This is Kerry's fiancé Aaron, typing this so she will stay in bed! She told
me to tell everyone thank you for your get well wishes and that she will
answer all review messages when she is feeling better. She has been
scribbling in a notebook since she came back from the hospital, so I'll
probably get roped into typing more for her soon. She asks for suggestions
of "school escapades" for Tirza and sends her love to everyone. And now
here is the chapter:
Draco Malfoy stared in horror at howler in front of him. So much for keeping things quiet! But he had to open it; he tentatively reached for the howler. The Great Hall had gone silent, not wanting to miss a second of Malfoy's howler. Draco carefully opened the envelope; it flew from his hands and moved into the shape of a mouth. Lucius Malfoy's extremely angry voice rang out in the quiet hall. "What in Merlin's name is wrong with you? It's been one thing after another with you this year! You have been spanked by Snape TWICE? And because you've been bothering that little girl again!" Draco's face was growing paler and paler. "You are so very lucky that Professor Snape spanked you instead of expelling you! Did the caning I gave you not teach you to leave Snape's child alone?" The entire hall gasped; everyone looked from Draco to Snape and back to Draco. Draco's face became beet red with embarrassment and he wished that he could apparate away or crawl under the table. Thankfully no one was laughing; yet. "You are so very very lucky young man that I am unable to get away right now or you'd have a set of twelve red stripes to add to your collection! I better not hear anything more about you being trouble! And if you do cause anymore trouble, you better pray that Snape spanks you again, because if I have to come there and get you, you'll get much worse! You leave Snape's daughter alone you nitwit! How could you get caught like that, you idiot? Merlin! Just make sure you stay out of trouble!" The howler stopped and burst into flames, quickly turning to ash that fell onto Draco's scrambled eggs. As soon as the howler stopped, the entire hall burst into laughter and shouts. "Snape spanked Draco," several kids started chanting loudly. "Bugger finally got what he deserved!" Someone else called out. The teachers were all trying to hide their laughter and were not especially successful. Draco had never had so many people make fun of him before; what was worse was he couldn't do anything about it! He didn't even want to think of what his father would do to him! Dumbledore stood and tried to get the students to be quiet, but hardly anyone heard him over the laughter. Loudest of all, it seemed to Snape, was his own daughter. She was laughing so hard that she was crying and pointed at Draco. In all the laughter, no one even noticed Marcus Flint's howler. Dumbledore continue to call for quiet, but his requests fell on deaf ears. Snape frowned at Tirza. "Stop that," he ordered. "Why?" she asked between giggles. "Dumbledore wants everyone to be quiet and I specifically asked you NOT to make fun of Malfoy." "But everyone else is laughing!" she whined. "I do not care; you would not want them laughing at you," Snape retorted. Tirza glared at him. "I'll laugh if I want to, so there!" She started to giggle again. Snape's eyebrow rose and he looked at her sternly. "Is that so? Shall we go have a conversation in Dumbledore's office?" Tirza caught the look on his face and knew exactly what kind of conversation he was talking about. She shook her head no and stopped laughing. Dumbledore was still having no luck quieting everyone else and Snape stood up. "SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" His voice rang out loud, echoing in the hall over everyone else's voices. All the kids looked at him and stopped laughing; nobody wanted to be the next one to face Snape's wrath!
