Journey to Passion

Chapter Ten - The Fierce Snake

It was the rhythm and soft feeling of Snape's warm breath blowing gently across Jessica's neck that awoke her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and focused on the unfamiliar atmosphere surrounding her. The chambers were still dark and Jessica could barely make out the hour on the face of the old, oak grandfather clock that ticked quietly on the other side of the room.

Narrow rays of red, early dawn sunlight shone through the tiny cracks of the window shutters on either side of the four-poster bed. Jessica could see Snape's black pants and white dress shirt hanging sloppily over the back of a green velvet armchair and his shoes tucked aimlessly under the seat of the chair. It wasn't like him to leave his clothes out like that before going to bed, but nothing about last night was particularly customary.

For the first time in his life he had allowed a woman to sleep with him in his bed without first having her satisfy his body's needs. In most cases, even after she'd done the job he'd demand she leave. It just wasn't like Snape to take pleasure in having someone to wake up next to him in the morning.

Last night was also the first night Jessica had ever gone to sleep with a man nestled closely beside her. Like a couple of spoons, Jessica could feel Snape's entire body cuddled up against hers. His left arm drooped lazily over her side and his hand coiled loosely over her shoulder.

As slowly and as quietly as she could, Jessica turned herself around and propped herself up on her elbow. The nightstand on Snape's side of the bed had three green candles sitting on a pewter platter. Dribbles of wax had dripped along the sides of the candles and then hardened into green pools on the pewter surface. Jessica looked at the tiny black strings peaking from the centres of each candle, then with a wink the candles lit themselves and the room brightened up a touch.

She looked at the Potions Master still peacefully asleep beside her and gently smoothed the black strands of hair out of his face. Her fingers combed gently through his hair and around his ear until she could see his face. Jessica smiled at his peaceful expression and listened carefully for any thoughts she could pick up from his state of slumber.

There were none.

"Severus," Jessica softly called as she played with some of his hair. She repeatedly brushed the tips of her fingernails through his hair and coiled the loose strands around his ear. The soft pads of her fingertips gently caressed along the curve of his ear and then wrapped around his earlobe. "Severus," she called again.

Astonished that he was still fast asleep even after her delicate touch, Jessica leaned her head forward and gently pressed her lips to his forehead. A small popping sound followed after Jessica pulled her lips away from him. She sat back up on her elbow and looked down at his closed eyes.

Her hand pressed against his neck and then began to slither beneath the heavy covers down the bare skin of his arm until she had his hand in her own. Then with a tender squeeze, Jessica pulled his hand up from under the covers and sat up on the bed.

The gentle bounce of the mattress had finally woken him. Snape slowly began to open his eyes and then quickly focused on the woman sitting up next to him. His eyes closed again and he groaned before rubbing his hands over his face.

"What time is it?" he asked.

Jessica looked once more at the grandfather clock in the corner and read the time to him. "It's nearly seven. You've still got a couple of hours before you have to teach. Did you sleep long enough?"

Snape rubbed his eyes once more and then propped himself up with his arms behind him. He crossed his ankles under the covers and looked curiously at Jessica as he flipped his hair out of his face. He couldn't say whether or not he had slept long enough. All he was sure of is that he'd just had the best sleep he could remember. Between putting his head down on his pillow and waking up to see Jessica's sweet smile in front of him he could remember nothing. No dreams, no nightmares and certainly no interruption. It may have only been for a few hours, but the gift of deep sleep that most people took for granted was a blessing as far as Severus Snape was concerned. He couldn't remember the last time he had woken up feeling this refreshed.

"You're still here," he said as if he were disappointed to have woken up with her next to him.

"Of course," she said. "And don't act like you didn't want me to stay. I know just how worried you were that you'd wake up alone."

"I was not worried," Snape barked and didn't hesitate to show her his morning scowl.

"Perhaps 'worried' isn't exactly the word I was looking for," Jessica admitted. "However, we both know you would have been disappointed if you had woken up alone."

He couldn't argue with her. It was pointless. The scowl slowly turned into a half smile and a friendly hand reached up and delicately cupped beneath Jessica's chin. "Perhaps," was all he said before putting his arm back behind him. "How are you feeling now?"

