Desiree takes Siobhan's hand after the butt smack.  She smiled at the older girl, happy to even be invited to stay with Siobhan for a summer.  Talk about "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble".  Besides, anything would be better than staying at home, stuck with her mother in that house, with nothing to do during the day except dream of Hogwarts and magic.  Nothing to do at night except beg for a couple of hours of flying time on that ridiculously slow broom her mother had.  To spend a summer somewhere and not have to put her wand away in a box for three months...that would be enough of a reward in and of itself.  Hanging out with Siobhan would just be, like, really sweet icing on a really delicious cake.<br/><br/>"Oh, dear.  A summer here, with you?  Just us?  Bless your sweet, lovely lil' heart!  I would love to spend the summer with you, but my mama, bein' the witch she is, will prob'ly disapprove.  I'd have to send her a letter by muggle mail, and that, my sweet, can take weeks to reach our home."  There was a slight pause, and she spoke again.  "I know!  How 'bout you ask your parents if you can stay with me!  Oh, it's so delightful down at the river.  As soon as summer hits, there's that nice hot, sultry air.  Your clothes just...stick to ya.  Drives the boys wild, 'specially the pool guys.  They're cute enough, as muggles go, coarse as rough sawn lumber.  Why, my dear Siobahn, one of 'em even said, plain as a beak on an owl's face, that he wants to make me a woman on my eighteenth birthday.  Talk like that's hot as the neighbor lady's jambalaya, but it's probably<i>just</i>talk."<br/><br/>"And I would LOVE to sit together at the table for dinner.  My trunk's downstairs waitin' to be taken to my room.  Hopefully inspections are light this year.  Shall we, my sister?  Even with our Head of House making his overly dramatic entrance, surely the party is being held up until we arrive?"