What

"Hah, yeah I don't think I'll be go-.." Adrian paused as his brain caught up, processing what he'd just heard once more. She's asking you to go with her, dummy. Opposite the Slytherin stood Miranda Maygrove with a mildly amused expression. The Ravenclaw witch had approached him very out of the blue. In fact Adrian wasn't sure if they'd ever spoken at length before, and beyond sharing the occasional glance or friendly smile in passing he quickly realized he knew nothing about the girl.

"But-.. Why?" That dumbfounded response would etch itself in his brain as one of those embarrassing teenage memories one never forgot. Alas, it was honest. Why would she ask him to a ball of all things?
He knew he'd started to blush, just.. without the shy demeanor to go with it. He was too surprised to be shy at that moment.

"Well.. " Miranda began, still seeming amused with how she'd caught him in a bit of a mind-loop. "You're kinda sweet, Addie."

She'd wanted to cheer the gloomy boy up after what she assumed was a lengthy bout of full-blown depression. For weeks now it'd been difficult to ignore the Slytherin boy and how he strayed away from conversations, only snuck out for air when everyone else were sleeping. Even when greeting someone he'd quickly fumble out some kind of excuse why he couldn't stop to chat.
So for a sharp-witted Ravenclaw it was easy to deduce he needed a bit of a boost.

".. So, do you want to?"

The tip of his ears burned from embarrassment - but again all the other usual signs of shyness had been sort of.. accidentally pushed aside. Instead Adrian collected himself by sucking in a deliberately steady intake of air, allowing just a smidge to escape through his nostrils before a happy smile curled on the boy's soft lips.
"I'd be happy to go with you, Miranda." An unwavering declaration. Inwardly Adrian felt really good about it.. actually, he couldn't really hide it inwardly whatsoever. The sheepish smile which lingered was of course noticed by the witch who - seemingly also glad, let out a light giggle.

"We'll talk more about it later, got to go!"

Just as suddenly as she had appeared, Miranda was gone. Late for some class probably Adrian figured. What just happened? His hands rose to rub his face for a moment, checking to see if he was still awake.

A voice from behind rang out, though this one he recognized.
"Adrian? What are you standing there smiling about, huh?" Cora Enright, another Witch from the same year, and also a fellow Slytherin.
Judging by the handful of books she was carrying the girl was likewise on the way to some class or another. He blinked at the shorter student and then just.. shrugged. He wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Oh- I like that!" She nodded up at his face after noticing, and it took the boy a moment to realize she meant his new hairstyle.
Cora continued: ".. Looks good on you, very.. hair-tussleable!" She capped it with a pleasant smile, it was the final straw for Adrian. His defenses were shattered and the overwhelmed Slytherin just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

".. Cute." They both stared at one another for a moment.
The shorter Witch spoke first in an almost careful tone, as if trying to figure out if he was pulling some kind of prank: ".. What?" With a slight tilt to the head she bore her eyes in to him and Adrian buckled under the pressure. What. Is. Happening.

"Cute, you're cute." He'd already started backing off by sliding his feet over the stone-tiled floor.
Her lips parted to say something in response but Adrian had already spun around to bolt for the nearest corridor where he could vanish. "See you Cora!"

As momentum caught on those blonde locks once he'd picked up some speed.. A bit of advice he'd been given the day before manifested in his mind. You were right, Margaret. A bit of goodness can twist a curse in to something beautiful.