Journey to Passion

Chapter Twenty - Leave Nothing Unsaid

"She should wake at any moment, Professor."

"Perhaps we should let her sleep just a little bit longer?"

"No. She will have plenty of time to rest later. The poor dear, she's been through so much already, I don't know how many more spells and potions her body will tolerate. Right now all she needs is rest and tender nurturing."

There was a great deal of sympathy in the familiar voices. Each voice sounded so far away, but Jessica could still hear them.

"Professor Snape will see to it that she gets plenty of each. He's been all up in knots since he heard what happened."

"I can't say I blame him," the other voice spoke. "He nearly lost her."

"We all nearly lost her."

There was a tiny pause before the other woman responded. "You're absolutely right, Minerva."

"How is she progressing, Poppy?" A third familiar voice joined the conversation.

"Albus," this voice sounded quite surprised. "She's still awfully pale. It will take some time before she's back to normal."

"I see. Well then, perhaps it will do her some good to allow a visitor. Severus is quite anxious - and quite determined - to see her."

"Severus?" Jessica's eyes fluttered open for a brief moment before she lapsed once more into paralysed darkness.

Professor McGonagall gasped. "Poppy, did you see that?"

"I did," the nurse confirmed. She leaned over towards Jessica and began stroking her hand along the side of her face. "We're here darling. Can you hear me? It's Poppy," she assured.

Jessica didn't move. Her head had turned to the side and she'd fallen back asleep. Her fingers were wrapped warmly in the nurses caring hands and were carefully being massaged.

"Albus, perhaps if you bring him in?" the nurse suggested.

"Of course," Dumbledore agreed and promptly left the Hospital Wing to bring in the Potions Master.

Professor McGonagall pressed a hand to Jessica's pale forehead and sighed in disappointment. "She still feels rather clammy. Are you sure just a little -"

"No," Madam Pomfrey quickly protested. "Her body won't take any more medication. She must do this on her own."

The sound of heavy footsteps sounded from the doors and anxiously moved towards Jessica's hospital bed. Each of the witches turned as Professor Snape drew the curtains away and stepped forward. He hastily glanced between Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey and then stared down at Jessica.

He sighed angrily as it seemed history was repeating its hateful self. Her time in the waking world had been cruelly brief. Knowing he could have done something to stop this from happening, Snape unleashed a bitter growl of abhorrence.

It had been two days since Quirrell had tried to make off with the Philosopher's Stone. Dumbledore had discovered Professor McGonagall and Jessica shortly after he'd rescued Harry from Voldemort's grasp. They were both taken up to the Hospital Wing.

As Quirrell had intended, Jessica had taken the full blast of his curse. Professor McGonagall had recovered almost immediately. The injuries she sustained paled in comparison to the damage Quirrell had inflicted on Jessica.

In addition to the bruise Quirrell's punch had given her, Jessica had suffered a concussion after hitting her head against the stone floor. Madam Pomfrey had done everything she could for her head injuries, but it was up to Jessica to drift back into consciousness.

"Why don't we leave the two of you alone for a moment?" Madam Pomfrey suggested as she moved away from Jessica's bedside.

Snape nodded his head in agreement. "Very well."

Jessica's neck twitched for a moment after hearing his familiar voice. Professor McGonagall was half way to standing when she noted Jessica's response. She gasped again and moved back, giving Snape room to seat himself beside Jessica.

Snape cleared his throat and kept his back straight as he leaned over towards Jessica. He put a hand to her chin and tilted her head so that she'd see him first of all when she opened her eyes.

"Jessica?" he called softly.

Almost immediately her eyelids trembled.

"Jessica," he said again, a touch louder.

A soft moan surpassed her lips. "Severus," she whispered inattentively.

"That's right," he confirmed. "Open your eyes and look at me." His voice possessed such an authoritative tone that Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey were certain Jessica would open her eyes out of fear that his next instructions would sound even more aggressive.

Momentarily Jessica obliged.

At first her vision was hazy, but she could make out the solid black figure in front of her. A tiny smile appeared on her lips as the haziness began to elude her vision. Snape could see those emerald green eyes perfectly now.

"Severus," she cried gratefully. "You're all right!" She touched her fingers to the side of his neck where she had bitten him.

