BlossomFest The Learning of an Art

Verla hoped she wasn't too late to learn how to dance, people said it could come in handy in the future, though she didn't plan on attending the ball, because she knew she would never get asked for the shy and quiet girl she was. She hoped one day her crush would ask her, but it seemed unlikely. "I hope I'm not too late, I'm sorry if I am, I'd only just heard about this from a friend who said he might attend, though I don't see him. Is anyone still available to practice?" Verla asked Matilda, one of the professors she couldn't wait to get to know better. She was surprised to see the headmaster here, it shocked her quite a bit when she saw them dancing, the way he looked at her, made her think there was more to it than just dance partners.

All in all, she didn't see anyone available, maybe they were just hiding, so for now, she sat down and hid away from the others as well, being as she was, it was normal for her to hide, though she'd been getting comfortable while at Hogwarts, so she's changed a tad bit, not much.

Marissa danced with James, trying as hard as possible to keep up with him, as well as not step onto his feet. Marissa was obviously not so confident, she was determined to at least try and impress James.

Behind them, she suddenly Professor Blackburn. She realised he had been wandering around, commenting on everyone’s work.

“There is a place for improvement, but you are still doing a great job. Perhaps trying to focus more on your footstep would help you!”

Marissa went bright red instantly and looked down to the floor. That obviously meant she was bad. She felt a tang of guilt, feeling sorry that James had to dance with such a failure. She sighed and tried to continue, hoping not to fail again. Marissa looked back up to James, trying to give him a confident smile. It was obvious that he knew what he was doing, probably did this many times with other girls.

Suddenly, snapping Marissa out of her thoughts, Professor Blackburn addressed the whole ballroom.
“The lunch break is almost done. In that sense, the lesson is finished. You can keep practicing a little if you want to be certain that you learned everything. Otherwise, I wish you a great afternoon!”

She realised James took his hand off of her hip, as well as letting go of her hand and looking at the ground for a moment, before looking again at his surroundings. This instantly worried Marissa, she probably messed up again.

Marissa thought about dates. Everyone would have one. Great, just what I needed. Another lonely, socially awkward night.
James took her out of her thoughts when he looked back to her and smiled. “Uh, th-thanks for dancing with me.”

"O-oh. N-n-no problem." She smiled nervously and put her hands behind her back, trying to hide how much they were shaking. Marissa just stood there, looking down at the floor as she wondered what she would do next.

He tilted his head back with a laugh, nodding. "Absolutely. I know a couple of Ravenclaws I'd love to kick." The words and thought of him and Eris kicking butt was setting him at ease just enough that he didn't want to tear off his skin being so close to another person. It still surprised him how much easier it was with her, and he thought that for once he may be able to have fun doing something like dancing. His grin only grew when she scowled at him for his height, going from pleased to teasing. He was about to make a comment when Blackburn spoke to them, making his spine straighten slightly in pride. Excellent work. Eris and him made a good pair.

Looking back at her as people began breaking apart from their dancing, he assessed the tint of her cheeks and wondered what exactly she was embarassed about. He figured that it had to be embarassment if it wasn't going away, and he felt slightly bad though he didn't even know why she'd be embarassed. Was it him? Was it being seen with him? He sure hoped not, because he enjoyed hanging out with her more than he'd ever let on. He really hadn't had any friends who were girls before coming here, but he decided that they could be just as good of a friend as a boy. Fiesty and ready to get into trouble just as often as any guy - he wasn't sure what the whole fuss was about boys and girls not being able to be good friends.

With a slight sigh, he stopped dancing and dropped his eyes away from her face as he debated on how to leave. Usually it was with another kiss to the hand and a coy grin as you said you'd had fun, but he wanted to say something more now. This hadn't been a real dance - it'd been practise for the real one. Speaking of, he still wasn't sure who he'd take to the real one. He figured Aubren might be going with Dorian, and the couple of other girls he knew either weren't around or also had someone to go with. Did Eris have someone to go with? It wouldn't surprise him; she knew how to have fun and everyone had to know how lucky they'd be to go with her. If he asked it would probably be in vain. And she might be embarassed about being seen with him. But...

