Isabel Whittaker was in the classroom which she could now call her own. The headmaster had graciously allowed her to use it as she wished and made it clear that anything she asked for regarding Tirza's education would be given. She had been excitedly decorating the classroom since yesterday afternoon and hoped Tirza would like it. She was putting several glittery and brightly colored butterflies in the windows when the door opened. "Hi!" Tirza said as she entered the room. Isabel quickly turned around. "Good morning; are you feeling better?" The little girl nodded. "And good morning to you as well Professor." She greeted the Potions master formally; in truth, she and most of the wizarding world knew of Snape's sarcastic, cynical, belittling, demeaning and volatile personality and was some what intimidated. She tried hard not to show it, smiling brightly at the rather Gothic looking man. "Good morning Miss Whittaker," he replied. Snape than turned his attention to Tirza, kneeling down to look into her eyes. "I want you to be good for Miss Whittaker and do as she says. You give her any problems and you will be in trouble, understand?" Tirza nodded. Isabel noted that the little girl did not seem in the least bit frightened of the stern professor. Snape stood up and turned to Isabel. "If you have any problems with her, do not hesitate to bring her to me immediately; she knows what to expect if she misbehaves, so I have a feeling she will be a model student." The little girl blushed slightly and dropped her head, too embarrassed to look at Isabel. "I understand; I am sure that we will get along well together and be good friends," Isabel assured him. Tirza nodded her agreement. "Alright; be a good girl Tirza and I shall see you at lunch." Tirza blew kisses at Snape as he left the room, than turned to Isabel, looking at her expectantly. Isabel smiled at the little girl. "Well, I thought we'd talk and get to know each other and go over some things and start work tomorrow. How does that sound?" Tirza nodded, her pony tail bouncing and plopped onto a blue bean bag. "I like bean bags; it's really cool you got bean bags." Isabel smiled. "You should say 'it's really cool that you have bean bags'." Tirza shrugged her shoulders and Isabel laughed, than crossed the room to sit on a red bean bag. "How old are you Tirza?" Isabel started. "I'm ten. How old are you?" "Twenty-seven," Isabel replied. "That's old, but not as old as daddy, he's like a million or something." Isabel laughed and smiled; she liked Tirza Snape already.

Jinn Jinn ran around the classroom, sniffing everything and leaving her scent if she deemed it appropriate. Isabel and Tirza, still sitting on the bean bags, watched the rabbit scurry about the room. "Your rabbit is very cute Tirza. Did you name her after the dog on I Dream of Jeannie?" Isabel asked. Tirza smiled brightly. "Finally! Someone who gets that!" Isabel laughed. "Is it hard for you here, not growing up in England or the wizard world?" Tirza nodded and gently pet Jinn Jinn as she hopped past them. "Sometimes; Hermione usually knows what I'm talking about, but everyone else thinks I'm like crazy or something." "I can understand that; I am the only witch in my family," Isabel told her. "Really?" Tirza asked. "Tell me about your family; do they hate you because you're a witch?" "My family was very excited when I received my letter from Salem, especially my brothers and sisters," Isabel replied. "Do you got a big family?" "Have dear, not got," Isabel corrected. "And yes I do. I have two brothers and four sisters." "Wow!" Tirza said excitedly. "That's like the Weasleys, they got, I mean have, tons of kids." "Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Isabel inquired. "Nope, just me! I don't know if I'd ever want any; I like having my daddy all to myself. What are all their names?" Isabel smiled. "There's Andrew, Kathryn, Michael, myself, Anne, Elizabeth and Jennifer." Tirza nodded. "Those are pretty names." "What are your family's names?" The little sat in thought for a moment before answering. "Well my daddy's name is Severus, which is a crazy name and he won't tell me his middle name. My mommy's name was Ariel Amelia and my middle name is Jade." "That's a very pretty middle name," Isabel commented. "So tell me what kind of books you like to read."

