Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sunshine bled through the cracks of the curtains, creating a line of light directly onto Lily’s face. She could just make out the dust particles floating around the room. Reaching out, she wiggled her fingers, attempting to make the dust scatter.

Her alarm was set to go off in about 30 minutes, she just happened to wake up before it. That was happening a lot more lately. March had just begun, and they were far enough away from winter break that they had started to get more serious work, but they were far enough away from the end of the year that they didn’t have to cram for NEWTs. However, that did not spare Lily from any stress. Studying and head girl duties took up practically all of her schedule. 

Sighing, Lily threw the covers back and stretched her arms up, touching the top of her canopy. She gave her neck a few cracks and pushed herself up. Might as well get her morning started early if she was already awake. She shuffled over to the bathroom, making sure to not wake up the other girls, quickly used the toilet, and then hopped in the shower. With the water on the hottest setting, Lily let the water fall onto her face and into her hair, turning her hair from ginger to a dark red. She took her time in the shower, slowly soaping up her body and putting shampoo in her hair, relishing in the hot water that flowed down her hair and back when she rinsed it off.

Once she finally turned off the water, which mind you was a struggle, Lily wrapped her hair and body in their respective towels. The hot water created a thin film of fog on the mirror. She wiped it off and started to put her moisturizer on, Mary had gifted it to her for her birthday this year. With a quick pat to her face, Lily stealthily exited the very warm bathroom to grab her school robes and dashed back. 

Finally clothed and her hair up into a ponytail, after a drying charm of course, Lily left the bathroom and checked the time. 1 minute before her alarm goes off. For the second time today, Lily dashed across the carpet, turning her alarm off right before it was set to go off. 

“Will you stop making so much bloody noise?”

Lily winced. “Sorry Marlene.”

“S’alright,” Marlene rolled around on her bed before propping herself up on her elbows. She squinted at the alarm clock and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”

“It’s seven”

“Breakfast doesn’t even start ‘till 7:30, for Merlin's sake,” she groaned, sinking back into her bed and covering her face with the covers. 

Lily rolled her eyes, grabbed her wand from the nightstand, and walked toward the door, hanging in the doorway for a second.

“Make sure you wake up Mary.”

“Do I have to?” Marlene whined, finally getting up from her bed.

Mary is known to not take well to anyone waking her up. She and Sirius are the same in this way. They both are absolute arseholes in the morning, hitting anyone that came to wake them up. However, Mary was a lot worse when you didn’t wake her up. The last time Marlene and Lily forgot to wake her up she locked them out of the dorm for the whole day. Nothing had worked to unlock the door and they had to beg her to let them back in. 

“Need I remind you why?” Lily deadpanned.

“Yeah Yeah,” Marlene yawned. The girl finally seemed to be fully awake, taking a glance at Lily. She raised her eyebrows and tapped right above her breast. Lily glanced down at herself and realized what Marlene was trying to say.

“Ah. Thanks, Marls.”

Lily walked back to the nightstand and picked up her silver, well technically tin for Remus’ sake, head girl badge and clipped it onto her robes.

“See you two at breakfast?” Lily asked, heading back to the door.

Marlene took a look at Mary and grimaced, then nodded her head. Lily took this as her cue to leave, very quietly closing the door behind her. She would not be the one to bite the bullet of waking Mary this morning, that was only her problem during the week.

The common room was quiet and empty, except for the two boys cozied up on one of the sofas. Remus was sitting up with a sleeping Sirius in his lap, one hand sifting through the boy's curls and the other holding up a book. Remus lifted his hand and waved at her, a small smile tugging at his lips. Sirius grunted, lifting his hand to tug Remus’ hand back down. Remus rolled his eyes but complied without complaint. 

Lily held back her giggle, not wanting to fully wake Sirius, she refused to be assaulted this early in the morning. She gave Remus a quick wave and walked out of the portrait hole, into the quiet halls. Not many people were up this early on the weekends, even the 7th years usually slept in. Lily, however, did not have this luxury. Her weekends were spent studying and only studying. She had decided to take 5 subjects to NEWT level, including Alchemy and Arithmancy. The amount of homework she got was horrendous. 

Lily slowly walked the halls, hearing the rhythmic click of her boots as she made her way to breakfast. Seeing as there were no other students in the hallway, Lily’s journey to the great hall was short and sweet. She went to her usual spot at the Gryffindor table and sat down.

As Marlene had mentioned, breakfast was not due for about 25 more minutes, however, the house elves knew Lily and a few other students were prone to getting up early, so there was already food on a few of the plates. The other students in the hall - which included 1 Slytherin, 1 Ravenclaw, and 3 Gryffindors - were already digging into the food, piling large servings onto their plates to get as much as possible before more people showed up.  

Lily grabbed a piece of toast and buttered it up, spreading a bit of marmalade on top. She took a bite of the toast and started to go through the list of things she has to do today. There was a potions essay, alchemy homework, arithmancy homework, and a DADA essay. Along with that, she had head girl rounds tonight, with who she had no idea, which meant it was a random 5th or 6th year. This might sound like a lot, technically it is, but it was just a typical day for Lily. Actually, she could confidently say that it was an easier day since she had finished some of her homework yesterday so there was less to do today. 

Right as she finished her piece of toast and list, Marlene and Mary sauntered into the great hall and took their seats beside her. Mary looked to be in a somewhat good mood. The two girls grabbed their servings and immediately dug in. Lily gave them time to eat before talking to them, she would not be performing the Heimlich on one of her friends again. 

“You two want to come with me to study in the library after breakfast?” She asked, reaching across to grab a breakfast sausage off the mountain that was still on the plate. 

“I will, got care of magical creatures work,” Marlene said, biting off a chunk from her sausage link.

“Do you ever take a break Lils?” Mary asked, clearly stunned that Lily was going to spend another Saturday holed up in the library.

“I do. I just can’t today. You coming or not?”

Mary sighed and took a bite of her toast. “Guess so. That potions essay won’t write itself. Unless -”

“I’ll stop you right there Macdonald.”

“Right.”

The three girls finished up their food and headed out of the great hall, making their way to Gryffindor Tower to pick up books, parchment, and other things they would need for their long day in the library. Lily grabbed her tote bag, which she had cleverly packed last night, that was lying against her bed and waited by the door for the other two girls to gather up their stuff. If there was one thing Lily Evans was, it was organized. With books in hand and bags on their shoulders, the girls started their long, okay it wasn’t that long, trek to the library. Before they had left the common room, Lily had asked Remus if he wanted to join them. He and Sirius were no longer snuggled up on the couch, but frantically stumbling around the common room obviously looking for something. He gave her a quick no and told her that he would study with her tomorrow. 

The girls entered the library and quickly went to their usual spot, which was a round table near the back of the library, out of sight of Ms.Pince’s desk. Ms.Pince liked Lily but had a strong and open dislike toward most of her friends, excluding Remus of course. So, Lily had claimed the back table as her own, where her friends could study with her in peace. Lily pulled out a roll of parchment and started on her potions essay, Mary following suit. The two girls worked in tandem, answering each other's questions and explaining concepts the other didn’t understand. Mary may have complained a lot about homework, but once she actually started it she would stay focused and was super helpful. All 3 of them worked efficiently for an hour before they were interrupted.

Now, today was supposed to be a regular day. A perfectly normal day in March. It was not supposed to be the day Lily’s life changed. Lily was supposed to just do homework like every other day and not be interrupted. She was Head Girl for Merlin’s sake. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see a girl making her way to the back of the library. She assumed the girl was just coming to the back shelves to grab a book or to talk to the people a few tables over. Oh, Merlin was she wrong. 

The girl skipped up to their table and tucked her hair behind one of her ears. Mary glanced up and a confused expression flashed across her face. 

“Pandora? What are you doing here?”

Pandora. What a pretty name. Absolutely perfect for the person it belonged to. The girl had long platinum blonde hair that flowed down her back and the most beautiful blue eyes Lily had ever seen. She had thin bangles and rings littering her wrists and hands, shining every once in a while when the sun hit them just right. Lily wanted to reach out and touch them, running her fingers along the rings that fit so perfectly on the girl's slender fingers.  

“Oh, Mary! Nice to see you. Is Remus here?” Pandora smiled. 

“Ah. No, he’s caught up with something in the common room.”

“Oh. Alright then. See you in Divination,” the girl gave a quick wave, which made the most amazing sound as her bracelets clanged against each other, and turned on the spot.

“Wait,” Lily said before she could stop herself. Merlin save her.

Pandora turned back around, a quizzical look on her face.

“What is it you needed? We might be able to help you,” she forced out.

Pandora looked her up and down, then took the spot next to Lily and placed a piece of parchment on the table. 

“I found this piece of parchment a few days ago. I was saving it for the next time I needed to do homework,” Pandora carefully unrolled the parchment and splayed it out, “This morning I tried to write on it, but the ink immediately disappeared. I was going to see if Remus knew what was wrong. He is very smart.”

Lily nodded her head, a little dumbfounded. She was just interrupted over a piece of blank parchment. The worst part is, she wasn’t even that upset about it. Lily reached over and pulled the parchment in front of her. She took her wand out of her pocket and hovered it over the parchment. 

“ Revelio ,” Lily swished her wand and tapped the parchment. Ink slowly started to appear on the parchment and Lily pulled it close to read. 

Mr.Prongs asks Lily to return the parchment to one James Potter

Mr.Moony would like to know how Lily came into possession of this parchment

Mr.Padfoot thinks Lily should stop being nosy and stop trying to get into the parchment

Mr.Wormtail agrees with Mr.Padfoot

Lily stared at the writing on the parchment.

“Well, what’s it say then?” Marlene piped up, her own parchment pushed off to the side, forgotten. Mary was looking at Lily too, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, it says Mr.Prongs -”

“Prongs? As in the ridiculous nickname the boys use for James?” Marlene interrupted.

And then it clicked. Prongs, Moony, Padfoot, and Wormtail. Lily had heard all of those utterly ridiculous nicknames before. In fact, she heard them practically every day. She heard them in the great hall during meals, whispered in the back of classrooms, and chanted in the common room during after-parties.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, her face falling slack.

The two girls immediately caught on.

“No fucking way!” Mary squealed. Marlene had a smile growing on her face. Pandora, however, looked extremely confused, looking from one girl to the other. 

“What is it?” Pandora asked, the confusion showing on her face transferring to her voice. 

“Whatever this parchment is, It belongs to the boys. James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter,” Lily explained.

Marlene started to bounce in her seat, reaching over to shake Mary’s shoulders in excitement.

“Shouldn’t we return it to them then?” Pandora asked, sounding even more confused.

“Absolutely not!” Marlene chirped. She reached over and snatched up the parchment, dangling it in the air. “We have to find out what’s on it first.”

Chapter Text

Marlene had the parchment clutched in her hands, hovering it under the table and muttering counterspells. Her wand was whipping around as she furiously tried to access whatever was on it. It was obvious the girl's frustration was growing with every failed attempt. 

Lily wasn’t sure how she felt about this. On one hand, this piece of parchment could have something magnificent on it. She hates to admit it, but the group of boys were very smart when put together, so the contents of this could be amazing. On the other hand, she still had homework to do. 

Pandora and her piece of parchment had ruined Lily’s schedule. Lily had the two homework’s - Arithmancy and Alchemy - and the DADA essay to do. Thankfully she had pretty much finished her potions essay. 

It had been about 30 minutes since the bizarre interruption. Marlene and, by association, Mary have been trying to crack the spell ever since they got their hands on the parchment. Marlene was like a dog with a bone. Her eyes were filled with awe and had been ever since she realized it belonged to the boys. Pandora had told them they could keep it and wandered off without another word. 

Meanwhile, Lily had been attempting her homework. 

This, mind you, was very difficult. Lily could not lie, the parchment - and its possible contents - was very intriguing. But, you know what else is intriguing? Alchemy. Sadly, the parchment must have beaten out one of her favorite subjects because Lily could not pay attention to her Alchemy homework to save her life. Anytime Lily would gain any focus, Marlene or Mary would bump the table while they were whipping their wands around. Lily had not seen anyone use their wands like the two girls in front of her were since 2nd year.

After another 30 minutes of hushed spells and cursing, Lily could not take it anymore. She leaned over the table, her arse all the way out of the seat, and grabbed the parchment from the two girls, rolling it up and tucking it in her robe pocket. There was a chorus of groans and huffs. 

“We can try and figure it out later. Right now, we have homework to do alright?”

Mary and Marlene mumbled okays and went back to their work, frowns plastered on their faces. They knew better than to protest against her, especially when it pertained to homework. Lily ignored them, finally being able to focus and get her work done. 

Mary was the first to finish her work, stuffing the parchment in her bag right as the ink dried and hopping out of her seat. She explained she had a date and rushed out of the library.

Lily and Marlene worked in silence till about lunchtime. Lily had a few more questions left on her Alchemy homework when Marlene packed up her stuff. She had asked Lily if she wanted to go to lunch, but Lily had told her she would go when she finished the last questions.

Just her luck, the last few questions were the hardest ones of the assignment. By the time she finished the questions and checked the clock, there were only 15 minutes left of lunch. Lily quickly and as neatly as possible picked up her materials and shoved them back into her tote bag. She practically ran to the great hall, almost bumping into a group of first-years who looked terrified to see her, and saw a familiar face still sitting at the Gryffindor table. 

Lily plopped down in the seat next to Remus, propping her bag up against her chair. She grabbed just about anything that was left and filled her plate. Remus seemed to be having the same problem, he had food on his plate Lily had never seen him eat before. 

“So, why are you eating so late?” Lily asked before stuffing her face. 

“Was looking for something in the common room. Lost track of time.” He waved his spoon around before plunging it into the pile of mashed potatoes.

Lily could suddenly feel the weight in her pocket again. The parchment. Of course! That’s why he and Sirius were destroying the common room earlier. Hopefully, Remus would forgive her for keeping whatever it was.

Lily hummed in response, not wanting to speak in case she revealed what she knew. The two of them ate at an impossibly fast speed, the professors were a bit strict about when meal times ended. Once they finished eating, they grabbed their stuff and headed out of the great hall. Lily didn’t need to ask Remus if he wanted to go with her to study, he only followed her as she made her way to the library.  

One good thing about being Head Girl was that all of the younger kids would move out of her way in the hallways when they weren’t terribly crowded. Walking with Remus was even better, a good chunk of the students held a lot of respect for him. This meant that when Lily and Remus walked in the hallway together, they got places promptly. Since it was also the weekend, Lily and Remus were sitting at the back table of the library in no time. 

Lily started up on her assignments again, asking Remus a few questions here and there. Arithmancy came very easily to Lily so that homework was finished quickly. The DADA essay was another thing, having Remus there helped tremendously though. She finished just in time, scribbling the last sentence of her DADA essay, casting a drying charm, and shoving it in her tote. 5 minutes to walk to Gryffindor Tower, where she would meet for her rounds tonight. 

“Who are you with tonight?” Remus glanced up at her.

“Absolutely no idea,” she shrugged, pushing her chair in, and started speed walking out of the library.

How Lily didn’t remember who her rounds were with tonight was beyond her. It was probably with a 6th year from Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Maybe the stress was making her forget things. As long as it was useless things like who her rounds were with, Lily could not be bothered. 

Lily was pulled out of her thoughts at the sight of Regulus Black leaning on the wall outside of Gryffindor Tower. There was no way Lily somehow forgot her rounds were with Regulus Black, of all people. When he caught sight of her, he pushed off the wall and sauntered over to her. 

“Evans,” he remarked, his voice emotionless.

“Regulus,” she swished her hair back and started their walk in the other direction, “Were you really assigned to rounds tonight?”

“Do you not know? Ms. Head Girl,” he said, a smirk tugging at his lips. 

“Oi! You’re such a twat, just like Sirius.”

He scowled at the comment, shooting daggers at her with his eyes. Lily glared right back, he was such an arrogant twat. He seemed to consider his options, glancing away and clearing his throat.

“One of the 6th-year Hufflepuff prefects asked me to take it. I decided since she plucked up the courage to ask me I'd do it.”

“Mmm,” she sighed.

They fell into step with each other, swiftly checking the hallways and listening for any signs of trouble. The halls were practically empty, meaning a party was probably in one of the common rooms. It was a Saturday after all. Lily had no complaints though, less work for her to do. At one point, Regulus must have lost his footing, because the boy stumbled into her a bit. Lily reached over to attempt and help him up, but he swatted her hands away and got steady again himself. After a moment, he spoke up.

“What’s in your pocket then?”

Lily whipped her head to face the boy, “What?!”

“There’s something in your pocket,” he stated, staring at her and looking incredibly bored. He was running his fingers along the walls, flicking his fingers when he collected too much dust. 

Lily reached down and cupped her pocket, along with the rolled parchment. She looked him over, deciding whether she should say anything. He looked relatively harmless.

“It’s a piece of parchment Pandora found,” she said, giving just enough to get him off her back. This time it was him who looked surprised, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.

“Pandora?! Since when does she talk to you ?” he asked, emphasizing the ‘you’ while looking her up and down, almost the same way Pandora had earlier that day. 

“Well technically she was looking for Remus,” Lily commented, turning her gaze back to the dark hallways. Regulus nodded his head and turned back to stare down the hall as well.  

“So you and her are friends then?” Lily asked.

“Suppose you could say that.”

And that was that. The rest of their round they didn’t speak. They checked the halls and walked the school until past curfew. Regulus split off once they were done and headed back to the dungeons. Lily made her way back to Gryffindor Tower and entered the portrait hole. The four boys, or marauders as they call themselves, were huddled in the corner of the common room, whispering to each other. Lily didn’t have to think to know what it was they were talking about. She rushed past them, giving Remus and James their respective waves, and headed up to her dorm, slamming the door shut. Mary and Marlene were lying on their beds, Mary flipping through a magazine and Marlene throwing around one of the multiple golden snitches she had stolen. They both shot up when she entered, giving her an expecting look. 

Lily pulled the piece of parchment out of her pocket and tossed it to Marlene, who snapped her hand over the snitch and then caught the parchment with the other. Mary scrambled off her bed and dove onto Marlene’s, shutting the curtains and casting a silencing charm. 

Lily was very grateful for the silencing charm. She had had a long day today. After folding and placing her robes on her trunk, Lily shuffled to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth. Ready for bed, she sunk into her mattress and pulled her curtains shut. Sleep came very easily to her that night, the stress having sucked the life out of her.

***

Lily woke the next morning, and not to the sound of her alarm. The girl shot up and pulled her curtains open to look at her alarm clock. She had slept in. Well, shit. At least it was a Sunday.

Lily rolled out of bed, she had placed a cushioning charm on the wood floor right by her bed so she could do just that and crawled across the floor toward the bathroom. Halfway through her army crawl, she realized Mary’s curtains were pulled open. She pushed herself up a bit and saw the bed was also empty. At this time of morning? Lily changed her path and made her way toward Marlene, pulling herself up and onto the bed. Marlene was curled up in the fetal position with her wand in one hand and the parchment in the other. 

“Marlene.” Lily started to shake her shoulders.

No response.

“Marlene.” Lily started to shake her harder. 

Marlene’s eyes shot open and landed on Lily.

“Where’s Mary?” Lily asked.

“I think she’s studying for Divination,” Marlene croaked.

“At this time of the morning?”

“I think it’s the only time her tutor could meet.”

“Oh.”

Marlene vigorously rubbed her eyes and propped herself up. She picked up the parchment and held it up to the light, seemingly resorting to just about anything to try and reveal the contents of the parchment. Lily reached over and held her hand out until Marlene gave it to her. She placed the parchment on the bed and spread it out, grabbing Marlene’s wand. 

“Maybe they created their own incantation or something,” Lily said, eyeing the paper. 

“Or used a string of words?” Marlene suggested, pulling her knees up to her chest. 

“Yeah, something like that. Can you think of anything like that you’ve heard them say?”

The two girls sat in silence as they racked their brains of anything and everything. Lily was running through every scenario she had been in with each of the boys individually and their whole group. After a minute of them glancing around the room, Marlene's face lit up.