Tirza silently ate her breakfast, watching Malfoy intently. God was it tempting to say something to him! She glanced sideways at Snape, who wasn't watching her and sighed. It would almost be worth a spanking to say something to Draco... almost. Draco sat with his head in his hands, his face burning red with embarrassment. Nobody had even heard that Marcus Flint had been caned. They had all been to busy laughing at him and that howler from his dad. That was certainly the last thing Draco had wanted! He stared at the ashes of the howler that had settled onto his scrambled eggs. He had never been so embarrassed in his life! He caught Tirza looking at him and glared at her; it was all that pesky little kid's fault! Tirza saw his glare and stuck her tongue out at him. "Tirza stop that. It's no wonder he keeps bothering you, egging him on like that," Snape scolded. "He started it," Tirza whined. "Then you stop it," Snape ordered. Tirza sighed; sometimes her dad was no fun at all. Not wanting her to encourage Draco to bother her again, Snape urged her to hurry and eat. As he escorted her from the Great Hall, he stopped by the Gryffindor table. "Mr. Potter, I expect to see you in my office in thirty minutes," he told Harry gruffly. Harry only nodded and watched Snape and Tirza leave the hall, wondering what exactly Snape had in store for her. "Daddy, you're not going to spank Harry too, are ya?" Tirza asked. Snape shook his head. "Whether I wanted to or not, the school would not permit it." Tirza nodded. "Well don't be all pissy with him, cuz he's my friend, okay?" Snape rolled his eyes. "Some friend; he helped you to sneak into Hogsmeade even though he knew you weren't supposed to." Tirza scowled. "He did cuz I asked him too! It wasn't his idea." "You hush and go play in our chambers. I'll be working in my office if you need me." Tirza nodded and cast a suspicious look at him before entering the sitting room.
Snape sat in his office writing a letter to Chris Logan. "There are many things I do not know about my daughter; many things that she does not like to talk about. I do know about her nightmares and what they pertain to, but I do not know what her habits with her mother were like and if they got along and what sorts of things she was allowed to do. I would appreciate any background information that you could give me..." A knock interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he barked. Harry quietly entered the office and stood in front of Snape's desk, trying hard not to appear nervous. "You wanted to see me Professor?" Snape nodded and looked darkly at the boy. "I happen to know that you are the one who helped my daughter sneak into Hogsmeade, though you knew she was not allowed to. I would like to know what exactly possessed you to do that." Harry nodded; he had suspected that Snape wanted to see him about this. "Well sir, she came to me for help and I thought about it. She was really sure he was going to go, one way or another, and I decided it would be better if I helped her than if she snuck out on her own and got hurt or asked Malfoy for help." Snape rubbed his chin in thought; he hadn't really approached it from that way before. Tirza had put Harry in a rather difficult situation and he was doing what he thought best as her friend, thought he decision was still wrong. "I understand your point Mr. Potter, and I appreciate your concern for Tirza's well being, but you still made a poor choice." Harry nodded, thankful that Snape didn't seem nearly as upset as he normally would be. "You're part in all of this was relatively small, though you did clearly participate. I don't think any kind of drastic measures are needed, but you won't escape without punishment." Harry bravely looked at Snape, trying to read the professor's expression. "Drastic measures sir?" Snape nodded. "As in reporting you to McGonagall and such; I think a week of detention here with me while suffice." Harry let out a sigh of relief, causing Snape to raise an eyebrow. "You are relieved boy?" "Yes sir," Harry replied. "Everyone knows that you spanked Draco and I thought you just might be mad enough to do the same to me." Snape resisted the urge to chuckle at the boy's forgetfulness, having told Harry a while ago that he was not authorized by the school to do so. "Well, I shall see you here tonight at seven o'clock sharp. Do not be late." Harry nodded and made a quick exit. Snape turned back to the letter on his desk. "I thank you for your invitation; Tirza and I shall spend our Christmas here, but will come and visit for the rest of the break. I will write with travel arraignments closer to that time. Sincerely, S. Snape"
