A/N: Thank you guys so much for your lovely reviews, you're the best! I devour each and every one of them. As you can see, they are working – another chapter up in a day.

Still, I think I should clarify again that this story is going to be equivalent to The Harpy's Mistletoe in the way the story builds – meaning the big bang needs a little bit of a fluffy build-up. I hope you do not expect this chapter to be: /Him: Sex?/ She: Oh, yes!/ Then: They bang!/

Although, yes, that is the basic idea behind the story, so please bear with me. ;)

This is a fluff release story and I do try to take the shortest path to the lemons, but a little bit of plot needs to be thrown in to illustrate the realizations that they are having and the emotional changes that they are going through.

I assure you (in reply to a guest review) that the last chapter was not a filler chapter. Indeed, I'm not sure if we didn't even save time in the long run. Thanks to SlavetoSeverus' questions, I extended the talk with the Granggob, which led to her being the one to make him realize Hermione's true feelings. This way, it was a lot quicker and more amusing than having him realize it over deep brooding in front of a fireplace nursing a whiskey, which would have been the alternative. A lot better this way, don't you agree?

I love it that you guys made me include the Granggob more than originally planned, especially as she turned out to be quite sassy. It is so great to be inspired by your input!

Chapter 5

He stood in front of her door, trying to force himself to knock. It was a lot harder than he had imagined. Finally, drawing a deep breath, he knocked. The door was pulled wide and there she was, staring at him in shock. Clearly, she had not expected it to be him. He was about to speak when she slammed the door shut, the booming sound of it hitting the frame ringing through the empty hallway.

He rested his forehead against the door, at a loss as to what to do next. Minutes ticked by and he was none the wiser as to how to proceed when he heard a soft click and the door was opened ever so slowly to reveal Granger, glaring at him, her anger apparent in her eyes.

"You're a selfish, mean bastard!" she hissed at him.

He hung his head. "I agree."

"That was a cowardly way to act and you should be ashamed of yourself."

"Again, I cannot contradict the truth of your statement," he said, "but please, let me explain."

He looked up at her with pleading eyes, and she found herself saying: "Fine. Talk."

"It's not that easy. But I can show you something that can explain everything. Please, come with me?" He held out his hand.

She regarded him warily, and as time ticked by, he was afraid she would not come, but finally, she gave a curt nod and strode past him into the hallway, ignoring his outstretched hand.

Hermione studied Severus Snape's back as he walked down the corridor in front of her. He had only spoken when it was necessary, and had not explained where they were going. She was half curious, half annoyed as she tried to keep up with his long strides.

Finally, they came to stop in front of a door, and as his hand lingered on the doorknob, he met her eyes for the first time since she had found him in front of her door. He seemed wary, almost afraid as he opened the door and led her inside the room.

She stepped over the threshold and looked around. A couch and some armchairs were arranged in the middle of the room. An enormous Victorian wardrobe towered over the furniture, occupying the space next to the couch. As if it could feel that it was looked at, the huge wooden frame trembled.

Hermione gasped, glancing at Snape. "A boggart?"

He winced, and a strange look came over his face, and she realized it was embarrassment when he whispered: "A Traggob."

She drew in a sharp breath. She had read about the non-being, but she had not known it was real. She knew what it did and involuntarily took a step back, putting even more distance between them. It was bad enough that Snape had found out about her feelings for him, he did not need to know how far they went.

Why had he brought her here? She was clearly aware of what, or rather whom, it would show to Severus. Harry had told them about what he had seen in Snape's memories, so she knew about his eternal love for Lily Evans.

Suddenly, she was gripped by fear as understanding dawned – he did not know she knew about this, and obviously he was here to show her why the two of them could never have a chance – to confront her with the stark truth of his eternal love for Lily. For a moment, she was overtaken by fury that he would reveal it to her this way, but then she realized that he was not a man that would be comfortable or even able to talk about his deepest, darkest emotions, and so, with a heavy heart, she took a seat and motioned for him to proceed, resigning herself to her fate.

For a while, he just stood there, before he finally took some reluctant steps towards the wardrobe. He shot her a look, and at the moment he looked to vulnerable, almost lost, that she wanted to comfort him, but the moment passed quickly and he finally turned the knob, stepping back to take a seat across from her, but still closer to the wardrobe.

She held her breath as the door swung open slowly and braced herself for the pain to come. The first thing she saw was a denim-clad leg emerging, sporting a sneaker. She frowned at that, thinking that she had somehow always pictured Lily in robes, not in jeans. When she finally looked up to study her face, her was dumbstruck. There, wearing a pink shirt, a smug smile and quite obviously no bra, stood herself.