“Remember that one time when we crept down the stairs into the common room and they were huddled in a circle? They said something ridiculous and we repeated it for days making fun of them any chance we got.” 

“Oh yeah! What was it?!” Lily trilled

“I don’t know, I’m trying to remember,” Marlene placed her fingers on her temples and started to slowly massage. Marlene and Lily both had very poor memories.

“It was like, I swear I’m doing no good,” Lily said.

“It was most definitely I solemnly swear. We cackled about it for days.”

Lily threw her head back and started to laugh. She did remember that. Marlene had struggled to keep her laughter in until they were up the stairs when the boys had uttered those words. Lily had not been any better. Those boys were the definition of ridiculous.

“I solemnly swear. I solemnly swear. I solemnly swear,” Marlene chanted under her breath. Lily joined her, hoping if they said it enough they would get the rest of the phrase. When they locked eyes for a second it suddenly clicked. 

“I solemnly swear I am up to no good!” they both squealed simultaneously. Lily gripped Marlene's wand and re-hovered it over the parchment and repeated the phrase. She tapped the parchment and ink started to appear, this time though, it looked to be making more of a picture. The two girls watched the ink spread across the parchment, swirling around the edges and the middle. Once the inked seemed to stop spreading, Lily didn’t attempt to read the words and pulled open the new flaps that appeared. With one glance, she immediately knew what it was.

It was a fucking map.  

Of the entire school.

Chapter Text

Lily raced down the hall with Marlene in tow. The library, she just had to get to the library. She had to show Mary. Lily wasn’t entirely sure what she expected on the parchment. But a map? Of the whole school? That idea, that concept, did not even cross her mind. Yes, she did say she thought the boys were very smart. That smart, however? Absolutely not. 

Marlene eventually caught up to Lily. Marlene went to quidditch practice practically every day, so she was a lot more fit than Lily. The two girls ran side by side in the halls, heading straight for the library. No time for breakfast, no time for nothing. 

They barged in the doors, Lily quickly apologizing to Ms. Pince, and ran to the back of the library. Mary was sat at their usual table with none other than Pandora. Lily had no time to question this, she was itching to show the map to Mary. She took the open seat next to Mary and gently pushed her work to the side, spreading the map out onto the table. 

“Look at this shit,” Lily whispered. 

Mary, Marlene, and Pandora all leaned over to look at the map. Marlene had not gotten a good look because as soon as Lily had realized what it was, she had snatched it up and started running. Marlene’s eyes grew wide, Mary covered her mouth, and Pandora’s face was a bit hard for Lily to read. 

“Is this actually what I think it is,” Mary gasped.

“With tracking and everything?!” Marlene said, awe filling her voice. 

“Is this how they do all they do?” Pandora asked, glancing at all of the girls, her hands folded neatly in her lap. 

“Must be,” Marlene said, she was now reaching out and slowly tracing the ink on the map.

“Well, we can’t give it back now,” Mary said. The girl sat up straight and placed her hands on the table, folding them in a business-like manner. “We have to use it.”

“I'm in,” Marlene immediately responded.

“Me too,” Lily chimed in. This map was too amazing to just give back .

All 3 girls turned to Pandora expectantly. The girl seemed to not be expecting this.

“You want me to help?” she asked, pulling her hands up on the table and starting to fiddle with her rings and bangles. 

“You found it, Pandora. Do you want to help?” Lily asked. She hopes she says yes. Why exactly? She’s not sure. All she knows is she was holding her breath waiting for the response. 

“Alright then,” Pandora nodded, smiling softly. 

“Perfect!” Mary chirped, “Now if you two could go and do something else, we can meet back up after lunch. I am completely lost in Divination, need Pandora's help, and need to focus.”

“Am I that distracting MacDonald?” Marlene smirked. 

“Oh piss off.” Mary attempted to keep a stern look but failed miserably. 

Marlene and Lily stood up, taking the map with them of course, and got ready to leave. Marlene blew a kiss to Mary before leaving, who pretended to catch it and swoon obnoxiously. The two girls left the library giggling and headed off to the great hall for breakfast.

It wasn’t until they entered the great hall and heard a few people snicker that they remembered they were still in their pajamas. Marlene looked down at her clothes and shrugged, not seeming to care too much. Lily could not say the same. She glanced around the great hall to see how many people were there. Deciding there weren’t too many people, she followed Marlene to the table. Everyone here had already seen her walk in with her pajamas and would tell everyone, might as well not make a hassle for herself by running back to the tower. She told herself that multiple times throughout breakfast. 

They finished breakfast quickly, Lily rushing Marlene because more people started to come in. Lily wasn’t entirely sure what they were going to do until their little meeting after lunch. They made their way back up to Gryffindor Tower and into their dorm. 

Lily’s homework was actually done for once. She had devoted so much time to homework yesterday that she was free to do whatever she wanted today. Of course, that meant she was just going to study. Having free time was a foreign concept to Lily nowadays. She curled up on her bed with her Alchemy textbook and started reading. 

***

The four girls sat at the table, the map placed in the middle. They had all eaten at record speed to have more time alone in the library. Mary was the first to break the silence, seeming to take the position of the ‘leader’.

“Alright, any ideas?”

The silence resumed. Lily couldn’t think of any ideas. Breaking the rules wasn’t really her forte. Even less so now that she was Head Girl. However, James was Head Boy and she knows for a fact he has still participated in pranks recently. Lily participating in one or two of her own couldn’t hurt, right? Oh boy, would this train of thought change her life. 

“I say we do something to Snape,” Marlene said, rifling her hands through her hair. 

Lily’s head snapped up. Ah. Severus. She hadn’t spoken to him since the incident in their 5th year. When Marlene found out what Severus said, she was furious. At some points, Lily thought Marlene was more upset than she was. Lily was still angry at him though. He had tried on multiple occasions to talk to her, but she would brush him off immediately. Lily was not interested in his excuses. She only saw him as a pathetic little man, who she could never forgive. Maybe this was why she didn’t exactly hate Marlene’s idea. 

“And what exactly would we do?” Lily questioned. She was stumped. 

“I say we keep it a bit tame for now. No huge things that will put suspicion on us from the boys,” Mary commented, she was now tapping her fingers on the table, which she did a lot when she was trying to think. All the girls nodded in agreement. They wanted to keep the map for more than a few days at least. 

“Why don’t we do something to his hair? Make him a ginger like Lily,” Marlene smirked.

And oh my god. Lily could see it now. Severus with ginger hair would be absolutely hilarious. He had the complexion of a ginger, so might as well give him the hair color. But, there is one color that Lily thinks would be even better than ginger.

“How about pink?”

They all looked at Lily and promptly burst into laughter. Lily knew they all had the same image in their heads, Severus’ usual scowl and greasy hair hanging around his face, but this time his hair was bright pink instead of a muted black. Once the laughter died down, more like hushed giggles, Lily turned to Mary. 

“Are you able to get something to make his hair bright pink then?”

“Do you even have to ask?” Mary beamed. 

“Alright, so I’m assuming we’ll put it in his shampoo or something like that. Now the problem is getting into the Slytherin common room and dorms.” Marlene leaned in. All of them were leaning in closer now. More people were popping up in the library, a lot of them coming to sit at the back tables. 

“Oh, I know the password,” Pandora piped up. The other 3 girls turned to look at her, astounded looks on their faces. “The Slytherins just let me walk around in there. I think it’s because if they said something Regulus would bite their heads off.”

So, she and Regulus are friends, apparently. Great ones at that. Noted.

“How often are you in there?” Mary asked, very intrigued. 

“At least twice a day.”

“So, you would say you might know when there are the least amount of people in there?”

“I suppose so,” Pandora nodded her head swiftly. 

“And that would be?...”

“I would say right at the start of dinner.”

“Perfect!” Mary trilled and clapped her hands together, “I can have the dye prepped and ready for dinner tomorrow. You girls,” she pointed two fingers, one at Marlene and the other at Pandora, ”just meet at the dungeon. You,” she pointed at Lily, ”meet me at the potions lab after lunch tomorrow. Slughorn will let me in if you’re there.” 

They all nodded and listened as Mary continued. 

“Pandora will go in the common room first to make sure no one is in there if she’s okay with that. We shouldn’t blindly trust the map at first. Got to be a bit careful.”

Pandora hummed in agreement. 

“We’ll sneak the dye into his shampoo. I’ll make sure it stays for a few days. Then we’ll sneak back out and go to dinner as if nothing happened. Alright?” Mary grabbed the parchment and rolled it up, placing it in her pocket. 

“Who made you in charge?” Marlene mumbled. Mary gave her a bored look until Marlene nodded her head in agreement. The rest of the girls agreed as well, and the plan was set. Lily would meet Mary tomorrow to help with the setup, and then they would all meet up again outside the dungeons. Merlin, Lily was excited.   

***

Lily skipped her way through the halls after lunch the next day. Ever since their meeting yesterday, Lily had the map on her mind nonstop. She had tried to study, but at this point, it was not worth it. Thankfully, she was able to maintain some focus during her classes this morning. Studying though? It would have to wait until tonight. 

Mary was waiting a safe distance from the potions classroom, propped up against a wall with her arms crossed. When she caught sight of Lily, she straightened up and followed behind her. Lily explained to Slughorn that she wanted to use the potions lab when it was free, to practice. Slughorn, of course, believed her and let her in, giving her the keys to the cabinet and locking himself away in his office. 

Mary immediately grabbed the keys and whirled around the classroom, grabbing jars from the cabinets and grabbing a flask of standard potioning water. Lily decided to let Mary do her thing and sat off to the side by the cauldron. Mary was good at potions, but she was especially amazing at cosmetic potions. That was the one thing you could catch her studying in her free time. 

“I plan on putting fast-acting bleach in his shampoo and bright pink hair dye in his conditioner. This potion is more of a failsafe,” Mary explained, dumping the contents of the jars into their cauldron. 

Lily watched Mary mix the potion, grab a bright pink Streeler shell from a large jar,  and drop it in. After a few more minutes, the potion seemed to be finished. Lily grabbed a vial and handed it to Mary. The girl collected some of the potion in the vial and vanished the rest of it.

“You take the vial, keep it in your pocket or something,” Mary smiled. 

The two girls collected the jars and placed them back in their respective cabinets. Lily made sure to clean up their workspace, not wanting Slughorn to be upset at her. Lily pocketed the vial and thanked Slughorn for letting them use the lab. 

“Where are you getting the bleach and the dye?” Lily asked as they exited the dungeons.

“I obviously keep some in the dorm,” Mary rolled her eyes, “I’ll have to charm the bleach to be more fast-acting, but I can do that shit in my sleep.”

Mary had the rest of the day off, luckily, the girl’s Mondays were empty. As expected, Lily did not have the same luxury. She had Arithmancy in a little bit. 

Once they were out of the dungeons and back to the main corridors, the two girls split off their different ways. 

“Don’t forget! Right when dinner starts!” Mary shouted, running backward then turning around and skipping back to Gryffindor Tower. 

Lily chuckled and headed for the Arithmancy classroom. 

Only 4 more hours until their first prank.

Oh god, she sounded just like the boys. 

Chapter Text

Lily expected to be the first one at the dungeons, seeing as there were about 20 minutes until dinner starts. She was mistaken though. Pandora was standing off in a corner, relatively close to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. It was at the moment that Pandora waved her over, Lily realized she had not been alone with the girl, ever. And yet, she still walked over and placed herself against the same wall Pandora was leaning against. 

Pandora was gazing over at her, her hair was up in a loose bun - wand stuck through the middle - and a few strands were falling around her face, framing it perfectly. How, the fuck, did Mary ever get work done with Pandora sitting next to her. Honestly, Lily was forgetting why exactly she was here. The girl was silently observing her. From the 3 days Lily had known Pandora, she could tell Pandora did this a lot. She never meant it in a rude way. No matter, it was very distracting for Lily. Thankfully, before Lily forgot her bloody name, Pandora spoke up. 

“Are you excited? I’m quite excited myself,” the girl smiled. 

Small talk? Lily could do small talk. 

“Yeah, I’m excited. Severus has had karma coming for years .”

Pandora nodded her head and then leaned it against the wall, lightly closing her eyes. How was she so fucking ethereal? And with that, how had Lily never noticed her? Lily has been everywhere in this school, seen about everyone in her year and the year below, yet, she swears she has never seen Pandora before Saturday. Suddenly, Lily remembered a small fact that she had glossed over. Pandora knows Remus. Interesting, interesting. Remus has eyes, Lily knows this because he is dating Sirius Black for Merlin's sake, so why did he never say anything to her? 

“How do you know Remus?” Lily asked in the most nonchalant way she could muster. 

“He’s my partner in Care of Magical Creatures. I’m not sure why he sat next to me on the first day of class, not many people sit next to me in classes.” Pandora started to twirl one of the loose strands of hair around her finger, which made her bangles make the same amazing noise they made the first time they met. For Lily’s sanity, she might have to ask her to not wear them around her. 

Disregarding the bangles, Remus was a dead man the next time Lily sees him. A year? A whole year?! Honestly, he didn’t even think to let her know. The disrespect. Maybe, it was because Lily told him that she wasn’t going to date again until after school so she could focus on all her classes, but she did not care. If Lily had met Sirius before Remus did, she would have made sure she informed him of Sirius’ existence. Lily made a mental note of this and continued talking to Pandora. 

“People don’t sit next to you in classes? Do you know why?” Lily glanced over at her. 

“Not really. It’s been like that since first year, I don’t mind though.”

“Oh. You like being by yourself then?” 

“Suppose so. It’s very calming,” she sighed, “I do like hanging with Regulus, Dorcas, Barty, and Evan though. They’re very nice to me.” She was smiling now.

“Do you only hang out with Slytherins?” 

Pandora hummed. “The Ravenclaws don’t like me very much.”

“Ah,” Lily ran her hands through her hair, “How’d you become friends with the Slytherins?”

Pandora seemed to think a little as if she forgot when they had met. “Herbology, second year, I think. Regulus was my partner.”

Lily hummed in acknowledgment.

The two girls fell into silence. Pandora re-leaned her head against the wall and started to lightly trace her bangles. Lily spent the rest of the 15 minutes until dinner watching Pandora do just that.

Right when the clock struck 6, Slytherins poured out of their common room. 

In hindsight, it was probably best that Mary and Marlene didn’t show up early. There were possible reasons for Lily and Pandora to be outside the Slytherin common room, Lily being Head Girl and Pandora hovering around the common room daily. The Slytherin students ignored them except for a blonde and brunette duo who waved at Pandora, a girl she vaguely recognized as Dorcas, and, of course, Regulus. The boy had the same shock on his face that he had last night when Lily mentioned Pandora. Lily had to hold back the urge to stick her tongue out at him. 

Mary and Marlene showed up around 5 minutes after dinner started, Mary with the map clutched in hand. They walked up to the other two girls and fully opened the map. Hovering over it, all the girls checked to make sure there were no stragglers in the common room. 

“You ready Pandora?” Mary asked. 

Pandora nodded her head and walked over to the portrait hole, whispered the password, and entered. The girls watched her name slowly enter the common room and then slowly walk in the path of a star. 

“I’m guessing that’s a signal?” Marlene asked. Mary shrugged her shoulders and handed the map to Marlene.

“Why are you handing the map to me?” Marlene looked at her skeptically.

“Because you’re keeping watch,” Mary answered, matter-of-factly.

Marlene's jaw dropped and she crossed her arms. She jutted her chin out defiantly.

“Pandora knows where Snape's room is, and this prank is for Lily,” Mary scoffed, taking the same stance as Marlene. 

Merlin, they were dramatic when they wanted to be.

“And why can’t you take watch?” Marlene glared.

“I have the hair dye and potion.”

Lily rubbed her temples. How had this become a fight?

“Well then give me the hair dye,” Marlene sneered.

Here we fucking go. 

“I made it!” Mary screeched.

“Why don’t we just fucking shout!” Lily whispered, stepping in between them, “If you two don’t remember, we’re on a bit of a time limit. Marlene, just take watch, yeah?” 

Marlene opened her mouth to retort but Lily held her finger out. No time for this bullshit. “Mary will take watch next time, or me, or Pandora. Just take one for the fucking team this time Marls.” Marlene shut her mouth this time and snatched the map from Mary, shooting her a glare. Mary smirked at her and sauntered off to the common room entrance. Lily followed behind her, holding back the urge to smack the back of her head for riling Marlene up. 

When they entered the common room, Pandora was still walking in the shape of a star. She stopped when she caught sight of Mary and Lily, walking over to their side. 

“Lead the way,” Lily smiled. Pandora smiled back and took a big step forward.

The girl led them up the stairs and to a dorm that was a long way down the hallway, the whole time she was taking large steps and skipping. The door was surprisingly unlocked and they walked right in. One thing they did not take into account was how to tell which shampoo belonged to Severus. He was in a room with Mulciber and Avery, both of who are wealthy, so Lily decided she would pick the cheapest-looking one and hope for the best. Pandora went and sat on a couch in the corner of the room, twirling her wand around, while Mary and Lily went into the bathroom. Mary pulled out a bag and its contents. Lily recognized that bag. 

“Is that my fucking bag with the extension charm,” Lily gaped.

“Needed to borrow it. For the prank,” Mary smirked.

That bag had been gone for months. Mary was so lucky they had to be quiet right now. 

Mary handed Lily the bleach and dye then headed over to the sink. 

Lily stepped into the shower, praying her shoe didn’t make a shoe print. She skimmed the shampoos and conditioners. There was one shampoo and one conditioner Lily recognized as muggle products. Seeing as Mulciber and Avery were arrogant purebloods, those had to be Severus’. Lily dumped the contents of the two bottles Mary gave her into their respective products. She closed the caps and shook them both vigorously before placing them back on the shower ledges, making sure to put them exactly as they were. She stepped out right as Mary was pouring her potion into toothpaste. The girl closed the cap and placed it back on the counter.

“I’m counting on Snape swallowing some of his toothpaste,” Mary giggled.

With the vial and both bottles empty, the girls rushed out of the bathroom and softly closed the door. They waved at Pandora to follow and exited the room. Creeping into the common room, relief filled Lily’s body. They hadn’t got caught. Right as she had that thought she heard Marlene’s muffled voice through the portrait. 

“Yes Slughorn, I do know that it’s dinner time.”

Lily couldn’t make out Slughorn's voice.

“Yes, I know it looks weird that me, a Gryffindor, is down in the dungeons,” the girl sighed, very loudly mind you. Mary, Lily, and Pandora were pressed up against the wall that was connected to the entrance. There was no way they were getting caught right now. They had gotten so far. 

“Yes, I’ll follow you to your office.”

Lily heard the receding footsteps as Pandora lightly pushed the portrait open. Mary squeezed past her and picked up the map from the floor. Thankfully, Marlene had used her brain and discarded the map onto the ground so Slughorn wouldn’t confiscate it. Pandora and Lily left the Slytherin common room and stood by Mary, who was pocketing the map now. 

“We are never going to hear the end of that,” Mary sighed, pointing in the direction that Marlene and Slughorn went off in. Lily nodded her head solemnly. Goodbye to the sleep she thought she was getting tonight. On the bright side, the prank was maybe possibly successful. They would have to see tomorrow. 

“We’ll see tomorrow at breakfast then?” Pandora chirped. Both girls nodded and then Pandora was on her way, skipping through the halls once again and heading for dinner. 

“Interesting one isn’t she?” Mary chuckled, starting her walk toward the great hall.

“Very,” Lily sighed. 

***

The next morning, Lily, Marlene, and Mary all headed to breakfast together. It was a later time than Lily was used to, she did not like this, but they had to go at this time to ensure seeing Severus. The girls took their seats at the table and waited. Marlene immediately started her complaining again.

“I mean detention?! He didn’t even catch me with anything!” Marlene scoffed, piling food onto her plate. Mary rolled her eyes, joining the girl in grabbing food. Marlene did have a point though. Slughorn probably shouldn’t have given her detention. The only thing she did was not go to dinner and hang around the Slytherin common room. It was suspicious, but not anything wrong. 

