Snape sat across from Tirza in the ice cream parlor, watching her eat her banana split, getting most of the ice cream on her face. He chuckled and she looked up. "What?" she asked. "Are you eating your ice cream or wearing it?" She giggled as he handed her a napkin and she cleaned her face. "I have a question for you," Severus stated. Tirza nodded as she continued to eat. "When you first came, you were always insisting on being called TJ. I've noticed that lately you no longer insist upon that and I was wondering why." She smiled and swallowed her bite of ice cream. "Well, it's not like you were really listening anyways, cuz you kept calling me Tirza all the time. And I just kinda got used to it and then I decided that I like it. It feels special, because nobody back in New York ever called me Tirza and it's special that you do." Severus reached out and rubbed her cheek with his hand. "Merlin," he grumbled, pulling his hand away. "What?" Tirza asked confused. "You are extremely sticky," he replied, a bit of disgust evident in his voice. Tirza just giggled and continued to eat.

Severus loved Fridays; he didn't have to teach those annoying children for another two days. Today, however, his peace was being interrupted by the sounds of several children running and giggling through the dungeon hallway outside his chambers. After a few minutes of all that noise, Snape stalked to the door and threw it up, ready to yell at the annoying children. What he saw was Tirza, Hermione, a Ravenclaw girl named Katie Brent, a Hufflepuff named Beth Wren, and a Gryffindor named Lavender Brown lugging sleeping bags and overnight bags towards his door. He groaned and began massaging his temples; he had forgotten that this was the Friday that Tirza's friends were going to have a sleepover. "Hey daddy!" Tirza yelled, waving. "You don't look happy; you forgot didn't ya?" she asked. He nodded and she giggled. "Too late! You know the girls, we're trying to get this stuff to my room and it's really heavy. Ya wanna help?" Snape nodded and went to the closest girl, Lavender. "I can take those Miss Brown," he said. Lavender gave him a funny look, but handed over her sleeping bag and overnight bag. "Daddy, you have to call them their names now cuz it's not school time." He rolled his eyes and retrieved another sleeping bag and overnight bag from Katie and headed for Tirza's room. The girls brought in the rest and dumped it in the middle of Tirza's floor. Snape was promptly shooed away as Tirza closed the door behind him.

"This one is pink and it makes the best wedding dress," Tirza said as she pulled out a long, lacy pink dress. "Pink for a wedding?" Lavender asked. "Why not? It's your wedding," Hermione stated. Lavender giggled and took the dress from Tirza. "Then you have to be my bridesmaids. Do you have any matching dresses TJ?" Tirza frowned and shook her head. "Nope, none of them match, but there's lots of fancy ones!" She pushed the sleeping bags and overnight bags to the side of the room and dumped the box of play clothes onto the floor. "Can I hold your bunny?" Beth asked as they dug through the pile. "Sure, she won't bite," Tirza replied. Jinn Jinn began biting on her cage, knowing that they were talking about her and Tirza giggled. "She always does that when she wants attention." She opened the cage and the bunny quickly hopped out and began running between Lavender, Katie and Beth, as though sizing them up. "Here, I'll show you how to pick her up." Tirza picked up the rabbit and cradled her in the crook of her arm. "She likes to be held this way the best; she likes to play shy and hide her face, see?" As if Jinn Jinn knew exactly what Tirza was talking about, the rabbit hid her face in the crook of Tirza's arm. "Ahhh," all the girls said. Tirza giggled and helped Beth to hold her. Jinn Jinn began rubbing her chin on Beth's arm. "What is she doing?" "She likes you," Tirza replied. Beth giggled. "Her whiskers tickle! And look at this one, its curly!" "Ahhh," the girls said again. "Hey, what song do you want for your wedding dance Lavender?" Tirza questioned. Beth put Jinn Jinn down and all five girls looked through Tirza's large CD collection. "Ooh, do you have the song that they played at Maria's wedding in Sound of Music?" Hermione asked. "Huh?" Beth asked. "It's a movie, maybe we'll watch it later, it's got a whole bunch of songs and I got the CD too," Tirza told her.

