Tirza couldn't sleep; she rolled out of bed and quietly opened the door and peaked her head out. She saw Snape sitting in the armchair and tried to duck back inside her room. "Tirza, I know you are standing at the door, you might as well come out," he told her. She sighed; how did he know everything? She shuffled out in a teddy bear covered pajama top and pants and her fuzzy slippers, hugging Molly close. She stopped about two feet in front of him and buried her head in Molly's curly mane. "Are you still mad at me?" "Tirza, I cannot hear you with your face in the lion's hair." She lifted her head up, but closed her eyes. "Are you still mad at me?" Her voice was barely above a whisper and she wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answer. "No Tirza, I'm not still angry with you; you've been punished so as far as I am concerned, the incident is over." Tirza still wouldn't open her eyes. "Daddy, do you hate me?" Snape sighed, wishing she wasn't so complicated; one minute she is tough and feisty, the next she twists everything to mean that he hates her. "Tirza open your eyes." Not wanting to get yelled at, she opened her eyes and then buried her face in Molly's mane again. "Come here." She shook her head no. Snape got up and scooped her into his arms and sat back down. "Why do you think I would hate you?" He heard her mumble something, but Molly's mane was in the way again. "Could we set your lion down for a moment; it is distracting me." Tirza giggled and handed him the lion, which he sat on the floor. "Now, what were you trying to say child?"
She closed her eyes. "You yelled at me and spanked me." Snape kissed her forehead and held her tight. "That doesn't mean I hate you; I could never hate you. Didn't your mother ever get angry with you?" Tirza opened her eyes and thought for a moment. "Only one time was she really really really mad like you were today." "And why was she angry?" She blushed and laid her head on his chest. "Are you gonna be mad if I tell you and it was bad?" He kissed her head. "No, I promise." "One time mommy was sleeping and I got hungry and I wanted soup. Our stove was weird, you had to use a match to get it to work, so I took a match, even though I wasn't supposed to, but I didn't want to wake mommy up. I tried to get the stove to work, but I accidentally started a fire and the curtains and the wall got burned and the firemen came and everything. Mommy was so mad; her face went all red and everything. I didn't get burnt, but I wasn't supposed to play with matches, so I got in trouble." Snape resisted the urge to chuckle as he had a mental image of the incident. "And your mother was right to be upset. What did she do?" "I got grounded from TV and AJ and the computer for a whole week! It was the worst week of my life!" "Did your mother hate you?" he asked. She shook her head and pushed away a few stray curls. "Then why do you think I would hate you?" Tirza buried her face in his chest. "You get mad a lot and you yell and it hurts my head. When you get mad, I think you might send me away. I don't want to go away daddy, I love you." She started to cry and Snape stroked her hair. "I will never send you away; you couldn't make me angry enough to even want to do that. I love you Tirza." She dried her eyes and looked him in the eyes. "Are you sure? I'm really stupid sometimes." He shook his head. "You are not stupid; you are a child and children get into trouble. I only wish that you would space your troublemaking sprees out more or Poppy will give you a permanent bed." She giggled and hugged him. "Now let's get you back to bed." "Will you sing to me?" "NO." Tirza giggled again as he carried her to her room.
"So can I go to Hogsmeade tomorrow daddy?" Snape sat and thought for a moment. She had been very good during her probation and had even gotten rid of all her joke things. "Oliver said he'll take me again if it's okay with you! S'il vous plait mousier?" Snape chuckled; she always sounded so cute when she spoke French. "Only if you promise me you will go nowhere near Zonko's and that you won't eat a lot of candy and make yourself sick." She nodded earnestly. "I promise!" "Then you may go." "Yippy!" Tirza jumped into his arms and kissed his face. "You are so cool dad!" He kissed her head and ruffled her hair. "Guess what? I've decided what I want to be for Halloween!" "We call it Hallow's Eve," Snape corrected. "Weird, anyways, I wanna be the Master of Disguise!" Tirza told him excitedly. "Why would you be that?" She gave him a funny look. "Don't you guys go trick or treating here? Ya know, go around and get candy?" He shook his head. "No, we don't. The school generally has a party with music and food, but I avoid going if at all possible." "Why?" she asked. "I'm not one for parties." She giggled and kissed him. "Dad, you're so silly!"
Tirza looked longingly at Zonko's from the Three Broomsticks. "Don't even think about it," Oliver warned her. She laughed. "I know, I know; besides, I don't wanna find out what dad would do to me if I bought stuff from there again." "What he would do to you?" Oliver asked with a chuckle. "He threatened my life if I even allowed you within two feet of the store!" She smiled and took a bite of her sandwich. "It's good to see you eating; I was worried that day you passed out." 'He even worries about me? Maybe he likes me?' Tirza thought. "Hey, can we go get some ice cream now?" He nodded and paid for the whole bill. "How much I owe ya?" she asked him. "Don't worry about it; my treat." She smiled and Oliver led her down the street. Tirza's eyes caught sight of something in a store window and stopped. "Look!" She pointed at the window, where an adorable bunny sat, excitedly watching people pass. "Please can I go in and see the bunny? Please?" She turned her puppy dog eyes on Oliver and he just couldn't refuse.