In the middle of Marlene’s spiel about how she did nothing wrong, Pandora plopped down in the seat next to Lily. The girl said nothing and started to pile food on her plate. Marlene paused for a moment but immediately continued, unbothered. 

The girls all ate and listened to Marlene's complaining until they heard a few whispers coming from the Slytherin table. Lily looked up to see Severus with a hat yanked down over his head, not even a wisp of hair showing. This was a good sign. The hat would’ve been a problem except-

“Mr. Snape, no hats. You know this,” Slughorn scolded, striding over to Severus and tugging the hat off. What a fucking reveal. Lily’s mental image was spot on. His hair was still greasy but this time it was bubble gum pink. It was too good. 

The great hall was silent for a second, from pure shock, and then erupted into laughter. Lily could hear a few of the Slytherin students heckling Severus as he snatched his hat, yanked it back on, and took his seat. 

Mary, Marlene, Lily, and Pandora were having the time of their lives. Marlene was howling with laughter, clutching her stomach and Mary to keep herself upright. Pandora was giggling, attempting to hide her growing smile. Mary was clutching onto the table, to keep her and Marlene upright, and laughing so hard there were tears. Lily was thoroughly enjoying this. She didn’t think she would ever stop laughing.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter seemed to be enjoying this too. They were all laughing and heckling Severus. They were also whipping their heads around and scanning the great hall, attempting to find the culprit. Obviously, they wouldn’t suspect the girls. At least for now, they wouldn’t.

The laughter died down after a good 5 minutes and everyone went back to eating. The product of the prank may have only been 5 minutes, but it was the best 5 minutes of Lily’s life.

Karma’s a bitch.

The girls quickly finished eating and immediately rushed out of the great hall, making sure to not draw attention to themselves. They went outside and walked over to a hill. Sitting in a circle, they all looked at each other and burst into laughter again. 

“We have to keep doing pranks,” Mary got out, between sharp intakes of air.

“Agreed,” Marlene giggled.

“I second,” Lily smiled.

“I third,” Pandora chirped. 

So, it was settled. 

Their first prank was successful. And the next one would be, and the next, and the next. 

Chapter Text

The girls had decided, at their impromptu meeting on the hill outside, to meet tomorrow after dinner to plan another prank and were then headed off to class. Mary and Pandora left for divination, waving their goodbyes as they walked in the opposite direction. Marlene and Lily were headed off to DADA. They shuffled through the crowded halls, Marlene gripping onto Lily’s robes as Lily weaved them through the crowds. The hallways were always very difficult to navigate with the sheer amount of students who decided to walk in groups. Lily safely pulled them into the classroom with 5 minutes to spare, she made sure they were always early to class. Marlene ran over to her usual spot by Peter. The girl sat down and turned around to talk with James and Sirius. 

Lily walked over to her spot in the front of the class, by Remus. He was reading a different book than the one he had been reading in the common room on Saturday - he was an extremely fast reader. The boy glanced up and smiled when he saw her. His smile fell slightly when he noticed the scowl on Lily’s face. Remus slowly put his bookmark in the book and placed it on the desk.

“Remus John Lupin!” Lily whisper-yelled. She placed her textbook on the desk, trying very hard to not slam it onto the desk. 

“What? What did I do?” His eyes started to grow wide. 

“Your mysterious Care of Magical Creatures partner, what’s her name?” Lily asked innocently.

The boy eyed her suspiciously before answering. “Pandora. She’s a Ravenclaw in the year below.” 

“Remus, Remus, Remus. You have eyes. So I ask you this. Why, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around this, did you not inform me of her existence?!” Lily’s voice slowly grew as she spoke. Remus gaped at her.

“Lily, you literally told me you weren’t dating until after we graduate?!” he said, sounding somewhat confused about why Lily was riled up.

Lily took a deep breath before responding.

“I am going to strangle you and my past self,” she flopped into her seat, pulling her hair up into a ponytail before placing her head in her hands. Remus chuckled, reaching over and tugging on her ponytail playfully. 

“How did you meet her?” he questioned after silence had passed between them. 

Oops.

Lily had not thought of how she would answer that question. He was bound to ask her that if she talked about the other girl. How exactly was she to bring up that they met because Pandora brought her the map that Remus and his friends have been looking for for almost 4 days?

“Uh, she was looking for you actually. Needed help with her Care of Magical Creatures work. Marlene ended up helping her with it,” Lily answered swiftly. That ought to do. 

“When was this?” he asked seemingly confused, and rightfully so. If there was one place that Remus spent most of his time it was the library. 

“Saturday morning.” 

Lily lightly pulled her fingers apart to see his reaction. His eyes lit up in 

recognition and he hummed. Lily picked her head up out of her hands and turned to look at him.

“What were you looking for anyway?” She knew he wouldn’t actually tell her they were looking for the map. More than likely the boys have had the map for years , meaning he has kept it from her for years . Why would that change now? Anyway, she just wanted to know what excuse he would use. 

“Sirius lost his DADA essay,” he replied immediately. Definitely rehearsed. 

“Looked a bit frantic for you two to be searching for homework ,” Lily replied innocently, trying oh so very hard to not smirk. Remus seemed to start to panic a bit because Lily was extremely right. Sirius lost his homework at least once a week and always ended up re-doing it. Lily had never seen any of the other boys lift so much as a finger to help him find it either. She knows Remus is cursing James in his head right now - because of course, the lost homework excuse was definitely thought up by James. 

Lucky for Remus, not even 5 seconds after Lily’s remark their DADA professor walked into the classroom. She watched Remus visibly relax and proceed to pull out his textbook and quill. Lily left it at that, no need to stress him out more. The two scribbled down notes as the professor lectured, their professor this year did less hands-on activity than their previous ones, and turned in their homework at the end of class. Unsurprisingly, they were assigned homework again. Lily shouldn’t complain because it was NEWT level, but she was taking 5 NEWTS. It would be nice if their homework was to fucking relax. 

Remus and Lily collected their books and went to the back of the classroom, where the rest of the boys and Marlene were sitting. The rest of the class was filing out of the class, except for their four friends. They seemed to be in an animated conversation when Lily and Remus got there. Remus did not seem to care though as he grabbed Sirius's hand and started to tug. Everyone still in this room (even the fucking professor had left by now) knew that Remus was always hungry and did not play around when it came to meal times. Sirius glanced at Remus and immediately remembered. 

“Alright let's continue this over lunch. My moony is hungry,” Sirius interrupted, standing up and starting to gather his things. Everyone followed suit, mostly clearing the tables of their things, and they all walked to the great hall for lunch. 

Lily fell back with Marlene a bit, creating a safe distance between them and the boys so they could talk about the map. 

“Their excuse for the frantic searching on Saturday was looking for Sirius’ missing homework,” Lily smirked.

“Really?! Sirius loses his homework every week,” Marlene started to giggle.

“Exactly!” Lily trilled.

“Guessing it was James’ idea, the pathetic excuse?” Marlene asked.

“Definitely.”

This is one of the many reasons why she and Marlene are friends. They think exactly alike. 

The two girls followed the group of boys into the great hall and sat across from them, Mary eventually joining them and sitting by Marlene. The 4 boys continued their conversation while the girls had a conversation of their own. They talked about everything and anything, it was a bit hard to find a topic to talk about for 30 ish minutes since they saw each other all the time. Lunch passed as usual and they all went off to their classes, except for Marlene and Mary who headed to the dorm since they were off. 

Lily had Astronomy next. She loved Astronomy, but it was a bit complicated sometimes. The Astronomy Tower was a long walk from the Great Hall. Lily had to weave through a shit ton of students to get there after lunch. She walked into class, expecting nothing unusual.

(Which should be expected. It was just Astronomy. She went there twice a week and sat at her spot in the front alone where she jotted down copious notes. Nothing exciting ever happened in that class. Ever . Until now.)

Sat in the back of the class was none other than Pandora. Now you may be asking, how was Lily noticing this just now, in March ? None of Lily’s friends had taken Astronomy so she knew no one in her class. This meant she never paid any attention to who was in the class. Meaning, she would have never noticed the beautiful girl sitting in the back of the class alone fiddling with her wand and floating an origami bird. 

Pandora glanced up and waved at Lily. From their conversation yesterday, Lily knew the spot next to her was free, so Lily made her way to the back of the class and sat right next to Pandora. What can she say? Having company is never a bad thing (most of the time).

“Have you been in this class all year? I thought you were a 6th year?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been here practically all year. I already know a lot about Astronomy so they put me in with the 7th years,” Pandora smiled, still floating the origami bird above their heads. 

“Ah okay.”

The worst part of all of this is that Lily could no longer blame Remus for not telling her about Pandora. The girl had been sitting in the back of the Astronomy classroom all year and Lily did not notice her until now. 

Eventually, Pandora floated the bird down and gently placed it in her pocket.

“Have you thought of what we are going to do with the map next?” Pandora asked, turning to look at Lily. Lily never thought it could be so hard to keep eye contact with someone. 

“Uh, not yet. I don’t have much free time to think about stuff like that,” Lily replied. Pandora nodded her head and started to glance around the classroom.

“I’m excited to plan another one. My friends said they enjoyed our last one.”

Lily's eyes grew wide. There was no way the girl did what Lily thought she did. 

“Did you tell them it was us?” Lily asked, trying to sound casual and not like how she was actually feeling, which was completely and utterly panicked. 

“Of course! I tell my friends everything,” Pandora chirped. The girl seemed to notice Lily’s silence and spoke up again. “Don’t worry Lily, they won’t tell anyone.”

Lily felt a little better at those words. The Slytherins probably wouldn’t rat them out since Pandora was with them. At least, she hopes they won’t. She’d rather not lose her position as Head Girl when the year was very close to being over. 

The two girls chatted for a few minutes, which was a miracle. Was it mostly about astronomy? Yes. But progress is progress. Talking to Pandora was one of the most difficult things Lily has ever done. She’s not exactly sure why. 

The Astronomy professor walked in and the class went silent. He placed a stack of papers he was holding onto his desk and turned around to face the students.

“Alright students, out of class time, you and a partner will be mapping the night sky,” the professor announced. There was a chorus of groans from the whole class. “You will need to map at least 10 visible constellations - make sure you include any important ones we have talked about, the major stars, and planets, as well as label them all, of course.”

A student raised their hand and the professor gave them a glance before speaking up again.

“Before one of you moans and groans about how we did this last semester, we are doing this again so you are familiar with the night sky in the other half of the year.”

The girl dropped her hand and rolled her eyes. 

“Right,” the professor clapped his hands and glanced around, “All of you will partner up with whoever is sitting at your table. If you sit alone, find someone else who sits alone.”

The few other people who sat alone found each other and moved desks. The professor made sure everyone was partnered up and started his lecture. Lily and Pandora shared one of their textbooks, so as to not take up all of the desk room, and wrote their notes. The lecture was relatively short and their professor let them go early. The two girls walked out of the astronomy tower and were headed in no particular direction. 

“Do you want to map the sky Sunday night? We can map Saturday too if you think we need two days,” Lily offered. This project wasn’t hard per se, she just had no time to spend mapping the sky except for the weekends, and even then she would have to go very late at night, like past curfew late. Her mountains of work took up the first half of the night. 

“Just Sunday’s fine with me,” Pandora nodded.

Lily going from not knowing Pandora was in her Astronomy class to being her partner on a project was causing her whiplash. She thought she would only see Pandora when they were planning and doing pranks, not in classes. 

“We’ll have to go after curfew if that’s fine with you. You won’t have to worry about getting in trouble. Filch can’t get mad at me wandering around these days.”

“Okay,” Pandora smiled. 

“Want to go do Astronomy homework in the library before dinner?” Lily asked. There wasn’t much to do before dinner and getting her work done now would benefit her later.

“Yup.”

Pandora started to slowly lead them in the direction of the library. The two girls walked side by side in the silent halls, Pandora staring at her feet and dragging them along the floor. Pandora was an interesting girl, to say the least. She was like a puzzle.

And Merlin, Lily loves puzzles. 

Chapter Text

The rest of Lily’s Tuesday had been average. She and Pandora had finished their homework and went off to dinner, meeting Mary and Marlene there. Lily had eaten quickly and ran off to the common room to start on her homework.

It was now the next morning and Lily was exhausted, to say the least. She stayed up until at least 4 am doing homework and woke up around 6 am when Marlene was headed off to quidditch practice. Usually, Marlene was quiet in the mornings, but of all mornings to not be quiet, it was the morning after Lily got no sleep. Mary had woken up too and the two girls agreed to head off to breakfast early to drink as much tea as they could before classes.

Lily had drunk about 3 mugs of tea by the time Pandora walked into the Great Hall and sat with them. Pandora started to sit with them at meals and none of the other Gryffindors seemed to mind. Mary and Pandora chatted a bit, talking about divination. At least, that’s what Lily assumed they were talking about, she was too busy nursing her 4th mug of tea to listen. She wasn’t, however, too busy to watch. The way Pandora talked about divination was very cute. There was no other way to describe it. Her eyes lit up and it was like there were little hearts in her eyes where the pupils were supposed to be. Mary let the girl ramble on, not seeming to care that the conversation had become more of an information session. 

Eventually, the caffeine hit, and Lily remembered she didn’t finish her homework last night. Once it had hit 3 am Lily was completely out of it. She barely remembers putting her stuff away and getting ready for bed.  This morning she was supposed to go to Alchemy, but she had made a deal with the professor to give her Wednesday mornings off. Extra time was a necessity for all of her other classes and she already knew most of the content in Alchemy she needed to. 

Lily hopped up and waved to Pandora and Mary before heading off to the dorms. Mary returned the wave, but Pandora did not, the girl was too busy talking Mary's ear off. When Lily returned to the dorms she grabbed her tote - already packed as always - and made her way to the lake. Studying in the library, in the common room, or her dorm got too monotonous, so Lily would change up her study spot on occasion. The lake had amazing scenery and was quiet, but not the silent quiet like inside the building. Birds chirping, leaves rustling, and the occasional splash was the calming sounds she heard, instead of books falling to the ground or people sneezing. 

Lily settled down against the same tree she always did and spread out her stuff. Deciding to start on her Alchemy work - seeing as that was the class she was missing right now-  she pulled out the textbook and started her reading. Not even a minute into her reading she was interrupted. She never got to study in peace these days. 

“Evans.”

Lily knew that voice. She slowly, ever so slowly, turned her head, dreading who it was.

“Regulus,” she sighed. “What has you out here? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he retorted, putting his book down, spine up. 

Regulus had the same arrogance as his brother and James. For goodness sake, she was fucking Head Girl, why did he talk to her like that. Snarky little twat. 

“Let me study in peace Regulus,” Lily practically begged, extremely exasperated. 

The boy scoffed but didn’t respond, picking his book back up and leaving Lily alone. Lily was able to finish her assigned reading before the next interruption. At this point, she was considering locking herself in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle and dealing with her while studying. Eventually, the girl would get bored of her and Lily would be able to study in peace. 

Lily glanced up to see who was whispering over by Regulus, expecting to see one of his friends from Slytherin. Except, she saw a crimson and gold tie that was attached to James Potter's head. Regulus noticed Lily staring and shushed James. The older boy turned to follow Regulus’ gaze and his eyes landed on Lily. A panicked expression crossed his face before he plastered on a smile and pranced over to her. 

“Lily, Lily, Lily. Whatcha doing out here?” he asked, leaning his arm against the tree and gazing down at her. Lily looked up at him suspiciously and snapped her book shut. 

“Studying.”

“Ah.”

Lily continued to stare at him, waiting for him to offer some sort of explanation for his sudden appearance. Nothing. 

“So… What are you doing out here.”

“Delivering top secret information to Reggie over there, from Sirius,” James beamed. 

James was not known to be a good liar. So, either he was telling the truth or he had gotten amazing at lying. The former was the one that made the most sense.

“Well get on with it then, and keep it quiet. I have no problem hexing you if you get too loud Potter. Don’t test the fucking theory,” Lily smiled, pulling out her next textbook.

James winked at her, turned on his heels, and jogged back over to Regulus. The whispering started back up again, quieter this time to Lily’s relief. It went on far too long however, if what James said was true it shouldn’t have taken 10 minutes to relay said “top-secret” information. She watched James ruffle Regulus’ hair and go on his way. The way Regulus watched him jog off toward the castle was interesting . Lily would have to keep an eye on them.

The rest of the time before class was peaceful, as in Lily was not interrupted. The homework was not peaceful in the slightest. If she had been interrupted though, she would have definitely hexed whoever it was, first year or not. 7th years had already started to hex students that were being rather annoying. Lily was not special. She would participate if someone got on her nerves. 

Lily skipped lunch and studied until her Potions class started. Regulus seemed to do the same thing. The two got up at the same time and walked relatively close on their way to the castle. No words were exchanged. Lily headed to Potions and met Mary outside of the class. The two girls walked in and the first thing they saw was Snape with his bright pink hair. Lily and Mary stifled their giggles as they walked past him. The boy had his head down and his hands attempting to cover his hair. Once they got to their seats, they allowed themselves to giggle and let it all out. 

“Excited for the planning later?” Mary asked after she had gotten control of her laughter.

“You know it,” Lily smirked 

***

Mary and Lily arrived at the normal table in the back of the library. Pandora and Marlene were already there, looking over a textbook. Mary set the map out on the table and Lily snatched it immediately. The girl had been hogging it this whole time. 

“The map is reliable,” Mary stated, “I watched it the past 2 days to make sure of it.”

“You sure you didn’t just use it to sneak around?” Marlene scoffed.

“Do you think so low of me Marls?” Mary smirked. 

“A bit,” Marlene narrowed her eyes at her, head propped up in one of her hands. 

They stared at each other for a whole minute before Mary broke. 

“Okay fine. I might have used it to sneak around once or twice. So what?” Mary smiled. 

“Ha! Knew I was right.”

“It’s because you know me so well Marls.” Mary batted her eyelashes at the girl.

Marlene curved her hands in the shape of a heart and blew a kiss to Mary. Honestly, these two could go from arguing to fake flirting within seconds.

“Aren’t we supposed to be planning?” Lily asked.

Mary and Marlene nodded their heads and refocused their attention on the task at hand. Planning the first prank had been easy. Marlene and Lily had had it out for Severus for a while. For all Lily knew, Marlene could’ve been thinking up ideas about how to get back at Severus since the dreadful day in 5th year. Now though, there wasn’t anything coming to mind. Lily’s mind felt completely and utterly blank. No ideas, none. She started to run through her schedule for the rest of the week. 

The only thing she could think of was that on Saturday there was a quidditch match, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. Marlene would be participating in the match, so they couldn’t do anything during the match. However, if Lily remembers correctly from all the times she has unwillingly heard about quidditch at breakfast, Gryffindor should win, which means there will be an after-party in the Gryffindor common room. James always invited all of the houses, those nights being the best nights to have rounds because nobody - and she means nobody - was out in the halls. And, around 11 Filch and Mrs. Norris would stop patrolling the halls.

“Saturday,” Lily said, speaking her thoughts out loud. All of the girls turned to look at her, waiting for her to continue. 

“The quidditch game. We’ll win right Marlene?” Lily turned to look at Marlene expectantly.

“If I have any say in it,” Marlene smirked.

“Right, well that means there will be a party, with all the houses there. You know how James is. The hallways will be free!” Lily shrilled. 

“Okay…” Mary started, arching her eyebrow, “and what exactly would we do?”

Lily had not gotten that far. The hallways being empty from about 7 pm to 2 am had to be a sign though. There had to be something they could do. 

“We could release something,” Pandora pipped up. The girls all glanced at her. 

“Yeah, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher keeps a shit ton of creatures in and around the shack. Maybe we could knick something,” Marlene joined in. 

Mary looked between the two girls before slowly nodding her head.

“He has Jackalopes,” Pandora said.

“Loads of them,” Marlene agreed.