Tirza peeked her head out of her bedroom door; Snape was no where in sight. "Coast's clear," she whispered behind her. The girls started filing out of the room, with Lavender stopping at the door. "Duh dum de dum," the girls started to hum as Lavender entered the sitting room. She wore the long pink lacy dress with an even longer veil held up by a blue flowered headband. When Lavender stopped in front of Snape's desk, Tirza grabbed a book and went to stand in front of her, playing the dual role of bridesmaid and parson. "And now for the wedding dance!" Katie announced, turning on a Backstreet Boys song. The girls danced around the room, pretending they were dancing with their boyfriends. The song ended and Katie went to flip over to another wedding song; just then the creak of a door caught their attention. The door connecting Snape's quarters to his office opened and Snape walked into the sitting room; he caught sight of their outfits and an eyebrow rose. The girls shrieked and tried to run to Tirza's room; Tirza tripped on her long red dress and fell into the bride, who in turn fell into Hermione; the end result was all five girls in a tangled, giggling heap on the floor several feet from Tirza's bedroom. "I think I'll work in my office," Snape announced, making a quick exit. His fast retreat from the sight before him made the girls laugh even harder. After several minutes of struggling and laughter, they finally were untangled and made it back to Tirza's room.

Dreading what he might find going on in his chambers; Snape hesitantly entered and looked around. He found nothing disastrous, though the amount of noise easily pointed out that the girls were in Tirza's room. He knocked loudly on the door, hoping he'd be heard. Thankfully, Tirza opened the door. "Yo man, wuz up?" she asked. "It's time for supper," he told her. "Cool, but we got pizza," she told him. "Hermione showed the house elves how to make it earlier," Lavender added. Snape nodded. "Alright; try not to make too much of a mess or destroy anything," he cautioned. "No problem," Tirza replied. "Oh, and no ice cream maker or any other of those contraptions, alright?" Tirza pouted. "Not even the Easy Bake Oven?" Snape looked confused. "Isn't that the one that caught on fire?" She giggled. "Yep, but uncle Remus fixed it for me the other day." "Goody," he grumbled. "I don't want you using any of those, especially without me around." Tirza sighed. "Okay, okay." Snape closed the door and left the chambers, shaking his head. Only because he loved her, would he have all those little girls in his chambers.

"So how is the sleepover going Severus?" Dumbledore asked at supper. Snape rolled his eyes. "Snape's having a sleepover? Who are you and what have you done with the real Snape?" Remus teased. Snape glared at Remus before answering. "So far so good; they are extremely loud, but I've learned that most things having to do with Tirza are loud. As long as they do not set anything on fire or do anything to the Slytherins, I'll be happy." "So Tirza knows that there will be no playing in the Slytherin common room?" Albus inquired. Snape nodded. "She knows better, but I'll be reminding her of it later anyway." "I think it's great for Tirza to have a little sleepover with her friends," Remus commented. Snape ignored him. "You know, are you ever going to get over this grudge? I have a feeling that if your daughter has anything to say about it, she'll be around me much more then you'd like." Snape sighed. "I realize that and only because Albus trusts you is she allowed anywhere near you. But as for me, we'll see." He had been friendlier to Lupin until he saw how good of friends he and Tirza were; he couldn't shake the jealous feeling he got every time he saw them together.

Snape resigned himself to his office, planning on spending the majority of the evening in there to keep from getting a headache. It was a bit quieter in there, yet he could still keep a good eye on the girls. The reactions of the girls towards him were quite amusing; he had decided because it was not school time that there was nothing wrong with using the girls' first names if they didn't have a problem with it. But every time he said something to them, they'd avoid looking at him and talk almost too softly to hear. Judging by them, he was obviously feared by the majority of the students, and on the whole, that wasn't a bad thing. Shrill shrieks met his ears and he shook his head, wondering if they were just playing or if it was something he should be concerned about. His office door was slammed open by Tirza. "Daddy, Beth fell and hurt her head and it's bleeding and everything!" she shouted. Snape groaned and quickly entered his chambers to find Beth on the floor crying and holding her head. "Let me see," he told her. Beth ignored him and continued to cry. "Merlin girl, I'm not going to kill you; now move your hand so I can see." Beth gave him a skeptical look but moved her hand. He looked at the cut just above her hairline; it was bleeding, but didn't look very serious. "Tirza, get me a washcloth," he directed. Tirza ran into the bathroom and returned with a washcloth, which Snape promptly pressed against the cut. "Owy!" Beth yelled. "I'm sure you'll be just fine, but I think I'll take you to Poppy anyway," Snape told her. He attempted to stand the girl up, but she continued to cry; deciding it wasn't worth it to try and get her to stand up, he picked her up and began to carry her from his chambers, followed by the girls.

