Isabel stood in the doorway of Snape's dungeon classroom, Tirza hiding behind her. The last thing Tirza wanted was to have her dad think Isabel had brought her to him because she was being naughty. Snape glanced around the room, glaring at all the students who were busily copying notes from the blackboard. His glance finally reached the door and his eyebrow rose in surprise as he spotted Isabel. "Miss Whittaker, can I help you with something?" The young tutor nodded. "I need to speak with you privately at your earliest convenience." Snape looked towards the clock. "This class will be over in ten minutes and than I shall have thirty minutes before the next. You could wait in my office." Isabel nodded curtly and quickly turned, Tirza trailing behind her red robes. Snape caught sight of Tirza and sighed; he had figured it wouldn't be long before Tirza starting acting up. He didn't want to think about what she had done this time, and turned his attention back to glaring at the fearful first years.

Isabel sat in the chair placed in front of Snape's desk; she looked over at Tirza, who had curled up in an armchair and was once again fast asleep. The young woman shook her head; was it possible that Professor Snape was neglecting his daughter? Nothing in the world made her angrier than the mistreatment of children. Children are precious gifts and she could never understand people who didn't realize that. She didn't want to accuse the man of neglect, but it looked rather self evident. She hoped there was some sort of logical explanation. She didn't have long to wait before the man in question entered the room, slamming the door shut and awaking Tirza in the process. "Alright young lady, what have you done now?" Tirza frowned and blinked. "What are you talking about? I didn't do nothin!" Snape scowled darkly at his daughter. "Are you lying to me again?" Tirza shook her head. "Alright young lady, you march into your room and I will be there to deal with you momentarily." Tirza's lip started to quiver; she was in trouble and she didn't know what she had done! "Tirza, you stay right where you are," Isabel said softly. She turned, a frown on her beautiful face, and looked at Snape. "What exactly are you talking about?" Snape's eyebrow rose. "What do you mean? Have you not brought her here because she has misbehaved?" "Absolutely not. I am perfectly capable of maintaining discipline in my own classroom Professor. I am here to speak with you and I wanted to bring Tirza with me," Isabel informed him. Snape grew silent and a slight blush spread over his face. "I'm sorry I accused you wrongly," he said to Tirza. Her face brightened and she ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "It's okay daddy; everybody makes mistakes, just like you said." Snape smiled and picked her up; kissing her sweet face, wondering what he had done to deserve such a sweet, loving and forgiving daughter. "Tirza dear, would you please wait for me in the hallway?" Isabel asked. The little girl nodded and Snape put her down. "Bye daddy," she said as she left the office.

Snape motioned for Isabel to be seated and sat down behind his desk. "Professor Snape, did you notice anything amiss about your daughter this morning, or in fact, just now?" Snape thought for a moment before answering. "No, not especially." He was surprised to see a look of anger cross the tutor's face. "Did you not notice your daughter's hair is in tangles and knots? Or that her face is dirty? Or the purple bags under her eyes? She came to my classroom this morning, very tired for the second day in a row, and proceeded to fall asleep over her studies." Snape now understood what the woman was concerned about. "I must say that with your reputation as a perfectionist and being a teacher, that I expected Tirza to be taken care of much better than she is," Isabel told him. Snape instantly became angry. "And just who are you to tell me how to care for my child?" he shouted as he stood. Isabel rose from her chair, looking up at his dark face with stubbornness and defiance. "I am someone who cares greatly for children and will not tolerate seeing them neglected!" Isabel retorted. "My daughter is anything but neglected! She is happy and well taken care of, thank you madam!" Snape spat. "Fine! I shall go and speak to the headmaster about notifying the Ministry of a case of child abuse," Isabel told him, turning on her heel. Snape groaned. "Miss Whittaker, will you please sit down and allow me a chance to explain?" She eyed him before sitting again. Snape sat back down, corralling his temper, and sighed. "My daughter has gone through some very tragic events in her young life; events that I wish I could have prevented. She suffers from terrible nightmares because of these tragedies and is plagued nearly every night with them. I cannot tell you how many times since her arrival that she has woken up screaming, or begged to sleep with me to feel safe. I give her the Dreamless Sleep Potion as often as I dare too, but she is much too young to use it on a nightly basis." Snape paused, watching the emotions that were battling on Isabel's face. "I assure you that I try my best to see her in bed at a decent time and she has been going to bed at eight o'clock since her release from the hospital wing due to her flying escapade. No matter what time I put her to bed, it is difficult for her to fall asleep because she is frightened of the nightmares; once she falls asleep it never lasts long, interrupted over and over again by the nightmares. The reason her hair is a mess and her face is dirty is because the nightmares have been especially bad the last couple of nights and she has slept very little. When she is tired, she becomes very cranky and I mentioned her hair and face to her this morning and was promptly yelled at. Not wanting to start a war over such trivial things, I decided to let it ride. I apologize if it gave you the wrong impression, but Tirza gets very cranky and over sensitive when she has not had much sleep."