“Those are the rabbits with the antlers right?” Mary questioned, turning to Lily as if she would be any help. Lily shrugged her shoulders and looked at the two other girls.

“Yes they are, and they’re completely harmless,” Pandora confirmed. 

“But think about it, a bunch of drunk teenagers trying to sneak out of the Gryffindor common room at 1 am to see a shit ton of rabbits with antlers out in the halls. At least 5 girls and 2 guys would scream. Then, utter chaos would consume.”

“Honestly, I would scream bloody murder seeing any animal that wasn’t a cat or dog if I was drunk. Especially the kind of drunk everyone gets at these parties,” Lily added, leaning back in her chair to stare up at the ceiling. 

Mary seemed to consider the idea, because as said she had somehow become the leader. Mary’s thinking face was utterly ridiculous though, so Lily made sure to keep her concentration on the ceiling. 

“Right, and you two,” she pointed her pointer finger and middle finger at Pandora and Marlene respectively,” could get a hold of said Jackalopes and corral them into the school?”

Marlene looked over at Pandora, seemingly sizing her up, and nodded.

“Suppose so, once we got them in the school though, we would need some help.”

Mary steepled her fingers and nodded. Merlin , Mary being serious was hilarious. She looked like fucking Dumbledore when he was talking to you in his office. 

“Okay, we’ll all go to the party and you two will leave at some point to go get said Jackalopes, taking the map obviously. One of you will have to come and get us to help, spread them out I guess? We can decide that the day of.”

All of the girls nodded, pausing a bit to see if Mary was going to continue.

“Don’t have too much fun at the party Mary, we don’t need to deal with you drunk,” Marlene commented, playfulness evident in her voice. 

“How could I have fun without you, love?” Mary smiled.

The two girls continued to flirt with each other, it was best to just leave them to it. Pandora turned to Lily.

“Do they always do this?” she asked, smiling a bit.

“Yeah, it’s best to just leave them to it,” Lily replied, voicing her thoughts. 

Pandora nodded. Lily reached into her pocket and handed the map to Pandora.

“You’ll need this.”

Pandora stared at the map before gently taking it and placing it in her pockets.

“Suppose so,” she smiled.

Her smile was one of the best things Lily has ever seen, witnessed, and experienced. They both turned back to watch Mary and Marlene, who had somehow gone from their flirty banter to full-on bickering. The two girls always proved Lily right.

“Okay, well we don’t leave them to this shit,” Lily sighed.

Pandora giggled and watched Lily as she reached across the table to stop them from getting too close and possibly starting to push each other around.  

Lily has no idea how they are going to stay quiet in the hallways on Saturday.

It would be a fucking miracle if they do. 

Chapter Text

Lily’s Thursday was mediocre. As was any other normal day. She had gone to DADA, talked with Remus a bit, and taken notes. They were assigned homework and she was on her way to lunch. Instead of socializing, she made a list of everything that needed to be done. Spending time planning last night cut into her homework time, which she would have to make up today. After lunch, she went to Arithmancy, where she took notes for the millionth time and got assigned homework, again. It was predictable at this point. 

With her classes done for the day, Lily rushed to the library. She had to get started on her homework now if she wanted to stay on schedule. The back table was open. 

(If it hadn’t been, whoever was sitting there would’ve been kicked out of their chair. Lily had no time to deal with any shit today.)

She immediately pulled out her homework and got started. The map and the pranks were fun, don’t get her wrong. But, with 5 NEWTs Lily needed all the time she could get for work. Slowly since Saturday, her free time was being overtaken by planning and shit to do with the map. Having to do homework during lunch was going to be the death of her. 

It was about right after dinner when Lily was interrupted. She had skipped dinner to do homework, she could snack later in the dorms, no time for eating. 

James Potter was the one to interrupt her, which was extremely odd to her. James was almost never caught in the library. Well, that was a little overdramatic. James usually did not spend his free time in the library, especially not on a weeknight. 

So, seeing James Potter saunter over to her table and sit down right across from her was a surprise. So much so that she wasn’t as angry about being interrupted. The idea of studying in the second-floor girl's bathroom might have to be revisited though. 

“What do you want, James?” Lily practically whined. She was tired of being interrupted. Didn’t anyone understand the sheer amount of homework she’s got? 

James looked surprised at her tone, his eyebrows shooting up. The boy yanked a large piece of parchment out of his bag and spread it across the table, throwing a quill on top of it. Lily glanced up to look at what was on it.

“We have to plan rounds for this week? Remember?”

Oh my god. She fucking forgot. She doesn’t have time for this. Her schedule has already been set for this afternoon, and it does not allow for wiggle room. Especially , not something like this. Lily’s grip on her own quill tightened, threatening to break it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It’s okay. All is good. She lightly placed her quill on the table and nodded her head. 

“Yeah, yeah I remember,” she sighed.

They started planning the rounds for the next week. Lily and James each picked their day, Lily choosing Thursday and James choosing Friday. Then, they started to plan out the rest of the prefect's times. James made sure that the prefects could ask for specific days, and he and Lily did their best to make their days work. 

Halfway through planning, Remus, Sirius, and Peter stumbled into the library and came to sit at the table. Lily was so close to ripping her hair out. How did people always find her? And, always when she was doing homework? It doesn’t matter that she always doing homework. They just need to leave her alone . 

“Hey Prongs, whatcha doing?” Sirius grinned, leaning his head over on Remus’ shoulder.

The fucking nicknames. 

“We’re planning rounds,” James mumbled, half paying attention to the other boys as he skimmed over the parchment that had the requests off. Not many kids had asked for days off this week which made the planning much easier. 

“Ooooh Mr. Head boy!” Peter snickered.

How did they find James? They don’t even have the fucking map. Sirius and James probably had a telekinetic connection by this point. Lily was fighting the urge to slam her head on the table. Why weren’t they leaving? Couldn’t they see that Lily and James are busy?

James laughed a bit at Peter’s joke, it sounded forced though. He seemed to be extremely invested in the planning. One of the other boys must have noticed and the 3 boys started up a conversation. Lily mostly turned her attention back to the planning - looking over her textbook too, but James was doing most of the work. 

This is how Lily missed who she was set to have rounds with until they had decided -  more like James decided - the schedule was set in stone. Lily was taking loss after loss this week, honestly. Rounds with Regulus, again. This time though it wasn’t because he promised to take someone else’s rounds. Maybe he would get someone to cover him. Lily could only hope. 

With the planning finished Lily foolishly thought this meant the boys would leave the library and she could study in peace again. 

Ha.

The four boys continued to talk to each other at the table, being way too loud if you ask her. How Ms. Pince hadn’t come to scold them was beyond her. Remus was the only one who spoke quieter, shooting Lily apologetic glances. She appreciated this, if only he could shut his boyfriend up though. Sirius was the loudest. Lily was at her wits end with him. He laughed so fucking loud and he would bump the table occasionally. Lily had to keep her eyes glued on her textbook so she didn’t look up and glare at him. 

Lily doesn’t hate Sirius. Actually, quite the opposite. She would say Sirius is one of her good friends. However, she is stressed out of her mind with homework at the moment and his practically howling with laughter is not helping. This is why what happened next, happened.

It had gotten kind of late, as in most of the students were funneling out of the library. The boys, still sitting in the same fucking place, were a bit more rowdy now. James had just told a joke that had Sirius falling out of his chair with laughter. On his way down, he hit the table and made it shake. Now, he had been making the table jerk here and there, but this one had caused Lily’s papers to fall off the table. On any other day, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. She would have picked them up and continued her work. This was not any other day.

“Sirius are you fucking kidding me?!” Lily shrilled. Well, it was on the quieter side. Lily didn’t want Ms. Pince to come back here. 

All the boys stopped laughing and looked over at her. James and Remus looked concerned, Peter looked off-put, and Sirius had the ghost of a smile on his face. 

“What?” Sirius asked, a hint of fear in his voice.

Lily scoffed and grabbed her papers off the floor and shoved them in her tote. 

“Lils, are you okay?” James asked, sitting up straighter on his chair. 

“Yes,” she snapped, slamming her textbook shut and shoving everything in her tote. 

“I’m fine. I’m going back to the dorms, I couldn’t get any more homework done,” she glared over at Sirius when saying the last part and then walked out of the library, trying hard not to storm out like a child having a tantrum. Once in the hallway, where she could get some air and silence, she realized what she had just done. She definitely could have been a bit more graceful about her leave. Whatever. Now, she had more fucking homework to do tomorrow because she couldn’t finish it tonight.

Friday had never seemed less appealing to her.

***

Lily woke early to start the homework she didn’t finish last night. She was still a little upset about that, but with a full night's sleep, she knew she had been a bit over the top. Lily skipped breakfast, she had resorted to skipping meals now, and eventually finished her homework. Mary popped by the dorms to walk with her to potions. She packed up her stuff and walked out to the hallway with Mary. The girl handed Lily a napkin that was wrapped around something. There was a small pastry and a piece of toast wrapped inside. Lily smiled at Mary and mouthed ‘thank you’ before shoving it into her mouth. 

“Heard what happened last night,” Mary said casually after a minute of walking. 

“Nothing technically happened, they were being too loud so I left,” Lily said with her mouth somewhat full of sticky pastry. 

“Yeah, but Sirius said you started to yell at him and shoved your shit in your bag and left.”

Lily stayed silent. She didn’t technically yell though. It was more like loud talking. 

Mary cocked her eyebrow and Lily sighed, wiping a bit of jelly from her lips.

“Okay, I could have handled it a bit better,” Mary nodded her head at this and Lily held back the urge to roll her eyes, “I’ll apologize later. However, they shouldn’t have came and sat at my table in the library where you’re supposed to be quiet .”

Mary nodded her head, seemingly satisfied, and the girls walked silently the rest of the way to potions. Lily did feel a bit bad about last night, truly. At least she didn’t fully shout though. That would’ve been so much worse. She already decided she would apologize at lunch.  

Potions was as calm as it could be. The subject had gotten a lot harder over the years so class wasn’t always enjoyable. Mary and Lily partnered on making a potion and Slughorn praised them immensely so Lily takes it as a win. It doesn’t matter she almost burst into tears a few times because the instructions were extremely complicated at certain points. The process doesn’t matter to her, just the product. They vanished their potion and headed off to lunch.

Lily was somewhat dreading lunch for two reasons. One, she could be doing homework instead. Two, she has to apologize for being a bit, rude. She had never snapped at her friends like that, especially not with that sharp of a tone. 

When they got to the table, Lily could feel how nervous she was. Honestly, she feels like she’s sweating. She sat down and swiped her hair back, looking up at all of the boys.

“Sorry about yesterday,” she said, making eye contact with each of them. 

“No, I’m sorry Lily. I shouldn’t have been so loud,” Sirius mumbled, looking down at his hands. Remus glared at him and Lily could feel the table shake as he kicked Sirius under the table. The boy's eyes shot up and he smiled sheepishly at Lily.

“Ah, no Sirius you’re fine. I should have said something instead of just letting it boil up,” Lily smiled back. Sirius nodded his head and something passed between them. They could both tell the other was sorry and that was that. Conversation sparked up at the table and it was like everything was normal again. Maybe apologizing wasn’t so bad. 

Halfway through lunch, Pandora plopped down in the empty spot by Lily and started to pile food on her plate. Lily turned to look at her.

“Hi,” she said, relatively quiet.

Pandora glanced up and smiled at her. 

“Hi.”

Lily was about to start a conversation with Pandora when Sirius spoke up. Lily might not be sorry anymore. She glared at him as he spoke.

“Aren’t you Reggies friend?” Sirius asked, mouth full of mashed potatoes. 

Everyone at the table turned to look at Pandora. She looked curiously around at all of them before settling on Sirius. 

“Yeah. Aren’t you his brother?” Pandora asked, her tone light.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at her and put another spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and put the spoon down. 

“Yeah. Does he talk about me then?”

Pandora seemed to think about the question, pausing her pouring of pumpkin juice.

“Suppose so.”

“Suppose so?!”

“Yeah, he talks about you sometimes.”

Sirius looked like he was going to respond again, but he must have felt Lily’s glare because his eyes flitted over to her. He noticed the glare and snapped his mouth shut. Thank Merlin. 

James started up the conversation again and everyone went back to eating and talking. For the rest of lunch, Pandora was quiet, she looked to be observing everyone else. Lily was doing the same. Lunch was not half bad, eating warm, recently cooked food was nice. When lunch was to end in 5 minutes, and Lily had eaten all she wanted to, she fully turned to Pandora.

“Want to head to astronomy early?” Lily asked.

“Sure!” Pandora replied, standing up and shuffling over so Lily could do the same. 

They waved goodbye to the rest of the group and walked out of the great hall and headed toward the astronomy tower. The light that shined in through the windows in the hall made Pandora’s hair glimmer. God was she gorgeous.

At least Lily had reason to look forward to astronomy.

Looking at pretty girls took all of her stress away.

Chapter Text

The lesson in Astronomy had been simple, so Lily and Pandora had spent their time doing other homework. Doing work in Pandora's presence was very calming. Anytime Lily felt the least bit stressed she glanced over at the other girl and it immediately felt like her stress was melting away. The entirety of Astronomy was the most at peace Lily had felt in a while. When class was over, the two girls walked out of the classroom and were met with the sight of Mary and Marlene leaning against a wall. The two of them grinned and rushed over to Lily and Pandora.

Pandora scooched over to stand side by side with Mary and Marlene. In unison, all 3 girls pulled a piece of parchment out of their bags and held them out to Lily. She knows the confusion was showing on her face as she grabbed the papers and skimmed them over. 

Oh my god.

It was all of the work for her classes. Well, the classes each girl was in with her. Marlene did her DADA work, Mary did her potions, and Pandora did her Astronomy. Lily felt like she was going to cry. The thought of the work she had to do tonight had been stressing her out practically all day (except during her pocket of peace in astronomy), so seeing most of it done made her overwhelmed. All she had to do was Arithmancy and Alchemy, which she could do Sunday morning pretty easily. Lily smiled and pulled all 3 girls into a hug. She has no idea when they planned this, but Merlin was she happy they did. The 4 girls group-hugged in the middle of the hallway for a minute before pulling apart. Lily had to wipe away a stray tear.

“Since your homework is done for tonight,” Mary glanced between the two girls beside her before looking back at Lily “We can all hang out tonight!” she shrilled.

Marlene nodded her head vigorously.

“Well, I can’t tonight. I promised to do something with Reg. I can tomorrow before the quidditch game though,” Pandora remarked, swaying back and forth on her heels. 

Mary nodded her head and Marlene hummed. Pandora waved goodbye to Lily and skipped off toward the dungeons. Mary, Marlene, and Lily all linked arms and were on their way to the dorms. Mary and Marlene gossiped the whole way there, catching Lily up since she had spent the past week studying and only studying. Once in the dorm, they all jumped onto Lily’s bed, falling into a giggling heap.

“Wait,” Lily shot up, “We have to get dinner.”

Marlene giggled harder, bringing her arm up to push Lily back onto the bed. 

“James is bringing us food from the kitchens. He owes me,” Marlene grinned.

Lily nodded her head and then laid back down, getting comfortable. 

A bit too comfortable.

Before she knew it, her eyelids were getting heavy and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

Lily woke to someone rapidly knocking on the door. She felt extremely drowsy, having no idea how long she was asleep. Looking around, it looked like the other two girls had fallen asleep too. All 3 of them were not known to get the best sleep. Lily glanced at the alarm clock before pulling herself up and getting out of bed, climbing over Marlene's sprawled-out limbs. 

There was another loud knock. Who the fuck was knocking so loud?

Lily opened the door to an amusing sight. The 4 boys were standing outside with heaps upon heaps of food piled into their arms. Peter looked to be struggling the worst, a few things starting to drop from his arms. Lily opened the door wide and scooched out of the way, allowing them to come in and drop the food on the floor. 

Mary and Marlene started to stir as the boys pulled a blanket off one of the beds and piled the food onto it. Remus was the one to somewhat sort the food out, grouping together some of the foods and making it look a bit more appealing. 

“Alright,” James sighed, rubbing his hands together and standing up. “No more favors Marlene, this was the last one,” He gave her a pointed glance and walked toward the door.

“Have fun girls!” Sirius called, shoving the other boys out and closing the door. 

Lily looked at Mary and Marlene then rushed over to the food. The boys had definitely pulled through. There was enough food for all 3 of them to eat 3 meals. And they did just that. Lily stuffed her face with just about anything, seeing as she was skipping meals more often. 

“I feel like the food is even better when we’re eating it in here,” Marlene moaned, taking a bite out of one of the chicken wings. Mary hummed in agreement, taking a chunk off a piece of corn. 

“What did you do to make James owe you a favor?” Lily asked, watching Marlene continue to tear apart chicken wing after chicken wing. 

“I paid Peter a few sickles to turn off James’ alarm one of the mornings we had really early quidditch practice. When James got to practice - 20 minutes or so late - I acted like it was such an inconvenience and how could he do such a thing to me? Got him to promise me a few favors.” 

Mary started to cackle. The girl fell backward, holding the piece of corn high above her head. Marlene and Peter were known to mess with James from time to time. Peter was sometimes a bit more reluctant so Marlene had a stash of sickles - and galleons when needed - to persuade him. The best part was that James was always able to get Marlene practically anything she asked for when she got favors out of him. It always benefited Mary and Lily as well so they did nothing to stop it. Lily has a suspicion the other boys know too, but say nothing because it’s amusing for everyone involved (except James of course).

“What other favors did he do for you,” Mary asked, pounding her chest to stop the corn from lodging in her throat.

“He did my DADA homework, got me a new stash of sweets, and let me use the prefect's bathroom,” Marlene counted off on her fingers.

“You got 4 favors out of him because he was late to quidditch practice?!” Lily giggled.

“What can I say? I’m very persuasive,” Marlene smirked. 

The rest of their night was filled with them finishing up the food the boys brought and just talking. Lily hadn’t had a night of just talking with Mary and Marlene since maybe 6th year. Mary told them all about her date with the boy she had had a few days ago. Marlene seemed to know all about it and was even telling parts of it for Mary. Marlene told them about a Slytherin girl she was talking to. Marlene wouldn’t say names, but Lily had a feeling. The girls ended up falling asleep on the floor, tangled up in the blanket. Lily whispered goodnight to the ceiling and dozed off, cuddled up between Mary and Marlene. 

***

A knock was the same thing to wake Lily up in the morning. This time, however, it was a softer knock. Lily rolled around on the ground, going to flop onto Marlene, only to find an empty spot where she had been. Mary was still fast asleep on her other side, drool dripping from her lip. It was officially the weekend, meaning Lily was not going to wake her up. 

Lily pushed herself up and shuffled over to the door, pulling it open. She wasn’t entirely sure who she was expecting, but it wasn’t Pandora dressed in crimson and gold. The girl smiled and twirled in a circle when she saw Lily.

“Do you like my outfit,” Pandora beamed. 

Lily’s mouth was a desert, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t because she had just woken up. The blue and silver always looked good on Pandora, but the crimson and gold looked even better. For fear of stuttering, Lily only nodded her head and moved out of the way to let her in. Pandora skipped in, took one look at Mary crumpled up on the floor, and giggled. Yawning, Lily shut the door and pushed her hair down.

“Would you mind waking her? I bet she’ll be a bit nicer to you,” Lily asked, attempting to spare herself from having to wake Mary. Pandora looked down at Mary for a second and then nodded.

Pandora crouched down next to Mary and slightly shook her shoulder. Mary groaned and switched sides. Pandora stifled a giggle and shook her again.

“If you don’t leave me alone Lily I swear I’ll -” Mary opened her eyes and they went wide, “Oh hey Pandora! Sorry about that, thought you were Lily.” 

Mary pushed herself up onto her elbows and wiped the drool off her face. Pandora sat back on her legs and smiled at her. Mary ruffled her hair a bit and then glanced at Pandora’s outfit. 

