BlossomBall: Student Edition PV Closed

Interactions: Max Avery, Eris Fawley and Phaedra Stavrou
Mentions: Kaegen Deathmote, Rhea Bishop

Apparently Max hadn't expected someone coming over to talk to him. Cecilia certainly hadn't expected to see him cough out a chocolate pastry. She really hadn't expected him to put the mushed remains back in his mouth, chewing haphazardly. It was kinda funny, given the circumstances. Max reminded her of the boys back home, where a lack of decorum was common. The nearest house to theirs had 3 boys of varying age, with one two years her senior. He liked to mess with her by being as disgusting as possible, and she only too readily responded in kind, much to her mother's displeasure.

A small snort sounded from Cecilia as the boy chewed on the half-eaten food, and she struggled to hide an amused grin. This was supposed to be a serious event, right? When Rhea came by the table she let the barely concealed grin blossom into a friendly smile, nodding her head as the hostess left to speak to others.

If Kaegen's introduction had been odd, she decided against saying anything except for a small murmur in greeting. She could only assume those born into magic had differing customs, though it still felt like an aged response.

Then there was Max's. She had always assumed purebloods to be poised and regal given their 'status', but this kid was just plain weird. He didn't scream an I'm better than you attitude, and as he went back to shovelling food into his mouth he simply confirmed her views of him. A weirdo.

Before she could speak further, Eris showed up, greeting the two boys with a fair amount of familiarity. Kaegen looked dead, which she silently agreed with. Then there was the whole.. chasing Hufflepuffs and throwing statues at them??? Cecilia mentally facepalmed, it would have been better to approach the large group. 

...Never mind on that one too. A girl she had never seen before had sprinted to a table, and was now hiding under it. There was a boy there, and as she wondered what happened her prefect approached and began to speak of it. Ouch.

There was so much going on, that Cecilia belatedly realized she still had yet to say anything to these people. A startled cough brought her back to the present, and she glanced to all present. She quickly addressed Eris, smiling politely. She was embarrassed enough that her cheeks turned a bit pink, and she started to regret coming. "I'm Cecilia Moore. Nice to meet ya, Eris. Thank you for invitin' me, by the way.."

This was awkward. She fell quiet, silently shrugging in response to Phaedra's suggestion of remaining at the table to eat, readily grabbing a random food to eat. She decided to focus on the pastry instead, curiously looking about at those assembled. Max was weird, Kaegen had somehow moved away from the group, Eris was intimidating and so was Phaedra.

She shifted on her feet, still unsure as to whether she should say anything. Eating was the safe choice, but any possible silence would make her even more uncomfortable. Swallowing down the last bite of pastry, she grabbed a paper napkin from the table, wiping her hands of any crumbs. She knew enough of these kinds of things that you didn't simply wipe your hands on your dress. Especially not in front of others!

"So, uh.." She paused, trying to think, "Lots of nice dresses, tonight? Haven't seen so many fancy people about at once before."

Wait. She just told these very possibly painfully rich kids that she hadn't seen anything that fancy before. They'd probably judge her, or make fun of her. Cecilia could never figure out what to do in these kinds of situations, and she was certain she had just buggered it. The only thing she could do to worsen it would be to keep talking.

So of course her nervousness pushed her to keep talking.

"I, erm. I'm happy you invited me, Eris. Was surprised, t' say the least.."

This was fine. Everything was fine. There was a girl crying under a table, a boy eating half chewed up food, some dead looking kid, her prefect probably judging her, and a hostess that scared her a bit.

This was absolutely fine.

Kaegen was odd. It was one of the things that Eris adored about her friend. While most of the school paraded around, stuck in their social worlds of muggle born, pure bloods, or something in between, Kaegen did no such thing. He floated around, in his own world, a wraith who could barely handle the floors of the castle, and one who even wore his scarf to a ball.

