched his finger to her collarbone. Then, very slowly with his gaze still holding her captive, Snape eased his finger down the middle of her body, through the valley of her breasts, down along her stomach and then stopped once he reached the belt tied around her waist.

The intimacy of his small touch wrought a tiny shiver and caused her skin to tingle. His long, calming breaths reminded Jessica to breathe again. She had no idea how long she had been holding her breath. It was probably when he first placed his finger on her that he took her breath away.

The ensuing, tingling rush that sped through her body deepened when Snape took each end of her belt in his hands and began to pull the knot loose. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply and unevenly as he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. He stroked his lips soothingly over her skin and gently placed his eager hands over her waist, gently parting her robe.

Her pulse kicked up a notch at his touch and her body rapidly began overheating with the increasing intimacy of their passionate embrace. His hands grazed gently over her skin and teased her body's senses when he glided his hands back down to her hips after every time she thought he'd reach up and cup her breasts in his hands.

Not once when he caressed her did Severus let his hands touch the bare skin of her breasts, and for such a sex-starved man, it pained him to draw the line where he knew he could manage to walk away from the intimacy. If he had let his hormones take over his actions and allowed himself to touch her so intimately, Snape knew he wouldn't have been able to stop. The craving he had to give Jessica all the pleasure he was capable of giving her ached throughout his entire body.

If it weren't for the wounds on her back that he had already obligated himself to care for, Snape was certain he'd have swept Jessica off her feet to carry her back to his bedchambers where he'd allow himself to explore all the many offerings they had to share with each other.

Now wasn't the time to be so selfish. Jessica was in pain and it was time to relieve her of as much of that pain as he could. Snape began by walking her back to the couch and sat her down before sliding her arms out of her robe.

He first used a simple solution to clean the open cuts and then an aloe vera solution to speed the healing. "You should probably see Madam Pomfrey in the morning. There are plenty of remedies she can offer you."

"No," Jessica said and shook her head gently. "She mustn't know what did this to me. Only my uncle can hear of this."

"The Headmaster trusts Poppy," he told her. "And you should, too. She is the only one who can really help you."

"Then why didn't you see her the morning after your horrible accident like you said you would?" Jessica challenged. She turned her head over her shoulder so she could see him react to her question. She smiled and then let him carry on with his work.

"I turned to someone else I trust more than her," he said.

"Just as I have."

Snape threw the bloodstained cloth into the fireplace and placed the caps back on each of the small vials. He used one last ointment to numb her pain and then placed a white bandage over the wounded area before he handed the pyjama shirt back to her. He'd first cleaned the shirt of bloodstains with a standard spell.

"Thank you," Jessica said as she took the shirt. "It feels much better."

"You're welcome," he said quietly and put each of the vials back in place. "It's nearly four in the morning. Can I walk you back to your quarters?"

The mere mention of going back to the place Voldemort's presence had tried to seize her wrought a tiny shiver. Jessica stood up from the couch and stepped closer to the professor.

"I'm frightened," she told him in a whisper. "Now that he knows I'm here and that I'm alone I'm terrified to think that he'll come for me again." Jessica put her hands overtop of his white dress shirt again and looked humbly into his eyes. "I haven't got the strength to fight him off again."

Snape tucked her dark hair behind her ears and then put his hands over her shoulders. He nodded in sympathy and understanding. "Then what do you suggest?" he asked, not wanting to be the one to propose that she stay there with him until morning.

"I don't care where I am for the next few hours," she said. "I just want you to be there with me."

"If that's really what you want, I will be." Snape made fists in her hair and gently pulled her into his kiss. He let his lips stroke over hers several times before he pulled back. "Come on, I can give you something that will help you sleep."

As he began to lead Jessica back to his bedchambers, she took his hand in her own and squeezed him gently. "I've already got all I need for a good night's sleep." When he looked at her she showed him a smile and hugged herself around his arm.

In the next room, Snape walked Jessica over to his bed and pulled the dark green quilts back and guided her onto the mattress. Her head fell gently onto the pillow and a moment later her eyes closed.

He tucked the blankets around her body and took a couple of steps back to look at Jessica lying in his bed. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful, and so much like she belonged there.

As quietly as he could, Snape unbuttoned his dress shirt and put on his own pair of deep, cherry red pyjama pants. He crawled into the other side of the bed and curled his body up against hers. Sitting up on his elbow, Snape leaned over to look at Jessica and then gave her one last kiss on her cheek.

Good night, my love.

Then with a soft command, the lights dimmed and Snape put his head down onto his pillow and wrapped his hand around Jessica's stomach. His eyes slowly closed and a peaceful sleep quickly prevailed.