“Nice colors,” Mary beamed at her. “Could use some makeup though. Don’t worry I go that under control.” The girl hopped up, grabbed her outfit that was already picked out, and rushed into the bathroom. 

Lily was now getting a good look at Pandora’s outfit. She was wearing a jumper that suspiciously looked like it belonged to James or Sirius, Lily couldn’t really tell. The boys swapped clothes like crazy, she could never tell what belonged to who. She was wearing a skirt that ended right above her knees and knee-high crimson and gold socks. 

“Where’d you get the jumper?” Lily asked while walking over to her dresser to grab her clothes. 

Pandora glanced down at the jumper and smoothed it out.

“Found it in Reggie's dorm, in his trunk. Don’t tell him I took it.”

Must mean the jumper was Sirius’. Sirius and Regulus were on okay-ish terms at the moment. Lily swears she saw Regulus over at the boy's dorm the other day so that must have been when Regulus got the jumper. 

Lily pulled on her own jumper and a pair of trousers. It got pretty cold in the stands watching Quidditch so high up, so Lily always wore pants unlike Mary and many of the other girls. Lily could not stand her legs being cold, even if the skirt would look better with the jumper. Just as she was pulling on her socks, Mary walked out of the bathroom. The girl was wearing a matching jumper to Lily’s and a somewhat short skirt. Mary had told Lily she likes to let her legs ‘breathe’. The girl was also wearing knee-high socks like Pandora. 

“Want some gold eyeliner, Pandora?” Mary questioned, fiddling the tube between her fingers. 

Pandora nodded her head and sat down on Lily’s bed. 

“Lily, could you do it? I have to do my own.” A smirk was tugging at the corner of Mary’s lips.

Traitor. Bastard. How could she? She’s the one who suggested makeup.

“Of course!” Lily smiled. Lily caught the eyeliner in her hands and sat beside Pandora. 

Lily opened the bottle and pulled the wand out. “Uh,” she used her wrist to slightly tilt Pandora’s face toward her. Now they were staring at each other. Lily was not sure how she was going to keep a steady hand. She gulped, quite loudly.

“Close your eyes,” Lily said gently, lifting the wand up to Pandora’s eyes. The girl closed her eyes and Lily leaned forward to start applying the eyeliner. She followed along her eyelid and then created swirls at the end instead of a wing. Lily had practically perfected doing eyeliner on other people, Mary made her do it at least once a week. Once both swirls were done, Lily added a little to the inner corners of her eyes. Pandora must be psychic because as soon as Lily had done the last swipe she opened her eyes. Lily’s breath hitched. She hadn’t realized how close she had gotten until just now. 

Lily pulled back and smiled sheepishly at the girl. She leaned over and grabbed the handheld mirror sitting on her nightstand. Pandora took the mirror and held it closely up to her face. She lightly traced over the swirls without actually touching them. 

“This is amazing Lily,” Pandora praised, continuing to admire Lily’s work. 

Mary walked out of the bathroom, mascara wand in hand.

“Looks good Lils. Suits her well dontcha think?” Mary smiled.

Lily could feel a blush working its way up from her neck. She hadn’t blushed in months. Maybe, not even since her boyfriend she had in 5th year. Fucking Mary, scheming traitor. Lily needed space. She could not sit by Pandora at this game. Blushing was unnecessary, especially at random fucking moments like this. 

Thank god Pandora was in Ravenclaw.

Because then, she wouldn’t be sitting by them at this game.

Chapter Text

Pandora was sitting by them at the game. More like right by Lily, legs touching and everything. Thank Merlin Lily wore her trousers today because if there was skin-to-skin contact she would probably pass out. The game was due to start in a few minutes so everyone was still sitting. Lily needed the game to start now . 

As soon as the Gryffindors flew out on their brooms Lily shot up and started cheering. Took them long enough. Mary hopped up and started to wolf whistle when Marlene flew past, jumping up and down and waving her arms. Pandora stood up too and somehow squished even further into Lily. Lily glanced over and saw Remus squeezing into the spot next to her. Once he was settled, Pandora scooched over a bit.

“Hey, Remus. Decided to finally come watch a match eh?” Mary smiled, clapping her hands as the Gryffindor team finished their lap around the field.  

“Sirius hid my book and said I would get it back after the quidditch match,” Remus grumbled. 

“Really?!” Lily gasped. Mary started to cackle, doubling over with her laughter. Pandora smiled and lightly patted Remus’ shoulder. 

Their section in the stands was continuing to get crowded. During matches, a lot of houses would mix where they sat, especially if it wasn’t their team playing. That’s how Regulus Black ended up squeezing between Pandora and Remus.

Pandora immediately hugged him, hopping up and down with glee. Regulus reluctantly hugged her back, glancing around to see who was all watching. How many more people were going to force themselves into their row? Lily and Pandora were already shoulder-to-shoulder with each other. Regulus greeted Remus, which was interesting. Lily had never seen them speak before. 

The game started and Lily didn’t have much time to worry about who was in their row anymore. Mary and Regulus were the only ones in their group to know anything about Quidditch. Lily went to games pretty often, going to support Marlene, Sirius, and James, but that doesn’t mean she understands the game. Usually, she cheers when the rest of her section does. Remus and Pandora seemed to be in the same boat as her.

From the get-go, Gryffindor was in the lead. James, Marlene, and Sirius are very good at what they do. James being captain this year might also have something to do with it. About every morning, Marlene was off at quidditch practice for 2 hours. 

The group was standing near the edge of the stands, meaning no one was standing in front of them. Lily took her opportunity to sit, standing this whole time was not what she was planning on doing. 

Once Lily sat, everyone else in the group slowly followed. Remus sat right after her, then Regulus and Pandora, and Mary sat down last. Mary was the only one really paying attention to the game, everyone else was talking. 

“Are you excited for the party tonight?” Remus asked no one in particular.

“So sure Gryffindor will win?” Regulus deadpanned. 

“James will make sure of that,” Lily yawned. 

“He says they will win, but nothing is set in stone,” Regulus commented, stretching his arms and legs out. Pandora turned to look at him, a quizzical look on her face.

“When did he say that?” she asked, her voice sounding innocent. 

Regulus froze. Remus smirked. Lily leaned in.

“Uh, I- He said it the other day at the lake. You saw Lily,” Regulus stuttered, turning to her. 

“Wasn’t it ‘top secret information’?” Lily said, using air quotes. 

“Prongs probably figured out how to bring up Quidditch,” Remus swooped in.

“Prongs?” Regulus looked between Lily and Remus.

“James,” Lily and Pandora said in unison. 

“How do you know ‘Prongs’ is James?” Regulus turned to Pandora.

“They call each other nicknames at meal times,” Pandora waved her hand around.

“You sit with them at meals?!” Regulus' eyes widened.

“You didn’t know? Thought you were best friends?” Lily cocked her head to the side.

“Evans I swear I’ll-” Regulus started to lunge over, but Pandora stopped him.

“Lily stop teasing Baby Black,” Mary chimed in, glancing over at the group before fixing her attention back on the quidditch match.

“Baby Black?! Is that what you lot call me?” Regulus' jaw dropped.

“Just Mary and Marlene,” Remus remarked.

Regulus opened his mouth to retort, but Mary snapped her head over to look at him and the rest of the group. She had a scowl on her face.

“Shut up, the lot of you. Pay attention to the fucking game will ya?”

Everyone shut up and turned to watch the game. Mary was scary when she got stern and everyone knew it. The score was 50 - 10 Gryffindor. The Gryffindor seeker seemed to have caught sight of the snitch. If there was one thing that Lily and everyone who went to Hogwarts understood about quidditch it was the snitch. It was the simplest part of the game if you ask her. Their seeker was a 4th year. She was really good too if Lily had heard correctly. The girl proved this instantly by rushing and grabbing the snitch within a minute of catching sight of it. 

The stands roared as the girl flew around the field, holding the snitch above her head. Mary, Lily, and Pandora all grinned at each other and jumped out of their seats, rushing to the stairs. Mary was leading the group, pushing a few people out of the way as they made their way to the field. They broke through the crowd and started to run to Marlene. The girl was grinning from ear to ear and laughing. Mary jumped at her, engulfing her in a hug. Lily is surprised Marlene didn’t topple over. Lily and Pandora joined in the group hug once they got over to her. 

Lily pulled away from the hug first to glance around and see where Remus and Regulus went. Remus was over talking to Sirius, even though he had complained about coming he had a huge grin on his face while talking to Sirius. Regulus was talking to James. Something was going on there. Lily would figure it out in due time. Right now though there were more important things.

“You girls ready for tonight?” Mary beamed, finally pulling away from the hug. 

“You know it,” Marlene smirked.

“Of course,” Pandora smiled.

“I was born ready Mare,” Lily giggled. 

***

Once they had gotten back to the dorms Mary had picked out outfits for Lily and Marlene. Pandora had wandered off to her common room to get dressed. After a bit of pleading, Mary allowed Lily and Marlene to go to the party in trousers. Marlene was able to convince her through the need to have good mobility for the prank. Lily just begged. 

Mary helped Marlene pick out a crop top and gave her free rein on the trousers. Lily did not get the same luxury. Mary had given her a pair of black leather pants and a crimson tube top. Mary locked herself in the bathroom before Lily could complain. Marlene snickered when she caught sight of the outfit that was chosen for Lily.

James did not hold back on the party for tonight. Lily could confidently say it was the biggest one yet. The win against Hufflepuff had been guaranteed so he had been planning since the start of the week. Good thing they didn’t end up losing because the amount of food and drinks that would have gone to waste is unreal. 

The 3 girls walked down the stairs into the common room, Mary leading them. The party was in full swing and it was only 7. Mary immediately made her way over to Sirius, they were practically matching with crop tops and tight pants. Marlene skipped over to James and Peter, immediately pulling them into a group hug. Lily spotted Remus sitting over on the couches talking to a Hufflepuff in their year, Emmeline Vance. Lily shuffled over and flopped down next to him. She greeted Emmeline and then immediately grabbed Remus’ cup, downing the rest. It burned the back of her throat and had the lingering taste of cleaning solution that Lily recognized as alcohol. Remus usually stayed sober during parties, so Lily did not expect to be drinking a poorly mixed drink when she drank from his cup. After a few minutes, Emmeline got up and waved goodbye to Remus. He waved back and waited for Emmeline to be out of earshot to turn to Lily. 

“Mary pick out your outfit?”

“You know it,” Lily mumbled, slumping down lower on the couch.

Remus arched his eyebrow at her and slung his arm over the back of the couch.

“What’s got you all pissy then?”

“Nothing. I’m not pissy. I’m perfectly fine,” she chucked the cup onto the table.

Remus hummed and moved his hand down, lightly massaging her scalp. God did that feel good. Lily could feel stress in every limb of her body. No matter how hard she tried to relax, her body was never truly at peace, her muscles always a little bit tense. The massage was slowly allowing her muscles to remember what relaxing was. Her muscles tensed back up a minute later when a familiar group walked through the portrait hole. 

They all looked good, but nobody but Pandora really caught her eye. Her hair was wavy on a normal day, but right now it was curly. The type of curly you want to reach out and touch, coil the curls around your fingers and watch them bounce back. She had on a light blue tube top and sparkling sleeves that started at her wrists and ended at the crook of her elbow. Her bangles and rings still covered her arms and hands. The skirt she was wearing was the worst part, though. It was a mini skirt that ended in the middle of her thighs. 

Marlene walked over to Lily and Remus, placing herself right behind the couch. Lily tilted her head back to get a good look at her face and she seemed to be struggling just as much as Lily. Then it clicked. Of course!

“It’s Dorcas isn’t it?” Lily whispered, a smile creeping onto her lips. Marlene looked down at Lily and snapped her mouth shut. She nodded, chugged some of her drink, and handed it to Lily who gratefully took it. 

“Wish me luck,” she gulped and then strode over to the group.

“Good luck!” Lily and Remus chorused. They nursed the cup between themselves, drinking the rest of the drink and watching Marlene. Lily definitely understood where Marlene was coming from. Dorcas looked fucking gorgeous. Marlene walked right up to Dorcas and immediately started talking to the girl. At one point, Pandora interrupted them and Marlene pointed over at Lily and Remus. Lily’s eyes grew wide. Shit.

“Shit!” she shared her thoughts. Lily snatched the cup from Remus mid-drink and downed the rest of the drink. Remus grumbled at her as she straightened up. Pandora stopped a few feet away and did a small twirl, similar to the one she did this morning.

“Dorcas picked it out for me!” Pandora shrilled, finishing her twirl and getting comfortable in the spot right next to Lily. Liquid courage is what Lily needed right now. Mary had instructed them to not drink tonight or to drink very little but to hell with Mary’s rule. Let’s be honest if Mary wanted Lily to even make it to the prank, she would have to have a shot or two. 

“It’s lovely Pandora,” she smiled. “I’ll be back, going to get a drink.”

Lily hopped up and stumbled over to the drink table, whatever Remus put in his drink was very potent. Peter was at the drink section when Lily finally was able to get to the table. He took one look at her and chuckled.

“Did you drink from Remus’ drink?” he asked. Lily nodded her head and he clicked his tongue. “Remus is very bad at mixing drinks, I tasted one before and almost threw up,” he pulled another red cup off the stack and started to mix another drink along with the one he was already making. He glanced up at her and then grabbed another cup. After a minute, he picked up two of the cups and handed them to Lily with a smile. “Don’t have too much fun Lils.”

Lily grabbed the cups and walked back over to the couch, handing them to Remus before she sat. She was feeling the teensiest bit dizzy, so she ended up sitting closer to Pandora than she should have. Exactly why she begged to wear these trousers. Remus and Pandora were mid-conversation, talking about care of magical creatures. Anytime Pandora spoke about something she enjoyed, it was like Lily was put in a trance. The way she would start to slightly bounce with excitement, the way her face completely lit up, the way her lips curled around the words. Lily could stare at her lips all day. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was reaching her hands out to touch the other girl's lips. Remus’ hand immediately shot out and gripped her wrist, quickly pulling it back down. Lily blinked once, then twice. Oh shit. She was way too drunk. Peter only put one shot in the drink, he mixed her drinks all the time and never put too much. Remus’ drink must have had at least 2 shots in it. 

Pandora glanced down at Lily and her eyebrows furrowed together. 

“How much have you had to drink Lily?” Pandora whispered.

The way Pandora said her name almost made Lily fall backward into Remus’ lap. She felt Remus place his hand in the middle of her back, keeping her steady.

“Ask Remus, ‘s the one who can’t mix drinks,” she grinned. 

Pandora glanced up at Remus. He shrugged his shoulders, trying to keep his hand in the same place as it was while he took another sip of his drink before responding. “I counted to 3 and figured that was the amount I should put.”

“Now Remus, why would you do such a thing!” a blonde boy shrieked, jumping onto the couch right next to Pandora. 

“Hi Evan,” Pandora glanced over her shoulder.

“Hey, Sis.”

“Sis?” Lily slurred, pointing her finger at Evan. The boy put his hands up in mock defense.

“Yeah, he’s my brother,” Pandora answered, still looking at Lily concerningly.

“Brother?!” Lily shrilled, slightly spilling some of her drink on the carpet. Pandora moved one of her hands to lightly grip Lily’s chin, tilting her head so they were face to face, making direct eye contact.

Good thing Lily was sitting down and Remus had his hand on her back, otherwise she would have toppled over. Looking into Pandora’s eyes was like looking into the ocean. It reminded her of when she would go to the beach in the summer and just watch the water. She got the same feeling of complete and utter admiration. The feeling of wanting to drop everything and spend her time just looking at the dark blue water, or in this situation, Pandora’s eyes. One in the same.

“Aw, Evan why don’t you look at me like that,” a boy with brown hair pouted, taking a seat by Evan. At this rate, the couch would be filled with Slytherins.

“Like what?”

“The way Lily looks at Dora,” the boy supplied.

Lily tore her eyes away from Pandora to look at the boy. She vaguely recognized him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. All she knows is he is a Slytherin.

“Do I know you?” Lily asked. Pandora had removed her hand from Lily’s chin and had now grabbed her drink, looking inside the cup. 

“I’m Barty, you took points from me a few weeks ago for hexing a first year.”

Lily stared at him, starting to slightly lean forward to get a better look. Pandora planted her hands on Lily’s shoulders to push her back a bit. 

“Oh yeah! The poor kid looked terrified,” Lily defended, waving her finger around. 

“Well, he shouldn’t have gone into the broom closet he did,” Barty shrugged, reaching over to mess with Evan's hair.

“I’m right here you know,” Pandora gagged.

Barty leaned his head over and started to nibble on Evan’s ear. Pandora glanced over her shoulder and shrieked, turning around to shove them over. “Disgusting!”

“Show some modesty,” Sirius chuckled, sauntering over with Mary. He sat himself down on Remus’ lap and started to whisper in his ear. Mary walked over and stood in front of Lily, shaking her head. “Lily Jane Evans, I thought I said no drinking?”

Lily glared at her and Mary responded by rolling her eyes. Mary grabbed the cup from Pandora and the two girls slowly eased Lily down into Pandora’s lap. 

“Get some sleep Lils and drink this. We’ll wake you later,” Mary whispered, handing Lily a cup of water. She drank the water, spilling a bit down her front, and then handed it back to Mary. Pandora ran her hands through Lily’s hair and lightly massaged her scalp from time to time. She slowly drifted off to sleep thinking about two things.

Pandora and the prank.

Chapter Text

“Lily”

Lily gently opened her eyes, confused why she felt she was laying down on someone's lap and not her bed. When she caught sight of Pandora looking down at her, all the memories rushed in. She still felt a bit tipsy, but she had a better grasp on reality than she did earlier. Who let her drink that much?

“Lily. I have to go,” Pandora repeated, much softer this time. 

The girl lightly rifled her hands through Lily’s hair one last time before starting to pull her up. Lily gave up trying to help, she would gladly allow Pandora to pull her up.

“Oh for Merlin's sake Lily!” Mary scoffed, striding over and yanking her up. “You don’t have to be so gentle with her. Just yank her up,” Mary turned to tell Pandora. Pandora nodded her head, wandering off to go find Marlene. Mary sat down next to Lily.

“I’m not letting you drink in her presence ever again,” Mary glared, searching around the room for someone they knew. She spotted Regulus and called him over. 

“Can you sit on Lily’s other side?” 

Regulus glanced at Lily, weighed his options, then took the open spot next to her. 

“Who knew Evans couldn’t hold her alcohol,” Regulus chuckled, pushing Lily upright when she started to drift off to the side. Mary reached over to the table and grabbed a cup of water, handing it to Lily. Lily gratefully took it and chugged it. 

“Where’s Pandora?” Regulus asked after a while of silence.

“I think you know.” Lily wiped the water off her chin. He nodded curtly and looked off in the opposite direction. Lily followed his gaze, which landed on James. Mary was paying no attention to Lily and Regulus, she was talking to one of the Ravenclaw boys. So, Lily leaned in closer to Regulus and started to whisper.

“You like him don’t you?”

Regulus went stiff and whipped his head to face Lily. “No I don’t,” he whispered back harshly.

Lily giggled and clicked her tongue. “You so do Regulus. I see how you look at him. Don’t worry I won’t tell him.” 

Lily swears she saw his lips curl up the tiniest bit before he answered. She might still have too much alcohol in her system that she’s imagining things.

“Thanks.”

Lily nodded and closed her eyes, deciding she would wait out the time with her eyes closed. The music was pounding in her head and even with her eyes closed she still felt a little dizzy. Feeling dizzy with her eyes close was a new feeling for Lily, and she did not ever want to feel it again. It only took 20 minutes for Marlene to re-enter the common room, and rush over to Mary and Lily. Mary quickly thanked Regulus and pulled Lily up onto her feet. The two girls followed Marlene out into the hallways and to the stairs. Looking down the ledge was a sight to see. 

Pandora was walking backward, clicking her tongue and snapping her fingers. There were about 20 Jackalopes slowly hopping after her.

“That fucking many?!” Lily gawked.