She could sense his awkwardness, and maybe it was a mistake to invite him to a formal event, when he was the sort of person to be happiest outside, lost in the trees and woods that he talked about, and called the Fens. Eris would hate to see Kaegen having a bad time at her expense, as he seemed to force himself to do all manner of things, just to please Eris, a fact that pleased and terrified her at the same time. She hadn’t really thought of what he wanted when inviting him, just wanting one of her best friends to enjoy an event that she had helped make. But, of course, he was Kaegen, and he would do what he wanted.

It felt bad to let him go, and Eris watched as Kaegen wandered off, to fill up a random bag with food. A few months ago, she would of asked what he was doing, but it was Kaegen, and he did everything strangely. This wasn’t a school made ball, so the idea of Kaegen randomly hoarding food wasn’t that strange. While bothersome, it was not something she should concern herself with. Not when there was a ball to attend, and a promise to make sure that nobody set fire to her newly decorated tables.

Max, on the other hand, wasn’t strange. Well, while fighting and punching people was odd, it wasn’t strange. Not in the way that Kaegen was strange as the forbidden forest. Max was Eris’s kind of strange. Bad in social situations, and quick to fight. He felt normal, but the good kind of normal. Not a mundane kind, but the kind of normal that Eris could get used to.

Teasing him and talking to him was easy, but so was talking to Kaegen. Just two different types of easy, for two strange boys, in a strange castle. The girl was completely new, and she seemed nice enough. Once Eris had calmed down from her defensiveness over a random girl talking to two of her best friends, she was able to study the brown haired girl carefully, offering a smile that was sweeter than before, no longer just teeth and grimacing.

A faint blush crept up her cheeks, as expected from the young girl who couldn’t control the way her face heated up on the faint pallor of her pale skin. Even after months spent in Scotland, and months flying outside, her face was still pale, and her cheeks still heated easily, to the chargin of Eris.

“It’s easier to walk in than my last dress, and easier to kick in too, if you ever want a partner in kicking statues. Which, I don’t recall seeing you ever do. Punching is more your forte, and kicking is mine. I think. I should kick more, if I’m being honest.”

How strange they must of seemed to an outsider, two children conversing about punching and kicking. It was just a fact of life, and something that Eris was good at. Mere months ago, the thought of violence was something she only entertained through books and movies.

Speaking of outsiders, the brown haired girl started to talk, and Eris felt a rush of relief. In the world of purebloods, everyone was so put together, and always seemed to know what to do, and how to deal with everything. This ravenclaw seemed as lost as Eris, and that made Eris grin in elatement.

“It’s crazy isn’t it? Back at home, the only fancy people we saw were on TV. But of course, it wasn’t like we left the house a lot. I’m sure you know about my mother, everyone at this bloody school seems to know about it.” Eris replied, smile still on her face, even though her demeanor soured at the mention of her mother. In time, she had given up on ignoring and pretending not to care about her mother. The whole wizarding world read the newspaper, and the rumors about her only spread. It was no good to hide from the past, not when it had a way of rearing it’s ugly head at the worst possible moments. It was a stark change from the girl would could hardly think of her mother without bursting into tears at the start of the year, but many things had changed about Eris over the course of the year, and that was just one of them.


Their group was growing larger, and instead of the large gaggle of girls, this group felt nice and comfortable, made up of two friendly faces and a stranger who seemed nice enough. The newest edition to their group was Phaedra, and Eris grinned again, easy smile affixed to her face. It was great to talk to to the girl, away from the large group that they had been in. Phaedra was nice, and Eris looked forward to befriending her, and she also seemed to be a good friend of Max, which meant that she was good in Eris’s books.

“Hey Phaedra, things are going g-”

Eris found herself trailing off, as the form of Rosie Parker ducked under the table, away from Adam(!). At a normal time, Eris would bring Adam over to her group, but the sight of Rosie, who was normally happy, in tears made Eris frown, and abandon normality.

“I, uh, of course I invited you. It seemed the right thing to,” Eris shook her head, still staring under the table at Rosie, “Sorry, but what the hell is going on? What is Rosie doing, should we go help her, or does she want to be alone?”

