47
Snape finally reached his quarters, holding Tirza's hand as she walked, and his classes over for the day. He released Tirza and she toddled off towards her room; he sat in an armchair and sighed. It had been an incredibly long day and it wasn't even over yet! He felt a very deep respect for all parents of small children, muggle or wizard! He loved Tirza more than life, but all this stress would surely give him prematurely gray hair! He heard a scream and ran towards Tirza's room. She was standing beside her bed, stomping her little feet, her face red with anger. "What's wrong?" Snape asked. Tirza stomped again, than pointed to her bed. "Up!" She proceeded to attempt to get onto the bed by herself, which failed, and she screamed again. "Up!" she shouted angrily at Snape. "Can you at least say please?" As much as he loved her, Snape was certainly not going to be ordered around by his two year old daughter. "No! Up!" Snape looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Say please." "No! No! No!" Snape turned to leave the room. "No! Poppy tum (come) bat (back)! Peez?" she asked. Snape turned to look at her again. "Up?" Her black eyes pleaded with him. "What do you say?" Tirza slapped her hand to her forehead. "Peez?" Snape nodded and Tirza happily bounced over to him. Snape gently lifted her up and set her on the bed; she immediately began looking under her blankets for something. Finding what she wanted, she crawled out from under the blanket, the static making her curls stand on end. Snape laughed loudly; instead of Tirza giggling, she glared at him. "Ut up tupid!" Snape stopped laughing and stared at her sternly. "Ut up tupid!" she repeated. Tirza caught the look on his face and started to squirm. "You are being extremely rude," Snape scolded. "And I've had enough of it. You're going..." He thought for a moment about what to do. "You're going to have a time out." "NOOOO!" Tirza screamed. She began kicking her feet and pounding her hands. Snape ignored her temper tantrum and picked her up, carrying her out to the sitting room. He plopped her into his desk chair as she continued to scream. "You will sit there for two minutes young lady." "No!" Tirza retorted, her eyes flashing. He turned to sit and keep an eye on her, but when he sat, she had disappeared. She was very easy to see, trying to crawl unnoticed across the room. Snape quickly picked her up and set her back in the chair. As soon as his hand released her, she attempted to get off the chair. Snape sat her again on the chair and kneeled in front of her looking into her eyes. "You are pressing your luck little miss. You get off this chair again and you will be spanked, understand?" Tirza's lower lip quivered and she sniffled, but when he went to sit down, she was still on the chair.
Two minutes ticked by slowly for both Snape and Tirza. Snape kept his eye on her, but she didn't try to get up again. She sat there wiggling around, humming a song to herself. As soon as the minutes had passed, Snape picked her up and kissed her. "Good girl, all is forgiven." She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Dood (good) baby now?" Snape chuckled and kissed her cheek again. "Yes, you are a good girl again." He set Tirza down and she immediately caught sight of the bookcase. "Tooks (books)!" she shouted. "Tirza, no books!" She looked at him, than at the books, than at him again. She growled and stomped her foot, but left the books alone. "Poppy pway (play), peez?" Snape reluctantly nodded; it was probably better that he play with her, than his books would be safe! "Poppy," Tirza pointed to her TV. "Tatch (watch) ooby-doo (Scooby doo)?" Snape looked at her and than at the TV; he had no idea how to work that thing! "No, let's do something else." Tirza stuck out her lower lip in a pout. "Ooby-doo (Scooby doo)! Ooby-doo!" she shouted. Snape sighed; he might as well give it a try, after all, how hard could it be to work? "Alright, I'll find the tape, just give me a moment." Snape went into her room and began looking through the various piles of tapes. He shook his head as Tirza continued to chant while he looked. Finally he found tape labeled Scooby-Doo; he suddenly realized that it had grown strangely quiet. Snape looked out into the sitting room, Tirza was toddling towards the fireplace, where a large fire burned bright and hot. "Tirza, do not touch!" he shouted. Tirza didn't pay attention and got closer to the fire; Snape dropped the tape and ran towards her. Just as she was reaching her little hand out to touch the dancing flames, Snape pulled her away. "No! You do not play with fire!" he shouted. She sniffled and her lower lip quivered, but she didn't cry. Snape set her down and pulled out his wand, casting an invisible shield in front of the fireplace; the shield still allowed heat to pass through, but nothing else could until he took it off. Snape turned to Tirza and pulled her to him. "Baby, you cannot play with fire. You could get burned, get hurt." "Fiwer (fire) bad?" Snape nodded and kissed her head. "Yes, fire is bad." "Ooby-doo?" she asked. He chuckled and went to retrieve the tape.
