A/N: Finally, Granggob time!
Chapter 10
The Granggob slid forward in its seat, its eyes glittering. "So, did you do it?"
Snape gave a deep sigh, suddenly at a loss for words. Finally, he managed: "Yes, we did. It was…"
"Amazing?" The Granggob grinned as it saw Severus' expression confirming her suspicions.
"Outstanding," he whispered.
"Oh, I knew it!" It exclaimed, giving a joyful wiggle dance in her seat.
Then a frown clouded its face. "But then why are you here?"
"There is still one thing I do not understand. And it's driving me crazy. I need to get to the bottom of this now." He ran his fingers through the dark strands of his hair. "You see, my feelings for Lily – they have not changed in all of those years. My love for her was what has carried me through my darkest times. She was the one I did everything for. How could what I have seen in the mirror have changed if I still feel the same way about her? Something just doesn't add up."
The Granggob frowned at him. "As most mirrors will have reflected the same surly visage as ever back at you for the last couple of years, I'm guessing you're talking about some kind of charmed mirror?"
He scowled at her before explaining. "The Mirror of Erised shows you the deepest, most desperate desires of your heart."
"Ah. Sounds familiar somehow." The Granggob shot him a small grin and waved its hand for him to continue.
"I've always seen the same thing in it every time – Lily, how she realizes that she loves me, only me. And then we kiss." He studied his fingertips before moving on. "But this time – this time, when she reached out for me, her hand was slapped away as Hermione stepped into the picture."
"You go, girl!" The Granggob whooped.
"Well, anyways, she told Lily that I was hers, and Mirror-Snape confirmed it. They kissed and Lily just faded away…"
Snape turned towards the Granggob as he heard its wistful sigh. It had its hands clasped under its chin, eyes shining. "That's beautiful!" it whispered.
Snape snarled. Soppy women.
"Well, yes, but if what you suppose is true – that I love Granger, not Lily – then why did I see Lily in the mirror this time at all?"
The Granggob reclined in its chair, drawing a deep breath and opened its mouth to answer before it hesitated. "You sure you want to hear this?"
Snape nodded.
"No, really, it's not going to be nice. I'm not going to sugarcoat things." The Granggob arched an eyebrow at Snape.
"Go on," he growled, "I can take it."
"Well," the Granggob said, drawing the words out slowly, "it's because she's a bitch and you wanted to rub your happiness in her face."
"Pardon me?" Snape looked deeply offended. "She most certainly is not. Agreed, she had some faults, but still…"
"Severus," the Granggob said, sliding forwards in its seat to peer deeply into his eyes, "true friends don't turn their back on you just because you've hurled an offending word at them in the midst of a heated argument. Especially if you apologize in a heartfelt way afterwards." Raising its eyebrows and holding up its palms as if to conclude its speech, the Granggob calmly stated again: "She's a bitch."
Severus sat there, confounded. "How did you know about that? About what I called her?"
"When I was her, I knew everything you thought she must have known. Ergo – I know just what a bitch she was."
"Would you stop saying that?!" Severus hissed. "That's not what she was."
"Oh, I see," the Granggob nodded in understanding. "Denial again."
Severus' seething stare could have burned holes into the Granggob, but it just sat there, unaffected by his fury, happily grinning at him.
"She was my best friend for many years," he ground out. "I know what kind of person she was. She was kind, caring and brave-"
"until she turned her back on you," the Granggob interrupted, tsk-tsking.
"I loved her!" Severus shouted.
"No, you didn't!" the Granggob shouted back.
Severus fumed. "Now you're going to far! I did love her, I know it!"
"Yeah, well, you felt for her what you thought was love."
"Now you're saying I did not know what love was?" His black eyes bore into the Granggob's. "She was the first thing I thought of when I woke up and the last thing on my mind when I went to sleep. When anything exciting in my life happened, she was the first one I wanted to tell about it. Any happy moments that I have experienced in my youth were all in connection with her. How would you call that?"
The Granggob contemplated his words, then replied with its own questions. "How many other friends did you have besides her? Whom did you tell about the exciting things that happened to you after you had told her? Did you ever do anything that you enjoyed with any other classmates aside from Lily?"
Severus opened his mouth, but nothing came out. The Granggob had a point there, although he was loath to admit it. He never had been interested in finding other friends. His sole focus had always been on Lily.
"Severus," the Granggob said in a conversational tone, "tell me what you liked about Lily as a person. The things you enjoyed about her."
"Well, for one, she was smart. Brilliant, really."
The Granggob harrumphed. "As smart as Granger?"
"That would be comparing apples to oranges," Severus replied dryly.
"I'll take that as a 'no'," the Granggob informed him.
Severus glowered, but continued. "Also, she could be funny."
"Mhm." The Granggob narrowed its eyes, contemplating his words. "You said 'could be funny'. Not 'was funny'. Makes me wonder if you really did enjoy her sense of humor. Did she make you laugh? And did she, in turn, enjoy your sense of humor? Somehow I don't see her as a sucker for sarcasm."
"Well, maybe we were not that compatible in our sense of humor, but there was a lot more…" his voice trailed off.
"Yes?" the Granggob looked at him expectantly.
"Errrm." Severus hesitated, a deep frown slicing his forehead as he dug deep into his memories, trying to find something else that he could name.
"Well, she was… we…um… we did things together. Like walking around the lake. It was nice." Realizing how pathetic that sounded, he buried his face in his hands.
"Oh, yes, 'doing things together' and 'it was nice' really has my heart beating faster," the Granggob drawled. "Well, let's see. Granger, on the other hand. You have had a lot of heated discussions, yes? She enjoys books just as much as you do. She appreciates a dry sense of humor." The Granggob kept counting the points on her fingers. "You are interested in the same subjects, and she keeps you on your toes and vice versa. The few times that you actually had to work together, you even enjoyed working next to her in silence. You felt comfortable around her. Although on the surface, you kept bickering, you always sought out her company because you felt you could trust her, because you knew whatever mean insults you hurled at her, she would forgive you and return to allow your bickering to continue. And when you were finally with her, after all this time, it was…"
"Amazing," he whispered. "She is amazing."
"Yes!" the Granggob whispered excitedly. "Yes! And now go and tell her just that!"
Severus jumped out of his seat, grabbing his coat before casting a tempus charm. "Shit," he hissed, "she's probably already awake. She'll never forgive me for leaving her with only that note."
"Oh, no!" The Granggob exclaimed with a scowl, resting its hands on its hips. "You are not going to ruin this. There is still a way to save the day, trust me."
With that, it shoved him in the direction of the door, whispering instructions all the while. The Granggob opened the door. "Go get her, tiger!"
Severus glared at it before sweeping out of the door with purposeful strides. The Granggob beamed after his retreating form like a proud parent. "And come back when you find the time and tell me all about it," it shouted down the staircase where Severus was rapidly disappearing.
"And bring Firewhiskey!" it bellowed before firmly closing the door and giving a satisfied nod to itself.
A/N: I missed the Traggob and I hope you did, too. It's late at night but I wanted to send this out before I went to bed. Will you surprise me for breakfast with a nice review? *stomach grumbles hungrily for your approval*