Jessica slowly nodded. "It feels all right," she said knowing he was talking about the abrasion on her back.

"Good. Let me look."

Slightly intimidated by his bold instructions, Jessica turned around and sat with her back to him before she started unfastening the buttons lining the front of her pyjama top. Once the buttons were undone, Jessica pulled her hair over her shoulder and slipped her arms out of the silk sleeves to expose the full of her bare back.

"It looks much better," he assured as he ran the outside of his hands down the sides of her back. "I will put some more ointment on before we go for breakfast."

"Where exactly are we going for breakfast?" Jessica asked inquisitively as she rolled her sleeves back up her arms and began fastening the buttons back up. She turned her head over her shoulder and smiled mischievously at him.

"I don't give a damn," was his unadorned answer. "We can go to your quarters and then at least you can put some descent clothing on before anyone sees you."

"Why don't you want to be seen with me in my pyjamas and dressing robe?" Jessica questioned. She turned herself around and pressed the heels of her hands down on the mattress on either side of him.

"Because it is not appropriate," he replied, one notch short of yelling. "The students can't go prancing around the castle in their nightclothes, so neither can you."

"Fine then."

His words were meant to sound demeaning, but Jessica could sense that Snape didn't really mean to belittle her like that. Not really. All the years of striking fear into the weak and feeble with his spiteful words made his it nearly impossible to break the habit of spitting out one vulgar remark after another.

Instead of cowardly backing away like anyone else would have done, Jessica locked her elbows and stared down at the irritable professor with her face no less than a foot away from his. She locked her eyes with his and then slowly lifted her right leg over him and straddled him at the waist.

"Do you fancy the idea of hiding me under your robes instead so you can just carry me to my quarters?" Jessica asked, sounding just as uncouth as he had before.

She didn't wait for an answer. Instead, Jessica closed her eyes and let her body shrivel up into nothing more than a small rise just beneath the bed sheets. The shock of watching Jessica disappear just like that took Snape by surprise and gave him a small fright. The weight of her body lying on top of his was reduced to practically nothing.

He threw the bed covers off of his chest and took a long hard look at what had become of her. "You're an Animagus," Snape observed and then shook his head disapprovingly at the slender reptile coiled around in a circle upon his bare chest. "I suppose you think I would prefer to waltz around the corridors with a poisonous snake around my neck than with a harmless young woman in her night clothes."

In her new form, Jessica sat with her body curled up around in circles and her head resting on top of the coil. Her small beady black eyes looked straight into his inquisitive gaze and her tongue slipped in and out of her mouth with the sound of a tiny hiss.

"The Fierce Snake is believed to have the most toxic venom known to man," Snape told her knowledgeably as he began to smooth the back of his fingers up along her glossy black scales and then down the cream coloured underside. "Its venom is quite valuable as well. But as beautiful and magnificent as the creature is, and as much as I trust you, I don't fancy the idea of kissing a deadly reptile."

As quickly as she had turned into a snake, Jessica transformed back into her human form. The palms of her hands went back to where they had been before and kept Snape caged beneath all four of her limbs. With her elbows locked firmly, Jessica smiled down at the professor and smiled cleverly.

"Is there anything else you would like to tell me about yourself?" Snape asked inquisitively. "I suppose you're a Parselmouth, too."

"So I've been told."

As a child Jessica used her imagination to talk to animals and pretended she could hear them speaking back to her. It was a common childhood fantasy until one day while on a walk through the trees she came across a small snake. It frightened her at first, but only until it asked her not to be afraid. Since then she'd lost her fear of snakes and discovered her ability to become one. The breed of snake she was able to transform into was no accident. The deadly venom the Fierce Snake possessed was one of the weapons her father intended for Jessica to have.

"I didn't know it until I was sixteen or seventeen," Jessica continued. "I was visiting some of my uncle's friends with my mother and they had a Death Adder there that they were extracting venom from to make a poisonous elixir of some sort." Jessica shook her head quickly and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I was just saying 'Hello, mate' when I heard my mother gasp in horror. I was hearing myself speak English, but that's not what anyone else in the room had heard. I haven't spoken a word to a snake since then."

