shades of cool | theo nott

27 || naive

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"𝙞 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤
𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙪𝙢𝙗 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙞 𝙙𝙤
𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪"
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"Make good choices, make me proud." Cassius smiled at his daughter, kissing her forehead affectionately. "Love you."

"Love you more." The girl clung to her father like a young kid. "I'll miss you." Vera was about to go to Italy, traveling alongside her boyfriend.

"I'll miss you too." Cassius laughed at her. "Break someone's leg."

Vera looked up at him confused. "Isn't the expression break a leg?" She asked, creasing her dark eyebrows.

Cassius shrugged. "With you, it's probably going to be someone else's." He said, shaking his head with a smile. "My little Veve," He ruffled her hair as she ducked to try and escape. "You're just like me. You'd do anything to get to the top. Doesn't matter if you break someone else's leg."

"Merlin Daddy, I have some remorse. Maybe I'd sign the cast." Vera joked, raising her eyebrows. Her father laughed loudly as she continued. "I'd even put a little heart next to my name. Love, Vera."

"Stop talking so much about the Muggle world." Alma chimed in, sitting by the stairs with her regal posture by Vera's bags. "We have magic to fix broken bones because we're simply and truly better."

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Vera muttered, rolling her eyes, as she spoke just loud enough for her mother to hear. She was feeling reckless in the presence of her dad, knowing her mother wouldn't be able to pull her usual antics if he was right there. Her father continued to chuckle.

"Enough. Theodore's going to be here soon." Alma acted as though she didn't hear her daughter, only responding to her husband, gesturing towards the door. "Say goodbye over there, Cassius."

"Alright Als, hold on a minute." Cassius shook his head with a grin. "You ready to leave me yet?" He asked his daughter who was currently clinging onto his abdomen like she did when she was a little girl.

Vera pouted up at her dad with a small frown on her face, shaking her head. When she heard a noise from the fireplace, however, she let go of her father and all but ran towards the fireplace.

She smiled up at Theo's tall figure towering over her from inside the fireplace.

"Hey Veve." Theo smiled at her, his arms crossed in front of him.

"Hi Teddy." She responded, turning back to where her suitcase was.

"Merlin, that was quick." Cassius muttered. Her dad stared at her with amusement on his face. "Ready to leave me now, I see?" He rolled the suitcase over from where it was beside Alma.

"No," Vera shook her head convincingly. "But...we can't keep Theo waiting, can we?" She nodded at the boy behind her.

"No, no, I can wait." Theo responded quickly. "Do not worry about me."

"We wouldn't want to keep you here." Alma said politely, although rather stiffly. "Bye. Be safe and make good choices."

"We're here if you need, just a Portkey away." Cassius reminded.

"Okay, I will." Vera agreed. "We will." She reiterated. After giving her dad one final hug and waving bye to her mother, she stepped into the fireplace where they would go to Theo's manor. From there, a portkey would be used to get to Theo's villa in Italy.

Once they got to Theo's manor, dusting off any excess soot that lingered on their clothing, Theo hoisted up Vera's trunk. It was pretty big and filled to the brim clothes and a myriad of other items. Although Vera struggled as she lifted it down the stairs in her own home— her father had to assist her and take it the rest of the way down— Theo picked it up with ease, even placing his other hand on the small of her back as he guided her upstairs. Vera felt a tingling sensation at his touch, despite how often he touched her. It was as if the boy always had to be in contact with her one way or another. Regardless, it made her flush ever so slightly every time he did it.

The portkey was beside Theo's trunk, a lot less filled than his girlfriend's was. It was a silver spoon, resting gently on his bedside table. Another thing resting on his deep mahogany bedside table, Vera realized, was yet another image of her. It seemed to be of that day at the lake.

She was wearing the new swimsuit she had bought, one that her mother would definitely disapprove of, as she held an iridescent shell up to the sun to watch it glimmer, a content smile on her face.

Her long hair was dripping and hanging loose down her back as she gazed upwards, her dark eyes lighter than usual as the sunlight struck them.

It was a candid, and thankfully it was one that she looked okay in. Theodore often took candid pictures of her, and he liked to say that he was a very good photographer when he had a good muse, a.k.a, her.

"Ah." Theo smirked down at her. "I see this is becoming a scavenger hunt for pictures of you."

"Yeah, yeah." Vera brushed his words off with a dazzling smile. "Should I guess why this photo is by your bed or is it the obvious reason?"

"What? That I want my pretty girlfriend— who happens to be also dressed the skimpiest I have ever seen her, in a photo beside my bed?" He asked, a mock quizzical look etched over his features. Vera nodded, laughing at his explanation. "No, Vera, it's because I think you look so naive and beautiful."

"Naive?" Vera asked, picking up the picture frame gingerly. Her face was starting to turn pink. Whenever Theo called her by her full name, it made her feel nervous. Everyone else called her that, but when Theo did it, somehow she was drawn even closer towards him. "How is that a good thing? Doesn't that mean you think I look uneducated and ignorant?" She half-joked, her eyes filling up with worry.

Theo shook his head immediately. "I meant naive in the way children are naive. I think it's naïveté that allows children to find the beauty in the world, something that adults always lack." He shrugged, acting as if his lovely words weren't profound and impactful. "We're almost adults, Veve. I just wanted to take a picture that captured the last of your childhood innocence."

"That's so sweet." Vera stepped closer to him as he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Who's going to get a picture of the last of your childhood?" The girl asked. Her voice was muffled against his chest, but Theo could make it out.

"After what happened to my mum, I thought I lost it within myself, to be honest." He admitted, feeling vulnerable as she clutched him. "But after I met you, I realized that I now had something that would always be lovely to me in this world. Isn't that what being a kid is? Always finding the good in life."

Vera didn't say another word as she got on her tiptoes and kissed him, hoping that it would be able to translate the love that she had for him and how he was her 'good in life' too.

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a/n:
word count: 1260

my favorite cornballs!!

thought u guys deserved another chapter (maybe 28 soon if u guys actually comment and interact !!🤗🤗)

currently reading atyd AND I UNDERSTAND THE HYPE OMG.