Marlene hummed and reached over to high-five Mary. Before Pandora was fully up the stairs, Mary whispered something into Marlene’s ear and the girl nodded. 

Pandora got all the Jackalopes up onto their floor and pulled a bag out. It was the same fucking bag Mary had used for the first prank. Lily’s bag. They were passing it around between the whole group apparently, instead of returning it to its rightful owner. Pandora handed the bag to Marlene and looked at the group. 

“I’m going with you, Pandora. We’ll take half and spread them around Gryffindor and Ravenclaw,” Pandora nodded her head and started to click her tongue again. Lily huffed and turned to Marlene. The girl pulled out the contents of the bag and held it out to the Jackalopes, able to get the other group of 10 to follow them. They made their way down the stairs, and if you ask Lily this had been very counterproductive. Why had the two girls brought up all the Jackalopes if they would end up talking half of them back down?

The Hufflepuff common room entrance was where they went first, being closer than the dungeons. Marlene gave Lily the bag and instructed her to pull out the rest of the grass and wrangle 5 Jackalopes with her. She did just that as Marlene wrangled the other 5 and threw her grass on the ground and rushed Lily to the dungeons. 

“Why are we walking faster?” Lily whined, waving the grass in front of the Jackalopes to convince them to pick up speed. 

“We charmed the grass or whatever to make the Jackalopes chase anyone they see. They won’t attack, just chase. That’s still a bit scary though. I don’t want to be chased,” Marlene replied, continuing to lead Lily to the dungeons. 

Lily let out a giggle. Of course they did. 

They made it to the dungeons and threw the grass right in front of the portrait hole, booking it as soon as the Jackalopes started to hop toward the grass. Marlene whipped the map out and started to direct Lily back toward Gryffindor Tower, carefully avoiding the Hufflepuff common room. They slowed down when Marlene decided they were far enough away.

“Heard you got a bit drunk,” Marlene glanced over at Lily. 

Lily, who was still wobbling a bit, rolled her eyes. “Blame your girlfriend.”

“Dorcas is not my girlfriend,” Marlene replied nervously. 

“How’d you know that’s who I was referring to?” Lily tilted her head. 

Marlen opened and closed her mouth rapidly, like a fish, before sighing. “Whatever.” They were silent for a second before Marlene whipped her head to look back at Lily. “Wait. How was it Dorcas’ fault?”

“She’s the one who picked out Pandora’s outfit. Did you see it? Tell her I have no notes.”

Marlene took one look at Lily and burst out laughing. Lily rolled her eyes and snatched the map from Marlene. Leading them the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower. She wasn’t sure why Marlene thought it was funny, she had seen the way Marlene had practically drooled when Dorcas walked in. Honestly, neither of them had room to talk.

They checked the map one last time, confirming Mary and Pandora were on their way back, before tucking it away and re-entering the common room. The party was still mostly in full swing. Lights flashing, people dancing, songs blasting, and shaking the room. Marlene saluted Lily and then jogged off to find Dorcas again. Not her girlfriend she says. 

Lily walked over to the drinks and poured herself a drink, trying to mimic what Peter did earlier. When she took a sip, she determined she did quite well. Lily took pride in being able to mix a drink better than Remus. She scanned the common room, looking for no one in particular. Catching sight of James, Lily skipped over to him, immediately jumping into a hug. The drink would have spilled if James didn’t immediately grab it when Lily sunk into him.

“Hey, Lils! Having fun I see,” his laugh bellowed. He glanced down at her and noticed her swaying. “Oh, let’s get you to a couch, yeah?”

Lily nodded her head and let him lead her to the couch. James called Regulus over to help, just like Mary had. The two boys lowered her to the couch. Lily made eye contact with Regulus, darted her gaze over to James for a moment, then wiggled her eyebrows. The boy rolled his eyes and sat down next to her. The two boys chatted around her and let her slowly drink her drink until Mary arrived. She immediately scolded both of them for allowing Lily to drink more and snatched her cup up. Pandora gave her a cup of water and they both picked her up, slinging her arms around both their shoulders. They led her to an empty armchair that was in one of the corners and put her down, instructing her to sleep. 

“Stay with me?” Lily begged, darting her eyes between them.

“Don’t look at me. I’m enjoying the rest of this party,” Mary said matter-of-factly. Lily could see the smirk as she wandered off to find Sirius.

“Scooch,” Pandora waved her hands, sitting down next to Lily when the spot opened up. Lily immediately cuddled up next to her and placed her head on her shoulder. She would be ashamed tomorrow morning when she had her wits about her. But, right now she was going to drape herself over Pandora and go to sleep.

Lily’s last memories were of Pandora kneading through her hair and lightly rubbing up and down her arm. It was one of the best memories she has.

***

Lily wasn't sure what time she woke up, but she was sure it was because people let out screams. Everyone had gotten absolutely wasted at the party, so when they went out into the halls and saw the Jackalopes they freaked. It did not help that the Jackalopes started to chase them like they were meant to. Jackalopes weren’t the smallest either, Lily would say they were maybe a little smaller than a medium-sized dog. 

Pandora had shot up when the screaming started too, seemingly having fallen asleep. The two girls looked at each other, grinned, and jumped out of the armchair, running for the portrait hole. They creaked it open and glanced out into the halls. It was absolute chaos. Everyone from all the other houses were sprinting through the halls, well as fast as they could run while being completely drunk and screaming. It would only be a matter of time before one of the heads of house came out to calm everyone down.

Before that happened, however, Lily and Pandora watched Barty and Evan shrill and run away from one of the rather large Jackalopes as Dorcas and Regulus chuckled at them. Lily wasn’t sure how they weren’t being chased, she assumes they didn’t drink as much so they were able to figure out how to not be chased. They were both leaning against a wall and watching the chaos unfold, just as Lily and Pandora were. The same could not be said for Barty and Evan though. Pandora immediately burst into laughter when Evan tripped and face-planted. Lily had never heard Pandora laugh so hard, and it was wonderful. Seeing a sibling trip could do that to you. Lily wanted to hear that laugh all the time now though, officially making it her mission to make Pandora laugh as much as possible from now on.  

Mary and Marlene popped up on Lily’s other side, slightly pushing the portrait hole open further so they could see as well. The two girls immediately grinned, watching 2 Hufflepuffs running up the stairs when the stairs suddenly decided to move, trapping them with a Jackalope. Thankfully, no one was trying to throw spells or hex the animals. Even if they had tried, many of them were too drunk for the spell to actually take effect. 

The portrait hole being open allowed for more of the shrieking and screaming to travel through the Gryffindor common room, causing some people to come out of their dorms and investigate the noise. Many of them laughed and looked over the girls, but the boys could not do that for some reason. They had to push the portrait hole open even further, right when one of the Jackalopes was hopping past. Sirius and James stared at the creature, chuckling at it until it started to run straight at them. They immediately screamed and started to run back to their dorm. Remus and Peter watched in amusement as the Jackalope bounded after them. 

“I’m going to go. See you tomorrow Lils,” Pandora smiled before hopping out of the portrait hole and running. Lily had never seen someone run so gracefully. Her hair flowed ever so nicely behind her back as she ran to the Ravenclaw common room entrance. When she finally took her eyes off her, which took until she was completely out of sight, Lily glanced around the hallways and caught Regulus’ eyes. This time he was the one to waggle his eyebrows. She had never seen him look so unserious, it was a bit weird. Lily rolled her eyes and began to whip her hand up to flip him off when they heard a voice boom.

“What is going on here?!” Mcgonagalls stern voice echoed in the hallways. Everyone standing in the portrait hole knew it was time to abort. They all started to whisper harshly, shuffle out of the way, and shut the portrait hole. Lily told everyone to go to their dorms and they all quickly and quietly ran out of the common room.

Lily, Mary, and Marlene only had time for a few laughs before they hopped into bed and pretended to be asleep, in case Mcgonagall decided to check the dorms. James had mostly cleaned the common room so they were safe in that aspect. They lay in the dark for about 20 minutes until Marlene broke the silence. 

“Saw you drooling over Pandora as she ran away,” she giggled.

“Marlene. I literally felt drool drop onto my hair when Dorcas walked into the common room. I do not want to hear it from you,” Lily scoffed, rolling over in her bed to glance in her direction. 

“You two are so pathetic,” Mary laughed. Lily just knows she rolled her eyes, she could feel it. 

“I saw you talking to that Ravenclaw,” Marlene commented.

Silence passed between all of them as they waited for Mary’s response.

“Well?” Lily asked impatiently.

“Okay fine, I’ll tell you what happened,” Mary sighed, her breath sounding airy from laughter.

And, that’s how the girls ended up falling asleep at 4 am. Spending the night listening to Mary gossip about the Ravenclaw boy. 

Even though all they were talking about was Mary’s romantic escapades, Lily couldn’t stop thinking about Pandora’s last words to her when she left the common room.

Lils was ringing in her head all the way up until she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning Lily went to breakfast, she decided she would need to eat after the night she had. Thank god she did because it was amusing, to say the least. It had been eerily silent when McGonagal had entered the Great Hall, all conversations between 7th years stopping. She had run down what had happened the previous night. All of the Gryffindors listened as she explained how the situation was de-escalated. Many of the 7th years who hadn’t drunk were sniggering and jostling their friends who had drank and been a part of the screeching in the hallway.  Pandora was sitting over with the Slytherins, joining Dorcas and Regulus in ridiculing Evan and Barty who looked like death. Once McGonagal finished her schpeel, breakfast continued as normal.

After she finished breakfast, she skipped to the library and started on the two homeworks the girls hadn’t done for her. Her Arithmancy homework was as easy as always, her Alchemy homework and reading being a bit difficult, more tedious if anything. After finishing her homework and eating lunch, Lily spent her afternoon lying outside reading with Remus. Whenever both of them had free time, they would read together, nowhere specific. It was a nice day out though, so Lily had suggested they go outside and sit somewhere shady. 

Their reading time surprisingly did not get interrupted once, which was a miracle for Lily these days. The only thing that happened out of the ordinary is halfway through Regulus showed up and sat a safe but close distance from them. 

It was now the dark of night and Lily was quietly but efficiently skipping her way to the astronomy tower. She had snagged the map from Marlene’s nightstand before sneaking out of the dorm and into the hallways. Lily hadn’t necessarily told Mary and Marlene she had a project to do with Pandora tonight. It’s not like they had to know everywhere she went. Anyway, they would have either gone with her or made her dress super nice, calling it a date. Those two girls know better than anyone though that she doesn’t have time to date. 

Lily arrived at the astronomy tower and leaned against the railing, observing the stars. At home, she was able to see the stars, but seeing them from so high up was magical. Astronomy wasn’t her favorite subject, she definitely liked some of her other subjects a lot more, but she could appreciate the night sky. Seeing the stars come together to make pictures, to create stories, always fascinated her a bit. When Peter was still in Astronomy, he would always go on rants and tell her just about everything he knew (Lily has no idea why he dropped the class). Some of the facts he provided actually helped her pass her OWLs and allowed her to go to NEWT level with Astronomy. She had hugged and praised him for 3 days straight. 

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

Lily was yanked out of her thoughts at the smooth and graceful sound of Pandora’s voice. She glanced over to see the girl leaning up against the railing looking at the sky, just like she was. Pandora looked even better from the view Lily was getting. She had thought Pandora had already hit the epitome of beauty, however, her thoughts were changing with every second Pandora was bathed in the moonlight. The girl turned and smiled at her. God, she had to know what she did to Lily, what Lily would do for her.

“Got the parchment?” Pandora neatly laid her arms on the railing and propped her chin up on them, looking up at Lily through her eyelashes. Lily’s knees started to feel weak. 

How had a week made it so Lily’s legs turned to jelly anytime Pandora even looked her way?

“Yeah I- It’s right here,” Lily pulled the parchment out of her pocket and unfurled it. Pandora pulled a quill out of her hair and immediately drew a compass in the bottom left. Drawing a map of the night sky was a bit difficult. Going from round to flat hurt Lily’s brain. The two girls quickly labeled the only three planets that were out tonight, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn, because they were extremely bright and easy to spot. The other thing that was easy to spot was Sirius. The star shone as bright as the boy did. Lily drew the star on the west side of the map.

The only things they needed to draw in were 10 constellations and any other important stars their professor had drawled on about. Easy work. 

“There’s Leo,” Pandora used the end of her quill to point slightly above Saturn, “and there’s Regulus,” she smiled softly and slowly sketched it out, labeling the constellation and Regulus’ star along the way. Lily loved constellations, but it took her a while to find them and to find the pattern, once she did though she couldn’t lose it. Lily should know the constellations and she should be able to find them, but her love for astronomy slowly deteriorated over her 6th and 7th year as she had to deal with tons upon tons of homework each week. It got to the point where she only learned what she needed to.

“Right there?” she asked, pointing her own quill in the general direction it looked like Pandora was drawing in, southwest from Saturn where there seemed to be stars that stuck out. Pandora glanced up and let out a giggle. She lifted her empty hand and lightly directed Lily’s hand more upward. “There.”

The shiver caused by Pandora’s touch that Lily had to resist was ridiculous. Lily squinted at where the quill was pointed, still not seeing it. After a minute, she could confidently say she pinpointed Regulus, of course that little shit has his own star like Sirius, but she couldn’t find the stars that connect with Regulus to create the Leo constellation. Pandora quickly finished sketching the constellation and glanced up again, placing her quill on the ledge and pushing herself off the railing. Pandora shuffled behind Lily and lightly gripped her wrist, tracing out the constellation. Lily could feel her breath on her neck. This time, she could not stop the full-body shiver. 

“It’s going to be a bit slanted, but it’ll look somewhat like a coat hanger. A right trapezoid with a hook on top, see?” Pandora was gently tracing the shape she was describing right in front of Lily’s eyes, with both of their hands. Lily followed her finger which had a snake ring curved around it and finally caught sight of the shape. She knew it was supposed to represent the Nemean Lion, but Pandora was right in saying it was in the shape of a coat hanger. Lily nodded her head and let out a small sigh of relief when Pandora dropped her hand and walked back to the parchment. Her wrist burned as she started to scan the sky again, looking for any constellations she knew she would be able to find. She was able to find Orion, Orion’s belt was very easy for her to spot, and she drew it in right under Jupiter, labeling Rigel as well. Pandora drew in Ursa Minor toward the middle of the parchment and shifted somewhat to the North side. Their faces were in close proximity again and Lily felt the need to hold her breath. 

After Pandora started to draw in Ursa Major too, Lily gave up on finding any other constellations. Last semester when she did this project, her partner had to help point out most of the constellations and stars to her. The only ones she could confidently recognize were Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Orion. She was a lost cause for anything else. 

“Are you going to draw in anymore?” Pandora asked, glancing up at Lily from where she was slightly hunched over the parchment. Lily had been staring at the parchment - more like Pandora’s hands - in silence, zoning out slightly. 

Lily glanced up at the sky again, thinking maybe she could spot a constellation but gave up immediately. “I can’t find any more. The only things I could find are the brightest stars.”

Pandora arched her eyebrow and stared at Lily until she picked up her quill and started to draw in the stars. Spotting Procyon and Vega was easy, they talked about them constantly and as Lily said, they were some of the brightest stars in the sky at the moment. Next, she found the Pleiades, relatively easily if you ask her, they were right in front of their view. The last star she could think of to find was Arcturus, she had to go to the opposite side of the astronomy tower to find it. Lily had accidentally grabbed the parchment to draw in Arcturus instead of just pinpointing it and trying to replicate its spot onto their parchment by memory. She did all of this in quick succession, not wanting Pandora to think she wasn’t doing any work. 

“Arcturus, that’s Regulus’ middle name you know? He said his family likes star names. The star is a part of the Bootes constellation,” Pandora commented, leaning next to Lily again. She once again traced it in the sky, using the same finger that had the snake ring on it. Lily had never liked snakes, but if it was on Pandora her mind switched up. 

Once Lily drew in Arcturus, Pandora leaned down to draw in the rest of Bootes, lightly brushing hands with her. Lily could not for the life of her tell if Pandora did it on purpose, either way, it drove her crazy. 

“How many more constellations do we need to draw in?” Pandora questioned, drawing out the kite-ish shape of Bootes. Lily glanced at the parchment and counted the constellations they had already drawn. “We have five more,” Lily confidently said. 

Pandora stood up, flipping her hair a bit to the side. The girl slowly pointed her quill to the sky, creating a swirly trail until it stopped. Everything Pandora did was mesmerizing to Lily. 

“Corvus, the name means crow. I love crows.” Pandora once again traced the constellation, knowing Lily would not be able to see it otherwise. It was mostly in the shape of a backward P. “I used to have a pet crow. Well, more like I fed a crow that wandered around my backyard,” Pandora commented, starting to draw in the constellation. 

Listening to Pandora talk about constellations, even if it was just a few comments here and there was the best thing about this project. The way the girl drew was even ethereal. Lily was slowly losing her strength as the night went on. Pandora finished the constellation and looked up once again, using her quill as a pointer. 

“There’s Virgo. That’s my sign.”

Pandora did the usual trace and then draw. Except this time, she looked over at Lily, a questioning look in her eyes. “Do you know your sign?”

Lily didn’t know much about astrology. Their astronomy professor talked about how it was bollocks and not to believe it, so Lily never studied any of it.

“I was born January 30th.”

Pandora nodded her head, picking up the parchment and heading back to the other side of the astronomy tower. However, the girl did not do this before making a certain comment towards Lily, a look of mischief Lily had never seen glimmering in her eyes. 

“You know, Aquarius’ and Virgos have pretty good compatibility.”

Silence. Pandora’s shoes clicked against the ground.

Now what in Merlin's name did that mean? Lily is assuming she is an Aquarius. Why would Pandora talk about their compatibility? Compatibility for what? Friendship? Love? Lily wasn’t sure she wanted to know. What was Pandora trying to say?

The rest of the time, Lily didn’t pay attention to Pandora and her rambling about constellations. The only thing ringing in her head was Pandora’s earlier comment. Compatibility, compatibility, compatibility. That word and the ring clinging to the one finger Pandora continued to use was the only thing on her mind. She watched the ring and only the ring, fearing she would stare too long at Pandora’s eyes or face or anything else if she looked anywhere else. 

Pandora finished drawing out the constellations and labeling them. She handed Lily the parchment, paused for a second, the gently pulled the snake ring off her finger. The girl grabbed Lily’s hand, opened it, and dropped the ring into it. 

“Since you seem to like it so much,” Pandora smiled. And then she was off.

Lily stood there in shock. What had that girl done to her?

Lily slowly made her way back to her dorm, quietly opening the door and flopping down on her bed. She stared at the top of her canopy.

“Where were you?” Marlene whispered, shuffling out of her bed. 

Lily didn’t respond. She wasn’t even sure her brain was working.

“Lily?”

Marlene appeared at her bedside and sat down. She took one look at Lily’s face, the parchment in one hand and the ring in the other.

“Well well well, might as well embrace it,” she smirked. Marlene grabbed the ring from Lily’s hand and slipped it onto her pointer finger. She leaned down and lightly tapped Lily’s cheek.

“Night Evans. Sweet dreams,” she sing-songed, sauntering back to her bed. 

What has Lily gotten herself into?

Chapter Text

The weekend was somewhat of a blur for Lily. More like her brain was blocking it out for the sake of her sanity. She knew Saturday she got drunk, she remembers being all over Pandora, and she remembers the prank. Being all over Pandora was the problem. Speaking of, then there was Sunday. She wasn’t all over her per se, she kind of just blacked out after spending too much time with her. All of these things led to Lily deciding she needed a day to herself. Said day alone had been needed for days , but Lily was really going to put in the effort this time to get it. 

Even better, the two classes she had today were Alchemy and Arithmancy, the two classes she didn’t have any of her friends in. This meant she could relax in peace, not having to worry about someone bringing up her rather strange behavior at the party. 

