A/N: The next chapter truly moves into action, so I expect they will both get to Hogwarts soon. Can you imagine the reactions of other professors? :D

Chapter Nine: Bitterness

Cool hands touched Jasna's feverish brow as she tried to stop the room from spinning. She had barely managed to get a hold of the tub and collapse into the nearby chair where she tried to gather her wits together. Just a few moments longer and the mad thumping of my heart will settle down, possibly taking with it the start of another headache, she told herself as she kept her eyes closed tightly.

"Can you stand up?" murmured the English witch and Jasna nodded slowly. She blindly reached out with her shivering hand for hold and felt a bigger and calloused one close around hers.

"Let's get you to the bed…" muttered the dark wizard before she could protest. He reached with his other hand around her shoulders and carefully manoeuvred her to the room despite her resistance. It was when she grabbed a fistful of his robes that Jasna finally noticed he was wearing white – an interesting set of white robes that were too similar to the design she was wearing to make her feel comfortable. A realisation dawned in her mind – she had been wondering what made them clean her up again without the use of spells.

"What is going on?" she asked in a sharp whisper when he sat her down on the bed. "What madness have you planned?!" she demanded, the headache flaring to life at her fury as she tugged at his robes. She could recognize ceremonial or ritualistic garb anywhere – she had known her recovery, albeit very slight, would bring her nothing good.

They remained silent, the witch appearing to be a tad bit uncomfortable with her role in the entire situation, but the wizard yanked the sleeve from her grasp and turned his dark eyes to hers, unreadable as ever. Jasna could feel the darkness inside her rise up, howling for attention as always, trying to fill the empty spots in her magic. She viciously fought it down even if it meant subjecting herself to pain. Anger was not something she could use in her condition, but neither was sadness, pain or any emotion at all – the darkness twisted it every time to call forth the most horrible points of her life.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" he asked from the position at the table with the potions and she could have smacked him were her hands not shaking so much. As it was, Jasna could only grind her teeth and look at him in fury. Yes she was in pain, breaking sacred oaths and renouncing one's bonds did that to a witch.

Jasna could fell heat gather at her cheeks and knew she was flushed both from the fever and anger. If only she were strong enough, if only she had been able to run away that day – but no, she couldn't had let an innocent child be a victim, not when she had given her vows to do everything in her power to help the ones who could not protect themselves. Oh yes, she had known it was a trap of some sorts, but didn't know it was meant to capture her. She had foolishly believed they were after something else, not the Temple. She didn't even have her insignia on her! How did they know?

Severus Snape inspected her for any signs of weakness or pain and it was clear Jasna suffered. The pain was reflected in her face, eyes and dark smudges beneath, tremors of her hands… Even the fever became noticeable. But still she possessed that will of iron that got her through to this day. Fire burned in her brown eyes, a fire that could swallow the Dark Lord and spit him out turned into ash. How stupid he was to underestimate her… she was far from defeated.

"I will give you some privacy…" muttered Narcissa before she figuratively fled the room. She got scared once sparks began to fly along the walls when Severus locked his gaze with the angry priestess. She better call Lucius or better yet the Dark Lord.

"What do you have to say to defend yourself - - poison-brewer?" spat out Jasna and the crackling of her unstable magic gave her the aura of a vengeful fairytale character. It was quite impressive really, but Severus knew how weak she was physically. She could not scare him so easily.

"Nothing," he nonetheless replied truthfully as if he were a faithful follower of the Dark Lord. There was nothing he could say to reduce his guilt or responsibility for anything he had done for the Death Eaters or Albus Dumbledore. And he certainly was never going to apologize to anyone, lest of all to her who had no idea what he went through and what danger still awaited him.

"Not a shred of pity in you? Remarkable…" she drawled, ice once again heard in her voice that threatened to chill even him with the bitterness it contained inside, "Astounding how one man, one wizard managed to rid you of your hearts, your minds. No backbone, the lot of you…" she seethed and Severus could agree with her on some points. Many followers were spineless and even more of them showed no mercy, but he was not one of them. Still, the accusations rankled, so he frowned and stepped closer in most menacing fashion he could manage while dressed in white.

"I would be careful with that tongue of yours. My wand arm is itching…" he threatened. He had helped her, but she would learn to respect him soon or face the consequences. He may be on her side secretly but that did not mean he would not give as good as he got. He had never been a nice person and he certainly wouldn't behave like one – be she a priestess or not.

Jasna did not seem to be impressed, which was something he had expected knowing how she behaved in front of the Dark Lord. "I will never respect scum like YOU!" she cried and Severus could feel loathing flow from her in streams.

The ominous rankling of potions bottles made him aware she was reaching her breaking point – the stupid woman had to preserve her energy and not waste it on him! "ENOUGH!" he roared and roughly grabbed the front of her robes to shake some sense into her, but she did not even flinch. He balled his other hand into a fist, knowing he would never hit her, but also being aware he had to make her realise he was in charge now.

They looked at each other with narrowed eyes, each determined to not back down. He could almost see the darkness he was forbidden to remove rise in her – the edges of her eyes started to show a greyish tint that only got darker.

Control yourself! he told her mentally, having enough power to convey a message but not enter her mind. He wanted to shock her into reacting and it seemed to be enough. Her eyes widened and she slowly got her highly unstable magic under some control again. But it was far from over – once awakened it could not be so easily banished. Not when she had to fight the fever and pain. But she managed to stop the frightening display at least even if a storm was brewing inside her.

Severus let go and put some distance between them, even when it would have been better to use this moment of weakness to get control over her. But he could not do that, his conscience did not allow him to act in the way Dumbledore did with him. He was a dark wizard, no doubt about that, and he had learned to use weaknesses of others to get to his goal, like every Slytherin did, however, he always had a bit of a Gryffindor in him which manifested at worst moments. Like right at the moment… Yet even standing by the wall on the other side of the room, trying to put distance between them and cool his temper, he noticed when her shoulders slouched in pain and the trembling of her hands got worse.

"Do you wish to take something for the pain?" he asked her calmly, or as calm as he could manage. She shook her head, not looking at him while balling her hands together. The tiny drops of sweat gathering on her brow spoke of a rising fever and lack of energy.

Severus said nothing in return only frowned at her stubbornness. He would not offer things twice; it was even generous of him to do so once as everyone else could tell her later. But when he waited for the 'help' Narcissa ran to get to the room, his thoughts turned towards the ritual where Jasna's strength would once again be tried. He could not imagine that this small and fragile woman with an inferno inside her soul would become his roommate in the next hour. The modified combinations of three rituals – one originating in the vows future priestesses gave to their temples and gods, the other in oaths of fealty to a liege lord and the last one in the binding of one's magic to a spouse (originally thought to give protection, but in this case meant to corrupt her) – would make her an ultimate prisoner of his will.

If she is smart enough, she could find a loophole in this garble, he thought. He would certainly be required to protect her should she do the same trick again and modify the ritual and the wordings of some parts and he did not count on the pain clouding her mind like the Dark Lord. No, Severus was especially wary about the first and last ritual used for they were both something she should be familiar with.

"Can you tell me what you have planned?" she asked again, "I may be ill right now, but I'm far from stupid," she grumbled, trying to control her trembling wand-hand while gesturing at their clothing.

"You will see…" he told her when he heard the unmistakable voice of the Dark Lord complaining about something in the hall. It would begin soon…

A/N: Tell me what you think about the idea, what keeps you reading the story despite featuring an OC and disregarding many things in the last book... I'm always glad to hear what you have to say.