Snape made his way to Tirza's classroom to collect her for lunch. He was anxious to see how she got along with the tutor and hoped that everything was gong well. He opened the door just in time to see Tirza putting Jinn Jinn into her big pink bag. "Tirza, did you bring your rabbit here after I told you not to?" he asked sternly. "Daddy, Miss Whittaker told me to bring her. She wanted to meet Jinn Jinn." He raised an eyebrow and looked to Isabel for confirmation; the tutor nodded. "Yes, I did. She sounded like such a delightful little pet that I asked Tirza to bring her here to play." Snape nodded. "Well, I am here to get Tirza for lunch. Will you be joining everyone in the Great Hall?" "No, but thank you. I will be eating in here while I make notes and unpack more supplies," Isabel replied. "I'll be back after lunch, okay?" Tirza asked. "Sounds good; enjoy your lunch Tirza," Isabel said as Snape escorted Tirza from the room. "I like her daddy, she's really nice and she even held Jinn Jinn," Tirza told him excitedly. "And I get to pick when I do my classes and I get to have recess and everything!" Snape smiled at her. "I am glad you like her. Will you be starting your studies tomorrow?" Tirza nodded, her pony tail bouncing. "I think I'm gonna like school," she decided. "Even if she won't let me make potions." 'Thank heavens,' Snape thought to himself. It was dangerous having Tirza make potions even when he was supervising, and he is a Potions Master for Merlin's sake! Tirza continued to tell him all about her morning with Isabel through lunch, hardly taking time to eat. Snape felt very relieved at her happiness and excitement; even if he did have to remind her to eat several times.

That afternoon, Tirza, with Isabel behind her, burst into Snape's office. He looked up from his desk, surprised to see them. "Daddy, I'm all done for the day. Can I go watch practice?" "As long as you wear the proper clothes," Snape decided. "Cool, bye daddy!" Tirza shouted, leaving Isabel in the office. "Do you have a moment Professor?" the tutor asked. "Of course," Snape replied, indicating a chair for her to sit in. She sat in the chair, feeling rather nervous, but tried not to show it. "I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you. I thought every Friday we could have a small conference and discuss Tirza's work for the week. Would that be a good day for you?" Snape nodded. "That should work just fine Miss Whittaker; I very much want to keep appraised of Tirza's work." The young tutor smiled. "Please, Isabel is fine between us adults." "Shall we set three o'clock on Fridays than, Isabel?" She nodded. "I also wanted to talk to you about Tirza's language. I understand that you do not have much of an opinion about her quite unladylike habit." Snape sighed; what all had Tirza been telling this woman. "While I do not approve of her habit; I admit that I have not done much in the way of breaking it." "I personally do not approve of it and am looking for your permission to dissuade her from using such words," she told him. "Be my guest; I will warn you however that Tirza is a very stubborn little girl and it shall not be an easy task," Snape informed her. "I understand, but I should at least like to try." He nodded. "As long as you do not do anything drastic, I really do not see any harm." "I would need your cooperation as well; I will not be successful if I tell her no and after she is released from my care, you allow her too. It would be extremely counterproductive," she said nervously. "Of course; you shall have my full cooperation. Any concerns you have about Tirza, do not hesitate to bring them to my attention," Snape assured her. "Thank you, I appreciate that. That is all I wanted to speak to you about, so I shall return to my classroom and prepare for tomorrow." She quickly got up and exited the room, her red robe swishing.

Tirza made her way back to the dungeons after hanging out in the Gryffindor common room. It was almost time for her to be back and she didn't want to make her father mad by being late. "Hey!" a voice called to her in a rather loud whisper. Tirza hesitantly looked around for the voice; Draco was peeking out at her from the shadows of a statue. "Come here," he waved her over. "What?" Tirza asked, stepping into the shadows. "Are you still coming to Hogsmeade this Saturday?" She sadly shook her head no. "Why not?" Draco asked, rather annoyed. "I'm grounded from Hogsmeade for three weeks cuz I was flying around." He gave her a funny look. "So?" She giggled. "So that means I can't go silly! Can I come to your secret thing another time?" Draco shook his head. "It's gotta be this Saturday. Can't you sneak out and come?" Tirza's eyes widened as she thought of what her father would do if he caught her. "I don't think I should. My dad would be really really mad if I did that." Draco shrugged. "So? What would he do to you?" Tirza blushed. "He'd probably spank me." Draco laughed. "You afraid to come?" She frowned. "Course not!" Nobody called her a coward! "Then figure out a way to come if you're not too scared," Draco told her. He walked away, leaving her there in the shadows. She continued down the hallways, deep in thought. She really shouldn't go; oh boy would she be in trouble if she did! But if she didn't, than Draco would think she was chicken; and she really wanted to go! She sighed, feeling frustrated. At least she had two more days to figure something out.