Before heading to class, Lily told Mary and Marlene that she wouldn’t be eating lunch with them today. They didn’t question this, assuming she was just going to study, which she definitely was. Alchemy was peaceful, she was ahead on the reading so she already knew everything they were discussing. Her table partner was also out today, probably skipping, and she got the whole table to herself. Lily had not enjoyed a class this much in a year. 

There was only one thing she wanted to do with her “free time” in class, and that was read. And, not reading from her textbooks, reading from an actual book, for fun. Yes, technically she did that yesterday, but reading for fun two days in a row had become a luxury. Lily pulled her book and started reading, taking her time and savoring it. 

She read up until class was about to end, not sure what she was going to do during lunch. Luckily, she had the map on her, it had never gotten returned to Marlene after last night. This led to her pulling it out under the table and more or less studying it to some extent. She searched all over for any hidden rooms or alcoves she could sit in during lunch to continue to read. No studying during lunch, just reading, she could study later. Right before they were about to leave class, she spotted a little alcove that wasn’t far from her class and scanned the path to get there. 

Getting to the alcove was relatively easy, all she had to do was weave through the students, which she did almost 4 times a day. Once she found it, she squeezed in past the banner and got as comfortable as she could. It was actually very cozy, and there was a tiny place where she could put her tote. Within seconds, she had her book out again and started to read. Whenever the halls had officially cleared, the spot was actually very peaceful. It was truly silent, seeing as everyone was at lunch. 

Halfway through lunch, the silence was broken by the sound of bangles clanking against each other. Oh, what a familiar sound that was. Lily carefully pulled the map out, making sure to not make much noise, and found her spot again. Right outside of the alcove, she could see Pandora’s name moving, and it was in the direction of the library. Was she looking for her?

Lily watched Pandora’s name move through the halls and to the library. She watched it hover in there before it exited and headed back the way it came. The sound of bangles could be heard again as she passed by the banner again. In the presence of Pandora, well somewhat, Lily remembered she still had the ring on her finger. She had completely forgotten that Marlene had slipped it on her finger last night. This morning she had been too busy trying to get out of the dorm to notice. 

The snake was wrapped gracefully around her pointer finger, placed on the same finger it had been on Pandora. Lily wanted to say it looked bad, that it didn’t make sense on her, but god that wouldn’t be true. It looked so good. However, Lily could confidently say it looked better on Pandora. Lily slowly slipped the ring off her finger and held it in front of her eyes, quickly casting Lumos so she could get a better look. The lighting behind the banner was fine, she could read pretty easily, but she needed better light to be able to observe the ring. 

The ring was about the size of half her finger, and it made it perfect swirl. The snake was relatively thick with detailed scales. This thing must have cost a fortune, well at least that’s what Lily thought as she rotated it. On the inside of it, there seemed to be an engraving. Lily pulled it closer and squinted. 

Evan and Pandora

That’s right, Evan is her brother, well twin. And, apparently, she had a ring engraved with his name. More than likely, he had a matching one. It’s not like she would know though, she has never seen Evan or paid attention to him. Seeing the engraving, Lily felt the need to return it. Having the ring, knowing it was probably a matching one, felt wrong. Lily glanced back down at the map, Pandora’s name was still close by. Quickly levitating the ring, she led it out from behind the banner and hopefully toward Pandora. Not being able to see it didn’t help. 

After 30 seconds, Pandora’s name stopped its movement, letting Lily know that she had gotten the ring relatively close to her. She could feel when Pandora grabbed the ring, no longer having to levitate it. Now that Pandora had the ring, Lily wasn’t sure why she thought levitating it to her was a good idea. She obviously knew that Lily had it and that it meant the girl was nearby.  Pandora’s name started to move again, but not toward Lily, it was heading back to the Great Hall. Thank Merlin. She had almost single-handedly ruined the only alone time she had gotten for a long time. 

With the ring out of her possession and no noise distracting her, Lily picked her book back up and continued reading. It had just gotten to a good part and there were only about 15 minutes left of Lunch. She wanted to finish this chapter before Arithmancy. 

And that she did

***

Today had to be Lily’s lucky day because in Arithmancy they were going over stuff she knew as well. Maybe the gods had finally listened to her and given her a break. Even if it was just for a day, she was extremely grateful. She spent Arithmancy doing what she had done all day, which was reading. She had decided that she would do homework later tonight, it would be very easy since she already knew what they were talking about in class for both subjects. 

Arithmancy went by in a blur and then she had to make a decision. Dinner or no dinner?

Now, the smart decision would have been to go to dinner. She had gotten plenty of alone time today and she needed to eat. But, she was almost done with her book. If she skipped dinner, she could finish her book before having to start her homework. To compromise, Lily rushed to the great hall, grabbed food, and bundled it up in a napkin, before making her way out onto the grounds. She could eat and read . Merlin, she was a genius.

Lily made her way to the tree by the lake, the one she always frequented when she had free time. She sat down, laying her napkin out and pulling her book back out of her tote. When she had grabbed the food, she made sure not to grab anything that would make a mess or cause her fingers to be sticky. Ms.Pince hated it when students returned books with any kind of marks or messes on them. 

Lily ate her dinner while simultaneously finishing the last two chapters of her book. This wasn’t the first time she had done this, so her reading speed did not slow down. The book had completely invested her and she finished it a few minutes after dinner. 

Once she read the last lines of the book, she realized she didn’t want alone time anymore. She had to find Remus. She had to talk about this goddamn book. Lily shot up and quickly vanished her napkin. Most likely he would be in the common room, so that’s exactly where she went. 

Usually Lily kept a quick but steady pace when walking in the halls, however, classes were over for the day and she really wanted to talk about this book. So, she was running through the halls, heading toward Gryffindor Tower. She burst in through the portrait hole and spotted Remus sitting on the couch with Sirius.

“Remus oh my god!” she shrilled, rushing over to the couch and taking the spot right next to him, that wasn’t occupied by Sirius. Sirius seemed to be glaring at her, but he spent practically half of the day with Remus, when he wasn’t with James or Peter, so he could deal. 

“What?” Remus asked.

“The book! The ending!” Lily cried out, grabbing his arms and shaking him. 

Sirius and Remus both laughed. Sirius gave Remus a quick kiss before he got up and walked over to Peter, who was playing chess with James. Remus turned his attention fully to her once Sirius was mostly out of sight. 

“Did you like it, then?” he chuckled.

“Do you even need to ask?”

Lily went off on a tangent, talking about everything and anything from the book. Remus had finished it about two weeks ago and had recommended it to her. Thank god he did because it was so good. She talked his ear off until she was out of breath and her voice felt hoarse. Not speaking much all day made her want to talk all that she could with Remus. He gave her his full attention, butting in a few times to give his opinion. Lily loved talking books with him. 

“You know,” Remus started when Lily had finally stopped talking, “Regulus has read that book too. And, he loves to talk about books as much as you do.”

Lily arched her eyebrow at him, waiting for him to explain himself. 

“Well, I talk books with Regulus. He’s just like us you know, loves reading all the time.”

Lily nodded her head. “And, how exactly did you start talking to him?”

“Well, it was when I caught him and-” Remus quickly stopped himself and his eyes grew wide. 

“Caught him and who?” Lily leaned in. This was going to be good.

“Don’t you have homework?” Remus asked, his voice a little higher pitched.

It was an attempt at a distraction. 

It worked.

“Oh shit!” Lily yelped, checking her pocket watch to see she had spent about an hour talking about the book. “Talk to you tomorrow Remus!” Lily shouted as she ran up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. 

Lily rushed into the room and dumped her tote on her bed, grabbing the few things she needed out of it before tossing it onto the ground. Her timing for finishing her homework would be a little off now, but she would manage. 

Mary and Marlene were already in the dorm, meandering about, doing whatever, Lily wasn’t sure. Marlene continued to do whatever she was doing, but Mary made her way over to Lily. She placed herself at the edge of Lily’s bed, making sure not to sit on any of her work.

“So how was your day of absolutely no human interaction?” Mary asked, scanning over all of the work Lily was doing. Lily glanced up for a second and then went back to her work.

“Amazing. Fantastic. The best.”

Pause.

“I missed you two though.”

Mary smiled and leaned over to hug Lily. 

“We missed you too, Lils. But, it’s okay if you need alone time, all you have to do is tell us.”

Lily nodded her head. Mary blew her a kiss and walked back over to her bed.

Lily loves her friends. Thank god for them being roomed together during first year. Because if they hadn’t, Lily doesn’t know where she would be today.

Chapter Text

It was officially Tuesday, meaning Lily had astronomy. Meaning she can’t avoid Pandora anymore. If she has to see her today, she needs to talk about the weekend. Have a nice debrief. And who better to debrief with than one Remus Lupin? 

She and Marlene chatted on their way to DADA, heading to class early to somewhat beat the crowd. They sat outside the classroom, talking about the planning they were set to do tomorrow. The boys arrived shortly after, James, Peter, and Sirius going to talk to Marlene, and Remus heading over to Lily. The professor had been right behind them, unlocking the door and letting them in. 

“We have so much to talk about, Remus,” Lily sighed, walking into the classroom first and going to her seat. Once he was sat down, Lily maneuvered her chair so it was directly facing him. 

“Do you remember the party?”

Remus stared at her and blinked. “Yes Lily, I didn’t drink as much as you did.”

Lily rolled her eyes. Who gave him this confidence? 

“I didn’t drink that much Remus,” Lily scoffed. 

Remus arched his eyebrow and crossed his arms. Lily glared at him and did the same. The two stared at each other, staying still until Lily broke, wanting to get on with the conversation. 

“Okay fine whatever. Anyway, do you remember exactly what happened?”

“Of course I do. I remember you being all over Pandora, Lily.”

Lily gaped. She knew she had been a bit clingy, but she didn’t think it was that obvious. His response was supposed to be along the lines of ‘Pandora hanging out with us was interesting’ or ‘Pandora seemed very interested in you’. Not that she was all over her . 

“Really?” she cringed. Remus only shook his head, holding back a smile, and waved his hand signaling for her to continue. Lily grabbed a piece of her hair and started to twirl it.

“Well…” Lily wasn’t sure how to respond. This wasn’t how she thought it would go. 

“Well? Well, do you like her then?”

The question of the day. Well, more like the week. The month? Lily wasn’t sure anymore. How was she supposed to tell? For the past two years, the only thing she ever focused on was studying. Her grades, doing the best she could in class. Her last relationship was in 5th year with a boy from Hufflepuff because now, she no longer has time for a relationship. Lily reminds herself of this time and time again, hoping to ingrain it in her brain.

“I don’t know,” Lily whispered. “I’m not sure.”

Remus seemed to think about this for a moment, tilting his head from side to side. “Alright, we’ll come back to that. Why did you bring up this weekend in the first place?”

Perfect. They got to the part she wanted to talk about.

“Well, so I didn’t think she liked me like that . But, after the events of the weekend, I’m not so sure. I need a second opinion. And you, Remus, are the best person for that,” she smiled.

Remus couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Go on then.”

So, Lily told him everything. She started with the party. The way Pandora acted once she found out Lily was drunk. The way she had grabbed her chin and tilted it. Yes, one could say that she was just a concerned friend. But, in Lily’s eyes, some of the things Pandora did were more than friendly. Running her hands through her hair? Massaging her scalp? Rubbing her arm? Lily honestly had no words. It couldn’t be normal friend things. Lily would have been able to tell. She told all of this to Remus. At one point, she asked him if he had noticed anything about her. Remus then told her he was too busy trying to stop her from making a fool of herself. 

Once Lily had rambled on as much as she could about Saturday night, she made Remus make a consensus. Well, for now. He would have to make another one after the recount of Sunday night's events.

“How gay? 1 to 10,” Lily clasped her hands together. 

“I’ll give you a nice 6. Some of that could still be considered friendly.”

Lily was about to respond when their professor walked into the class. Luckily, the only thing he told them to do was work on book work, he did not decide to lecture. 

Next, she recounted Sunday.

“So Sunday night, Pandora and I met at the astronomy tower for a project,” Lily started. Remus’ eyes immediately widened now that they were onto the stuff that he wasn’t there for.

“Since when did you have that project?” Remus asked, starting to lean in a bit since more people were around them now. 

“Tuesday.”

“Go on, go on.”

“So, we were mapping the night sky, you know how it is,” Lily sighed, propping her face on her hand. “First, she was trying to show me where the Leo constellation was. She walked behind me, Remus, and she grabbed my fucking wrist and traced it out in front of me with our hands.”

Remus’ mouth fell slightly open. Lily continued, wanting to get through all of it in a timely manner so she could start the classwork. 

“Also, she pointed out Virgo, said it was her sign, and then asked me what mine was. Remus, please for the love of god, explain to me why when I told her my birthday she said, and I quote, you know, Aquarius’ and Virgos have pretty good compatibility.”

Silence. Lily could tell Remus didn’t know what to say. The way his eyes were slightly wider than usual and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

“And to top it all off, I was a little out of it after the compatibility comment, so I stared at her ring. Before she left, she gave me the fucking ring Remus. Just dropped it in my hand and left,” Lily wailed. She slumped down and started to bang her head on the desk. 

Remus soothingly rubbed her back and mouthed something to the Professor when he walked over and asked what was wrong. 

“Consensus?” Lily mumbled into the desk after a minute of lying there.

“And what exactly are you going to do with my answer?”

Lily sat in silence for a moment again, staring at the desk until she picked her head up, glaring at Remus. “What are you implying Remus?”

“I’m just saying, you are very interested in Pandora’s feelings about you. I feel like we both know the reason for this, and only one of us will admit it.”

“Debrief over,” Lily said adamantly, reaching for her tote to grab her textbook. 

“Really Lily?” he deadpanned. 

“Yes, Remus. You’re a traitor.”

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his textbook as well and they worked the rest of class in silence, only talking when the other had questions. Once class was finished, they walked together to lunch.

Lily was dreading going to astronomy. 

She wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

***

Apparently, what Lily was going to do was stand outside the door, staring at it. She didn’t want to walk in yet. A second to breathe was needed, a second to prepare herself. Lily was noticing these days that unusual things were happening, things that theoretically shouldn’t all be happening. For example, Pandora bounded up behind her and tapped her shoulder. Lily didn’t even need to turn around to know it was her. How did all of this shit keep happening? What were the chances? How was everyone always finding her?

“Hi Pandora,” Lily smiled, turning to face her. 

Pandora smiled and squeezed past her, opening the door and letting them both in. The two girls walked over to their seats and sat down. Pandora had yet to say a word.

“Are you not speaking?” Lily asked.

Pandora pulled out a small piece of parchment and scribbled something down, sliding it over to Lily. Lily cocked an eyebrow and then picked it up. 

I’m taking a vow of silence

Pandora continued to surprise her. A vow of silence? For what?

That’s exactly what Lily scribbled down, passing it back over to her. Pandora took a second to start writing. 

No particular reason

This whole interaction turned into a slew of notes being passed between them. If they couldn’t speak, they would just write. And write they did.

Lily had never really passed notes with anyone. She usually was either paying attention in class or talking out loud to her partner. There was never a need for her to pass any notes. Passing notes was fun though. Pandora started drawing little doodles in the empty space and drew hearts instead of dots on her i’s. Being able to admire her handwriting and lightly trace over the indents was magnificent. Lily had never seen such elegant handwriting.

The rest of the class was a mix of them doing their work and passing little notes to each other. Once the paper would get full one of them would rip off another piece and start again. At one point, Pandora had for some reason written down Lily’s name. Lily had never loved the way her name looked so much. She made sure to slip it into her pocket.

At the end of class, Lily turned in their project and the professors gave them high praises, as always. The two girls walked out of class together. It was a lot harder to communicate when they couldn’t write. Thankfully, they were saved by Regulus standing outside. 

Immediately, he started to sign to her. Of course they both knew BSL. Pandora must’ve taken vows of silence often because their motions were fluid and swift. A few times Regulus would scoff or sigh whenever Pandora signed something. Eventually, after about a minute of them signing to each other, Pandora waved bye to Lily and then walked over to Regulus, linking their arms and started to skip down the hallway, dragging him along.

Lily couldn’t help but smile. She could honestly tell, now, that they are really good friends and Pandora enjoyed spending time with him. Mary and Marlene were off to the side waiting for her as well. She walked over to them and they all linked arms just as Regulus and Pandora had. They made their way to the great hall and sat in their usual seats by the boys.

“Psst,” Mary attempted to get their attention once they sat at the table and started eating. Lily and Marlene leaned in closer. 

“Library for the planning tomorrow, after dinner obviously.”

Marlene nodded her head and then went back to eating her food. Lily scooted closer to Mary so she wouldn’t have to talk as quietly.

“Pandora knows right?”

A slight smirk could be seen on Mary’s face before she answered. “Yeah, I told her earlier.”

Lily paused for a second before responding. “Did she answer you?”

“Well no. She’s on one of her vows of silence as you should know. It happens maybe every 3 weeks or something like that. Not very sure but it's pretty consistent.” 

Lily nodded her head and scooched back over to where she was originally, continuing to eat her food. The rest of dinner was as normal as usual, except Pandora wasn’t sitting with them. Lily assumed she was off with her friends eating or something else. Why would she care? It’s not like she wanted to pass notes again. Absolutely not. 

The whole group trudged back to Gryffindor Tower and hung out in the common room. Lily, Peter, and Remus all hung out together on the couch and started discussing the book Lily had just finished. Peter had just finished it as well, so they had a lot to discuss. The rest of the group played chess or talked, Lily wasn’t paying them much attention. 

Everyone started to slowly file out once the sky was pitch black, leaving just the group on the couch to their conversation. Peter was very opinionated about the book so they were still talking about it. Lily didn’t mind though, if she wasn’t reading a book she was talking about one. Sirius ended up coming back down and dragging Remus and Peter up to their dorms after another hour, Lily waving goodbye and going to her own dorm. Marlene was already asleep, the quidditch team was practicing tomorrow morning, but Mary was still up. 

Once Mary saw Lily walk in, she put her magazine off to the side and got under her covers. She or Marlene would often stay up waiting for Lily to make sure she got back. Lily said a quick goodnight and got ready for bed herself, making sure to slip the parchment with her name on it into the drawer on her nightstand, for… safekeeping. 

Tomorrow she had to deal with homework and planning the prank. Lily wasn’t sure how they had planned the last two in under a day, she wasn’t sure if they would be able to continue to do that.

They would find out tomorrow, wouldn’t they? Lily hoped they’d come up with something good.

Chapter Text

Lily’s morning was spent doing homework instead of going to Alchemy once again. At this point, Lily did her homework and then forgot she even did it after she finished. Thankfully, she retained the information, but she never really remembered doing her homework, it just happened. 

With her homework done, Lily took the scenic route to the Great Hall. It was still another 10 minutes to lunch so she took her time walking the halls. The sun this time of year always shone bright through the windows and engulfed the halls with sunlight, which made it Lily’s favorite time of year, if she didn’t think about all the homework she was assigned.

Students started to flood into the halls for lunch right when Lily crossed the threshold into the Great Hall. It was only a matter of time before Mary, Marlene, and Pandora got there, so Lily took their usual spot and got to work filling her plate. The girls arrived right on cue, taking their respective seats. Marlene and Mary were in a deep conversation about Ancient Runes, paying the other two girls no attention. 

“I think we should do something with plants,” Pandora chirped, turning to Lily once she was sat. No more vow of silence apparently. The girl coiled one of her curls around her finger as she waited for Lily’s response.

“Something with plants for what?” Lily let her spoonful of beans drip onto her plate. 

“For the prank. What else?”

“Right. Why plants then?”

Pandora pulled a small notepad out of her robes, a miniature quill attached to the side. She flipped it open and there was a list written out on the front page. 

“Well, I wrote down a list of spells and plants we could use to create a ruckus. My Herbology Professor collects and grows all sorts of plants.” Pandora pointed her quill at certain bullet points that had stars drawn right next to them. 

Lily nodded her head, waiting to respond until after she had swallowed her food. “Yeah, I think they’ll like that. Especially Marlene, she almost took Herbology to NEWTs but she decided she already had too many.” Lily dropped her spoon to grab her pumpkin juice. “We’ll talk about it later though when we have more time.”