"Hey, do you have someone to go with to the Ball?" he asked casually as he slowly took his hands away from her waist. He hadn't even been worrying about their proximity for the past few minutes, which was a little shocking. "I assume you do because the people here would have to be idiots not to see how cool you are, but if you want a more interesting night..." He shrugged nonchalantly despite the fact that being publicly rejected would suck. "I think we could have fun spilling drinks on the people who annoy us. Just a thought. Oh and... I'd wear really flat shoes in apology for my height, just as long as you wore heels in apology for yours." The teasing grin was back regardless of his misgivings, as he jokingly squinted over her head.

James nodded to Marissa, even though she was looking shyly away. At least, that's what James thought. He knew deep in his mind that he would have to ask someone out to the dance, but even though he'd been to multiple dances, they were all a lot more casual, and didn't need any asking out. He had danced slow dances with other girls, but not one other specific other girl exclusively. 
James knew he wanted to go the dance, and he knew that he should ask someone to the dance if he were to go, and he also knew that however much awkward it was for him to do or even think of, he knew he wanted to ask Marissa to the dance.
"Uh... um..." he stammered. Was right now even the right time to ask her? Assuming he would ask her? James hated that last thought.
"I, uh..." he tried again. He didn't get anywhere with that.
"Um, Ma- Marissa? W-would you... um... oof, I, uh... I... um... I, uh... forgot what I was going to say," he chuckled nervously, "Dang it. Hopefully it will come back to me later."
The truth was, he hadn't forgotten at all. He just couldn't get the words out to ask Marissa to the dance.

Oh. Wait, what? Max Avery was asking her to the ball? That..that was unexpected. Max was her friend, her partner in crime, and someone who always made her smile. He wasn't going to..ask her to...to DANCE WITH HIM? Face turning red, Eris took a step back, unable to understand why her heart was racing so fast, and her face was turning even redder than usual. Was she sick? Was she going to die? What was this feeling?

Was this... COOTIES? Of course Max Avery would be the one to kill her. No other human would have that honor. Reminding herself cooties were fake, Eris's face drained again. Wait..if this wasn't cooties, was it a CRUSH? Was she going to be crushed by Max? What was this? Feeling confused, Eris snapped out of her thoughts, aware of the red flush spreading on her face. Feeling her cheeks heat up even more, the infamous punching menace and drama queen was suddenly vulnerable.

Grinning, and managing a laugh, Eris stepped forwards again, trying to show Max that she wasn't going to run away from him and say no. "Sounds like a da-" nope, not that. It was not a date. She was eleven for christsake, this was just a ball. Yeah, a ball. Nothing more, nothing less. None of that weird cootie stuff that older kids like Dean and Sydney liked to do. "Sounds like a good time. I'll go if I get to pour punch on Eri."

Lowering her voice, Eris mock whispered, in a fake impression of horror, "I've never wore heels before, hopefully I step on you." As people filled out of the ballroom, Eris managed another smile at Max, before following the crowd of students out of the ballroom, heart hammering in her chest.

"See you at the common room!"

For a second Max thought Eris was going to run from the room, and he really couldn't think of what to say about that. Her expression as she stepped back might've even been comical if he wasn't so worried that he might've ruined their friendship by asking. She was still so red... Was it a fever? Was she sick? That would certainly be alarming; if she was sick, she should stay in the dorms and not go the ball. But a moment later she stepped forward again and seemed to be more like herself.

He internally sighed with relief as she agreed, nodding at what she saying because he was so glad he'd gotten someone cool to go the ball with that he might've nodded at anything. Wait, had she said something about pouring a drink on Eri? He should probably put a stop to that since him and Eri were some sort of acquaintances on the positive side, but at the same time... Maybe he'd just pretend he hadn't heard or seen anything.

He let out a laugh at Eris's fake horror, feeling like being stepped on by someone so small might not even hurt. Lifting his hand in a wave as she left, he called, "Yeah, see you there!" He was genuinely looking forward to it - hopefully no one ruined it with their immature antics. Glancing around and seeing that everyone was leaving, he decided to waste no time sticking around near mudbloods or Hufflepuffs with any professors near. Humming a slightly off-key, happy tune under his breath, he left the room.