Snape was right and Poppy announced the cut superficial. She stopped the bleeding and cleaned Beth's head before sending Snape and the girls on their way. "Daddy, can you move the TV into the sitting room so we can get our sleeping bags out and stuff?" Tirza asked when they returned. "And why would the sleeping bags not be in your room?" he countered. Tirza giggled. "I can't get all of us in my room silly!" Snape rolled his eyes and went to retrieve the TV/VCR before returning to his office. Several minutes later, the girls had changed into their pajamas and began setting up their sleeping bags, pillows and various stuffed animals. Tirza popped in the Sound of Music and snuggled into her sleeping bag. "This is a cute movie," Hermione commented. The door to Snape's office opened and he stuck his head into the room. "I wanted to tell you that if you get a headache Beth, let me know and I can give you a potion for that." Beth nodded. "Thank you Professor." He nodded and closed the door. "You know, your dad isn't as mean as I thought," Beth whispered to Tirza. She giggled. "I told you! He just pretends to be such a meanie-moe." "Let's go get some ice cream," Tirza suggested. "Sounds good," Katie decided. Tirza put the movie on pause and the girls grabbed their robes. "Daddy!" Tirza yelled. Snape stuck his head into the room. "We're gonna go get some ice cream and stuff, okay?" He nodded. "Just remember the rules." Tirza rolled her eyes. "Don't eat until your sick; no muggle contraptions; and stay away from Draco," they both said at the same time. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll remember," Tirza assured him as they left. "He worries a lot, doesn't he?" Lavender asked. Tirza nodded. "Well, duh, you've heard about all the fights she and Draco have had," Beth replied. "I'd sure hate to have him as MY dad," Katie added. "HEY!" Tirza shouted. "He's a cool dad! He's the best dad in the whole world!" Katie looked rather unconvinced. "He's really not so bad," Hermione stated. "Once you get to know him," she added. Katie shrugged. "He's so mean though all the time and yelling at everybody." Tirza giggled. "He says he has to be that way when he teaches or no one listens, but I think that's silly." The girls giggled. "That's true; I think the only people to ever really not listen are you and Draco," Beth pointed out. "Well it's no fun to listen all the time," Tirza replied. "I sure wouldn't want him mad at me," Lavender said with a slight shudder. Tirza shrugged. "He's really just a great big marshmallow inside; even when he's really mad I still love him." After getting ice cream, some freshly baked apple turnovers and cinnamon rolls, the girls headed back to the dungeons.

"Hey, what are you doing with all of that?" someone from behind them yelled. The girls turned around to find Draco glaring at them. "We're having a sleepover and we wanted treats," Tirza told him. "And I'm not supposed to be around you, so we're leaving now." The girls put their noses in the air and continued down the hallway. "Hey, give me that stuff!" Draco shouted, running towards them. "Look dude, you're not worth getting into trouble over; I'm not gonna fight ya again, so go away," Tirza stated. Draco smirked at her. "Someone's afraid of getting in trouble.... could it be that the little girl doesn't want another spanking?" he teased. Tirza scowled. "I'm not that much littler then you, you know. And yeah, I don't want another spanking and if you're smart, you won't want one either. Or don't you remember what my dad threatened? Something about missing a few items of clothing?" Draco blushed cherry red as the girls burst into giggles. "You think you're so smart, don't you?" he asked. Tirza nodded; she noticed someone quietly walking towards them and knew Draco didn't hear the footsteps. "I am smart; smart enough not to fight with you. We're leaving now." She turned on her heel, followed by the girls. "Oh now you're not!" Draco yelled. "Oh yes they are, Mr. Malfoy," Remus stated as he stopped just behind the boy. Draco jumped and whirled around. "Why do you enjoy picking on girls so much?" Remus asked. Draco didn't reply. "No matter; if you have time for starting fights, you must have time to help Filch polish things in the Trophy Room. Let's go tell him how you have kindly offered your assistance," Remus told Draco. He put his hand on the stammering boy's shoulder and steered him down the opposite direction of the hallway, ignoring the protests. Just before they were out of the girls' site, Remus turned around. "Stay out of trouble girls! And stop by my office later, I have something special for you." They nodded and Remus continued down the hallway with a very mad Draco beside him. "Uncle Remus is so cool," Tirza stated as they once again headed for the dungeons.