As Snape placed the letter in an envelope, there was a knock on the door. "Can I come in daddy?" "Yes," he called. Tirza entered the room and plopped into a chair in front of the desk. "I'm bored," she whined. Snape resisted the urge to chuckle. "How very unfortunate," he replied. She scowled at him. "Will you play with me?" "I'd like nothing more than to play with you sweetheart, but I do have work to do." She sighed and folded her arms across her chest, her lower lip stuck out in a pout. "I hate being grounded." Snape looked at her sternly. "I know you do, but you'd best get used to it; you still have four weeks and one day until your grounding is over." Tirza groaned and slumped in the chair. "Don't remind me," she said darkly. "Do you have any homework to work on?" Snape asked. She shook her head. "Can I go to the library?" Snape eyed her. "As long as Harry and Ron are not there." Tirza giggled. "Harry and Ron in the library? On a Sunday? Yeah right!" "I want you to go straight there and back; you come and tell me if you are going anywhere else," Snape warned. Tirza shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't be so uptight," she said as she left the office. Snape sighed and rolled his eyes. As if he could be anything but worried when it came to her; especially lately. Tirza headed towards the library and spied Marcus Flint down the hallway. "Uh oh." Not wanting to get involved in any more trouble, Tirza quickly turned around, but bumped into someone. She looked up into the smiling face of Isabel. "Hello dear, where are you off to?" Tirza smiled; Marcus wouldn't bother her with someone else around, so she was safe. "I'm bored cuz I'm grounded so I was gonna go to the library." Isabel laughed. "I'm sorry you're bored; I remember those boring days of grounding when I was your age. Do you think you would be allowed to take a walk with me? It's not very cold outside and I love the sunshine." Tirza nodded. "I think so, but I better go ask. Come with me!" Tirza took Isabel's hand and led her down to Snape's office. Tirza opened the door of the office and pulled Isabel into the room. Snape looked up and smiled at both girls. "Daddy, can I go for a walk with Miss Whittaker?" Tirza asked, her eyes pleading. "I don't see why not, as long as you behave yourself." Tirza nodded. Snape looked towards Isabel. "Will you make sure she is here in time for lunch?" "Of course," Isabel replied, smiling brightly at him. Tirza blew Snape a kiss and she and Isabel left the office. "I gotta get my coat and stuff," Tirza said, pulling Isabel towards the chambers. She led Isabel inside and left her in the sitting room. Isabel looked around the room; Snape's masculine sense of decoration was very apparent, but was punctuated here and there by things of Tirza's, adding an element of cuteness to the room. "This is a very nice place you have here with your father," Isabel commented. Tirza appeared from her room carrying a jacket, hat and mittens. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, as long as he don't have all them snakes in here!" "You should say 'he doesn't have all those'," Isabel corrected. Tirza shrugged. "I can't keep all that shit straight." Isabel frowned. "Don't swear dear, it's very rude and unladylike." Tirza ignored the comment and put on her gear, than followed Isabel outside.
Isabel and Tirza walked past the quidditch field, enjoying the warm sunlight. "So how long have you lived with your dad?" Isabel asked. The little girl shrugged. "Not really long; I'm not sure how many weeks it's been." "Where is your mother at?" Isabel asked cautiously. "She's gone," Tirza replied quickly. "On vacation?" Tirza shook her head. "She died," she told Isabel, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry dear; I didn't know," Isabel said softly. Tirza shrugged again. "Do you miss her?" "Sometimes." Isabel nodded. She knew that Tirza was having a hard time with something and wanted to find out what it was and try to help her. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No!" Tirza shouted. "It don't matter, I have my daddy." Isabel took Tirza's hand in hers. "If you ever want to talk about that or anything else, I'm a very good listener." Tirza looked up at her. "Are you some kinda psychiatrist person?" Isabel shook her head. "No; I want to be friends with you, besides being your teacher, and want you to feel comfortable sharing with me. Why dear?" Tirza grew quiet for a moment. "Psychiatrist people are stupid." "Have you ever seen one?" Tirza nodded and pushed a curl behind her ear. "Only one time." "Why?" Isabel inquired. "I don't want to talk about that," Tirza whispered. "That's just fine," Isabel replied. They continued to walk and Tirza kept switching the conversation to things about Isabel and school. Isabel didn't push any certain subjects on her, but kept track of the little girl's reactions. Just before lunch, Isabel returned Tirza to Snape. "Thanks for the walk Miss Whittaker," Tirza said as she slipped her hand into Snape's. Isabel smiled. "Anytime dear." She watched father and daughter walk down the hallway, hand in hand. A student came running down the hallway past her. "Five points from Hufflepuff, no running in the halls!" Snape shouted at the student. The boy immediately slowed to a walk and Snape turned his attention back to Tirza. Isabel shook her head; Snape was a paradox. He was so kind and gentle with Tirza; yet gruff and cynical to everyone else. Isabel thought of that as she headed back to her own chambers; she liked the softer side of Snape when she saw it. Perhaps sometime she might activate that softer side too.
