Tirza threw open the door of Snape's classroom later that day, just as his class was finishing. "Oops," she said. She smiled at Severus, and then went into his office, sitting in his chair. "Well, what are you so excited about?" he asked with a laugh as he entered a few moments later. She bounced into his arms. "Look at my grades!" she squealed happily. Severus chuckled and sat down, holding her on his lap. He took the parchment from her and scanned it, a big smile coming over his face. "I am so proud of you!" He exclaimed, kissing her head. She beamed and hugged him tight; aside from DADA, every class was an A or B, with a B- in potions!
"I have a wonderful idea," Severus mused. "Let's go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and have a nice lunch and some special dessert to celebrate." Tirza grinned, licking her lips. "Way cool!" she decides, then glances at the clock. "I gotta run and get ready for the holiday feast, ok? And I'm gonna spend the night with the girls." He nods and kisses her head, then sighs as she runs out of the office. It was hard for him to see her spend the time in the tower. Of course he knew it was a good sign that she was able to and wanted to. But he missed her all the same; so often lately he found himself wishing that she were a tiny girl. He laughed to himself, she WAS a tiny girl, and her friends almost towered over her. He shook his head, again thinking about how nice it would have been to raise her up the way he wanted. But nonetheless, he was very happy to have her as his little girl-- even if he DID have to share her with her little friends!
Tirza caught up with Ginny and Maddie just outside the portrait hole. "Neville, again?" Ginny asked, sounding exasperated. Neville was standing outside the portrait, trying his best to remember what the password was. Neville looked embarrassed and Ginny smiled at him. "Phoenix feather," she told him. The portrait opened. "Look the tree is up and all decorated," Ginny said in awe. "Cool," Tirza and Maddie decided in unison. They gaped at the presents piled under the tree and suddenly Fred and George raced over to her.
"Thanks for getting rid of him because today we had a free period and look what we made," Fred said handing her a box. Tirza looked at the box and giggled. It was... "We made these ourselves," Fred said helping her pull out a big assortment of canary creams and gross out eyeballs. "Way cool! What do the eyeballs do?" she asked You stick 'em in water for a few minutes then give 'em a squeeze at someone you hate and they'll shoot out green slime," Fred told her with a wink. "Awesome! Can I keep one of the creams and one of the eyes?" Tirza asked. "I'll pay ya for them!" "They're all for you as our Christmas present," George told her.
Tirza clapped her hands in delight, then hugged Fred tight, then George. "You guys are the coolest." "Thank you," The said in unison. "I'm gonna go use an eye on my dad, I'll be back!" Tirza said. She raced downstairs after putting the eye in water and snuck into snape's office and squirted him with the green slime, then burst into giggles. "What was that?" He demanded as he turned to face Tirza. She was giggling too hard to answer.
"Tirza explain this?" Snape asked as he wiped off some of the ick. "It's a joke silly goose!" "Not a very funny one since I'm the one covered in this ick," Severus stated. "I think it is!" she pointed at him again and giggled, then fell over, still giggling. "Accio Eyeball" Severus said seeing what Tirza had behind her back. "Daddy, give it back!" she says, stomping her foot. "Nope." He said squeezing it hard causing more slime to squirt out and hit a now fuming Tirza in the face. "DADDY!" she shouts. "GIVE IT BACK!"
"Not on your life unless you promise not to squirt me again," Snape said and squeezed it again causing more slime to escape. "Can't make promises I can't keep," she retorted, ducking behind a small sofa. "Well then I'll just pocket this for further use," Snape smirked putting the toy in his pocket. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Do you want more of this" Snape said holding the eyeball back up, pointing directly at her. She dug a spare out of her pocket and squirted him again, then ducked behind the couch. "As if I didn't have more!" she called from behind the couch.
This slime war continue on for 20 minutes until both finally ran out of slime and collapsed in a heap on the couch. "Daddy, you're so much fun, you know that?" "I sure try to be," Severus said with a sly grin. "The girls are gonna be looking for me soon, I should go before they think I slimed you to death." "Okay then I'll see you at the leaving feast," Severus said giving her one last hug and kiss.
Tirza appeared back at the dorm, still covered in green slime. Ginny and Maddie giggled. "What happened to you?" Ginny asked. "Sorry dad and I got into a slime war," Tirza said giggling. Oliver entered. "Whoa, kid, what have you been into now?" Tirza giggled. "Eyeballs that shoot slime." "Nice one George," Oliver said as the twins passed him. "Oh yeah?" Tirza jumped on him, getting slime all over him in the process
Oliver started tickling her and they wound up in a tickle fight until Percy came and said, "Break it up you two," Percy snapped. "I would hate to take house points on the last day of term." "SHUT UP STUPID! WE'RE JUST PLAYING!" Tirza shouted, still laughing. "20 points..." Percy started to say but was tackled by Fred and George. Tirza and Oliver laughed and resumed their tickle fest. "Come on you two it's almost time for the feast and you must get cleaned up," Hermione said loudly over the entire ruckus. Oliver does a quick cleaning spell and they all head to the leaving feast.
