Long walks by the lake (Verity/Leo)

[Leo Ignatius]

"Me, too," Leo said, looking down at her. And yes, he took another short kiss. "I think I could get used to this." It was probably the hidden romantic in him, but he was imagining meeting up here as much as possible, getting to know her better, just enjoying each other's company. "What are you doing this summer?" He hadn't thought much about it, but he didn't see himself graduating just yet, so he might just stay.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity had to think about that one for a little bit. She knew that once she graduated she would have full access to her trust fund. She could travel like she wanted to, even open her own clothing store in some exotic place in the world. Going home was out of the question. This would probably be one of the few summers she had left to do with as she pleased before she started her career, whatever that was going to be. She intended to have fun with it. Even without her trust fund, Verity would have enough saved up to travel. "I'm going to spend as much of it as possible doing absolutely nothing." She said smiling. She could picture herself lying on the beach, soaking up the sun, the sound of waves crashing in front of her. It sounded like heaven. "What about you?"

[Leo Ignatius]

"Probably staying here," Leo said. "I'm not entirely a seventh year at the moment, there are just a few classes I'm in that are considered seventh year courses. I won't be fully done for another year." He had always been on a bit of a strange schedule, hoping to finish a year early. It hadn't happened, but it meant that next year was going to be very easy, with only a couple of classes that he still had to take.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity’s smile faltered. “Can’t it wait until the next term starts?” Verity asked. She didn’t question herself for being disappointed that his entire summer would be taken up. It didn’t seem realistic to think that far ahead, that maybe they could go somewhere together this summer, but she was. Summer was all about having fun, not stressing about school or anything else. How fun could it be if you spent it by yourself or still in school?

[Leo Ignatius]

"I don't know that I'll be taking any classes, I just don't see any reason to go home this summer." Leo's parents drove him insane half the time, constantly worried about whether or not his magic was still there, like it would disappear or something and he'd relapse into the near-squib state he had held throughout his childhood. "Besides, I have to be able to bug you some, and I can't do that from home," he added with a teasing grin.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity laughed. "I don't plan on going home this summer, either." Or ever, she added silently. It was only one parent, if you could call him that, that drove Verity insane. Whenever she was around him, she had an intense urge to do exactly the opposite of what he would tell her to. Not that it mattered anymore, now that he had practically told her to disappear off of the face of the earth. It seemed harsh, but Verity was actually relieved. "We could always travel." Verity pointed out. "Maybe to Indonesia." She joked. She was serious about the traveling part, though. As much as she didn't want to go home, she didn't want to spend her whole summer at Hogwarts.

[Leo Ignatius]

"Sure you're willing to spend a vacation with me already?" Leo asked. It was moving insanely fast, wasn't it? But there was no reason not to. Well, other than the fact they had only talked twice and known each other for maybe a week. "I mean, I may just be pretending right now, and how would you know?" He wasn't pretending, that was fairly obvious, especially with the glint in his eyes.

[Verity Bromley]

“Well, I guess I could put up for you for a little while.” Verity teased. However, her smile faded quickly. She sat up, pulling away from him. Now she was facing him, her expression turned serious. “Are you?” She asked, arching a brow. Her thoughts went full speed, cursing her for letting her guard down so easily. What was wrong with her? She never let herself do this before, but somehow she had complete trust in him. Although, now that trust was beginning to falter.

[Leo Ignatius]

"No, of course not," Leo assured, eyebrows raising in alarm. "I was kidding. I just...don't want to jump in and find out halfway to Indonesia we'll hate each other. I love the idea of spending time with you this summer, really. And I do like you." Was that enough to convince her that he had been kidding? He was such a failure sometimes.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity looked away. As much as she had wanted to believe him, doubts flooded her mind. The more she thought about it, the more she agreed with him. “You’re right.” Verity said. She sounded more awake than defeated. After all, if their first meeting was any indication of how they really feel about each other, then he really was right. A chill shot through Verity raising goosebumps on her skin. She couldn’t tell if it was from the cool breeze or the sudden realization.

[Leo Ignatius]

Leo sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to...like...put a stop to anything." He really hadn't. Well, at least he knew why he had never had a girlfriend, now. "I just want this to go right, and I don't want it going wrong because we did something too fast." Maybe he wasn't making sense and should just shut up already before she up and left.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity stared out at the lake envious of how serene it looked. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, now shivering. Was it just her or was it getting colder? She never had a sweater when she needed one. She knew she was probably overreacting and she wished she could just let it go, but it was a lot harder than it sounded. "I guess maybe we should hold off on making any summer plans, huh?" She asked with a crooked smile, hoping to ease the mood, although if she was being she completely honest she may have realized that the smile was a little more forced than usual.

[Leo Ignatius]

Leo sighed again and rubbed his face roughly with his hands. "Hey, I'm sorry, I've never done this and I don't want us getting our hopes high when we've just started." But it looked like he had already screwed it up. Had he already said that? Probably, but it couldn't hurt to say it again, not when it felt like Verity wanted to leave or something.

[Verity Bromley]

"I know." Verity said. She desperately wanted to forget this conversation. She longed for him to put his arms around her and pull her close again. She didn't care that it was only their second date, even though she warned herself to be more careful. She wasn't worried about getting crushed or afraid of being hurt, but only because she refused to think about the possibility all together. Verity could have gotten up and walked away, making a quiet excuse about a sudden headache or something about the shop, and even though something inside of her was pushing her to do it, she stayed. She liked the way he said we've just started as if there was so much more ahead of them. She liked being a we. It had been a while since she was in a relationship, or at least a serious one that lasted more than a few days...or weeks...or if she was lucky, months. She had a different feeling about this. She didn't know what it was from, but she hoped she was right.

[Leo Ignatius]

((I'ma apologize in advance just in case this post is wonky, it's been a weird couple of days...))

Leo sat in silence for a few moments before he tentatively slid an arm around her waist. "Do you want to keep meeting here?" he asked, anything to move away from the conversation. He didn't want to keep thinking about it when they could move on and get back to the way they had been before. Anyway, this seemed like a good, stable spot for them to meet up, and he never came across anyone else when he was here.