Before she could expose his neck, he pulled her hand away and held it tightly in his own. "Well, obviously your memory is still intact," he said maliciously. "I cannot believe you bit me. You and I are going to sit down and have a long talk about that."

"What are you so worked up for? You're still alive," she pointed out as she playfully poked a weak finger into his chest. Jessica's eyes wandered over to the witches standing at the foot of her bed. "Minerva. Poppy. Are you all right?" she asked, looking at the Transfigurations professor.

"Yes," McGonagall assured. "Just happy to see that you're well out of trouble, dear."

"That is debatable," Snape muttered under his breath and then quickly cleared his throat. "Would you mind giving us that moment alone?" he said to his colleagues.

"Of course," Madam Pomfrey said. She quickly stepped aside after McGonagall. They closed the curtain after they'd left and began heading towards Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Are you sure his nurturing will be tender, Minerva?" Poppy asked with a hint of doubt in her voice. McGonagall answered the nurse's question, but their voices reduced to muffles as they walked farther away.

Jessica sat herself up and hurried to wrap her arms around his chest. Snape let Jessica put her head down on his chest and settle into his embrace. He gently scratched her head and rubbed his hand up and down her back.

"I missed you," she whispered. "And I'm sorry I bit you, but it was the only way I could save your life. Uncle Albus left a vial of Antiveleno in my robes, so I knew my bite wouldn't kill you. The Antiveleno diluted my venom enough so that my bite would only knock you out," she said and looked up into his dark, dubious eyes. "Come on Severus. Please don't look at me like that," she pleaded. "Professor Quirrell would have killed you if I hadn't convinced him that I'd done it for him."

"If you had not taken my wand, I assure you - he would not have stood a chance," Snape said irritably. "And - by the way - you gave me a bruise the size of a bloody Quaffle. It was virtually the same color, too."

Jessica bared a tiny smile of embarrassment and looked down at the floor for a moment. "I'm sure I'll see it later."

"I suppose you might," he said.

"What happened to Professor Quirrell? Did he get away?" she asked timidly.

Snape shook his head. "No, he did not."

"I'm glad," she told him. "I really was afraid he'd get away with it all. I was even more afraid that I'd helped him along."

"He had you under a curse, Jessica," Snape reminded. "An illegal curse at that."

"That's true," Jessica agreed. "But I broke free of the curse the moment I saw him hurt you - just like my mother broke free after seeing my father hurt me. I was only playing along until he tried to kill Professor McGonagall. The only way I could save her was by blowing my cover."

Snape gently brushed his hand along her cheek where Quirrell had struck her. The pain had subsided, but a tiny bit of discolouration remained to attest to Quirrell's unexpected violence. "I would have killed him myself if I had seen him do this to you." Snape leaned over and kissed her bruised cheek.

"I know you would have," Jessica agreed. "And I'm sorry you had to watch me kiss that smelly bloke. I can't quite decide if it was worse for you or for me."

"I know why you did it," Snape attested. "Just remember - he may have been the one you were meant for," at this he sounded repulsed, "but he failed to capture your heart as I have." He picked Jessica's hand up and trailed his lips along her fingers in a series of soft kisses. "He also failed to bring Voldemort back to power. I suppose that is why you are still here, safe and sound."

"And who have you to thank for that?"

Snape twitched uncomfortably. He sighed in frustration and then reached behind him to pull the curtain back far enough for Jessica to see the boy lying in the bed neighbouring her own. A moment later he dropped the linen curtain and looked back at Jessica's awed expression.

"Harry Potter?" she questioned. "But how did he-?" Jessica decided against asking how he'd managed to take one of the most powerful dark wizards of the age when she sensed Snape's resentment. Now was not the time to talk about the boy. "You'll thank him one day, won't you?" Jessica asked him, sounding quite adamant about it.

Snape didn't hesitate to shake his head. The look in his eyes and the resentment in his heart spoke for him. Snape would not thank Harry for anything - at least not in this lifetime.

"Perhaps - since you just had to get involved with this one - you and I can sit down one day, and I will let you in on some of the secrets of my life that pertain to his family."

"You mean you'll tell me why you pretend to hate that boy so much?" Jessica discerned.