A very sleepy Tirza appeared in Isabel's classroom the next morning. She had been up most of the night debating between staying here on Saturday like she should; or going to Hogsmeade so Draco wouldn't think she was chicken. "Good morning Tirza," Isabel cheerfully greeted the little girl. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Tirza replied. She sat down at her desk, hanging her pink sweater on her chair. Isabel looked closely at the little girl; her eyes were rather blood shot and purple bags appeared underneath. "Did you sleep alright dear?" Tirza rolled her eyes. "Yeah," she replied grumpily. Isabel decided to leave well enough alone and talk to Snape about it later. Tirza had told her that she had only been with Snape a short time, but he is a teacher and should know better than to allow his daughter to stay up late on a school night. "Okay, we're going to start with spelling this morning. I want you to copy each word on the board three times in your notebook." Tirza looked at the twenty words on the board; this was going to take forever! She sighed and began to hurriedly scribble the words into her notebook, not really paying attention. Twenty minutes later, Tirza closed her notebook. "I'm done." Isabel came over to Tirza's desk. "Open your notebook so I can take a look." The little girl reluctantly opened it. Isabel was less than pleased with the work. "Tirza, a lot of these words are spelled wrong and I can hardly read them. Would you please do them over a little more carefully?" Tirza frowned. "I don't want to," she whined. "Tirza, if you don't practice these words, you won't learn how to spell them the right way. I want you to try again dear." "I don't care if I spell 'em right; this is boring," Tirza whined. "Tirza....." Isabel began. "I'm not gonna do them again! This sucks, I wanna go play!" Tirza yelled, interrupting the tutor. Isabel looked at the little girl sternly. "Tirza, be a grown up girl and do what I asked," she said softly, but firmly. Tirza crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the teacher. "I don't have to listen to you and you can't make me!" Isabel sighed. "Alright, let's go ask your father if you are supposed to listen to me or not." Tirza's eyes widened and her face paled slightly. "Come on," Isabel said. "Let's go ask him." Tirza shook her head; she definitely did not want her teacher to take her to her dad. He had promised her a spanking if she misbehaved for the teacher and she certainly didn't want to try his patience after flying around. "We don't need to go talk to him," she told Isabel, still frowning. "Why not?" Isabel asked. "Cuz he's gonna tell me to do whatever you say and than I'm gonna be in trouble! If I do it again, are you still gonna tell my dad on me?" Isabel smiled. "No; if you do it again like a good girl, I won't tell your father." Tirza sighed. "Okay, I'll do it; but I'm not happy." As Tirza picked up her pencil and began to carefully copy the words, Isabel sat back down at her desk, hiding a smile. She had expected this; after all, this was the same girl who had been flying inside the school! 'Score one for the teacher,' she thought to herself.

Tirza sat beside Snape at lunch; she hadn't eaten a thing on her plate. "Why aren't you eating?" Snape asked. She shrugged. "Not hungry." Snape raised an eyebrow and looked at her sternly. "And I don't feel good, so don't make me eat or I'll puke." "Alright little one, talk," he ordered gently. She rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about?" "Every time you don't eat and you don't feel good, it means you are upset about something. This time I would like to know what it is before you do something drastic like runaway again." She sighed; as if she could tell him! 'Yeah dad, I wanna go to Hogsmeade, but I can't figure out a way to sneak out? Got any ideas?' That would go real well, she thought. "Are you having problems with Miss Whittaker?" Tirza shook her head. "No, I like her. I just don't like school; it's really hard. I liked my old school better." Snape nodded. "Have you told Miss Whittaker?" "Yeah and than she told me about it and made more sense, but it's still hard. I don't like things that are hard." "It's good when things are hard; that means you are learning. If everything was easy, no one would ever need to try. You keep trying, alright?" Snape asked, watching her intently. "Okay; but I'm still not hungry." "Eat something later if you do get hungry; I won't have you starving yourself again. If you'd like I could help you with your homework later." Tirza forced herself to smile. "Okay, I like it when you help me." Satisfied at her response, Snape turned his attention back to his lunch.

Isabel smiled as Tirza bounced out of the classroom; after the battle over her spelling, she had been much more pleasant, despite being tired. She reminded herself to speak with Snape if Tirza came to class that tired again. Perhaps Tirza had been nervous and that had caused her to lose sleep. She noted that Tirza had a hard time concentrating, but if you made it interesting enough to capture her attention, she was very bright. This would be a more hands on teaching job than her last jobs had been. She didn't mind working more closely with Tirza; she was a good girl and very bright when she wanted to be. Isabel wondered where Tirza's mother was. The little girl was reluctant to talk about her mother and it took much coaxing to get her to say anything. And everything she said seemed to be in the passed tense; was, did. That was something else she'd have to inquire about later.

