A half hour later, Tirza opened her bedroom door and peeked her head out. "Hey!" she called. Severus glanced up from his desk, where he was hunched over piles of papers that needed grading. "You mad at me?" she asked. He shook his head no. She came out of her room in a long green Tigger nightgown, holding a teddy bear, and bounced onto the couch. "Good, cuz I'm not mad and I am hungry and I don't wanna be in that room anymore." Severus came and sat next to her on the couch. "Don't jump on the furniture, Tirza," he warned her. She sighed, "Okay, but it's really a lot of fun. You should try it sometime!" He suddenly had a mental picture of himself jumping on the couch and had to fight the urge to laugh.
"Why don't you like your room?" he asked her. She rolled her ebony eyes at him. "Well, it's all nasty." 'How can a room be nasty?' Snape thought to himself. "What do you mean?" Tirza wrinkled her nose. "It's all dark and like sad. There's no colors and ya gotta have colors! It makes it feel like," she paused. "Like death." Snape realized that she had a point. For a little girl, living in a dark dungeon could be very depressing. "Could we go and get some paints and carpets and stuff to make it pretty? Please?" Snape could hardly stand the sad little puppy eyes she gave him. 'I never realized I could be such a pushover,' he thought. But she was indeed beautiful and it amazed him that he could have helped create such a beautiful human being and he wanted her to be happy with him, so it was very easy to be captured by her charms.
"Let's fix that right now," Snape decided. Her face lit up. "Yea!" she yelled, bouncing off the couch and jumping up and down. She grabbed his hand and fell over trying to pull him off the couch. "Wow, you are heavy! Now come on! Hurry!" Tirza stood up and took off towards her room, her curly hair dancing as she ran. Snape followed her and couldn't stop a small smile from creeping up on his face as she watched Tirza bounce around the room. He pulled his wand from inside his robes. "What shall we do first?"
Snape sat on the bed, admiring his work at transforming the dungeon bedroom. Tirza was absolutely thrilled and was bouncing on the bed. "Tirza, please stop jumping on the bed," Snape's voice had a hint of exasperation in it. 'My god, does she ever sit still?' he wondered. "Why?" Tirza asked. "Because you might fall and hurt yourself; you've already had plenty of injuries for one day." She frowned and continued jumping. "No, I won't. I'm an expert bed jumper!" Just then she tripped over a stray stuffed animal and started falling head first toward the floor. Snape jumped up and grabbed her. "Now, see what I mean?" he asked her sternly. Tirza's eyes widened. "It wasn't ME! It was Molly, cuz she wanted to bounce too, just like Tigger!" she pointed at a stuffed lion. "Well," Snape said as he sat her gently on the bed. "No more jumping for you or Molly, even if this 'Tigger' person does it." Tirza giggled. "Tigger isn't a person, silly!" Snape shook his head. "No matter, I still don't want you to jump on the bed. How do you like your room?"
The 'nasty' dungeon room and been transformed into every little girl's dream room. Soft gray carpet covered the floors; the walls were a delicate pink, with a large painting of Sleeping Beauty being kissed by the prince (from Tirza's favorite movie) on one wall. Another wall was lined with shelves that were filled with Disney Barbie's, stuffed animals, books and videos. Her battery operated TV and VCR sat on top of a pink dresser, adorned with a Princess lamp and Sleeping Beauty music box. Her brass bed had a soft pink comforter and Sleeping Beauty pillowcases and a large pile of stuffed animals. A Star Trek Original Series poster hung over her bed. It looked out of place in the room, but Tirza had informed Severus that Star Trek was one of her favorite TV shows that she had always watched with her mom, who had given her the poster last Christmas. A pink dressing table and stool completed the room.
"It's beautiful! I love it!" Tirza told him. She flashed Snape a smile that melted his heart; it was her mother's smile. "It feels better now. More like my room at home." Realizing what she had said, Tirza dropped her head and looked at her hands. "I mean like my old room," she continued quietly.
"I hope it makes you feel more at home," he told her. She nodded. "Are you still hungry?" "Really hungry! Are you sure you don't have McDonalds here?" Snape nodded. "I am quite sure that we don't. Let's go to the kitchen and see if the house elves can find us something to eat, shall we?" Tirza followed Snape out of his chambers and into the hallway. He walked more slowly this time, remembering that she couldn't keep up with him. Snape's hand suddenly felt warm; Tirza had put her hand in his. She smiled up at him. "Thanks for my room." He managed to return the smile. 'Two smiles in one day? I think she's bewitched me,' he thought. He squeezed her hand gently. "You're welcome."