"Are you ready to tell me about what happened to you yet?" Snape asked that night as they played Candy Land. Tirza looked away from him. He sighed and reached out, gently rubbing her cheek. "I already told you that I was running and fell," she quietly retorted. She cringed as she felt her eye twitch again. "Stupid eye," she mumbled. "Baby, why won't you tell me?" he said. "It's really complicated," she announced. "And I don't wanna get in trouble." He tilted her chin up and looked her in the eye. "I'm not angry with you and I won't be. I just want to know what happened; I'm worried." Tirza sighed. "Fine, but I'm not happy. I was going to visit uncle Remus and Draco was in the hall with his two friends. I tried to ignore them, but they stopped me and didn't want to let me go by. I did and I ran, trying to get to uncle Remus' office, but they caught up with me. Draco was trying to get me to fight him; he said he wanted to kick my butt, that it would be his Christmas present. I didn't fight daddy, cuz I knew you'd be really mad; then he pushed me and I hit the wall and I don't remember anything after that." She carefully left out the part about Sirius/Snuffles, knowing that it was a very big secret that Sirius had visited the school. "But you told me not to fight daddy and I didn't," she whispered and crawled onto his lap. "Baby, I don't think you understand. If someone is hurting you or you are afraid of being hurt, it's alright to fight, to protect yourself. But if you fight because you are angry or someone hurt your feelings, that's not alright," he pointed out. She nodded. "But I didn't wanna get in trouble and then you not let us go visit AJ. Are you mad?" She could have sworn that she saw his eyes flash. "I am very angry," he told her. Severus noticed her eyes growing wide. "But not at you," he quickly amended. "At Draco. Did Crabbe and Goyle try to hurt you?" Tirza shook her head no. "Just Draco."

Snape stood up and set Tirza on the couch. "I am going to find Mr. Malfoy; he and I are going to have a very lengthy discussion about his malevolent tendencies." Tirza remembered the last threat he had made against Draco and almost started to panic. If her dad pissed Malfoy off really bad, he might really try to hurt her, like Marcus or... something worse. Tirza jumped off the couch and pulled on Snape's arm. "Daddy wait! Don't be really angry at him, please! Just let it go this time!" she begged. Snape turned to face her, an eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about child?" "Please daddy, just let it go, okay? Please!" she shouted. Severus knelt down in front of her. "Is there something else that you aren't telling me? I've NEVER heard you beg for mercy on Malfoy's behalf." She threw her arms around his neck. "Please?" she whispered. He held her for a moment before letting go. "I want you to go wait in my office; I'm going to find Mr. Malfoy and we will sort this out, alright?" She nodded and headed for his office as Snape turned the opposite way, heading for the Slytherin common room.

Snape burst into the Slytherin common room and all the students turned to stare at him. He did not look happy and each secretly hoped that he or she wasn't the one that Snape was so angry with. Snape spotted Draco in a far corner of the room with his cronies and stalked over to the small table where they sat. Draco was trying his best to keep from looking sheepish, but wasn't doing a good job of it. Snape wordlessly dragged Draco out his chair and began pulling him by his ear from the room. "Ouch! Professor that hurts," Draco whined. Snape stopped in his tracks and gave the young boy a deadly look. "Silence! Or would you prefer that I shift my attention to your backside, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco paled and his eyes went wide; would Snape really spank him right here in the common room in front of everyone? Draco seriously did not want to find out and shook his head. "No sir," he croaked. Snape nodded and continued to lead the boy from the room by his ear, while the students laughed in the background. "Sir, if this is about the exploding present, I can explain," Draco begged once they left the room. Again Snape stopped. "Excuse me?" he growled. Draco realized that whatever Snape was mad about had nothing to do with the special gift he had gotten for Tirza; a box that would explode once opened. "Yet something else to discuss Mr. Malfoy," he sneered when the boy refused to answer. Draco decided that his best bet was to keep his mouth shut; he was already pretty sure that he wouldn't be sitting for the rest of the night and certainly didn't want Snape to carry out his last threat, something about him being without a few pertinent items of clothing.