Isabel sat there for a few moments after Snape stopped talking. She felt like an idiot; she had let her temper get the best of her and had made an error of judgment. "I apologize Professor Snape; it was wrong of me to say what I did and to accuse you of neglect," she said softly, looking rather intently at the floor. "I appreciate your concern about my daughter; that tells me I did indeed hire the right person to teach her. I should have explained these things to you in the beginning, but Tirza has been rather... mind consuming lately with her various fiascos and it slipped my mind," Snape replied. Isabel looked up and gave him a slight smile. "I'm very sorry sir. May I ask what tragedies she has experienced? I have taken child psychology and may be able to help her." Snape returned a small smile. "I appreciate the offer, but it is not up to me to tell you. If Tirza wishes you to know, she will tell you. Perhaps if she does, you will be able to help her. Her last experience with a muggle 'psychiatrist' went very badly, so she most likely will refuse your help if and when she chooses to tell you." Isabel nodded. "I understand; and again, I apologize for my quick temper." Snape waved his hand. "Think nothing of it; your intentions were honorable and with Tirza's best interest in mind." She breathed a sigh of relief and gave him a beautiful smile. "Thank you; I best get back to Tirza and see if she is awake enough to study." Snape nodded and Isabel exited the room. As the door opened, Tirza poked her head inside and waved before following Isabel back to the classroom.

Tirza sat with Harry, Hermione and Ron, roasting marshmallows in the Gryffindor common room fire place. "So are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Ron asked. "I'm not," Hermione piped up. "We have a Potions test in two weeks and I want to study." The boys chuckled and Tirza smiled. "Are you guys going?" Tirza asked. Both boys shook their heads. "We always go; it would be a crime to miss a chance to go to Honeydukes," Ron told her. "I'm not supposed to go; I got grounded cuz I was flying around. But I really want to do anyways," Tirza commented. Hermione looked at her closely. "Are you going to sneak out?" Tirza nodded. All three looked at her as though she were crazy. "TJ, think of what Snape is gonna do if he finds out!" She shrugged, pretending to be much braver than she really was. "He'd murder you, even if you are his kid," Harry added. Tirza took a deep breath. "That's why I need a favor Harry." Harry looked rather nervous as she continued. "Can I borrow your invisibility cloak to go? Otherwise someone might see me leave." Ron laughed. "Are you serious? That's crazy!" Tirza scowled at the red headed boy. "He's right you know; why do you want to go so badly?" Hermione asked. "Well it's kind of a secret," Tirza said slowly. "And I can't tell you guys. Can I please borrow it Harry? I'd take really really good care of it, I swear!" Harry shook his head. "I won't borrow it to you, but if you really think you want to sneak out, than I will go under the cloak with you." Tirza sighed. "I guess that will work." She looked at the clock. "Damn, I gotta get going or my dad's gonna freak." They said their goodbyes and Tirza left the common room. Hermione watched Tirza leave, feeling really uneasy, though she wasn't sure why. "I forgot to ask TJ something, I'll be right back," she said, quickly leaving to catch up with Tirza.

"TJ! Wait!" Tirza turned around at the sound of her name and waited for Hermione to catch up to her. "What's up?" she asked. "I'm worried about you; I don't want you to get into trouble. What's so secret and important that you have to sneak out?" "Can you keep it a secret?" Tirza asked hesitantly. Hermione nodded. "Draco asked me to go to some kind of secret hiding place with some of his friends and I really want to go." Hermione frowned. "That's a really bad idea. You shouldn't go." Tirza sighed. "I know you don't like Draco, but he's not so bad to me anymore." Hermione shook her head. "Don't get into trouble over him; if your dad finds out he'll lock you in your room or something!" Tirza giggled. "Don't be so dramatic!" "I'm not kidding. He'd be really mad; do you want to get spanked again or worse? He'll kill you if you get caught." "Then I'll just have to not get caught," Tirza replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. "Don't worry about me; I can take care of myself. You're not going to tell on me are you?" Hermione shook her head. "No, I won't tell. If you do go, just be careful alright?" Tirza nodded. "Thanks Hermione; you're a good friend!" Hermione watched as Tirza continued down the hallway; she really liked Tirza, but she was so crazy sometimes. Hermione felt incredibly guilty; what if something happens tomorrow and it wouldn't have if she had told somebody? She tried to push that thought from her mind as she headed back to her dorms.

