shades of cool | theo nott

prologue + cast

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Vera Saltori was effortlessly the perfect pureblood princess. She got good grades without having to study, maintained grace and elegance in the presence of adults, and was well-spoken and articulate. However, there's always a yin to yang and another side to the story. Not having to study meant more time for partying. And Vera could certainly hold her alcohol well. Maintaining grace and elegance in front of adults meant it was nowhere to be found in front of teenagers her age. In fact, this double persona made her a complete perfection. It was astounding that she could act one way in front of her friends and completely different in front of their parents.

But of course, there were always obstacles lurking under the surface, like tentacles in the Black Lake waiting to pull you under. Vera had always been a Daddy's girl, despite the fact that he was always at work, making business deals and being completely ruthless. Anyone who knew of her could say for a fact that ruthlessness was a trait Cassius Saltori had given to his beloved daughter. Truly, Vera loved her father.

Her mother on the other hand... Those poems described how mothers treated their daughters awfully because they see themselves in them. Or how some mothers would get jealous that their husbands loved their own daughters more than their wives. Yes, that's a few words to describe their relationship. Alma Saltori would constantly talk about how Vera was constantly eating like crap, how she had gained weight and looked puffy, or how she lost weight and looked sickly. How her dresses showed too much skin or were unflattering on her body. How she had an attitude towards her mother and did the rest of her perfect pureblood friends act this way towards their mothers as well?

But the one thing that Alma would never shut up about was Vera getting married. It was as if she lived in the 1800s and wanted to ship her off as soon as possible. Alma and Cassisus had gotten married (it was arranged by their parents) at 18 and 22. This meant Vera herself had 2 years to find herself a boyfriend or otherwise her own mother was going to have to pick for her.

Vera would be damned if she let her mother pick her life partner. Besides, she was a charmer. How hard could it be to find someone to love?

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Theodore Nott was a quiet boy. The type of boy who only laughs and shows his true personality with his friends. He was raised with the type of attitude where everyone around him praised purebloods and berated muggle-borns just for existing. He never really believed in it, not truly, but he didn't not believe in it either. Theo was the fine line, a bystander if you will.

Sometimes Theo struggled to find his voice. His thoughts were always loud in his head but they refused to come out of his mouth, forever confined to his brain. Sometimes he'd imagine that all the things in his head were fighting each other because his thoughts often shifted quickly and without warning.

His father really pushed the pureblood agenda on him. Sometimes thinking of it made him feel odd. Tiberius Nott could be described in one word– cruel. He was a deeply cruel man. Not to the lengths of some of the other parents, and Theo was grateful for that of course, but the verbal abuse was enough for his confidence to break.

Being a shy kid and not wanting to talk to others made it difficult for Tiberius and when things got difficult for Tiberius, he got upset. Especially when Theo got vulnerable, Tiberius got upset. Every time Theo recalled his mother's death in his mind, fresh beneath the red of his closed eyelids, he got emotional. Tears would well up in his eyes and he tried to wipe them quickly before his father had the chance to call him weak.