Tirza sat nervously in Snape' office, her knees pulled up to her chest. She just couldn't let her dad do anything... drastic. She didn't even want to think of what Draco might do to her if he got really pissed off! A few moments later, Snape threw open the door of the office with a loud bang; he had Draco in tow, by the boy's ear. Tirza rubbed her own ear sympathetically. "Sit," Snape ordered. Draco immediately sank into the chair next to Tirza, while Snape stood menacingly over him. "Mr. Malfoy, I must say that in other circumstances, your stubbornness would be admirable. But NOT, when it concerns my daughter. With great reluctance, though why I am not sure, my daughter has told me that you are indeed the one who pushed her into that wall yesterday. I had my suspicions of course and you are the most likely suspect." Draco sat silently, watching with wide eyes, wondering exactly what Snape had in store for him. As long as Snape didn't write his father, Draco thought he could handle anything Snape might give him. Draco certainly didn't want to be spanked by Snape again, as he enjoyed being able to sit down comfortably, but in reality, Snape's spankings were nothing compared to some of the things his father had deemed appropriate punishment. "Merlin only knows why, but Tirza has insisted that I show you leniency," Snape stated. Draco turned to Tirza a shocked look on his face. They hated each other! He certainly wouldn't pass up a chance to get her in trouble, especially when that trouble got her spanked, because it was so much fun to tease her about. Why would she care whether or not Snape killed him?

"Therefore," Snape said, interrupting Draco's thoughts. "Please don't write my father, Professor! Please! You can cane me or skin me alive or anything else, just please don't write my father!" Draco blurted out. Snape's eyebrow rose, but he continued with what he was saying, not commenting on the outburst. "Therefore, if Tirza, the injured party in this incident, can have compassion for you, then I must as well. As soon as I get back from my trip and the break is over, you will report to me the very first Saturday and will scrub every inch of my classroom and clean every floor of the dungeon, without magic." Draco was still in shock; both at blurting out what he had and at Tirza's compassion. "I WILL be watching you Mr. Malfoy, extremely closely, and if you EVER injure my daughter like this again, I promise you that you shall regret it." Draco nodded silently; he had no doubt that Snape could make anybody regretful of a certain action. "And I will not be writing to your father," Snape added after a moment's pause. Draco let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "You should be extremely grateful to Tirza, Mr. Malfoy; if not for her insistence of mercy, you'd have been regretting your actions every time you sat down for the next week." Draco nodded again. "Tell her thank you," Snape ordered. Without a moment's hesitation, not wanting to do anything that might change Snape's mind, the young boy turned to the little girl who sat there in her pajamas. "Thank you," he whispered. "And I also want you to lead me to this exploding present that you so eloquently told me about."

The exploding present taken care of, Snape returned to his quarters and finished his game of Candy Land with Tirza. Bedtime rolled around sooner then Tirza wanted it to, but with much tickling and giggles, Snape managed to get Tirza tucked into her bed. "Are you going to tell me why you pleaded for mercy for Malfoy?" he questioned softly. Tirza sighed. "I guess so. Daddy, he's bigger then me and I know karate but that doesn't always help. What if he tired to hurt me like Marcus did or... other bad things? There's lots of dark places around here and I don't want to be hurt." Snape leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Draco is not a nice child, which is abundantly evident, but you need to understand some other things about him as well. I've known Draco for a very long time and his father for even longer. Draco is a result of his father's poor parenting skills; he wasn't always this way. When he was little, he was actually a very nice little boy; but when he got older, his father took more interest in him and decided to make him his little protégé." "Huh?" Tirza asked. Snape smiled at her. "Like another copy of himself." Tirza nodded. "Like Mini-Me from those Austin Power movies," she commented. "If Lucius were a better father, Draco wouldn't be the way he is. He'd probably still be a little snot, but not nearly as malicious. Despite being his father's son, I don't believe he'd ever hurt you like Marcus or... like that other boy. But if you are worried, just be safe and have someone walk you around." Tirza frowned. "Then everyone will think I'm a baby," she pouted. "No they wouldn't; every one of the adults that knows about what happened to you would never consider you a baby or refuse to escort you somewhere. You have a lot of people who care about you Tirza; if you need help, let them help you." She nodded and wrapped her arms around him. "You're a really good daddy and I'm really glad you're my daddy," she whispered, kissing him. Snape returned the hug and kissed her nose, making her giggle. "And you are a very good girl and I am very lucky to have you for a daughter. But now it is time for you to sleep, baby." Tirza wrinkled her face in disgust, but snuggled under the covers, holding Molly close.

The next morning, Tirza lounged around in her pajamas until almost eleven before she went to find Fred and George. "Merry Christmas Eve!" she called out to all in the Gryffindor common room. "Happy Christmas Eve!" the kids called to her. She spotted Fred and George across the way, playing chess and bounced over to them. "Hey guys," she greeted them. The twins smiled at her and pulled a chair over for her to sit on. "Hey, we got that stuff ready for Draco," George commented. Tirza beamed. "I knew I could count on you guys! You're the best!" The twins grinned. "So when we open a joke shop someday, are you going to come visit us and buy things?" Fred asked. "You're gonna open a joke shop! That is awesome! I'll definitely come... if my dad let's me that is." George reached out and ruffled her hair; both boys laughed at the disgusted look on her little face. "Well if he doesn't we won't hold it against you; it wouldn't be any fun to come and visit us and then get into trouble." Tirza nodded. "You guys are coming to the Christmas party tonight, right?" The twins nodded. "Yep; phase one of Draco's presents will happen there." Tirza giggled. "Sounds good! Well, I'll see you guys there!" Tirza bounced out of the common room and almost ran into Neville in the hallway. "Hello Tirza; Happy Christmas Eve," he greeted her. Tirza smiled. "Merry Christmas Eve to you too!" Neville nodded, looking very embarrassed. "What's up?" Tirza asked. The boy sighed. "I forgot the password again." "It's still balderdash," she told him. Neville smiled. "Thanks." "Are you going to the Christmas party tonight?" she wondered. He nodded. "Ya wanna go with me?" Neville looked surprised. "Why me?" Tirza's eyebrow rose. "What do you mean why you? You're cool Neville and I'd love to go with you; I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to silly!" "Really?" he wondered. She nodded. "Okay," he told her. "Great! I'll meet you outside of the Great Hall then." Neville watched her run down the hallway and shook his head, then entered the common room.

Tirza watched around her, making sure that nobody was following her and made her way to Remus' office. She burst into the room without knocking and discovered Snuffles and squealed with delight, wrapping her arms around the large, shaggy black dog. "You really should knock you know," Remus gently scolded. Tirza became very solemn. "I'm sorry," she whispered as the door closed and Snuffled became Sirius once again. "Are you mad?" she asked, looking worried. Remus smiled kindly and her and patted her shoulder. "Of course not; just try and remember to knock in the future, okay?" She nodded, once again smiling brightly. "I came to get the picture and though maybe you could help me wrap it cuz it's really big." Remus nodded and went to get the painting as Tirza plopped onto the small sofa. "So how is your head doing?" Sirius asked, sitting in a chair. "Much better." "Did you decide to tell your father who pushed you?" She nodded. "Yeah; I told him Malfoy did and oh my god was he ever mad!!" Remus chuckled as he reentered the room. "You should see him Sirius; he is so overprotective of her, it is hilarious! He even calls her his baby." Sirius chuckled and Tirza giggled. "He's much more fun then when I first came, cuz he was all like a vampire." "Definitely sounds like Snapey," Sirius told her with a wink. Remus frowned at the other man. "Sirius, don't give her ideas that are going to get her into trouble. As much as he adores her, Snape would not be happy if she started calling him that. Plus, he'd wonder where she heard that." He set the painting down and helped Tirza unroll the wrapping paper.

"So what did he do to Malfoy?" Remus questioned. Tirza sighed. "Not much." Remus gave her a questioning look. "Well that doesn't sound like him at all! I though he'd personally see some of Filch's coveted old punishments reinstated." Tirza giggled. "Well, he was gonna spank Draco, but I told him not to." "Why would you do that? He certainly seems like he could do with some extra attention like that?" Remus commented. "Well he's been spanked by my dad lots before and I thought he might get really mad and try to hurt me, so I told daddy not to." "We're talking about Lucius Malfoy's son right?" Sirius asked. Both Remus and Tirza nodded and Sirius started laughing. "Now that would have been fun to see!" Tirza giggled. "It was lots of fun, except when I was in trouble too." "You're a very nice girl Tirza," Remus told her. "I doubt he'd have given you the same consideration." She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, he's always all nasty and teasing me when I get into trouble. Not that I really cared whether he got into trouble or not, but I don't want him to be like Marcus or... do..." her voice trailed off, but Remus understood what she was talking about. "Hey, I've got that spell on you remember? Besides, with all the people that care about you around here, Draco would to be very dense to ever think of doing anything like that, especially after what happened to Flint."

After the present was finished being wrapped, Tirza announced that she better go. "Dad'll get all worried soon and I wouldn't want him to find Sirius cuz he'd throw a fit!" Both men laughed. "It would be so much fun to see him do that though," Sirius commented. Tirza giggled. "You're silly! And Merry Christmas Eve," she told him. Sirius smiled and reached out to pat her head. "Same to you kiddo." Tirza turned to Remus and caught him by surprise by throwing her arms around him and a big hug. "Merry Christmas Eve uncle Remus." Remus smiled hugged her back. "Happy Christmas Eve to you too Tirza." Tirza groaned. "ANOTHER person who says Happy instead of Merry! What's wrong with you people?" she wondered. The men just laughed. Tirza picked up the large gift and said goodbye, then began lugging it to the dungeons.

"Daddy, are you here?" she called out as she entered their chambers. "In my office!" Snape called. She quickly darted to the room with the present and dug out the others that needed to be wrapped. She went and knocked on the door to Snape's office. "Don't come in!" he called out. "I'm wrapping gifts!" Tirza giggled. "Well don't come in my room, because I'm wrapping things too!" she yelled back, then turned and bounced back to her room, closing the door behind her. An hour later, both Tirza and Snape emerged, their arms full of presents. "Hey, do we open presents tonight or in the morning?" Tirza asked. "I thought perhaps a stocking stuffer tonight and presents in the morning." She nodded. "Is that how you did it when you were little?" she wondered. He sat down on the couch and Tirza crawled onto his lap. "Yes, that was the way my mother liked to do it," he told her. "Daddy, can I meet your parents some day?" Snape took a deep breath. "No, I'm sorry Tirza, but they have both passed away." Tirza looked thoughtfully sad. "I'm sorry daddy. Do you miss them lots?" Snape mused on that thought for a moment. "I do miss my mother at times," he stated. "What about your daddy?" she questioned. "My father was... not a very nice man and to be honest, I truly do not miss him at all." "Was he really mean?" she asked quietly. Snape nodded. "What did he do?" He shook his head and kissed her cheek. "Things that you don't need to know about right now." She frowned. "What about your mommy?"

Snape smiled slightly at the thought of his mother; despite the reign of terror that was his father, his mother had done her best and had been an excellent mother. "My mother was a good woman. I think you and she would have gotten along well." "What was her name?" Tirza asked. "Serafina." Tirza giggled. "That's kinda silly, but kinda cute too." Snape smiled. "Would you like to see a photo of her?" Tirza nodded excitedly. Snape stood up and went over to his desk, pulling a gold frame out of the bottom drawer. He sat down again beside Tirza and handed her the photo. It was a wizard photo of a very young Snape and a beautiful woman with extremely pale skin, raven hair and brilliant blue eyes. Snape had his arm around her shoulder and they waved at the person who took the photo. "Wow, she was so pretty! And you look really young daddy!" Severus chuckled. "That was taken just after I graduated Hogwarts." "Do you have any more pictures?" Tirza looked at him, her face pleading with him. He smiled and squeezed her tight for a moment. "I think I do somewhere around here."

"Tirza!" Snape called just before dinner. Tirza, in the bathroom playing with her hair and putting body glitter on her face, stuck her head out the door. "Yeah?" "I'm going to help grandpa with some last minute things for the party, alright?" Tirza nodded. "I'll meet you there," she told him. She ducked back in the bathroom and closed the door. Snape made his way to Dumbledore's office and found the older wizard in festive, bright green robes. "Ah, Severus, I did indeed manage to find you a Santa Clause suit." The younger wizard groaned as he looked at the ridiculous costume. "Only for Tirza would I EVER do this; not for anyone else, no matter what!" Dumbledore chuckled. "Come now Severus, it's only for an hour, mainly for the younger students; it won't be nearly as bad as you make it sound." Snape scowled. "I don't see YOU in a Santa suit." "Well if my daughter wanted me to dress up, I would in a heartbeat," Dumbledore retorted. Snape grabbed the suit, grumbling to himself, and went to change in Dumbledore's bathroom.

Tirza gathered her gifts for her friends and placed them in her large pink bag; the bag was so full that there was no room for Jinn Jinn to come along. The rabbit didn't seem to mind, as she was enjoying a Christmas Eve present of lettuce and green grass (thanks to Madame Sprout's greenhouse!). Tirza checked her appearance one last time in the mirror, making sure her hair was behaving it's self and headed for the Great Hall. Neville Longbottom stood nervously outside the doors of the Great Hall. The Christmas Eve party wasn't one where you had to have a date (or someone you went with at least), but most of the kids that stayed for Christmas holidays hooked up with someone for the party. Neville wasn't a very popular fellow; he had friends in Gryffindor, but a lot of other students made fun of him because he had such a hard time with his magic and because he was so forgetful. Not many girls would want to go with him to a party, and although Neville didn't think Tirza a shallow girl, he was still worried that she might decide to go with someone else. He suddenly caught sight of her bounding down the hallway; she smiled at him and he felt relieved. "Merry Christmas Eve Neville," she greeted him. "Same to you," he replied. "You ready to go in and eat and stuff? I'm starving!" she announced. He nodded and she grabbed his hand, pulling him into the Great Hall.

They entered the Great Hall and Tirza looked around for Snape; she didn't see him, but shrugged it off, knowing that he hated parties and would probably show up when things were slower. She and Neville headed for the large table that was brimming with food and heaped their plates will all sorts of Christmas dishes and treats. The party wasn't nearly as big or as active as the Hallow's Eve party had been. Since there weren't that many students here, it was a much smaller group that mostly milled around, eating and listening to Christmas Carols. After going through the line for food the second time, Tirza began handing out her presents to each of her friends. She gave Oliver and Harry broom polishing kits; to Hermione, a gift certificate to Flourish and Blotts. Five galleons were given to each Fred and George and to Neville and Ron was bestowed with a gift certificate to Honeydukes. To Beth, Lavender and Katie, each were given a small make-up kit. Tirza was thanked many times and given many hugs and in turn found herself with a pile of gifts. As Tirza was about to open one of her presents, across the room Draco, Crabbe and Goyle each grabbed a piece of candy from a large box that had been labeled for Draco. Each put a candy in their mouth; two minutes later, all three of them burst into yellow feathers. Everyone in the room howled with laughter at the Slytherins- turned-birds; Tirza gave Fred and George a thumbs up sign.

