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 really 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 wanted.
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 instruments just 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 on his face. At that moment Jessica's entire body felt cold, like an icy hand had touched her.
"Peeves!" Snape howled and pointed his wand just behind 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 through 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."
"If he 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," Severus said and took her hand. "Come on, we'll go have something to eat."
* * *
It was late in the evening when Severus walked Jessica back to her quarters. They stood outside of her door to say good night, and before leaving, Severus 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 teethe 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 teethe grinded 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 around her. 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 your room?"
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 Severus 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," Jessica 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 scratches that 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 overtop 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 his hand 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 presumed 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 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."
