Sisse glanced up and realized that Alvin was looking at her and his words seemed...genuine. She swallowed and glanced back up at the street, grateful that they were in the more deserted parts of the street. "Oh, well. There was this one time when Henry started at Hogwarts and he managed to get stuck on a carriage wheel. His school robes were tangled so far into the spokes that the house matron had to cut him free. And while he was stuck he was kicked by a thestral right in the chest. And it was entirely because he was trying to play a prank on another student." Sisse shook her head slightly, lips turning up at last into a small smile. "Matthew, my older brother, was furious because mother wrote him the day after she received the nurse's letter and berated him for not watching over Henry enough. Naturally it was Matthew whom Henry was trying to play the prank on." Matthew, of course, had been so perfectly Matthew in declaring that Sisse ought to look after Henry more closely, but such were the consequences of her mother's letter when it came to Matthew.

"I can't even begin to tell you the amount of times he managed to backfire his wand. I swear his wand and him are in a constant battle. I will never understand how that particular match was made, given as it came from Ollivander's. But he seems content with it." And now she was rambling. Sisse took a breathe and stopped her words. Giving Alvin a chance to change the topic or reply or lapse into silence again. Anything to keep her from seeming more foolish in his eyes. Because ladies certainly didn't ramble like this.