Herbert's eyes flicked down to the message, then back to the Slytherin's face. He opened his mouth to say something, possibly about the whole 'friends-with-benefits' not being something he was really into, or maybe that he didn't want Kurloz's pity, when he heard the voice in his mind, and he was surprised into silence. His breath caught in his throat, because the other boy hadn't even used his wand, and no one thought he was cute, and then he was being kissed, and so all of that became pretty much entirely irrelevant.

He probably shouldn't have responded. It was just going to be another case of something that went nowhere, but ... even if Kurloz wasn't really interested in him like that, he was at least being honest about this. He obviously wasn't trying to fuck with Herbert, and he wasn't pretending this was anything other than it was, and for that, the smaller boy was grateful.

So he did respond, tipping his head slightly to one side and parting his lips just a little as he kissed back, hands resting on his thighs, not sure what he should be doing with them.