She gaped at the Traggob, then at Snape. At her flabbergasted expression, he shrugged, holding up his hands, saying: "I was just as surprised as you are."

Hermione sat there, thunderstruck. She still could not comprehend what she was seeing. How could his traggob take her form? She had been so sure that it would show someone else. It made no sense at all. "I thought," she said, hesitating before addressing this delicate matter, "that your traggob would show you Lily."

He gasped as the name left her lips, and his surprise made it evident he hadn't known that Harry had told her about it. Anger and hurt flashed in his eyes, but the harsh words he would probably have bestowed on her were drowned out by a cackle of the traggob.

Both of them turned around to stare at it.

"Oh, this is good," it said. "You had no idea she knew, did you, Severus? No wonder she was looking so terrified when I stepped out of the wardrobe." It regarded them with amused eyes. "This is going to be a fun night. So many secrets to reveal. Should I start explaining or do you want to, Severus?"

He waved at her to begin, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. Hermione frowned at the strange connection between the two of them. They seemed almost like… friends.

The traggob leant forward in her chair, fixing its eyes on Hermione. "You see, the core of the problem is this: Severus is in complete denial about the fact that he is in love with you."

"WHAT?!" Snape jumped up from his seat, towering over the traggob. "That's not what we were talking about! Has half a bottle of my finest firewhiskey permanently damaged your brain? That's not what this is about at all!"

The traggob leaned to the side to be able to peek around Severus to catch Hermione's eyes. "Denial!" it mouthed to her, pointing a finger at Severus.

Snape growled at the traggob and snarled: "You keep to what we've talked about. No more of your dim-witted interpretations."

"Yes, sir, Professor Snape!" The traggob saluted him.

He glowered at her intensely before returning to his seat. With a deep sigh, he faced Hermione.

"As I said, I was as confused at her appearance as you are," he said, glancing at the traggob. "I have been seeing the Gr… the traggob for a few sessions, trying to work on this dilemma." Hermione's face froze at his words, becoming a blank mask.

A snort interrupted him. "What?!" he growled at the traggob.

"Oh, now I know why you wanted to let me do the talking." It sniggered. "The way you phrased it, she'll surely think you and I were fucking."

He looked up in shock, first at the traggob, then at Hermione, realizing that it had been right.

He grew visibly flustered before biting out: "Noofcoursewewerenotfucking!"

Jumping up, he started pacing the room, careful to always be closer to the Granggob than to Hermione. He didn't want to risk it changing its form, although he could not deny that a part of him wondered who her traggob would reveal, and that this part also hoped very much that it turned out to be him.

He was trying to find the right words – there just didn't seem to be any – when he reached the wall and turned around in time to see the Granggob sliding out of its seat, and with three long strides, stood right in front of Hermione. Their eyes met, hers in shock, the Granggob's glittering with mischief before the shape of its body trembled, the colors of her shirt blending into her jeans - then everything was a swirling mess of grey vapor before it reformed into a lean body clad in voluminous black robes.

Severus gasped as he saw the traggob in full teaching regalia, looking so much like himself but yet so different. The look in its eyes was completely foreign to him, but it looked like a mixture of love and tenderness. The traggob pulled Hermione up by her hand, sliding an arm around her waist and cupping her cheek. When it opened its mouth, it spoke one word in the deep, gravelly voice that he had when he first woke up in the morning: "Hermione."

She gave a small whimper at that and melted into the traggob's embrace while its lips came down to capture hers.

Severus was frozen on the spot, seeing the scene unfold before his eyes but unable to move. It was wonderful and horrible to see at the same time. But then he saw the traggob's hand slide down to squeeze her backside and when she groaned in response, it pushed its tongue into her mouth. Suddenly, a murderous, jealous rage overtook him.

In an instant, he was upon them, ripping them apart, pushing his doppelgänger against the wall. The moment his hands touched the traggob, the vapors started swirling again and the Granggob was revealed, grinning up at him.

"Don't touch her!" he hissed at it.

"Oh, but it was so worth it," the Granggob whispered back. "Think about what it all revealed – it showed us her true desires, plus you were being incredibly jealous and that tells us something about you, too."

He glared at it.

The Granggob leaned closer to speak in an almost silent whisper into his ear. "And the best thing about it was that she was just melting in my arms when I kissed her. The energy I could siphon off her emotions was like a five course meal. Delicious."

It pulled back to smirk at him, its eyes glittering with amusement at the thunderous look in his eyes that said he would very much like to wring its neck.

A/N: Oh this is so much fun! If you love the Granggob, too, send a review ;)