Snape stood in front of the TV/VCR, holding the tape in his hands. "Now how do you turn this on?" he said to himself. "Hurwy (hurry) poppy!" He rolled his eyes and pushed a random button; nothing happened. He pushed several more buttons and finally one turned the set on. Tirza clapped her hands happily. "Tatch (watch) now?" Snape nodded. "In a minute sweetheart." Now he looked at the set wondering where the video went in. Tirza toddled over to him and took the tape; she tried to push it into the VCR slot. "No go!" she whined. She stuck her little hand inside the video slot. "Mooy (movie) in! Tum (come) out!" "There's one in there?" Snape asked. She nodded; she put her mouth to the slot and yelled inside it. "Tum (come) out tupid (stupid)!" He chuckled; she was really quite amusing! Snape pushed several buttons and the tape was still inside. "Poppy tum on! Ooh mar (you smart)!" He finally hit the right button and the tape came out. "Mahtick (magic)!" Tirza shouted. Snape rolled his eyes. "Magic indeed." He inserted Scooby Doo (the right way, thank goodness!) and the VCR automatically played the tape. "Ooh mar (you smart) poppy," Tirza told him, nodding. She climbed onto the couch as Snape headed for his armchair. "No poppy! It wif (sit with) baby!" He smiled and sat down beside her. Tirza scooted closer to him and laid her head on his lap; Snape began to absentmindedly stroke her hair. Snape watched as several pathetic excuses of ghosts floated across the TV screen as the theme song started. "Ooby, ooby doo (Scooby, dooby doo), air er ooh (where are you; join in y'all, LOL!)?" Tirza started to sing along with the theme. Spooky Space Kook was the title of the episode and Snape laughed as the idiotic looking flying bug came into view on the screen. "Coo, dig ug! (cool, big bug)," Tirza said excitedly. "Poppy, er dib ugs ear? (are big bugs here)." Snape shook his head. "No, there are no big bugs like that here." Tirza giggled and looked up at him. "Do ugs eat baby?" He fought the urge to laugh. "No darling, bugs do not eat people or babies." "Do aweiums (aliens)?" Severus raised an eyebrow, unsure of exactly what an "aweiums" was. "No," he replied after a moment's thought. Tirza looked relieved and again laid her head on his lap. By the time Snape figured out that Scooby Doo was a talking dog, that Velma always lost her glasses, and that Daphne really was a damsel in distress, Tirza's breathing had slowed; she was fast asleep. Snape leaned down and kissed her soft cheek; he wished he knew how to turn the very annoying show off, but he didn't, so he was stuck watching it. Unfortunately, his book was just far enough out of reach that if he tried to get it, Tirza would most likely wake. If there was anything that Snape had learned today, it was to treasure the times that she was quiet!