"So are you coming tomorrow?" Draco asked. Tirza jumped as he came out of the shadows, frightening her. "Don't do that, it's not funny!" she said, stomping her foot. "And yeah, I'm coming." Draco smiled. "Great. I'll meet you at Honeydukes and than I'll take you to the secret spot, alright?" Tirza nodded and Draco walked away. Her stomach started to feel kind of funny. 'Maybe Hermione's right,' she thought. 'And I don't want to make daddy mad either. But Draco will think I'm a baby if I don't go and then he'll start picking on me again.' She sighed; life was so difficult at times! Sometimes it was so hard to decide what was right; she wished that she could talk to daddy or grandpa about it, but they would stop her from going and then everyone would make fun of her. As she approached the door, she took a deep breath. 'I have to go.' She decided. 'I am NOT a baby and I'll prove it!'

Snape yawned and put away his book; it was just after midnight and it had been a long day. It had been a long week! He went to his room to change into his nightclothes; as he crawled into bed, he heard a loud bang from Tirza's room. He sighed and grabbed his bathrobe before heading to her room. Tirza sat on her floor, rubbing her knees. "Hi daddy," she said as he entered. "What happened?" She giggled. "I was rolling around on my bed and I rolled right off and banged my knees." She suddenly pouted, her face looking very sad. "Will you kiss them and make them better?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "You want me to kiss your knees?" She nodded. "Pwease?" He sighed and scooped her up off the floor, setting her gently on her bed. Sitting beside her, Snape gently kissed each of her knees as a wide smile broke out on her little face. "Thank you daddy; you're the bestest. I mean best, um, right?" He nodded. "What are you still doing up?" Her eyes dropped and the smile disappeared. "Don't be mad," she asked quietly. Snape cuddled her in his arms, kissing her head. "I'm not mad sweetheart; I'm just concerned. Is something wrong?" Tirza shook her head. "Just can't sleep; thinkin about stuff." "Like what?" She shrugged. "Just stuff." Snape looked at her closely. "Anything you'd like to talk about?" "Nah," she replied. Tirza wished she could talk to him; than maybe she would be able to sleep. But of course she couldn't; I mean, you can't tell your dad can you are going to disobey him even though you're grounded, she figured. "Can you just hold me for a little bit? I like it when you hold me, cuz you're really strong and it makes me feel safe." Snape kissed her cheek. "Of course sweetheart." She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes, trying to push the thoughts about tomorrow from her head.

"Daddy, I don't want to eat," Tirza said as she sat beside Snape the next morning at breakfast. Snape looked at her, his face full of concern. "Are you sick?" He held his hand to her forehead. "You didn't feel feverish." Tirza shook her head. "Don't make me eat, I already feel like I might puke." Snape nodded. "Don't worry about it; can you wait until I am finished or should I take you back to our chambers now?" Tirza rubbed her tummy. "I think maybe now. Maybe I'm just too too tired and than I can snuggle with Molly." Snape nodded and stood up. "Can you carry me daddy?" Now Snape really became concerned. "Perhaps I should take you to the hospital wing." "I can walk daddy, I just like it when you carry me better." The anxiety on Snape's face seemed to lessen slightly and he gently picked her up. She yawned and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Let's get you into your pajamas; you haven't been sleeping well lately, perhaps you're getting sick." Tirza allowed Snape to carry her to her room, but made him leave as she changed. She kept on her clothes, but put a robe on over them. "You can come back in daddy," she called. Snape entered the room and tucked the covers tight around her. "I'm sorry daddy," she said, her lip quivering. "What are you sorry for?" "For not feeling good." Snape smiled. "Why should you feel sorry about that?" she sniffled. "I was supposed to help you clean today cuz I was flying and now I don't feel good. I'm sorry." Snape kissed her cheek. "Do not worry about that little one; I can clean just as well by myself. You weren't planning on being sick and you cannot help it if you are. You just rest. I'll be right across the hall in my classroom if you need me alright?" Tirza nodded and yawned again, hugging Molly close.

