Gryffindor's practices had paid off and Slytherin didn't stand much of a chance. The teachers' stand was full of excitement as each person followed the plays made by both teams. Almost every person that is.

Severus sighed watching the action. He was a mess inside; whom should he root for? He so longed to root for Tirza but then his own house would hate him too. He decided that cheering for no one would be his best choice. That way neither would be insulted or hurt by it.

Every time Tirza flew by, she could hear calls of support, each of the voices standing out. She knew every voice, but one voice was missing.

The scores continued to pile up until Harry finally caught the snitch in a daring move that sent Draco nearly crashing into the stands. The score was 410 Gryffindor, 130 Slytherin.

Severus sighed as Harry caught the snitch. At least the match was over, until the next match between the houses, though he was of course disappointed that Slytherin had lost. He walked sullenly from the stands as the Quidditch players descended.

"WE DID IT!" Tirza screeched as she landed.

"We kicked their bums!" George shouted.

"Woot woot Gryffindor!" Fred added.

The team tackled one another, yelling and shouting in celebration. Severus watched their excitement silently for a few moments, while Slytherin stalked angrily off the field ignoring them.

Tirza grinned, looking up from the pile of laughing players and smirked as they walked by, silent and angry. She also saw Severus, the look on his face, as he turned and followed the Slytherins back into the school.

She watched him growl at several students as he walked, and Tirza's jaw dropped. Was he growling at her? What had she done? Shaking her head in confusion she looked back at the team.

"Where's your dad going? Aren't you going to go talk to him?" Harry asked.

"I think he's mad... maybe at me. Look at him." She indicated his direction and Harry looked over towards Snape.

"Probably the game," he sighed. "Maybe you should talk to him about it?"

"Maybe later," she told him quietly. Tirza wanted a little time to think on what might be upsetting him.

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The Gryffindor common room was turned into a noisy, rowdy party. For once, McGonagall turned a blind eye to their rambunctious spirit, she too secretly celebrating and gloating the easy victory for her house.

As the party continued on, two people were very unhappy. Severus Snape paced his office, his mind full of confusion. Why was he so angry? Why couldn't he bring himself to cheer for his child?

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Tirza smiled slightly as several people zoomed across the common room on their brooms. Candy was overflowing, including some strange looking contributions from Fred and George, the house elves had supplied some pumpkin juice and an enchanted boom box was blasting music loud enough to cause the portraits to cover their ears and complain.

Beating Slytherin this early in the year was a great head start towards the Quidditch cup and everyone knew it. Oliver was beaming proudly, praising his team and telling his plans for upcoming strategies to assure more wins.

There was so much excitement and happiness around her, but Tirza couldn't bring herself to join in. All she could think about was that her father was mad at her, and she could only think of one reason why: his Gryffindor child kicked the butt of his Slytherin house.

Did that really matter? Hadn't he always said that he didn't care what house she was in? Tirza remembered him saying those things, but now she wasn't so sure that he meant them. Was his house really more important? Was he upset that she wasn't in Slytherin?

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It was past curfew that night when Tirza made her way slowly towards the dungeons. Prefects knew better then to stop her, knew that Snape would have their heads if they tried. Her walk was uninterrupted and she wrapped her robe tighter around herself. The dungeons always seemed cold after leaving the warm common room.

"Someone's working late," she whispered out loud. "If I know dad." She knocked on the door, rather timidly at first, then a bit louder.

Severus growled in the direction of his door. "Enter!" he shouted gruffly. He was surprised to see that it was Tirza who was interrupting his grading and not another idiotic student.

He watched her slip quietly into the room. Her face looked tight, worried. "It's you," he commented in a softer tone.

"Maybe I should come back later?" Tirza asked timidly. "Like tomorrow morning?"

Severus sighed. "No, of course not." He frowned as she stood just inside his doorway, wondering why she hadn't come to sit by his desk as she usually did.

Tirza was nervous and it was written on her face. "Are you mad at me dad?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You looked upset earlier, and you were growling. You still are growling," she pointed out, moving to stand in front of his desk/

Another sigh. "I am, aren't I? It's been a terrible day," Severus offered. Why it was terrible he didn't offer an explanation.

She fidgeted. "Oh; sorry it's been terrible." She wondered what to say. Well, she knew what she wanted to say but wasn't sure if right now was the right time to say it!

"What did you need Tirza?" He tried to speak more soothingly, sensing she wished to say something.

"Nothing really. Just wanted to make sure you were ok…" Tirza bit her lip and turned around to head for the door.

"Are you sure of that? And why are you leaving?" Severus' eyebrow rose when she started to go.

Tirza turned and looked at him silently for a moment. He watched her dark eyes, his eyes, shimmer with sadness.

"I understand daddy," she whispered. "Really I do. You don't have to cheer for us… for Gryffindor. It's not important. It won't hurt my feelings." Tirza knew she was outright lying as she spoke.

"It doesn't matter to me. Doesn't even matter if we win either. I just like playing…" She took a deep breath. "I just wanted you to know that I understand daddy."

Before Severus could even open his mouth the reply to her startling comments, Tirza had hurried out the door. He could hear her running down the hallway… he was quite sure he could hear her crying as well.

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The common room had quieted down by the time Tirza returned. McGonagall had put a stop to the party just before curfew, making everyone clean up and head to their dorm rooms.

"Hey where'd you go?" Ginny plopped on Tirza's bed as soon as she saw her friend enter their room. She looked over at Maddie, who was sound asleep. It looked like she and Tirza were going to need some private chatting anyway, so it was better that their friend was asleep.

Tirza sat beside her friend, her face wet with tears. "To see my dad," she whispered.

"Then why are you crying?" Ginny handed molly lion to Tirza while holding her own stuffed rabbit.

"We're fighting." She sniffled and hugged molly tight.

"Fighting? What about?"

"About me… and…it's because I'm in Gryffindor and on the quidditch team."

Ginny frowned, feeling confused. "Tirza, I don't get it."

"I… I embarrass my dad," she whispered. "He's ashamed of me."

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Tirza spent the entire weekend in her dorm with Ginny. She didn't even visit with Severus, or look at him at meals. She felt devastated. She had embarrassed and shamed and disappointed her mother, too. What was wrong with her?

She cried every night, after Ginny and Maddie fell asleep, into her pillow as she squeezed molly tight. When she did fall asleep, she had dreams about her mother.

Severus was just as miserable. He spent the entire weekend hold up in his lab making potions that Poppy needed replenished.

He growled at the staff members, including Albus who remarked on how tired Tirza had looked that morning and that Severus too looked tired. He even planned to have supper brought to his chambers just to avoid the staff members before they drove him insane.

Both Snapes were incredibly miserable. Everyone around them could see it, but neither of them was ready to talk to each other just yet.

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Tirza, however, was ready to talk to someone. That someone was Oliver Wood.

"Can we talk?" Tirza asked, sitting in front of the fire beside Oliver. It was just after supper and most of the students were milling around outside or finishing homework, but thankfully the common room wasn't that crowded.

"Of course little sis," Oliver winked. "What be on your mind?"

Tirza hugged him tightly, and then pulled away. "Please don't be mad Oliver, but… I want to quit the quidditch team…"

A/N: Sorry it's short, but I wanted to update ASAP! Is Tirza really going to quit quidditch? Will Severus be happy if she does? Will Severus figure out why Tirza is so upset, and why he himself is so upset? Does he really find her the embarrassment that Tirza fears he does? Stay tuned! Love to all, Kerry

Disclaimer: Still don't own. Never will. JK Rowling does. I have no real money. Just playing in her backyard.