Tirza sat in the chair that wrapped its arms around her at supper. She was rather disappointed that there was no pudding on her plate this time, something that delighted Snape. She looked down at her cut up spaghetti; sure she could use a fork and eat it, but that wouldn't be any fun. She spit and Snape turned to her. "What?" She wrinkled her little nose. "Ucky tuff (yucky stuff)!" Snape shook his head and grabbed her fork. "Like this," he said as he caught some of the pasta. He brought the fork to her mouth and Tirza batted it away, spitting again. She pointed to a large chocolate cake a ways up the table. "Not until you eat something decent." She stuck her tongue out at him and started picking at her spaghetti with her fingers. By the time she was done, most of the pasta was one the floor; only a small amount was actually eaten, though a large amount of sauce was smeared on her face. "Poppy!" Tirza called. When she had his attention, she pointed to the cake. "Peez?" Not realizing that most of her food was on the floor, Snape nodded and cut her a small slice of cake. "Ummy (yummy!)" She leaned down and licked the chocolate frosting from the cake. Snape watched her, utterly appalled. "Merlin child, are you a dog?" "Ruff ruff!" she barked. McGonagall and Dumbledore burst out laughing and Snape glared at them. "Well, you did ask Severus," Dumbledore pointed out. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother," Snape moaned to himself. After licking the frosting, Tirza grabbed a small chunk of the cake and ate it out of her hand. "Umm yummy!" She grabbed more cake and held her hand out to Snape. "Ooh aunt (you want) poppy?" Snape raised an eyebrow. "No, thank you." She smiled and shoved the whole chunk into her mouth. Tirza happily finished her cake and pointed towards the big cake again. "Mo (more)?" Snape shook his head. "I need to get you cleaned up before we go watch the quidditch game." "Un min et (one minute)." Tirza picked up her plate and began to lick it clean. Snape snatched the plate from her and set it on the table. He stood up and said the spell, releasing the chair's arms. As he attempted to pick up messy Tirza, he stepped on some stray spaghetti. Snape's leg went out from under him and he fell hard onto the floor. Tirza giggled and clapped her messy hands. "Do gen (do again)!" she shouted. Snape got up off the floor and brushed himself off, attempting to regain his composure. He looked around Tirza's chair at all the spaghetti. "Child, what am I going to do with you?" he asked, sounding very tired. He picked her up and headed for his chambers.
Tirza sat on Snape's lap, dressed in a fresh nappy, a pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt and her black coat, accompanied by her pink hat and mittens, all shrunk down of course. Tirza watched the quidditch players fly around for a while, bouncing on Snape's lap. "Baby fwy (fly)? Peez?" "No, you will not be flying," he replied sternly. Tirza wrinkled her face into a scowl. "Mwean poppy." Snape rolled his eyes. "Yes I am, and I intended to stay the 'mean poppy' of a living child, thank you!" Tirza put her hands on Snape's face and moved his mouth into a smile. "Be appy (be happy)!" Tirza eventually became very wiggly and restless, making her very whiny. "Baby fwy?" "No." "Baby down," she whined. Snape nodded and set her at his feet; she promptly sat down and pulled out Molly from seemed like no where. "Where did that come from?" Snape asked. Tirza giggled. "Tanta warry (santa carry)!" Dumbledore chuckled. "She didn't have any room in her pockets and wanted me to carry it for her." Snape rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the game. Tirza held Molly in the air and pretended that her lion was playing quidditch, complete with sound effects. Snape was thankful that she wasn't very loud; she had been giving him the worst headaches through out the day. Molly, of course, won her quidditch game a lot faster than did the Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Tirza grew bored; her daddy was not paying attention to her and there was nothing to play with! Deciding to find some of her own adventures, Tirza slowly crawled away from the group of teachers. She reached the stairs and sat, scooting carefully down each one. No one even noticed she was gone. After what seemed like an eternity (but in actuality, about ten minutes) Tirza had finally scooted down the last step. She stood up and started to toddle from the tower (what is that thing they sit in at the games?), relishing her freedom. She walked unnoticed around the outside edge of the quidditch field, listening to the snow crunch under her pink boots. She plopped down in the wet snow near the Gryffindor tower; the snow was cold and she giggled. Scooping snow into her mittens, Tirza happily ate it, than reached for another handful. When she had her fill of snow, she began to roll little balls, making tiny snowmen. "Poppy, baby, pwintis, tanta and tanta (princess, santa and santa)," she said, naming her family of mini snowmen.