Snape kissed Tirza's forehead and tucked the covers in around her. "Now I'm going to the staff meeting in the teachers lounge; I won't be gone too long. You can come and get me if you need me alright?" Tirza nodded and yawned; for once she was actually tired at bed time. "I'm cool, just sleepy," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "Alright, you sleep well and I will let you know when I'm back." Snape gave her another kiss before leaving her bedroom and heading for the staff meeting. Tirza rolled over onto her tummy, holding Molly close. It was nice to be tired at bedtime; it got so boring lying there all the time, even if she did watch TV. Before long she drifted to sleep; it wasn't a peaceful sleep. The dreams came, haunting her. She screamed for Snape, but he was not there, so he never came. She suffered through the nightmare twice before she could wake herself up. Holding Molly, Tirza stumbled out of her bed and headed for the door. She needed her dad and she needed him right now. Tears streaming down her face, sobs shaking her body, she slowly made her way down the hallway. She was crying so hard she could hardly see which way she was going. After wondering around and feeling like giving up, she finally saw the right door. All the teachers looked up as the door to the lounge swung open, revealing a sobbing Tirza in a white flannel nightgown with red lace. She caught sight of Snape and ran to him, throwing herself in his arms. "Baby, what's wrong?" Snape asked quietly. The teachers watched, their faces full of concern, as Snape wrapped his arms around Tirza and rubbed her back as the little girl mumbled. "Excuse me," Snape said, standing and hurrying from the room as Tirza sobbed on his shoulder. He took her into the empty classroom next door and rocked her in his arms. "I'm sorry baby; everything will be alright," he tried to gently reassure her. Several minutes of comforting and reassuring and her sobs died down to hiccups and stray tears, leaving a half asleep Tirza in Snape's arms. "Close your eyes and sleep, you can stay with me," Snape whispered. Tirza did close her eyes and leaned her head against his chest as Snape reentered the teachers lounge. "Will she be alright?" McGonagall asked. "What happened?" Flitwick inquired. "She had a nightmare, she'll be just fine. I can't leave her back in our chambers though," Snape told them. "She's already almost asleep in your arms. Why don't you just sit down and hold her; we're almost done," McGonagall decided. Snape sat and gently repositioned Tirza in his arms as the meeting continued.
Draco Malfoy stared in horror at howler in front of him. So much for keeping things quiet! But he had to open it; he tentatively reached for the howler. The Great Hall had gone silent, not wanting to miss a second of Malfoy's howler. Draco carefully opened the envelope; it flew from his hands and moved into the shape of a mouth. Lucius Malfoy's extremely angry voice rang out in the quiet hall. "What in Merlin's name is wrong with you? It's been one thing after another with you this year! You have been spanked by Snape TWICE? And because you've been bothering that little girl again!" Draco's face was growing paler and paler. "You are so very lucky that Professor Snape spanked you instead of expelling you! Did the caning I gave you not teach you to leave Snape's child alone?" The entire hall gasped; everyone looked from Draco to Snape and back to Draco. Draco's face became beet red with embarrassment and he wished that he could apparate away or crawl under the table. Thankfully no one was laughing; yet. "You are so very very lucky young man that I am unable to get away right now or you'd have a set of twelve red stripes to add to your collection! I better not hear anything more about you being trouble! And if you do cause anymore trouble, you better pray that Snape spanks you again, because if I have to come there and get you, you'll get much worse! You leave Snape's daughter alone you nitwit! How could you get caught like that, you idiot? Merlin! Just make sure you stay out of trouble!" The howler stopped and burst into flames, quickly turning to ash that fell onto Draco's scrambled eggs. As soon as the howler stopped, the entire hall burst into laughter and shouts. "Snape spanked Draco," several kids started chanting loudly. "Bugger finally got what he deserved!" Someone else called out. The teachers were all trying to hide their laughter and were not especially successful. Draco had never had so many people make fun of him before; what was worse was he couldn't do anything about it! He didn't even want to think of what his father would do to him! Dumbledore stood and tried to get the students to be quiet, but hardly anyone heard him over the laughter. Loudest of all, it seemed to Snape, was his own daughter. She was laughing so hard that she was crying and pointed at Draco. In all the laughter, no one even noticed Marcus Flint's howler. Dumbledore continue to call for quiet, but his requests fell on deaf ears. Snape frowned at Tirza. "Stop that," he ordered. "Why?" she asked between giggles. "Dumbledore wants everyone to be quiet and I specifically asked you NOT to make fun of Malfoy." "But everyone else is laughing!" she whined. "I do not care; you would not want them laughing at you," Snape retorted. Tirza glared at him. "I'll laugh if I want to, so there!" She started to giggle again. Snape's eyebrow rose and he looked at her sternly. "Is that so? Shall we go have a conversation in Dumbledore's office?" Tirza caught the look on his face and knew exactly what kind of conversation he was talking about. She shook her head no and stopped laughing. Dumbledore was still having no luck quieting everyone else and Snape stood up. "SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!" His voice rang out loud, echoing in the hall over everyone else's voices. All the kids looked at him and stopped laughing; nobody wanted to be the next one to face Snape's wrath!
Tirza silently ate her breakfast, watching Malfoy intently. God was it tempting to say something to him! She glanced sideways at Snape, who wasn't watching her and sighed. It would almost be worth a spanking to say something to Draco... almost. Draco sat with his head in his hands, his face burning red with embarrassment. Nobody had even heard that Marcus Flint had been caned. They had all been to busy laughing at him and that howler from his dad. That was certainly the last thing Draco had wanted! He stared at the ashes of the howler that had settled onto his scrambled eggs. He had never been so embarrassed in his life! He caught Tirza looking at him and glared at her; it was all that pesky little kid's fault! Tirza saw his glare and stuck her tongue out at him. "Tirza stop that. It's no wonder he keeps bothering you, egging him on like that," Snape scolded. "He started it," Tirza whined. "Then you stop it," Snape ordered. Tirza sighed; sometimes her dad was no fun at all. Not wanting her to encourage Draco to bother her again, Snape urged her to hurry and eat. As he escorted her from the Great Hall, he stopped by the Gryffindor table. "Mr. Potter, I expect to see you in my office in thirty minutes," he told Harry gruffly. Harry only nodded and watched Snape and Tirza leave the hall, wondering what exactly Snape had in store for her. "Daddy, you're not going to spank Harry too, are ya?" Tirza asked. Snape shook his head. "Whether I wanted to or not, the school would not permit it." Tirza nodded. "Well don't be all pissy with him, cuz he's my friend, okay?" Snape rolled his eyes. "Some friend; he helped you to sneak into Hogsmeade even though he knew you weren't supposed to." Tirza scowled. "He did cuz I asked him too! It wasn't his idea." "You hush and go play in our chambers. I'll be working in my office if you need me." Tirza nodded and cast a suspicious look at him before entering the sitting room.
Snape sat in his office writing a letter to Chris Logan. "There are many things I do not know about my daughter; many things that she does not like to talk about. I do know about her nightmares and what they pertain to, but I do not know what her habits with her mother were like and if they got along and what sorts of things she was allowed to do. I would appreciate any background information that you could give me..." A knock interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he barked. Harry quietly entered the office and stood in front of Snape's desk, trying hard not to appear nervous. "You wanted to see me Professor?" Snape nodded and looked darkly at the boy. "I happen to know that you are the one who helped my daughter sneak into Hogsmeade, though you knew she was not allowed to. I would like to know what exactly possessed you to do that." Harry nodded; he had suspected that Snape wanted to see him about this. "Well sir, she came to me for help and I thought about it. She was really sure he was going to go, one way or another, and I decided it would be better if I helped her than if she snuck out on her own and got hurt or asked Malfoy for help." Snape rubbed his chin in thought; he hadn't really approached it from that way before. Tirza had put Harry in a rather difficult situation and he was doing what he thought best as her friend, thought he decision was still wrong. "I understand your point Mr. Potter, and I appreciate your concern for Tirza's well being, but you still made a poor choice." Harry nodded, thankful that Snape didn't seem nearly as upset as he normally would be. "You're part in all of this was relatively small, though you did clearly participate. I don't think any kind of drastic measures are needed, but you won't escape without punishment." Harry bravely looked at Snape, trying to read the professor's expression. "Drastic measures sir?" Snape nodded. "As in reporting you to McGonagall and such; I think a week of detention here with me while suffice." Harry let out a sigh of relief, causing Snape to raise an eyebrow. "You are relieved boy?" "Yes sir," Harry replied. "Everyone knows that you spanked Draco and I thought you just might be mad enough to do the same to me." Snape resisted the urge to chuckle at the boy's forgetfulness, having told Harry a while ago that he was not authorized by the school to do so. "Well, I shall see you here tonight at seven o'clock sharp. Do not be late." Harry nodded and made a quick exit. Snape turned back to the letter on his desk. "I thank you for your invitation; Tirza and I shall spend our Christmas here, but will come and visit for the rest of the break. I will write with travel arraignments closer to that time. Sincerely, S. Snape"
As Snape placed the letter in an envelope, there was a knock on the door. "Can I come in daddy?" "Yes," he called. Tirza entered the room and plopped into a chair in front of the desk. "I'm bored," she whined. Snape resisted the urge to chuckle. "How very unfortunate," he replied. She scowled at him. "Will you play with me?" "I'd like nothing more than to play with you sweetheart, but I do have work to do." She sighed and folded her arms across her chest, her lower lip stuck out in a pout. "I hate being grounded." Snape looked at her sternly. "I know you do, but you'd best get used to it; you still have four weeks and one day until your grounding is over." Tirza groaned and slumped in the chair. "Don't remind me," she said darkly. "Do you have any homework to work on?" Snape asked. She shook her head. "Can I go to the library?" Snape eyed her. "As long as Harry and Ron are not there." Tirza giggled. "Harry and Ron in the library? On a Sunday? Yeah right!" "I want you to go straight there and back; you come and tell me if you are going anywhere else," Snape warned. Tirza shook her head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't be so uptight," she said as she left the office. Snape sighed and rolled his eyes. As if he could be anything but worried when it came to her; especially lately. Tirza headed towards the library and spied Marcus Flint down the hallway. "Uh oh." Not wanting to get involved in any more trouble, Tirza quickly turned around, but bumped into someone. She looked up into the smiling face of Isabel. "Hello dear, where are you off to?" Tirza smiled; Marcus wouldn't bother her with someone else around, so she was safe. "I'm bored cuz I'm grounded so I was gonna go to the library." Isabel laughed. "I'm sorry you're bored; I remember those boring days of grounding when I was your age. Do you think you would be allowed to take a walk with me? It's not very cold outside and I love the sunshine." Tirza nodded. "I think so, but I better go ask. Come with me!" Tirza took Isabel's hand and led her down to Snape's office. Tirza opened the door of the office and pulled Isabel into the room. Snape looked up and smiled at both girls. "Daddy, can I go for a walk with Miss Whittaker?" Tirza asked, her eyes pleading. "I don't see why not, as long as you behave yourself." Tirza nodded. Snape looked towards Isabel. "Will you make sure she is here in time for lunch?" "Of course," Isabel replied, smiling brightly at him. Tirza blew Snape a kiss and she and Isabel left the office. "I gotta get my coat and stuff," Tirza said, pulling Isabel towards the chambers. She led Isabel inside and left her in the sitting room. Isabel looked around the room; Snape's masculine sense of decoration was very apparent, but was punctuated here and there by things of Tirza's, adding an element of cuteness to the room. "This is a very nice place you have here with your father," Isabel commented. Tirza appeared from her room carrying a jacket, hat and mittens. "Yeah, it's pretty cool, as long as he don't have all them snakes in here!" "You should say 'he doesn't have all those'," Isabel corrected. Tirza shrugged. "I can't keep all that shit straight." Isabel frowned. "Don't swear dear, it's very rude and unladylike." Tirza ignored the comment and put on her gear, than followed Isabel outside.
Isabel and Tirza walked past the quidditch field, enjoying the warm sunlight. "So how long have you lived with your dad?" Isabel asked. The little girl shrugged. "Not really long; I'm not sure how many weeks it's been." "Where is your mother at?" Isabel asked cautiously. "She's gone," Tirza replied quickly. "On vacation?" Tirza shook her head. "She died," she told Isabel, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry dear; I didn't know," Isabel said softly. Tirza shrugged again. "Do you miss her?" "Sometimes." Isabel nodded. She knew that Tirza was having a hard time with something and wanted to find out what it was and try to help her. "Do you want to talk about it?" "No!" Tirza shouted. "It don't matter, I have my daddy." Isabel took Tirza's hand in hers. "If you ever want to talk about that or anything else, I'm a very good listener." Tirza looked up at her. "Are you some kinda psychiatrist person?" Isabel shook her head. "No; I want to be friends with you, besides being your teacher, and want you to feel comfortable sharing with me. Why dear?" Tirza grew quiet for a moment. "Psychiatrist people are stupid." "Have you ever seen one?" Tirza nodded and pushed a curl behind her ear. "Only one time." "Why?" Isabel inquired. "I don't want to talk about that," Tirza whispered. "That's just fine," Isabel replied. They continued to walk and Tirza kept switching the conversation to things about Isabel and school. Isabel didn't push any certain subjects on her, but kept track of the little girl's reactions. Just before lunch, Isabel returned Tirza to Snape. "Thanks for the walk Miss Whittaker," Tirza said as she slipped her hand into Snape's. Isabel smiled. "Anytime dear." She watched father and daughter walk down the hallway, hand in hand. A student came running down the hallway past her. "Five points from Hufflepuff, no running in the halls!" Snape shouted at the student. The boy immediately slowed to a walk and Snape turned his attention back to Tirza. Isabel shook her head; Snape was a paradox. He was so kind and gentle with Tirza; yet gruff and cynical to everyone else. Isabel thought of that as she headed back to her own chambers; she liked the softer side of Snape when she saw it. Perhaps sometime she might activate that softer side too.
Snape kissed Tirza's forehead and tucked the covers in around her. "Now I'm going to the staff meeting in the teachers lounge; I won't be gone too long. You can come and get me if you need me alright?" Tirza nodded and yawned; for once she was actually tired at bed time. "I'm cool, just sleepy," she said as she rubbed her eyes. "Alright, you sleep well and I will let you know when I'm back." Snape gave her another kiss before leaving her bedroom and heading for the staff meeting. Tirza rolled over onto her tummy, holding Molly close. It was nice to be tired at bedtime; it got so boring lying there all the time, even if she did watch TV. Before long she drifted to sleep; it wasn't a peaceful sleep. The dreams came, haunting her. She screamed for Snape, but he was not there, so he never came. She suffered through the nightmare twice before she could wake herself up. Holding Molly, Tirza stumbled out of her bed and headed for the door. She needed her dad and she needed him right now. Tears streaming down her face, sobs shaking her body, she slowly made her way down the hallway. She was crying so hard she could hardly see which way she was going. After wondering around and feeling like giving up, she finally saw the right door. All the teachers looked up as the door to the lounge swung open, revealing a sobbing Tirza in a white flannel nightgown with red lace. She caught sight of Snape and ran to him, throwing herself in his arms. "Baby, what's wrong?" Snape asked quietly. The teachers watched, their faces full of concern, as Snape wrapped his arms around Tirza and rubbed her back as the little girl mumbled. "Excuse me," Snape said, standing and hurrying from the room as Tirza sobbed on his shoulder. He took her into the empty classroom next door and rocked her in his arms. "I'm sorry baby; everything will be alright," he tried to gently reassure her. Several minutes of comforting and reassuring and her sobs died down to hiccups and stray tears, leaving a half asleep Tirza in Snape's arms. "Close your eyes and sleep, you can stay with me," Snape whispered. Tirza did close her eyes and leaned her head against his chest as Snape reentered the teachers lounge. "Will she be alright?" McGonagall asked. "What happened?" Flitwick inquired. "She had a nightmare, she'll be just fine. I can't leave her back in our chambers though," Snape told them. "She's already almost asleep in your arms. Why don't you just sit down and hold her; we're almost done," McGonagall decided. Snape sat and gently repositioned Tirza in his arms as the meeting continued.