Phaedra Stavrou, Rosie Parker, Eris Fawley, Cecilia Moore

Things always seemed to get out of hand when you gathered a big bunch of students together - Max was rapidly learning that this was simply a fact of life, whether adults were near to stop drama from happening or not. Still, before anything bad happened, he was enjoying the conversations he was getting to have with his friends.

Although he didn't know Cecilia well and she was giving him an odd sort of look, he imagined they had at least a love of writing in common that he could bring up since they were both with their House's respective papers. He could easily salvage this social situation, and his comfort with the whole thing only increased as Phaedra Stavrou approached their group, making his smile grow as he forgot his food completely for the moment. This wasn't one of his family's dinner parties where messing up a single greeting could come with dire punishments - this was a place he could hang out with good people and not worry about all that.

"Why not both?" he laughed in response to Eris's statement, not bothering to tone it down in front of Cecilia because he was fairly certain the two Gryffindors' hatred of Hufflepuffs was infamous by now. The Ravenclaw girl was also saying something about not seeing many fancy people around, which made his guard lower even more; if she didn't often interact with the upper echelons of society, this wasn't something that would get back to his family any time soon. They didn't tend to pay attention to the rumour mill below their class, so if someone with no money said 'Max Avery was being strange at a ball,' it didn't matter one lick.

As Eris and Cecilia continued to talk, Max turned to Phaedra with a smile as he took in her dress. The material was nice and the flowers looked elegant without being overdone - it suited her in the same way Eris's dress suited. It was incredible how girls could pick out dresses to match their personalities, really; to this day, Max had yet to see a single boy who could do it as well as a girl. Yet another mystery to file away if he ever wanted to actually take time and try to understand the big upset adults made over men versus women.

"Hey, Phaedra!" he greeted enthusiastically, fully intending to ask her about being prefect. He'd vaguely heard that she either was a prefect or might be one soon, and he was fascinated on how she'd managed to get the position. Not surprising with her standings in school or how responsible she seemed, but how anyone could manage to get on the good side of that professor from the official ball was intriguing. Catching up after their potions class would be fun too, but before he could talk more with her or Eris or Cecilia, everyone in the group was reacting to something he hadn't even noticed.

A crying girl under a table? Rosie? As in Rosie Parker? No. No, no, no, this was supposed to be a drama-free ball, and he wouldn't stand for anything bad happening this night when everyone was just beginning to have fun. He followed a few gazes over to where the other Ravenclaw prefect he vaguely knew stood, wondering if that Adam kid was the one who'd upset her. Despite their rather prickly meeting, Max somehow felt like that wasn't it; the guy appeared too responsible to just walk in and make some girl cry. So what'd happened?

"I'll talk to her." It was a shock to hear those words come out of his mouth, though he realized a moment later that he'd intended to do it since the moment he'd heard she'd dove under the table. If they just let her cry there then discomfort would descend over the area and everyone would be reduced to awkward chuckles instead of actually talking like friends. Plus, despite the fact that he'd delivered her a present for her birthday, it still felt like he and Miss Parker had some unfinished business to deal with. With a sigh, he poured himself a cup of punch and threw the whole thing back, gulping it down like it was liquid luck. He'd seen adults do that before when they were about to do something particularly dumb and nerve-wracking. Usually it was with punch he wasn't allowed to drink, but that didn't matter.

Grabbing a particularly large cookie and setting it down on a dainty plate, he strode over to where Rosie had dived to hide, aware that there were potentially a ton of eyes on him. He should be gentle and kind to her because something had clearly happened and what she needed was support. Taking a deep breath, he lifted the tablecloth and gave her a stern glare that allowed for no nonsense so that anyone watching could see.

"Rosie Parker," he said in a low voice, crouched on his toes and looking ridiculous with a tablecloth lifted over his head. "You are going to come out right now. You're going to wipe your eyes, hold your head high, and walk out so that whoever made you sad sees that it doesn't bother you. Really, this is insulting - after all that bullying I did, you never cried, so doing this now is making me look bad. No one in this school is allowed to be meaner than me - especially none of the dumb guys at this ball." Since the girls had seemed shocked, it had to be a guy.