"Being a Parselmouth is not a curse you know," Severus assured her. "It is a scarce gift, but certainly not one to be ashamed of."

"I know." The words escaped her lips so softly Snape could barely hear her. "But the less people know about me the better. I've been given a lot of funny looks from people in my years."

"Nobody likes to be judged by their differences," Snape said. "I've got my differences, but frankly I don't give a damn what people think about them. Personal opinions are not going to change who I am. I don't want to change who I am."

"Well I can't change who I am," Jessica admitted. "I'm my father's illegitimate daughter and my mother didn't want me. I was conceived by rape. How do you think it feels to have a mother who had to look at me every day and constantly be reminded of his filthy, greedy touch? It wasn't even sex he wanted, it was these stupid abilities!"

"They are not stupid," Snape assured. "You can't tell me that you have ever heard anyone call your capabilities stupid." His hands sailed down over the silk material of her pyjama shirt and then smoothed back up against her skin. Snape stopped just above her hips and let his fingers caress her sides.

"I've been called a freak," Jessica admitted. She was about to mention how often she'd been called names as a child when Snape interrupted her thoughts.

"Every training witch and wizard raised in a Muggle vicinity is called a freak now and then. To them we are freaks."

"You know I haven't spent one day learning magic," Jessica reminded. "I've only been taught how to live with the burden of being powerful. The thought of being trained to use a wand and become even more powerful terrifies me. The more I learn the more I put my father at an advantage if he ever does get his hands on me again."

"The stronger you become the stronger you will be when it comes to fight him for your life," Snape reminded. "Last night you may have only fought him off with will power, but that may not work forever. There are plenty of people here who are willing to put all of their training to use in order to keep you safe."

"My mother died trying to protect me."

Snape put his hands around Jessica's wrists and pulled her arms up from under her. She fell on top of him just as he was spinning onto his side. Her body rolled off of his and then she found herself lying on her back with him looking down at her.

Snape ran his fingers along Jessica's jawbone and then gently squeezed her chin between his thumb and finger. "Your mother loved you," he said. "She may not have been prepared to bring you into this world, but she did because she knew she could love you for who you are. It didn't matter to her that you came with all of these abilities. She died to protect you because she believed that you are strong enough to fight against people like your father. You are a human being, not a box of magic tricks and if you don't believe that, then for what reason did your mother died? You don't want her sacrifice to be in vane, do you?"

His effortless ability to drive intimidation into her shone very clearly in his dark, captivating eyes. He stared so far into her eyes Jessica could hardly make out his pupils.

"No, I don't," she finally said.

"Good," he said with a small nod. The corner of his mouth turned up into a smile and his free hand glided down the side of her face and fisted in her hair. He kissed her once on her forehead and then once more on her cheek. Jessica could feel the tug of his lips spread throughout her entire body. It warmed her in a way she'd never felt before.

His lips beckoned for her to kiss him back and the eager groan sounding from the back of his throat drew her to him. Jessica lifted her head up and kissed him as he desired. She closed her eyes and planted her hands firmly against the bare skin of his chest. Slowly, Jessica began to graze her hands up through the meadow of shiny black hair until she had his shoulders cupped in her palms.

Her fingers slithered along his shoulder blades and then began massaging the nape of his neck. A small part of his neck felt uneven. Jessica rubbed her fingers over the jagged scar he had on the left side of him and then drew away from their kiss to look at what her fingers had found. Her fingernails gently ran along the outer edge of the scar and she stared curiously at the strange mark.

"Severus," Jessica began. She quietly gasped in fear as a hand swiftly seized her by the wrist and drove her hand away. "What is it?" she questioned after feeling a surge of anger and discomfort twist her senses.

"It's nothing," he said before sitting up on the bed. "Only a little scar from an accident years ago." Snape stood up and walked over to his closet. He made fists as he walked and Jessica could see the muscles in his back and arms tensing up with each squeeze of his palms.

He began taking some clothes out when Jessica sat up and eyed him curiously. She thought to ask him more about the accident, but her little discovery had ripened his mood. More questions would only aggravate him further.

"Put your robe on," he instructed as he began buttoning up a clean white dress shirt. "We will leave for your quarters in a few minutes."