Siobhan's heart nearly stopped beating as Kyle caught her arm, but she quickly recovered. She knew she hadn't quite wiped away the shock from her face though as she replied, "Yeah, friends."

She slipped her sleeve away from her still-friend and gave him a blinding, watery smile just before she turned to keep up with the Gryffindor prefects and the chain of following first years. "See you tomorrow, Kyle," she said, nearly skipping up the stairs. It didn't [i]actually[/i] matter what house she was in, then. People would treat her just the same!

If Kyle was like that -- still a friend -- Alistair couldn't be any worse.

Hogwarts was even larger from the inside, and when they started to move up the stairs (and those stairs started to move with them, floating around), Siobhan nearly gasped in wonder. She was sure that the Slytherin common room was somewhere in the dungeons, as her brother had said as much, so she was infinitely glad to be able to see something amazing to tell Kyle about in the morning. [i]To spoil it[/i], she thought with a wicked grin.

By the time she was at the top of the stairs, Siobhan regretted her initial wonder at the Grand Staircase, especially since they seemed endless on the way to the Gryffindor common room. Climbing in through the open portrait hole behind a painting known as 'The Fat Lady', she could barely suppress her yawns. A long day of travel coupled with a near-traumatic amount of panic at her Sorting were not conductive for keeping her awake, far overpowering the remnants of excitement. Siobhan located the bed her trunk had been placed at the foot of; stripped herself of her outer robes and shoes, and lay down on it, still wearing her woolen jumper and skirt.

She'd get changed into her night gown in just a few minutes... she just had to close her eyes for a little while.