"You take this chocolate - " He set the plate down, arching a brow. " - you eat it, and then you come dance with everyone. No one is allowed to make a Hufflepuff cry unless I say so, and for this particular night, I don't say so. This is a happy night and if Eris and Rhea invited you then we have a temporary truce. You'd better take advantage of it now because I'm going to bully you so bad when it's over. Do you really to give me the satisfaction of seeing you cry?" That part may not be exactly true, but the rest of it was. Shoving the plate farther under the table, he gave her one final look of scolding before standing up and letting the tablecloth fall back into place.

It was embarrassing. Rosie could feel the eyes on the back of her head. She ran her tiny hands through her hair and shut her eyes, trying to bring back an old method. Sometimes, when Rosie shut her eyes and made everything around her go silent in her head, she felt like she disappeared. Disappear. Disappear. Get out of there. If you run out now you'd be a lot more noticeable. Stay still, you'll fade, stay still. Stay still, st-

It wasn't working. Rosie opened her eyes to the same cloth, and hearing the same, concerned, and curious whispers of her fellow students. She let out a tiny groan into her hands and wiped her eyes furiously. Get a HOLD of yourself, Rosie! You look like a fool! A mudblood fool! Rosie sighed and her prep-talk was interrupted by the shuffling of the table cloth. Oh god. Was it Anatole? Hopefully coming back to apologize? Maybe Rhea? Or poor Adam, someone she ran away from without any sort of context? Rosie blinked her teary eyes and faced the cloth, only to be met with someone she wasn't expecting.

Out of every single person to appear under the table, she was surprised to see that Max Avery was the one to confront her. And he looked mad.

Immediately, Rosie's heart sank, and she almost involuntarily winced. Out of all people, why did her year long bully have to confront her? After a second, she saw him holding a plate of chocolate, and he began to go on his... Pep-talk? Scolding? Validation? Rosie didn't know what the heck it was. But she wasn't sure if Max thought about what he was saying before he did. Though, she'd be lying if it didn't mean something. He was right. Rosie couldn't let Anatole see she was sad. She had to pull it together. For Rhea and Eris. Rosie nodded as he spoke, rubbing her nose.

When Max mentioned he had never made her cry, she couldn't help but sigh at herself. Max was completely right. Rosie had never cried because of them, but Max wasn't her best friend. Rejection from him wouldn't hurt as much as it did from Anatole. But regardless, she saw his point. Rosie picked up a piece of the chocolate he offered and took a bite, sniffling.

You'd better take advantage of it now because I'm going to bully you so bad when it's over. Do you really to give me the satisfaction of seeing you cry?" Max said, before giving her the rest of the plate and leaving her alone once again. She wiped her eyes and ate a few more bites of the chocolate. Max was right. Get yourself together, Parker!

Rosie wiped her eyes, and finally stood up, hitting her head on the table. "Ah, frick." She mumbled, coming out from under the table. Rosie flattened her dress, and fixed her hair, her eyes setting on the group that was forming. They all seemed either confused or a bit worried, but Rosie wanted them to make sure nothing was wrong. She fiddled with her plate of chocolate a bit as she slowly walked over. You'll be fine. You're all just... First years. All wizards. You're all the same.

The only difference you guys have is your stupid bloodline.

Rosie arrived to the group and stood next to Max, showing that she was able to get a hold of herself. "Hey, sorry if I worried anyone. Just ran into a..." She trailed off, smiling nervously. "... Rough conversation, but everything's good. The chocolate's nice, huh?" She asked softly, putting the rest of it in her mouth so she wouldn't talk anymore. These were all purebloods.

Rosie was the bad apple in the perfect apple tree, and she had to make it work.

"if time flies when you're having fun, it hits the afterburners when you don't think you're having enough."

"if time flies when you're having fun, it hits the afterburners when you don't think you're having enough."