For a split second Jessica thought she'd seen him tuck the corner of his lips up into a smile. Before she had time to decide whether she had or not, all looks of amusement eluded his expression. He took one long breath and then exchanged his puzzling look for a serious-minded stare. "Look, Jessica, before we have time to get into anything else, there is something I have to tell you... something that has been waiting to be said for a long time now."

"All right," she said and clasped his hand. "Go ahead."

Snape lifted his hand and wove his fingers into Jessica's hair and drew her closer to him. Having no desire to allow anyone else that may be on the other side of the thin linen curtain to overhear what he had to say, Snape spoke softly into Jessica's ear.

"What I told you last Christmas - I want to take it back," he began. "I said some things that were uncalled for, and it was foolish of me to let you run out like that. I should have listened to you. I should have protected you that night," he said, drawing the words out as if it pained him to say them.

Feeling like it had only been a matter of hours since she had heard him erupt in anger, Jessica felt tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. She hugged Severus to her chest and squeezed him hard.

"I thought I had lost you," Snape whispered into her ear.

"Oh Severus, you'll never lose me," Jessica assured. "As long as I'm alive, I'll always be in love with you."

Snape wrapped his arms further around her knowing that he could never let her go even if he tried. The last six months had taught him what it would be like to go on without Jessica, and that was a sort of misery he never wanted to feel again.

"I dreamed about you," Jessica told him after a long moment of silence. "At least I think I did. I dreamed that I could hear you speaking to me, and I could feel you kiss and hold me. There were times when you told me that you love me."

Snape chuckled in her ear and let her go. "I hardly think you dreamed that at all," he said with a particularly impressive look in his eye. "You heard every damned word I said, didn't you?" He bared that tiny, crooked smile she loved so much and set his hand on her thigh.

Jessica pursed her lips and turned her eyes up in thought. "Hmm," she sounded from behind closed lips. "I may have," she teased.

Snape traced his finger across her lips and then tipped her chin up to meet his anxious kiss. Jessica let her lips settle over his and embraced in his bold affection.

"Your uncle..." Snape kissed her again, "...enlightened me..." another kiss, "...this morning..." Jessica tangled her fingers in his hair and locked him into a deep, passionate kiss before he was able to continue. "He told me that although you were not able to hear me speaking directly to you, a part of your subconscious knew just the message I wanted your ears to hear."

At that moment, when all Jessica wanted to do was take Severus in her arms and hold him forever, a rumble sounded from her stomach and had both of them looking down at where the growl had come from. Jessica laughed when she saw the peculiar expression on his face.

"Hungry?" he asked her.

Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "Well, considering I haven't had anything to eat in the last six months - YES!" She laughed and pushed the rest of the linen bed sheets off of her. "In fact, I haven't even been to the bathroom, had a shower, or - Great Merlin! Have you brushed my teeth?" She covered her mouth and backed away as she anxiously awaited an answer.

Snape chuckled quietly and shook his head. "Don't worry about that, Love. Your entire body shut down while you were asleep. As far as your bodily functions are concerned, it's still late December."

Jessica then looked down at what she was wearing and noticed that she was no longer dressed in her pink evening gown. "Do I have you to thank for this perfectly hideous paper dress?" she asked and held up the corner of her crumpled hospital garments.

"No," Snape shook his head. He picked up the locket she was still wearing and studied it for a brief moment. "Madam Pomfrey changed your clothes after the Headmaster brought you and Professor McGonagall up."

"Oh no," Jessica gasped. "Did she see-?"

Before she could even finish, Jessica saw Snape shaking his head again. "Think nothing of it, Love," he insisted. "The Headmaster explained everything about your Marks." He held his hands out to Jessica and slowly helped her up to her feet. "Come along Love. A spot of lunch will do you some good."

Jessica swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed and eased herself up with Snape's assistance. She anxiously began walking towards the Hospital Wing doors and nearly tripped over her own feet after only a couple of steps.

"Easy, Love." He tucked his arms under her waist and began walking her away.

"You keep calling me that," Jessica pointed out, smiling at him as he walked with her. "Not that I'm complaining."

Snape turned the corner of his mouth up into a smile and let the twinkle in his eyes dazzle her. "Nor should you be," he said. "I say it because...I love you."

THE END