"What took you girls so long?" Snape asked when they returned. "Draco was bothering us," Beth piped up. "And Tirza refused to fight with him, you should be very proud of her Professor," Hermione stated. "So Uncle Remus came and dragged him off to go help Filch," Tirza added. Snape looked at her with a slight smile on his face. "He wanted to fight and you said no?" She nodded, beaming. "I'm very proud of you Tirza; very proud." He remembered that the girls were in the room and blushed a bit at showing emotion in front of them. "You know, you can't be as mean as you seem Professor," Lavender commented. Snape ignored her as Tirza flew into his arms. "Wanna know why I didn't fight daddy?" He returned the hug and nodded. "Not cuz I'd get in big trouble, but because I didn't want you to be sad." "You're very sweet," he whispered in her ear. "You're a good girl." Tirza kissed his cheek, and then snuggled into her sleeping bag. After pressing play for the girls, Snape headed back to his office. It was nice to see Tirza happy with her friends; it was even nicer to see that she actually did pay attention to what he said and made conscious efforts to be good. He sat down on the small sofa in his office and opened a book that he had wanted to start reading. Personally, he'd much rather be in his sitting room, but he did not think he was invited to the sleepover and really was not interested in watching movies as the girls giggled.

Around ten, Snape stuck his head into the sitting room. The girls were spinning in circles with their arms out, singing "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria" loudly and for the most part off-tune. "How are you girls doing?" The girls noticed him and blushed; apparently they did not want an audience for their little musical. "Is it okay if we go see Uncle Remus?" Tirza asked. "He said he had something special for us and we should come to his office." Again, Snape felt that familiar pang of jealousy and tried to push it away. "Alright, but don't be gone long, just there and back." The girls nodded and found their robes from among the play clothes strewn around the room. "Thanks daddy, we'll be back." The girls took off through the hallways, giggling and talking. Tirza knocked on the door of Lupin's office. "Come in!" he called. She opened the door and they entered the office. "Cool office," Katie commented. "Thank you Miss Brent," he replied. "You said you had something special for us; what is it?" Tirza asked. "Always the impatient one, aren't you Tirza?" She nodded and he laughed. "Yes, I have a special treat to share with you girls, but you have to keep it a secret." The girls nodded solemnly. "Now close your eyes and hold out your hands." The girls followed his directions and felt several things drop into their hands. "Okay, go ahead and open your eyes." Tirza squealed with delight when she looked at her hand; Lupin had given each of them four Oreos. "I'd give you girls more, but I'm almost out myself and it's my favorite muggle treat," he told them. "Yummy," Beth said, licking her lips. He chuckled. "Now remember, this is a secret. I'm certainly not going to share my Oreos with everyone." "We'll be quiet about it," Lavender assured him. "We better go before my dad starts to worry," Tirza announced. "Well enjoy the cookies and have fun girls." They nodded. "Goodnight uncle Remus!" "Goodnight Professor Lupin!" He bid them goodnight and watched as they headed down the hallway.

By midnight, the girls were starting to get sleepy, which was good for Snape as he was ready for bed. "I'm going to go to sleep now and I want you girls to try and be quiet. If you need anything, Tirza knows where I am. How is your head Beth?" The little girl gave him a small smile. "Not bad sir; the potion you gave me helped. Thanks." "You're welcome," he replied. He bid each of the girls goodnight, and then went over to Tirza, who wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear; she blushed and nodded. "And the Dreamless Sleep Potion is in your Cinderella cup in the bathroom in case you'd like to use it." Tirza smiled and gave him another hug. "Goodnight daddy." Snape returned the hug and kissed her head. "Goodnight dear." "Goodnight Professor!" the other girls chorused. Snape chuckled and shook his head. "Goodnight girls."

A/N: Sorry that this is a little shorter then usual. This has been a hectic week! I promised my aunt and uncle I'd watch their kids this past week for spring break so they could go on a cruise for their fifteenth anniversary. I love those boys (10, 5 and 3) but I was rather happy to see them go home today, LOL! But Aaron and I had fun with them and they loved Aaron because he'd wrestle with them and play cowboys and Indians (I got to play too, but I had to be the damsel in distress for Robin Hood, played by the 5 year old, to save, LOL!) It has been so peaceful today, just the two of us, LOL! So next up is some special fun with the boys, Christmas shopping (with Isabel, too!) and Severus will tell Tirza his plans to have the boy who raped her prosecuted. What will her reaction be? Stay tuned!

Potter-Snape: Christmas is just around the corner! After Snape tells her ion the next chapter about his plans for prosecution, Tirza will seek some advice from several trusted people and make up her mind whether she wants her dad to go ahead with that or not. Then Christmas vacation comes; the first week at Hogwarts, celebrating her first Christmas with Snape and then off to NYC!

Alrick: Yes, I thought the threatened hallway spanking was a very Snape- like thing to do! Christmas shopping is definitely next and Isabel will get in on some of that fun as well!

Slone: NYC trip is very close, maybe three more chapters away at most. Tirza is from NYC, but a little bit based on a good friend of mine who spent her most of her life (until mid teens) in CA and still has the influence of it, so Tirza probably does have a bit of CA in her personality.

Silver Stardom: Thanks for the compliments! Glad you like it! And really, who would pass up a chance to beat up Malfoy? I sure wouldn't!

AlexGrey: Actually, you'd be surprised what you can pick up from watching Law & Order! I didn't get into the show until the mid-nineties as I was only six when it first started. I now have every episode (almost 300!). I learned a lot from the show and that is what inspired me to read every law book at Barnes and Noble, which inspired me to be a lawyer! I hope you did well on your final! Those always suck.....

Raclswt: Snape as a muggle will be extremely funny! He'll get roped into more then be bargained for... I've got quite a surprise up my sleeve for him in NYC. He'll be a bit of a hero and earn the undying admiration and thanks of AJ and her family. But how that happens... you'll have to wait and see!

CraJure: Christmas is very close; one or two chapters away. Have to get Christmas shopping done and have Sev tell Tirza about wanting to prosecute the scum ball (more severe obscenities omitted-trying to keep this PG13, LOL!) Lockhart will be a blast... he and Tirza will not get a long at all (mainly because he's an absolute idiotic), but she'll have to be careful what all she does or says to him or Sev might get upset.

Kenomee: The Bloody Baron being a witness to the fight was actually Alrick's idea. It did turn out pretty good! During Christmas vacation and a lot during the summer at Snape Manor (who knows if it really exists, so I'm going to make it!), Tirza will find out some more things about her dad's past, as well as some photograph albums and such. Thanks for the compliment about the dialog between Snape and Tirza. I think parenting is a lot about communication and I also think it's unfair to punish a child for a broken rule that the child never understood in the first place. And don't worry about not being familiar with Law & Order. I won't be incorporating much more then character names from the show into the story. I just thought I better put up a disclaimer just in case! The show doesn't really go into personal lives of the characters; it goes from the crime, to the evidence, to the suspect, to the trial. A crime from beginning to end, basically. If I use anything more then names, which I doubt I will, I will put a little explanation with it. It was nice for the name change to go well; not everything has to be complicated. Tirza and Sev deserve some things to go right the first time. And I agree with your read on Draco's character. How could one expect a good child to come from Lucius Malfoy? Kids learn what they live! I accidentally slipped and said shit this week when the kiddies were over and even though I told them it was bad for me to say it and they shouldn't say it, I still heard it a couple times throughout the week! Then I had to try and explain to my aunt why her children might say that! She took it better then I thought she would though. Kids really pick things up fast!