They were onto him. He hadn't dared to look back before strolling toward the corner, trapped behind a barricade of tables. They were a trench in this sudden war that he honestly didn't mean to start! All he did was say what he thought! All he did was say a few words here and there! It wasn't meant to hurt her, and yes, he swore that she had meant romantically. He was a foolish boy, and when he finally had completed his much, much less than dramatic retreat, he turned back, not even seeing the girl he had been focusing on anymore. She was gone, and somehow he had missed Adam, because he was there too. Everyone was there!

Well, except for him. He had taken it all the wrong way apparently, and now that the other boys were over there with strong heads and equally strong arcane power statistics. He knew that he would easily be dead if he strolled over there, scrawny and average, just to see if Rosie was alright. It was intimidating, to say the absolute least.

The spotless floor of the ballroom had never seemed so endless. His legs shook as he thought about walking over to see her again. Would she be teary-eyed? Or worse...would their friendship be ended?

Well, he had two options here. He could stay here and sulk and sip some punch, or he could go up and sneak up and find her. Both options sounded alright, but the punch was good and he could stay in the background, where no one would see him.

Where no one would notice.

Aw, darn it. Before he knew it, his cup like his soul was empty. He had no choice but to cross the endless blue ocean that was the ballroom...and hopefully without anything unfortunate.

Tossing his hair to the side, Anatole rolled up his sleeves and scratched the back of his tingling neck before he shuffled past the table and ambled over towards the punch bowl. Just one scoop...j-just one scoop...it'll all be alright...

He shut his eyes and decided it wouldn't be best to look behind him, knowing Max was in the distance. All he thought about was the brutal truth the boy had stated earlier in his dorm. It echoed in his mind, even though he could not hear a word he said now.

"I've considered trying for Prefect, too," Sebastian said with a nod, wondering if the position was really worth it. "There seems to be a lot of prestige gained with the title, but like you said, I expect a lot of spare time would be spent doing Prefect duties..."

As the three spoke, Sebastian began thinking about the benefits of Prefect. In the past, his father had been a Prefect in his third year of Hogwarts, and it stood to reason that getting it earlier would certainly prove a point for Sebastian. Would it be worth pursuing, only to annoy his parent, though? Such a lot of responsibility when the boy was still getting used to Hogwarts could strain his grades, maybe chew up too much time for social interactions... but, the chance to see his father's face when Sebastian outperformed him was incredibly tempting.

"I'll think about it," Sebastian decided, giving a shrug. He liked the idea of proving his overly controlling father wrong, but also had to balance his long term goals. "Depending on-- oh, I completely forgot, I have a study session planned!"

Grimacing, Sebastian looked between the two, his expression saying 'sorry'.

"It was nice meeting you, but I really can't be late!"

Sebastian smiled to Dymphna and Amadea, before weaving through the group of students and leaving the ball...

Eris's thoughts changed as quickly as usual, as her eyes drilled holes into the table cloth that Rosie was hiding under. If sheer intensity could burn, the table cloth would be burning already. Eris actually felt horrible for ever suggesting to leave Rosie alone under the table, even if it was what Rosie wanted in the moment. She had left Rosie once before, and to think about that moment and how it had hurt Rosie, felt repulsive. Oh god, Eris was repulsive to even think of leaving Rosie again, under the table, clearly sad. How was this ball going to work, when Eris couldn't even remember her friends, couldn't even be a good enough person to go after them and comfort them like a hero in a book would do? She felt...horrible, ugly in her stupid ball grown made of roses and fabric that was itchy and too fancy for Eris's likely, sickly in the group of people that were around her, who were so much better than Eris. Richer, smarter, better in every way, honestly. Why had she thought this was a good idea, why did Eris think she could pull anything off. Dorian didn't want to show up, it had to mean something. Of course he didn't want to show up, who would want to show up to something that Eris made? The only reason people showed up was because of the work Rhea did. And god, she was even more of a horrible friend, because she was doing nothing, and letting Max, who obviously hated hufflepuffs, handle the situation regarding Rosie Parker, who Max had a personal vendetta against.