"Are you cold Tirza?" Snape asked. When he received no response, he looked down; Tirza was gone. "Tirza? Tirza!" "What is wrong Severus?" Dumbledore asked. Concern flashed across Snape's face. "Tirza isn't here; she was sitting right in front of me just seconds ago!" "I'm sure she's crawling around here somewhere," McGonagall chimed in. Snape scowled at all the teachers. "We why are you just standing there? Start looking!" The teachers all began to check under their seats and anywhere else a small child might hide; it never occurred to any of them that she might have climbed down the stairs on her own. Oliver sat with the Weasley twins, pointing out flaws in both team's strategies. They watch as the Ravenclaw seeker dove towards the ground, chasing the snitch. "Hey, it looks like someone's on the field," George said, pointing towards the bottom of their tower. The three boys looked down to where George pointed. "Merlin, it's Tirza," Oliver moaned. "I've got to go get her, she could get hurt." "I'll go with you," Fred said as Oliver stood up. "How about you George?" George shook his head. "Nah, I'm sure the two of you can handle one baby." Fred and Oliver made their way past the other Gryffindors and headed for the stairs. "Pway in stow (snow), stow coweld (cold)," Tirza sang absentmindedly to herself. She was completely oblivious to the fact that people were looking for her and that she might get hurt because of the quidditch game going on around her. "Those beaters better get that bludgers before it flies into the stands... Merlin, is that a baby down there?" Lee Jordan shouted. Snape was instantly beside the boy, looking where he pointed. "Bloody hell!" Snape shouted. A bludger was sailing towards the exact spot where Tirza was sitting. Oliver and Fred were quickly walking towards Tirza. "Oli, look!" Fred shouted, pointing at the bludgers. They both took off running towards Tirza, who was unaware of the danger she was in. Before Snape had time to react, Oliver reached Tirza and pushed her out of the way, just as the bludger smashed into him and bounced away again. Tirza screamed and Fred picked her up, attempting to comfort her and figure out how badly Oliver was hurt at the same time. Tirza continued to scream and reach her little arms out towards Oliver, who lay motionless on the ground.
Madame Hooch was the first teacher to reach the scene, followed quickly by Snape, Dumbledore and the rest of the staff. Snape took Tirza from Fred and held her tight. "Oh my baby, my baby," he whispered, kissing her. He was so happy that she was alright; she could have been killed by the bludgers. "We must get this boy to the hospital wing immediately," Dumbledore said. Oliver was placed on a floating stretcher (isn't that what it was in the 3rd book or am I losing it again?) that was guided to the castle. "Oliwer?" Tirza asked as Snape carried her and helped to guide the stretcher. "Poppy, Oliwer (Oliver) wed (dead)?" Snape kissed her cheek. "No sweetheart, Oliver isn't dead; he's sleeping," he tried to reassure her. He didn't know for sure if the boy would survive or not; only Madame Pompfrey would be able to determine if the damage was fixable or not.
Tirza sat in Snape's lap in her now shrunk Cinderella nightgown, her eyes dropping. She had insisted on watching Scooby-Doo again and Snape had agreed, though his mind was on Oliver Wood in the hospital wing. His daughter owed him her life and he was worried about the boy, as much as he hated to admit it. He could not, however, leave Tirza and go check on the boy; and bringing her with would upset her again. It had taken him nearly an hour to get her to calm down when the incident had happened. Tirza yawned again and Snape kissed her head. "I think it's time for you to sleep, my little one." "Baby no tiwerd (tired)!" she stubbornly replied. Snape chuckled. "I think you are princess. Let's get you to bed." "No no no no no!" she screamed and began kicking. Snape ignored her and carried her to her bedroom. He entered the room and realized that Tirza could not use her normal bed. Snape set her down on the floor and pondered (Brain: Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering? Pink: Yes, brain, but why would hippographs eat bologna and yogurt sandwiches? Narf! Okay, I'm sorry, I'll attempt to control myself!) what he could do for the two night until Tirza was back to her normal self. Tirza slowly got up off the floor and toddled out of the room. After several minutes of careful thinking, Snape shrunk Tirza's bed and added guard rails so that she wouldn't roll off and hurt herself. "Alright Tirza, it's time for bed," Snape announced. He turned to look for her and heard a horrible bang, followed by an ear piercing scream. Snape rushed from the room.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone