Siobhan felt suddenly out of place, even though Alistair was her brother and she [i]shouldn't[/i]. Though she wasn't at all small for her age, two of the older Slytherins were massive - built like brick walls with faces looking like they'd been smashed in, or at the very least seen a hard life. She watched Alistair carefully, all too aware of the red and gold on her Gryffindor tie.

Alistair raised an eyebrow at Maggie as she distanced herself, if only slightly, from the group. "You don't seem to like it," he said genially. "Am I not allowed to introduce my cute little sister to mean the ol' Slytherins? Just 'cause she's in the wrong house doesn't mean she can't be guided in the [i]right direction[/i]."

"You're a weirdo, MacFusty," said one of the boys, alternating between sending lost-puppy glances at Maggie, who seemed to be completely ignoring him or disinterested entirely in his presence, and staring stoically in challenge at Siobhan's brother. She wondered what that meant -- perhaps Alistair had "called dibs" on Kyle's sister, as he once said about life in the Slytherin dorms before. "She's probably turn around and go straight to McGonagall, rat us out and the like."

"Rat us out for what, Craig?" Alistair mocked in an innocent-sounding voice. His following laugh was crueler and colder than Siobhan had ever heard before. "'Sides, I got stuff for them to do. Sure as hell don't trust any of [i]yous[/i] to take care of things after the year's out. Save Mags, of course."

Siobhan watched as he ran a tired hand through curly blonde hair, eyes tightening for only a split second before he was striding to the side. "Kyle! How's life been treating you so far? Good? Okay then," he said, quickly enough so as to cut off any attempts Kyle would make to respond. The Death Eater's sister raised an eyebrow at his rude antics, and he sighed in response. "I have an important, important task for you in particular. If you do it, I might make you 'King of the Firsties' -- crown and all -- ah..."

Maggie had given him a flat look, and Alistair deflated slightly. "When do you next have Defense?" he asked finally in a low voice, close enough now to the two first years that only they could hear him. Despite his previous words, Siobhan thought he didn't look all too fussed or serious about it, a sly half-smile plastered across his face. 

Something told her, perhaps the part of her mind that wanted to be in and [i]should[/i] have been in Slytherin, that this would be a fool's errand to keep them busy.