"Everyone have a good break and enjoy your feast" Dumbledore finished and the food appeared. "Presents after the feast?" Tirza asked everyone as they ate. The kid exchanged a smirk, and then nodded. "What am I missing?" she asked. "Nothing!" they all answered, and then laughed. Tirza chucked a roll at Harry, who was winking at her and laughing. "Brat," he teased and tossed one back. "NO!" Hermione warns. "Not just before we go home." Tirza and the boys sigh; Ginny and Maddie giggle.
They hurriedly ate and headed to the common room again, digging the presents from under the tree. All the kids (Neville, Oliver, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Maddie) handed her one great big box. "You can't open it until Christmas and it HAS to be the last one," Hermione told her. "Why?" Tirza asked, her eyebrow raised. They all gave her goofy smiles. "I put a charm on it, and your dad knows too, so don't even try it," Hermione instructs. Tirza's jaw drops. "No hints?" she begs. All seven heads shake no. Tirza sighs. "Okay, I'll wait, you all are gonna kill me!" she giggles. "Oh, this one you can open now!" Ron says, handing her a squishy package.
Tirza beams and opens it, pulling out a sweater from Molly Weasley, with T on the front. She hugs it. "I love it!" Ron and Ginny laugh and hug her. "Mum'll be thrilled, she only had blue and was worried," Ron said. Tirza shook her head. "Any color would have been fine!" She starts handing out the presents to their respective owners, looking excited. "Somebody hurry and open one before I explode!" she giggles. "No wait!" she points out the identically wrapped presents each of them had. "Those first!" All the kids laughed and opened their packages: inside, were muggle cell phones.
"Um, these won't work here," Harry said. Hermione smacked him. "They are very nice anyway!" she hurriedly said. Tirza kept grinning broadly. "Oh, they'll work alright! I got grandpa to charm them so they would! I have one too and we can call each other!" Her explanation dawned on them. "COOL!" they shouted, immediately turning them on to discover how they worked. The common room was soon filled with rings as the eight cell phones go off. The other kids started looking and wondering.
"Alright, all right, we got more gifts here," Oliver said, smiling. He pulled Tirza onto his lap as they squished back into a circle. "DUDES!" Tirza called to the twins. Fred and George scrambled over. "Yes, oh favorite of pranksters?" they tease. She giggles and pats the floor. "Come on, you have presents too!" They beam, wink at her and join the group. "You two first," she directed, handing them their gift. Fred chuckled and opened it……… inside was 50 galleons.
"Make some more joke stuff; just remember me when your famous!" she announced. George and Fred tackled her, tickling her, while a huge tickle fest erupted between the small group. After several minutes of tickles and laughter, leaving very red faced and breathless kids, they settled down again. "Who goes next?" Ron asks. "You can," Tirza told him. He quickly attacked his box, to find a very fancy set of wizard's chess. "Your old one was getting hammered," Tirza said with a smile. Ron hugged her. "I've been wanting one for almost a year! Thank you!"
Harry grabbed his present next. Inside was a gift certificate to the Quidditch shop, for 30 galleons. Tirza blushed. "I couldn't think of what to get you Harry, I hope it's okay………" Harry smiled and nodded. "It's great! I always find something there I like!" Ginny winked at Tirza and opened her own gift. Hers was a gorgeous necklace, sporting her birthstones in the shape of her initial, G.
"Tirza, it's too much," she said softly, looking at the expensive necklace. Tirza hugged her. "No it's not……… it's the perfect present for a best friend," she whispered. Ginny hugged her back. "Somebody help me put it on, huh?" she asked excitedly. Hermione carefully helped Ginny put the necklace on, and then reached for her own gift. It was the same, with an H in her birthstone. Hermione hugged Tirza tight. "Tirza, you spoil us," she said with a big smile. Tirza giggled. "Duh! That's the fun part about Christmas!"
Maddie found a matching necklace, of course with M in her birthstone. The girls squealed happily and helped each other with their necklaces, Tirza beaming the whole time, looking very proud and happy. "And what did my sister get for me, hmmm?" Oliver asked, hugging her as he reached for his gift. The wrapping revealed a drawing, of Oliver on a broom. "Tirza, that's a nice drawing," he says, smiling.
Tirza burst out giggling. "It means you get a new broom!" She used her wand and accio'd a brand new broom from her dorm room and presented it to him. Oliver hugged her tight and swung her around. "You get a ride as soon as we come back from vacation, agreed lil' sis?" he said. She nodded and hugged him tight.
A little while later, Hermione, Ginny, Maddie and Tirza headed for the younger girls' dorm room. There was an empty bed in the room, just perfect for a sleepover! "This is a great start to Christmas vacation!" Ginny announced as the girls changed into their pajamas and crawled into bed.