"Max, wait, don't be rude to her. I-" Her voice cut off, and Max was already gone before the horrible host could say anything else, leaving Eris with a silent group of children, all of whom, Eris assumed were staring at the girl who had vanished under the tablecloth. Eris's feet moved forward of their own will, as Eris stepped up to where Rhea was. Flashing a worried glance at Rhea, and her plate of food (which Eris would normally hasten to steal from), Eris waited for Rosie to climb out from under the table, silently twiddling her thumbs together.

Unlike Rhea, she didn't clap, not wanting to draw more attention to Rosie. If Eris was in Rosie's situation, she wouldn't want everyone to notice her tears. Maybe just her friends, and Rosie's friends, minus Anatole, were all gathered around, expressions of worry on all of their faces. Even Max's. How strange, maybe they were actually friends? That would be good, and would mean less drama between Eris's friend groups.

Then the real question flashed through Eris's brain. Who had hurt Rosie and made her cry? People didn't just run under tables and cry for no good reason, unless they were drama queens, which Rosie was not. No, someone must of had to do something. Eris had made the mistake of hurting Rosie Parker once before, and she wasn't going to repeat that infraction, not if she could help it. Rosie came back, and Eris's scowl morphed into the most comforting smile she could manage, which was a slight grimace, but as friendly as Eris could manage in the present moment.

"If you need me to punch anyone, I can do it." Eris said, in a conspirator's whisper, loud enough for the rest of the group to know that Eris wasn't messing around. "Seriously though," Eris grasped Rosie's shoulder in a show of comfort just after Rhea did the same thing with the other shoulder, hoping Rosie wouldn't pull away. Her fear of Rosie yanking her arm away made Eris let go quickly, faint blush adorning her pale cheeks. Rhea had it, Rhea was actually a good friend. As if spurned on by her thoughts, the hair on top of Eris's head turned a melancholy shade of blue. The after affects of her foul mood, although, Eris didn't make any effort to notice her hair, dismissing the tingling sensation, in lue of listening to Rhea's words.

If there was one person who could fix the whole ball and make everyone happy, it was Rhea. Just not Eris, but she could still try to show Rosie she was there.. "if you need to talk, I'm here. I know I'm not exactly," another faint pause, as Eris's flats shuffled against the cold floor of the ballroom and her eyes darted down to the ground. "The best friend, but I-i can listen, okay?"

And Rhea saved the situation again, calling out for music, before gliding away to turn on the system. Eris wanted to follow after her, but decided to stay with the rest of her friends, not wanting to leave Rosie alone with Max. Even though she adored Max, considering he was one of her best friends, Eris would never leave him alone with a crying girl. That just seemed like a horrible idea, unless Rosie and Max were magically friends, which it almost seemed like they were. Maybe they would like to dance together, Eris remarked glumly, thinking back to the events of the Practice ball.

She really couldn't dance, and it didn't make it any easier being shorter than every single person in the castle, besides for one girl in ravenclaw. Professor Blackburn had said Eris was a good dancer, but who was he kidding!? She was lucky that the Blossomball had gone to hell, just because Eris hadn't had to dance in her horribly large dress, which while beautiful, had been a death trap in the making. NOTHING could convince Eris otherwise. Large dresses were demonic traps from hell, and so were high heels. Who would risk their life and ankles just to be a few inches taller? Not Eris, and she was the one person in the whole school who sorely needed the extra inches to her miniature height.

Oh well, maybe the night would get better. "Alright!" Eris clapped her hands together, trying to make the situation happier, if not for the others, but for herself. "Everyone get partners, and uh, then we can go grab Rhea and force her to dance. Or, whatever, it's up to you all." It was Rhea's party, and evidently, everyone was sad. There was no way there could be a party without Rhea, and they needed her to dance-- Eris needed Rhea to be the shining beacon of happiness and friendship, with her dancing skills.

That was not at all what he had expected.