Just as Tirza was about to open a present, the kids noticed someone in a Santa suit enter the hall and sit in the ornate chair usually reserved for Dumbledore. "Ooh, I wanna go see the Santa!" Tirza announced. "Do you still believe in Santa?" Hermione asked. Tirza shook her head no. "But its fun anyways; come on!" Tirza, Hermione, Beth, Katie and Lavender headed over to the Santa; several other first years came was well. Tirza ended up being last in the short line, but didn't mind. The other ten kids cautiously approached the rather solemn Santa, carefully sitting on his lap, and following tradition, told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Finally Tirza's turn came and she sat on Santa's lap. "Hi Santa! How are you? How is Mrs. Santa Clause? And all the reindeer? Especially Rudolph, cuz he's my favorite." Snape was caught off guard for a moment, as Tirza was the first to ask such questions. "They are fine, they are all fine," he decided. Tirza's eyebrow rose and she looked closely at Santa. Despite the beard and hat, there was no hiding the fact that Santa was her daddy; only her daddy had those eyes! "Daddy?" she whispered in amazement. Snape chuckled. "Grandpa hinted that you wanted me to dress up and so just for you, I have. Happy Christmas baby." Tirza beamed at him and threw her arms around him. "You are the best daddy ever!" Snape returned the hug; wearing the idiotic suit and having those brats sit on his lap was suddenly very worth it. "Did anybody else figure it out?" she asked. Snape shook his head. "And don't you go telling them all about it either," he told her. She frowned, then giggled and hugged him again. "Thanks daddy," she whispered.

After Tirza left Santa's lap, Snape was very relieved to go and change out of the suit. He returned to the party and watched from a distance as Tirza opened the gifts from her friends, giving them all hugs. He laughed when Ron and Neville blushed when she hugged them. "So is everything set for tomorrow morning?" Dumbledore asked as he came to stand beside Snape. "She doesn't know yet, but I am sure that she'll be thrilled." By nine o'clock the party was coming to an end. Snape and Tirza headed back to their chambers. "Ooh, you gotta see the presents I got dad! They are so cool!" Tirza exclaimed as they entered the sitting room. Snape chuckled. "Alright, you get all ready for bed and pick out your bedtime story and then you can show me." Tirza ran off to change into her pajamas. Snape sat down by the fireplace and looked at the Christmas tree, it's lights blinking merrily, decorated with some things from his childhood as well as ornaments that Tirza had made. Underneath the tree, presents were bulging, with the majority of them for Tirza, from him as well as many of the staff members. He smiled and sighed; this was the nicest Christmas he could ever really remember. Those of his childhood had been tolerable, but nothing really special or fun. It was impossible to have Tirza around and not have whatever she was involved in be bright and happy.

Tirza bounced back into the sitting room ten minutes later and sat in the armchair across from Snape and began pulling presents from her bag. From Hermione there was "Hogwarts, A History", the Scooby-Doo movie and a special leash for rabbits so she could take Tirza for walks (these are nice leashes, not around the neck, but more of supporting the upper body, like cat leashes). Oliver gave her an authentic Gryffindor quidditch uniform, shrunk down to her size of course. From Harry and Ron there was lots of candy as well as a quidditch book filled with all sorts of interesting tidbits of the famous teams and plenty of moving pictures. George and Fred gave her some canary creams in case they'd ever come in handy and a few other kinds of trick candy. Neville gave her a gift certificate to the ice cream parlor in Hogsmeade and Beth, Lavender and Katie all chipped in and got Tirza several hair accessories and bath beads. "Well I think your friends were very thought full and know you very well," Severus commented. Tirza nodded happily. "Yep! I love all the stuff I got and they love what they got! I love giving presents that people like, even more then I like getting presents." He smiled. "Well, I think it's time for a bedtime story, you have a fun day planned tomorrow." Tirza sighed, but went to her room, Severus following. She crawled in bed and handed him the book. Severus kissed her forehead, and then began to read. "'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house..."

A/N: Well, I tried to get Christmas day on here too, but it is almost 2AM and I am really tired, so it will have to wait until next chapter. Thanks to all those who voted about Sev/Isabel and all the Christmas present ideas. I will answer all the reviews in detail, as I am just way too tired right now! Lots of love to all my readers! Hopefully the next chapter will be up late Thursday night! Hugs, Kerry