"Hi bunny. You're such a pretty bunny." The baby rabbit was white, with big splotches of tan and a black mark like a moustache across its mouth. "You are cute, like Jeannie's puppy, you know that?" "Who's Jeannie?" Oliver asked. Tirza shook her head. "Never mind, too hard to explain. Isn't the bunny so cute?" He nodded absentmindedly; he wasn't much of a rabbit person. "Can I help you?" A blonde haired woman came over to them. "Yeah, can I hold the bunny?" The woman nodded and took the rabbit from its cage and handed it to the little girl. "Is it a boy or a girl?" "A girl," the woman answered. Tirza looked at Oliver, her eyes shining. "Can I get the rabbit?" "That's not really my decision to make," he told her. "What would your dad say?" "Well, we've been talking about it and he's gonna let me, he's just been to busy to bring me here." Tirza almost cringed; lying was going to be a hard habit to break. Oliver eyed her for a moment, not sure if he believed her; Snape just didn't seem like a pet person. "If you're sure," he relented. Tirza nodded enthusiastically. 'I'll work it out somehow.' The rabbit and its supplies were bought, taking the rest of Tirza's spending money, but she didn't care.
The closer they came to Hogwarts, the more nervous Tirza became. How exactly was so going to explain her bunny? Oliver helped her carry all the packages down to the dungeons, where she left them just outside. "I wanna surprise him," she explained. "Dad, I'm back!" she yelled as she entered. Snape looked up from his lesson plans. "Did you have a good time?" Tirza, dragging her feet, walked over to him and crawled onto his lap. "Daddy, I have a question." He raised an eyebrow and nodded for her to continue. "I did something kinda bad today. Are you gonna spank me?" Now Tirza had his full attention as he wondered at she had managed to get herself into. "It depends on what you did. If you bought things from Zonko's, then yes I will." She shook her head. "No, it's not that." She sighed as Snape stroked her hair. "I better just show ya." She slid off his lap and went out into the hallway; she came back carrying a big box. Tirza sat the box on the floor in front of her and carefully lifted the lid and reached inside. "This is Jinn Jinn, my Jeannie bunny," she told him quietly. Snape was stunned; of all the things he expected her to tell him, this had not been one of them! "How did you get that?" She ducked her head. "Well, I told Oliver that you were planning on getting me a pet and he believed me and let me bring her back." Jinn Jinn wriggled in Tirza's lap and the girl kissed its sweet face. "Look at her, daddy. How can you say no to this face?" Snape rolled her eyes. "I am not happy that you lied to Mr. Wood to get your way; you will be telling him the truth and apologizing later. But I suppose now that you have... this rabbit, there isn't much I can do. But do not plan on going to Hogsmeade next weekend." "So I get to keep her?" Nothing else mattered to Tirza as long as she could keep Jinn Jinn. He nodded and she hugged the little rabbit. "Yippy! I get to keep you Jinn Jinn!" Snape sighed, having a feeling that he would regret this.
At supper, Tirza asked Oliver if she could talk to him. "I lied to you, when I told you dad was going to let me get a rabbit." He nodded. "I suspected as much." Tears began to gather in her eyes. "Are you mad at me?" "No, everyone makes mistakes." She nodded. "I'm really sorry, I won't do it again. And dad said I can't go to Hogsmeade next weekend." "That's too bad, but he's right, you shouldn't lie." She sighed. "I know; but at least I get to keep Jinn Jinn!"
Tirza lay on the floor, her coloring books and crayons spread around her. Jinn Jinn ran circles around her, making her laugh. She pet the rabbit's loppy black ears and giggled. The rabbit continued to run a few circles, then hopped over to the chair that Snape sat in. Without any warning at all, the rabbit jumped onto his lap, startling him. "Tirza, your rabbit jumped on me; please come and remove it." She frowned at him. "She's a she and her name is Jinn Jinn, not it! You're gonna hurt her feelings if you call her an it!" Tirza cradled the tiny rabbit in her arms. "Can Jinn Jinn sleep with me tonight?" Snape resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No." She frowned again. "Why not?" "Because rabbits do not belong in beds." She sighed. "That's no fun!" She put Jinn Jinn on the floor and the rabbit started nibbling on its special rabbit cereal. "Aw, daddy, look! Isn't she cute?" This time Snape did roll his eyes.