A/N: Yay, another one in a day! I love how you keep me writing. I don't think I have ever written that much in such a short time. Keep the reviews coming! :)

Chapter 6

"…like a five course meal. Delicious" the Granggob purred, smirking up at him.

At that moment, the dark beast of jealousy raised its head again, flooding him with pictures of the Traggob masquerading as himself, pushing its tongue into Granger's sweet little mouth. He wanted to strangle it.

Belatedly, he realized he had fallen into another one of Granggob's traps. It wanted to make him react that way, to rub his jealousy in his face. Severus was furious, mostly at himself.

"Cut it out, now!" he hissed at the Granggob. "Just stick to the plan and do as I say!"

"Ooooh. Feisty." It grinned. "Well fine, because you asked so nicely I'll explain your misinterpretation of the facts to her."

"What 'misinterpretation of the facts'?! I know what I feel for…" He shot a quick glance over his shoulder at Granger, who regarded them with troubled eyes, and made sure his voice stayed at a whisper. "…for Lily. My feelings towards her haven't changed in all those years, so there must be some other explanation as for why you keep appearing wearing this body."

"I can't believe it!" the Granggob exclaimed in a harsh whisper. "Are we back at the beginning?! And there I thought I had just broken through to you!" She poked her index finger repeatedly into his chest to emphasize the questions she now hurled at him, her voice carrying no farther than his ears but still as sharp as a blade. "How do you explain your body's reactions to her kiss? Why were you so jealous when she kissed me? And, most importantly, how do you explain your inability to have sex with me? If it walks like a duck and so on, for God's sake!"

"And how do you explain that my feelings for Lily are just as strong as ever and have not changed in quality ever since she has died?!" he stepped closer to the Granggob, glowering down at it, his anger and frustration almost making him tremble.

"Isn't it obvious?" The Traggob curled its lip in a sneer, but as it looked up in his face, its expression changed, becoming almost caring. It took one of his hands into her own. "I could tell you, but your reaction to it would be rather… explosive, I might guess. I will tell you my theory on this another time, I promise. But for now, we really need to get back to business before this whole thing falls apart. The way Granger looks at me makes me think she wants to skin me alive. She does not like me."

"Well, that doesn't come as a surprise, don't you think, considering how you are flaunting some of her better assets?" he hissed at her, pulling his hand free and squeezing the air in front of his chest with his long, slender fingers, referring to her breasts and their obvious lack of bra. "Couldn't you have been a bit more sensitive with your outfit choice?!"

"Me?!" The Granggob gaped at him. "You are responsible for this! It's not like I can choose what I look like." With a smirk, it added: "And if you keep staring at them, they are going to pucker, you know."

Snape cursed and held up his hands trying desperately to shield her breasts from his view, warding off the image that was forming in his mind. This was all going so wrong, and he didn't even want to think about what Granger thought about all of this.

"Enough stalling," he said. "Let's get this over with."

"Yes, Sir, Professor Snape!" The Granggob replied enthusiastically and walked past him to reclaim her chair.

Hermione sat in her chair, oblivious to what was going on around her. She was bombarded with emotions that deeply confused her. When the Traggob had stepped in front of her, she had been terrified because she had known what it would reveal, and she was not ready yet for Severus to know. But then the Traggob had changed and everything that had troubled her had just melted away. When she had looked into his eyes filled with love for her, only her, it had been like someone had mended everything that was broken in the world, and the moment had become perfect when he had kissed her. In that instant, she had known he was hers, and she was his, and nothing could ever come between them. It had been heaven. And then Snape had ripped them apart, and the illusion had come crashing down around her.

After that, everything seemed to make no sense and perfect sense at all. So many theories about his reaction to her Traggob were bouncing around in her head that it made it hard for her to concentrate. Why had he ripped them apart – was it jealousy? But concerning who? Had he been jealous of her kissing another? Or had he been jealous of his Traggob changing into a different shape to please someone else? The two of them seemed awfully comfortable with each other. She studied them, contemplating that thought.

They stood away from her in a corner, Severus with his back to Hermione, his tall frame blocking most of the view of the Traggob. They were whispering to each other energetically, standing rather close to each other, she noticed. Her breath caught in her throat when she watched the Traggob lean forward and whisper something into his ear, wearing her face. Then it pulled back and shot Severus a grin that spoke of a shared secret or humor. Something dark and nasty began to burn inside Hermione's stomach.