It had taken most of the night, but Tirza had finally come up with a plan. It would definitely work, but only if she could get Harry to loan his invisibility cloak to her. She was still up as the sun rose Friday morning, though she had pretended to be asleep when Snape came to wake her. Almost mechanically, she dress in her black jeans with red laces up the side and a white t-shirt with 'Who needs boys... when you have credit cards?' written in black. She didn't even attempt to work with the tangled mess that was her hair; she just let it hang loose in tangled bunches of ringlets. She was so tired she even got lost on her way to her classroom, taking an extra ten minutes to finally get there. "Sorry I'm late," she mumbled as she entered the room. "Got lost." Isabel smiled. "No problem dear; this place is so very big, it is quite easy to get lost in." Tirza nodded and sat at her desk. Isabel looked at her messy hair, the dried milk in the corners of the little girl's mouth, and at the tell tale signs of having not slept much in two days. She would definitely need to talk to Snape; he really should have better skills as a parent than this! Tirza leaned over her notebook, trying hard to concentrate on using each of her spelling words in a sentence. Her eyes kept closing and she kept jerking awake. Finally Tirza gave in to her sleepiness and closed her eyes; she slowly leaned forward, her head resting on the desk. Isabel looked up from her lesson planner to check on Tirza's progress and found the little girl fast asleep, her head on her desk. Isabel was angry; how dare that Professor Snape expect her to work with a child that could hardly keep her little eyes open? What was wrong with him, allowing her to run wild and stay up until all hours of the night? He obviously was not taking enough interest in Tirza's well being, but that had been apparent since she found it her pupil was the girl flying through the hallways! He obviously had no idea what his daughter was doing, and probably didn't care as long as she didn't get in the way of him teaching his classes. Well Isabel was not going to put up with that! She gently rubbed Tirza's shoulders. "Wake up dear," she said softly. Tirza became semi-awake, vaguely aware that Isabel was guiding her down the hallway towards her father's classroom.

A/N: Uh oh! Sounds like Snape's going to get an earful from Isabel! With his temper, what will he have to say about the young tutor telling him off? And will Harry lend Tirza his invisibility cloak? Will she end up going to Hogsmeade, or will she make the right choice and stay behind? Oh the suspense! LOL! I will try and hurry to get the next chapter up. My honey is out of town this weekend, so I have no one to distract me from living on the computer, LOL!

LostSoul: Of course Tirza had to make a dramatic first impression on the tutor, or else it wouldn't be Tirza! Subtle is just not her way! And about college, this fall will be my first year. I took a year off after high school to save some money and can now pay for my first two years of college in full!! I want to be a lawyer, so I have lots of years ahead. I have been in public school all my life, so I don't think it will be a bid ordeal for me. My best friend is like you; home schooled and than college was the first public school experience. She had a hard time with it, but is much better now. I hope you are doing well too! Snape and Isabel will get together... but will it last? And what will Tirza's part in it be?

Amethyst D: Glad you liked it! Stay tuned!

Alrick: Three weeks will be VERY hard for Tirza and just might prove to be too much for her. And god be with her if she does go to Hogsmeade and Snape catches her! I would not want to be her!

Potter-Snape: I agree with you; Snape was right to give Tirza a stiff punishment, but after hurting her arm so badly, it would not have been fair if he had spanked her, even though she may have deserved it.

Kenomee: Isabel and Tirza will have their ups and downs, but for the most part they will be good friends. I am going to try and incorporate some of Charlotte Mason's ideas into Isabel's. I have been reading a lot about it online; and thanks again for the suggestion!

Star: Tirza is certainly a child that is hard to handle! I wish the tutor luck, but I think Tirza won't give her too much trouble... for now anyways.

Luinthoron: Isabel will turn out to be a very nice lady and a semi mother figure for Tirza as they school years goes on.

Sugarprincess: I am so glad you love the story! It's my "baby" fic and I am so pleased that so many readers love it! You'll have to wait and see where Isabel and Snape go with there relationship!

CraJure: Glad you enjoy the story! The tutor is a general teacher, like most American elementary school teachers are.

Much love to all my readers! Hugs, Kerry