Adam stood petrified as Rosie ran from him, diving under one of the tables and out of sight. Evidently, she was far from okay. Adam didn't understand how everything had gone so wrong, so very quickly. He didn't know Rosie all too well, as they'd only met once or twice before, but he was pretty sure that it took a lot to render someone speechless, sobbing, and seeking shelter in the middle of a public place. What could've possibly affected her so much that she had hidden from her own friends? Confused and growing ashamed that he wasn't being more helpful, Adam took an unsteady step backwards and desperately sought out a snack table where he could try to collect himself. Keeping his face turned downwards, comforted that the food couldn't cast any accusations at him, the boy scrambled for his next move.

He could feel eyes on him, probably all thinking the same thing: look at that jerk, he made a girl cry. Adam didn't want to be known for the rest of his Hogwarts education as mean or hurtful. He wanted to make friends! He liked people, and he liked it when people liked him; but he was terrified to say or do anything further. The blond had convinced himself now that he was to blame, that something he had said or done had insulted Rosie and chased her off. He hadn't done anything, or he didn't think he had, but what if he just hadn't realized it? Or what if some horrible, untrue rumor had been sent spiraling through their class? Maybe Rosie thought that Adam had been talking about her behind her back. If that were the case, there was no telling how deep the damage could go. By the start of second year, he could be alone. He didn't know if something like this was grounds for losing his Prefect job, but it very well could be. Above all, though, he might not ever get to talk to Rosie again, so soon after they'd met. He didn't want this to be her last impression of him.

Funnily enough, in this far-from-funny situation, Anatole was standing only a few feet away, refilling his cup from a delicious-looking bowl of punch. Though Adam hadn't had much time to reflect on it, the Gryffindor girls really had done an incredible job organizing this entire thing. They'd managed to secure food, decorations, guests, and the ballroom itself, which alone was something Adam didn't think he could ever attempt. If he had been in a more relaxed environment, he probably would've taken the time to more fully appreciate everything (and he would've taken a lot more of the snacks for himself). Now, though, the presence of his newly-discovered friend was more important than the setting. Moving down the table to stand next to him, Adam smiled and greeted the boy quickly before diving right in. "Do you know what that was all about? I'm really afraid that it's something I did, but I didn't think I did anything. Has she talked to you at all?"

Unluckily -- or maybe luckily, depending on what Anatole's answer was going to be -- a voice sounded out from nearby as soon as the question left Adam's mouth. It echoed off of the church-like walls surrounding them, and Adam didn't recognize it all that well until he turned around. He was met with the sight of Rhea standing with her hands around her mouth, amplifying her voice and making an announcement. It appeared that the time for everyone to show of their dancing skills had arrived at last. Thankful that his lessons with Professor Blackburn would be used for something this year, he paid closer attention as the party runner instructed everyone to find a partner and get ready for a waltz. The Ravenclaw was pretty certain that that's what they'd practiced for the original BlossomBall, so his steps would hopefully be in good shape. The only thing to deal with was finding a partner.

It was only after Rhea had finished talking that Adam caught sight of Rosie standing with a larger group. Though he suspected she was still feeling down -- that had definitely been way too short for a complete recovery -- she was smiling now, and that was a step in the right direction. Watching her put a piece of chocolate into her mouth, he made a decision and finished the cup of punch he had ladled out for himself. If Rosie could put aside her fear to have a good time, Adam should do the same. He wasn't going to let his imagination run wild, at least, not for tonight. He'd use this opportunity to let himself relax and enjoy what the ball was supposed to be; maybe he'd get a chance to sort things out with Rosie at the same time, but he couldn't focus too hard on that or he'd screw up the dancing completely. Issuing a quick apology to Anatole and promising they'd talk again later, Adam approached the cluster of students at the other side of the table anxiously.

Smiling distractedly at Max and then more deeply at Eris, he gave them both a small wave before turning his attention to the girl that had grabbed everyone's notice. "Hey, Rosie," he began, and laughed a little bit. He hadn't thought that he'd be facing scenarios like these until at least fourth year. "So, uh, we didn't get to talk much earlier. Do you....want to dance?" Gesturing in the general direction of the dance floor, he felt his cheeks start to turn red in embarrassment while he waited for an answer. He'd understand if she said no, of course. She probably had plenty of reasons to say no.

But he really hoped she'd say yes.