They kept whispering, and sometimes turned to shoot a quick look into her direction before turning back to their conversation. The Traggob seemed to touch Severus, but because his back was to her, she could not see what exactly she was doing. She could see Severus' reaction, though, when he seemed to tremble at her touch.

What was going on there? Her heart stopped in her chest when she watched the Traggob look up at Severus with a tender expression, cradling his hand in its own. At that moment, she wanted to kill the Traggob.

It chose that moment to look at her. There was a mischievous glint in its eyes before it turned back towards Severus. He pulled his hand away from its grasp, and Hermione was about to breathe a sigh of relief; but then she saw that both of his hands now moved towards her breasts, hovering in front of them as if he was almost helpless to keep himself from touching them. His hands stayed like that for a while before he reluctantly pulled them away. Now she wanted to kill them both.

When they finally turned around and walked back, settling in their respective chairs, she seethed at them: "I find it hard to believe the two of you haven't been fucking, to tell the truth."

Snape gaped at her in astonishment, while the Granggob sniggered. "I told you," she shot at Severus and then leaned back in her chair to study Hermione with amusement before speaking up again.

"Seriously, there's nothing going on between the two of us," it said, indicating Severus and itself. "Nothing ever happened. We're just kind of… friends?"

Severus nodded in agreement: "Yes. Nothing happened."

"Well, except for that kiss…" The Granggob mused into the awkward silence.

Severus looked at the Traggob as if he would like to strangle it. Then he turned to Hermione, looking very uncomfortable as he cleared his throat and said: "Well, there was this one time when it showed me Lily…"

He saw the hurt and pain flashing in her eyes as the words fell from his mouth, and without thinking, he spoke quickly: "It didn't mean anything."

"HAAAA!" The Granggob shouted, jumping up and pointing both index fingers at Severus. "AH HA!"

Severus' face lost all color as he replayed the words in his head. He turned towards the Traggob, holding up both hands as if to ward off its accusations. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Then you would not have said it like that," it countered.

"I wasn't thinking!" he argued.

"HA!" it shouted again. "That's a point for me. You weren't thinking, ergo you spoke the truth!"

He stared at the Granggob with a thunderous look in his eyes, unable to form the words to contradict her but unwilling to accept her words as the truth. His feet transported him to a corner of the room silently seething in anger, trying to calm his nerves while his thoughts swirled around in his head, a heavy guilt settling in his heart for what he had said about his kiss with Lily. He kept his back turned to the others as not to let them get a glimpse at how upset he was.

While his back was turned, the Traggob silently slid out of its chair to move in front of her again. Hermione shrank back at the swirling vapors, but when the Severus-Traggob appeared to offer her his hand, she was unable not to take it and let herself be pulled from her seat. He slid his arms around her, his eyes again shining with love for her. It was so wonderful to see, making her heart sing – and yet, her eyes traveled to the corner of the room where the real Snape stood, his back held rigidly and the fist at his side trembling. Her heart ached for him.

As if he had felt her eyes on him, he turned around. His gaze turned from troubled to furious as he was taking in the sight of her wrapped in the Traggob's arms. Something seemed to snap in the depths of his eyes and with a whirl of his robes, he lunged at them.

Before he could reach them, the Traggob stepped into his path, stopping him by grabbing his arms.

Hermione was treated to the absurd sight of two Snapes struggling with each other before one of them poofed into grey vapor and reformed as herself. The other Snape let his hands fall away instantly, but the rage in his eyes was no less threatening as he stared down at the Traggob.

"Relax," it said with a smirk, completely unimpressed by his towering frame. "Nothing happened – not even a kiss. She also rejected me because she desires the real you. Funny how the two of you have that in common, don't you think?"

His brows drew together at the words of the Traggob, and then he glanced at Hermione.

Their eyes locked, and suddenly, it was as it had been back in the Great Hall. Neither could look away, and both of them felt waves of heat coursing through their bodies.

Hermione's heart raced off in her chest. Did she dare believe that he really wanted her when he seemed to have his doubts himself? Should she take the leap and see where this led or should she try to guard her heart at all costs? She just wanted him so much it hurt, and she was not sure which decision was the right one.

When his pupils dilated, she decided she didn't much care for lists weighing pros and cons at the moment. What she wanted was him.

Although she had not given any indication of the decision she had made, he seemed to sense a change in her as he looked at her with smoldering eyes.

"Ooooh, this is getting interesting," the Granggob said from its place on the couch where it sat, fanning itself.

A/N: Full steam ahead now. Almost there. You know what to do. ;)