After Snape left, Tirza waited ten minutes before crawling out of bed and abandoning her robe. She tip toed to the door, opening it a slight crack, watching for Harry. She didn't have to wait long before she heard him. "Psst. Come on," he whispered. He opened the cloak and Tirza ducked inside, walking carefully with him down the hallway. "I still think you're crazy you know." Tirza giggled softly. "Thanks Harry for helping me." He nodded. "I just hope that you don't get caught." She sighed. "You and me both." They walked beside Ron all the way to Hogsmeade, trying not to talk too loudly and make people suspicious. When they reached Hogsmeade, they ducked inside Honeydukes and Tirza came out of the cloak. "Thanks Harry; I'll walk back later, so don't worry about waiting for me." He nodded and wondered away with Ron while Tirza waited as directed for Draco to show up. She felt someone tap her shoulder and nearly jumped. She turned around quickly and was relieved to see it was only Draco. "You ready?" Tirza nodded and followed him out of Honeydukes and away from the crowd of Hogwarts students. They walked towards a large, boarded up building that gave the appearance of being haunted. "Is this the Shrieking Shack?" Tirza asked hesitantly. "Yeah, why?" "Well, um, I'm not allowed in there," Tirza said quietly. "If you want to go back to Hogwarts, go ahead, but you're gonna miss out," Draco told her. Tirza took a deep breath, summoning her courage; she couldn't let him think she was scared. "Sure, let's go," she said, following him to the forbidden looking building.

Hermione sat in the abandoned Gryffindor common room. She was all alone, as everyone had gone to Hogsmeade. She wanted to get a head start on studying for her Potions test, but couldn't seem to concentrate on her books and notes. She sighed; she was worried about Tirza. She knew Draco's kind; he was just being nice because he wanted to get something. Tirza just didn't see it like Hermione did and she was scared for her friend. Knowing Draco he'd drag her off to the Shrieking Shack. And what friends was he talking about? Probably Pansy Parkinson, his two goons Crabbe and Goyle, Marcus Flint and who knows who else. Those four and Draco made a pretty rough crowd; Tirza was probably getting into something that she wasn't prepared for. Hermione made up her mind that she had to do something. Slamming her books shut, she left the common room and headed for Snape's classroom. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door. "Enter!" Snape called. "Professor Snape?" Hermione said as she hesitantly entered. "I need to talk to you about Tirza."

A/N: Hermione is a good friend! But what will Snape do when he catches up with Tirza? And what will happen in the Shrieking Shack? Hermione's right, those kids are a rough crowd. And just what is Draco the other Slytherins planning? Stay tuned! Hopefully I will have it up by tomorrow night.

Sunset-Red06: Here's your update! Enjoy!

Kenomee: The tutor will be very good for Tirza and some things about Tirza will change by the time she becomes a Hogwarts student, but only small things. We couldn't get rid of her trade mark characteristics! And you are right: Harry would not want to loan out something as precious and rare as his invisibility cloak. So, as a parent, what would you do if you were Snape? Again, I am looking for advice from parents!

LostSoul: Sorry that the cliffies are annoying you... but I love them! I hope to be a good lawyer, and eventually work for the state as a prosecutor. What are you in college for? And Tirza does have to sneak out this time, but Snape's reaction and what happens may not be what you are expecting! Hopefully, anyways!

SugarPrincess: Snape may spank her when he catches her, but maybe not. And if he doesn't, than why doesn't he? Dun dun dun, LOL! I'll try my very best to get the next chapter up before you do die of suspense.

Alrick: Alright parent, how would you handle things if you were Snape? Tirza's swearing will get better, but it will never go away completely, popping out at the most inopportune times of course! I think everyone displays Slytherin characteristics on occasion and Tirza is obviously going through a battle of Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. Of course Gryffindor will win, but it will be an interesting battle!

CraJure: You are right; Harry would not want to lend his coat. And she really is in Hogsmeade! What do you predict as Snape's reaction? And do you agree will Hermione deciding to tell Snape?

Amethyst D: Well I can't tell ya exactly what's going to happen! But it will be interesting and it may be quite a surprise!

Potter-Snape: Tirza is definitely a high maintenance child! What do you see as Snape's reaction? And yes, Tirza could have asked the Weasley twins, but then Hermione wouldn't have known and couldn't have told which will be important in the next part. I hope that I never have a child as... exuberant as Tirza is! I think I'd go bald pulling my hair out with worry and stress, LOL!

Thank you so much to all my readers! Hugs, Kerry