Pandora smiled and then carefully re-attached the quill, placing the notebook back into her robes. Lily turned in the opposite direction for a moment, reaching over the table to grab a pastry. When she turned back, she turned back to the sight of Pandora putting her hair up. The girl had a hair tie between her teeth as she reached her arms up to collect her hair. She tied it up neatly, with no bumps or anything, and finally started to eat. Her hair looked even better when it was in a ponytail. 

Marlene and Pandora finished eating relatively quickly and headed off to the library, deciding to study together since they both didn’t have afternoon classes. This left Mary and Lily to finish their food before they left for class.

Lily waited on Mary, who ate very slowly, and then the two girls headed off to potions. 

“Pandora wants to do something with plants by the way,” Lily commented nonchalantly. 

“Cool.” Mary glanced over at Lily and smirked, tossing her hair to the side.

“Why are you smirking?”

“No reason.”

Lily narrowed her eyes at Mary, but the girl didn’t break. She continued to smirk as they walked to potions, not wavering for a second. 

Potions was the same as it always was. Slughorn lectures on a potion, they make the potion, Slughorn grades it, they vanish the potion. That’s that. Today’s potion was a little on the easier side for Mary and Lily, so they finished quickly. Since Lily was one of his favorites, he let the two girls leave early. Mary was very grateful for this, she always took advantage of Lily being a favorite, more than Lily did herself. The two girls spent their newfound freedom taking notes from the potions textbook. 

All Lily could think about was planning the prank, especially getting to see Pandora’s ideas. Lily checked her pocket watch to see how much time until after dinner. They had about 3 hours. She hunched back over her work. The 3 hours couldn’t come fast enough.

***

Dinner came and went, the girls scrambling out of their seats as soon as it was over. Instead of planning in the library, they decided they would plan in Mary, Lily, and Marlene’s dorm. Thankfully, no one complained when Pandora entered the common room and followed them up the staircase. Lily assumes that they know Regulus would be out for their blood if they did. As soon as they entered the dorm room, Marlene flopped onto her bed, her head hanging off the edge. Mary sat down on the floor against Marlene’s bed, their heads side by side. Pandora and Lily took their respective spots across from them. Lily made sure Pandora sat first so she could keep a comfortable distance between them. Marlene reached over to rummage in her drawer while Mary spoke up.

“Lily said you wanted to do something with plants?” Mary pulled out a chocolate frog from her robe pockets and started to pry the box open. 

Pandora nodded her head vigorously and immediately pulled out the notepad and opened back up to the page with the list. Marlene finally wrestled one of her golden snitches from the cluttered drawer and started to toss it around, not paying any attention to the planning yet. Mary leaned forward, snapping off a piece of the frog and throwing it in her mouth. 

“Well I have a list,” Pandora beamed, turning the notepad around to show her. Lily sat off to the side watching while Mary lightly rubbed her hands on the rug and grabbed the notepad. She lightly trailed her finger down the list, hovering on the bullets that had stars next to them.

“Herbivicus is the charm that makes plants grow faster right?” Mary asked, handing the notepad back to Pandora after a quick scan and reaching for the chocolate frog. 

“Yes. We would have to get a few plants for it to work and just place them about the hallways.”

Both Lily and Mary nodded their heads, Marlene still paying little attention to the conversation. Pandora smoothed out the page and then placed it in her lap.

“Could we just cut vines from the forbidden forest?” Lily asked, starting to lightly tap her fingers on her thighs. Marlene threw her head back over the edge, curling her fingers over the snitch. She had always wanted to go into the forbidden forest, ever since they learned about it in 1st year. Mary and Lily had never obliged though. “The forbidden forest? You want to go into the forbidden forest?” Marlene started to smile.

Lily rolled her eyes and stopped her fingers. “Well not necessarily but from what I’ve heard there are a ton of vines. And just imagine the halls covered in vines, especially the ones with little flowers growing on them.” 

Marlene rolled over onto her stomach and beamed.

“Spectacular idea Lils. Amazing, stupendous, genius!” she giggled. 

“I think that would work,” Pandora smiled. Mary popped the last part of the chocolate frog in her mouth before nodding along. 

“Do you think we would see centaurs?” Marlene shrilled.

“I hope not,” Mary snapped back, shaking her head at the thought. Marlene shrugged her shoulders and continued. 

“What else is on that great list of yours?” She started to fiddle with the edges of her sheets.

“Two things,” Pandora held up two fingers. Lily knew there were at least 20 things on the list, but only 3 things had stars next to them. 

“The first is Screechsnaps,” Pandora read off.

“Those are the loud fuckers aren’t they,” Marlene groaned. 

“Well if they’re loud they would be effective wouldn’t they?” Mary cocked an eyebrow at the girl, looking over her shoulder. Marlene scoffed, letting Pandora continue. 

“Yes, they are. They can move and make noise. They’re semi-sentient and can feel pain and pleasure. The moving and noise part is the only important piece though,” Pandora rambled off, pulling the notepad close to her chest and twisting one of her rings. “My Herbology professor has a couple of them on hand. I should be able to replicate a few more.”

Mary nodded her head, signaling she liked the idea. 

“Where would they go?” Lily asked, trying to picture where they would be put if the halls were blanketed in vines and flowers. 

“Easy. The classrooms,” Mary said dismissively, turning back to Pandora.

Marlene nodded her head and leaned more over the edge of the bed. 

“The second,” Pandora started, trying to pinpoint the star, “is Honking Daffodils.”

Lily didn’t need an explanation for what that was. It was in the name. Mary and Marlene seemed to understand too, neither of them asking for an explanation. 

“Great Hall?” Lily threw the idea out after a moment of silence.

“Yeah, and the bathrooms I suppose,” Mary added.

Pandora hummed in agreement, flipping through the pages in her notepad.  

“Okay so two people will deal with the vines in the hallways and the other two will deal with the screech snaps and honking daffodils. That sound good?” Mary looked around. 

“We’ll be in the hallways right Mary? I can do the herbivicus charm better than replicating plants,” Marlene asked. Mary nodded her head and looked over at the other girls. 

“Yeah, that's fine. You two can have the map since you’ll be in the halls the most,” Lily concluded, glancing at Pandora to make sure they were on the same page. Pandora smiled and leaned back on the bed again. 

Marlene sat up, crisscrossing her legs and placing her hands in her lap. “Okay so vines in the hallway, screechsnaps in the classrooms, and honking daffodils in the great hall and bathrooms,” she recounted, looking between all 3 of them. Everyone nodded along.

“Vines we could get after lunch tomorrow,” Mary decided, “I don’t want to go into that forest after dark.”

Everyone turned to stare at Lily. “What?”

“Well, don’t you have Arithmancy?” Pandora asked.

Right. The rest of them were off, she was not. Of course. 

“Aren’t you really good at Arithmancy Lily? You could always just make up the work,” Marlene pleaded, leaning forward, almost toppling off the bed. 

“Ask me during lunch tomorrow,” Lily sighed, trying to figure out when she would even make up the Arithmancy work. 

“And for the plants?” Lily asked, hoping it wouldn’t fall on her in any way.

“Me and Pandora can take care of that. We can head to the greenhouse right after Care of Magical Creatures on Friday and sneak the plants up into the dorm room,” Marlene rattled off, already seeming giddy. 

“Speaking of,” Mary spoke up, “When will we be doing it?”

At this moment, Lily was grateful for her photographic memory. She was able to recall the rounds for the rest of the week. Running through the list, the best day to do it would be Friday. 

“Friday,” Lily spoke her thoughts out loud.

“James and one of the 5th years are doing rounds. James is usually lazy when doing rounds, and the 5th year will probably be a bit scared to be doing rounds with him.”

“That work for everyone?” Mary asked. Everyone nodded their heads again.

“Okay, Friday then.”

“And if he catches us?” Pandora asked, tucking her notepad away.

“I’ll charm the pants off him,” Marlene grinned. Mary and Lily both rolled their eyes in sync.

“Don’t worry Pandora,” Mary butted in. “We won’t get caught.”

Pandora smiled. “Okay, perfect!” she chirped. Once a second of silence passed between them, Marlene dove into a schpeel, seemingly waiting for the planning to be over so she could talk. She told them about how the morning practice they had this morning for quidditch, one of the 3rd years had caught James in the locker room with someone. Marlene moaned and groaned about how the kid wouldn’t give a name, not even when she pulled out her stash of bribe money.

“Bastard Potters, too rich for their own good!” Marlene had wailed. It was obvious James had used a good amount of money to bribe the kid off to not talk. 

Somehow, what should have been a 15-minute conversation about James bribing a kid off spiraled into a two-hour conversation about all of the 7th-year Gryffindor boys. Mary especially had a few gripes against some of them. It was good to do a little vent session, especially with the amount of stress that came with it being their last year. 

After everyone had aired their issues, which was a lot, Pandora pushed herself off the floor and patted her skirt down. Lily stood up right after, walking her out and into the common room. When they had originally entered the common room, there was still a sliver of sunshine shining in. Now, there was no sign of light except for the stars speckling the dark sky. Stars were a sore subject at the moment though, so Lily made sure to focus on the portrait. She held it open for Pandora, who stepped out and turned back to look at her. 

“Are you coming with us to the forbidden forest tomorrow?” 

It should’ve been easy for Lily to say she would decide tomorrow, that she wasn’t sure. But, locking eyes with Pandora told her otherwise.

“Of course I am,”

Pandora smiled, and she was off.

Chapter Text

“You ready?” Marlene beamed, slamming her hands on the table and looking between the 3 girls. Lily flinched and almost dropped her spoon onto her plate.

“Merlin Marlene! Lunch isn’t even over yet, give us a second,” Mary mumbled while wiping off the pudding that she spilled on her shirt. Marlene smirked and sat down, lightly bouncing her leg waiting for them to finish eating. Lily took her last spoonfuls of pudding and joined Marlene in waiting. 

Unsurprisingly, Mary was the last to finish eating, Pandora having finished quickly after Lily. “Did you even eat Marlene?” Mary asked, standing up from the bench and starting to lead the girls out into the hallway. 

“Of course I did Mare! I ate from my stash away in the dorm,” Marlene clicked her tongue, walking side by side with Mary in front of Lily and Pandora. 

“Do you know how we’re going to cut the vines?” Pandora turned to Lily.

Lily shook her head. She had absolutely no idea.

Mary asked the same question as they exited the school and walked down the hills.

“Don’t you worry. I have something.” Marlene assured, patting her robe pocket that seemed to be bulging at her side. Mary glanced over her shoulder to give Pandora and Lily a semi-worried look, her mouth set in a straight line. 

Lily could tell Mary got even more nervous as they approached the edge of the forest. The lighting slowly started to fade as they got closer. Pandora and Mary both cast a quick Lumos at the same time, giving the girls some source of light. Mary stood off to the side and held her hand out in front of her, motioning for Marlene to go first. 

“You don’t even have to ask!” Marlene dramatically took the first step into the forest, hovering her foot over the dark ground before placing it down and shrieking. Mary screamed with her, extremely alarmed at whatever had scared Marlene. Lily knew for a fact Marlene was messing with her, so she only flinched.

“Got ya! There’s nothing in this forest Mary I promise,” Marlene snorted, leading the girls in. Mary scoffed, still shaken up, and followed in last. 

“Where exactly are we going to find the vines?” Lily sputtered, recovering from getting hit in the face by a branch. Marlene shrugged her shoulders and continued weaving around the trees and shrubbery. 

“If we go West, there should be vines over there,” Pandora commented, catching back up to Lily and Marlene, Mary still trailing in the back. All 3 girls turned to look at her, surprise evident on each of their faces. 

“Pandora, have you been in here before?” Marlene asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. 

“Yes. Have you not?” Pandora asked, cocking her head to the side. All 3 girls shook their heads no and Pandora’s eyes widened. “You all were going to come in here without ever having stepped a foot in here?” she asked, an appalled expression covering her face. All 3 girls nodded their heads this time. Lily started to feel a blush creep up her face from embarrassment. This was the first time they jumped headfirst into something without thinking. Maybe this map was the thing that made the boys absolute morons, and now it was doing that to them.

“There’s a first time for everything,” Marlene beamed, extending her arm and letting Pandora take the lead, seeing as she would at least have some idea of where to go. Pandora took the lead, starting to take them in a different direction than Marlene had been taking. Thank god Pandora was leading them now, Lily would like to not miss dinner. 

While she was leading, Pandora whipped her wand out and began to maneuver the plants and shrubs that were in the way off to the side with ease. No wonder she took Herbology to NEWTs, she was graceful when handling the plants, even the tougher ones. A few minutes into their trek, Lily could start to hear the slight noise of water running. The professors had never really gone out of their way to talk about the Forbidden Forest. The most that the average student knew was that they were not to go in it and that it was extremely dangerous. Of course, though, there had to be running water, Lily wasn’t sure why it surprised her so much. 

“Are we going toward a waterfall?” Mary asked, watching her feet and making sure she didn’t trip over any of the roots that trailed across the ground. Pandora hummed, taking them closer to the water, the sound of the rushing water growing with each step they took.

As soon as the sound of the water was the only thing they could hear, Pandora whipped her hand out to stop them all from walking. Lily thought it was just a safety precaution, but the look in Pandora’s eyes said otherwise. She started to shuffle off to the side, behind a tree, waving the rest of the girls over. This did not stop any of them from taking a peak at what had spooked Pandora so much. When Lily and Mary caught sight of the Centaur, they both sped up their shuffling, joining Pandora behind the extraordinarily big tree. However, the same could not be said about Marlene. The girl almost squealed like a child when they got a new toy. 

The last thing that any of them expected Marlene to pull out of her pocket when she saw the Centaur was a Polaroid camera. 

“For Merlin's sake Marlene! Really?! Do you think now is the fucking time?” Mary hissed. 

Marlene ignored them with ease, pulling the camera up to her face and snapping a quick picture. She grabbed the film and started to shake it, finally joining them behind the tree. All 3 girls stared at Marlene in disbelief. “What? I had a feeling,” the girl whispered, inspecting the picture as it slowly developed. Lily had to stop herself from smacking her forehead and groaning. That’s Marlene for you.

It took about 30 minutes for the Centaur to disappear back into the forest, leaving the pond and waterfall abandoned, the vines winding along the stone in clear view. 

The group walked over to the vines, stepping over large stones that were protruding from the ground, and turned to Marlene again.

“I hope that Polaroid camera wasn’t the only thing in your pocket,” Lily sighed. 

Marlene proved them wrong, pulling out several pairs of unusually large scissors. More than likely they weren’t scissors, but to Lily, that’s what they looked like. Marlene passed a pair to each person and pulled out a bag, tossing it onto the ground and starting the cutting. To no surprise, the bag that was thrown onto the ground was Lily’s bag that was being passed around the fucking group, never being returned to its rightful owner. 

Instead of attacking Mary for stealing it in the first place and bringing attention to their presence at the waterfall, Lily started to cut the vines, placing herself between Mary and Pandora. The girls all silently chopped away at the vines. It took about 3 cuts with the scissors to sever the vines, seeing as they were extremely thick. They were heavy too, taking a strange amount of strength to toss them into the bag. 

Once the stone was completely clear of vines, Mary leaned over the bag and tied it up. They all turned to Marlene. The girl blinked once then twice, swiveling her head around to look at each of them. 

“Well I'm not carrying it,” Lily said adamantly. Marlene attempted to plead with Mary, batting her eyelashes, but it was no use. Marlene was the only one in the group who worked out on a daily basis, the rest of them only ever walked as exercise.

“If I break my back carrying this bag, you’re the ones explaining it to Madam Pomfrey,” Marlene scoffed, lugging the bag over her shoulder and immediately wincing. The bag was practically the size of her, Lily had added the extension charm to it her 3rd year so sometimes if too much was added the size of the bag grew. She never had the energy to fix the charm.

Pandora carefully and quietly led them out of the forest, making sure to maneuver around anything that would make noise. Everyone but Marlene was still a little frightened over the centaur, so they were all cautious. Lily avoided the roots and vines that littered the pathway, also trying to avoid any shrubs. She wasn’t sure what could be found here.

Luckily it was in the middle of class when they got out of the forest, so no one was out on the grounds. The girls were able to swiftly lug the bag back into the school and up into their dorm. 

“That was the worst experience of my life” Marlene moaned, falling back onto the bed and rolling her shoulders. Mary scoffed. “And the picture?”

Marlene grinned and stuffed her hand into her pocket, pulling the picture out and holding it up in the air. “My prized possession,” she sighed. 

Lily couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the girl. Marlene always was infatuated with magical creatures, it was a bit alarming at times. A prime example was today in the forest. 

Mary, Marlene, and Pandora started to chat, what about, Lily wasn’t sure. She had to focus on the Arithmancy work she missed today and other homework she had before her rounds tonight.

Rounds.

What a delight.

***

Regulus was waiting at his usual spot, right outside the common room. He was leaning up against the wall and twirling his wand in his hands, just like the boys did. When he caught sight of Lily he clamped his hand fully over his wand and slipped it into his pocket.

Usually Lily wouldn’t have been excited to do rounds with Regulus, she would’ve been dreading it. However, they were a lot more friendly with each other these days. Lily wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence though, that would be his problem. 

They started their long route around the school, walking side by side and glancing around. Lily had a problem with walking straight, occasionally bumping into him and muttering sorry.

“So Pandora?” Regulus asked once they had descended the stairs. 

She knew where he was going to do this. After all those two were best friends weren’t they? Lily opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by loud footsteps echoing in the halls. They didn’t have much time to try and figure out who it was before James came running down the halls and stopped right in front of them. 

Lily saw Regulus tense up immediately, his hands dropping into his pockets to hide his clenched fists. James glanced at him for a second before turning to Lily, parchment in hand. 

“I made the rounds for next week,” he handed her the paper, ever so slightly panting. Lily glanced at it. She was doing rounds on Wednesday with Regulus. At this point, there is no way that it was a coincidence. James must’ve been doing it on purpose. Lily handed it back to him and nodded her head indicating she was fine with it. Honestly, there was no reason for her to be against it. She had completely forgotten they had to plan them for next week already. Thank Merlin for James Potter.

Instead of walking away after getting his answer from Lily, James turned to Regulus and started talking to him. It was nothing important, something about Sirius, but she could tell Regulus was very much enjoying the conversation, no matter the subject. The two boys talked until Lily shooed James away. They were taking up too much time talking instead of actually doing their rounds. James finally walked off, waving goodbye to both of them. 

“So James?” Lily smirked. Regulus's face immediately set into a scowl and he grunted. Lily’s smirk grew, feeling satisfied.

After a few minutes of more silence, they fell into easy conversation again, starting to talk about the book Lily had just finished. And, Remus was right. Regulus loved to talk about books. For once, Rounds were actually enjoyable. They spent the whole time talking about books. It was amazing. The best. 

She felt the least stressed she had in days.

Unsure of if that would change tomorrow, Lily spent the rest of the night talking books with Regulus. Who would’ve thought? 

Chapter Text

“Do you think they’ll be fine?” Lily asked, running her finger along a page in her potions textbook. Mary glanced up from her own textbook, smiling reassuringly at Lily.

“Of Course they will Lils. Marlene does shit like this too often for them to get caught.”

Lily nodded, still not feeling sure about it. Where would they keep the screech snaps and honking daffodils? How would they get them to the classrooms? They definitely should have done a lot more planning. Marlene had reassured Lily about 100 times this morning at breakfast that she and Pandora would be fine. However, Lily had a lingering feeling that something would go wrong. Who’s to say it wouldn’t be right now? 

“Try to calm down yeah? I can feel your nerves from all the way over here,” Mary chuckled, scribbling on her parchment and kicking her legs. Both of them were doing the potions homework they were assigned this morning, waiting for the other two girls' eventual arrival with the plants. 

It was around the last few minutes of lunch that the door to the room was slammed open. Both girls jumped at the sound that echoed throughout the room. Marlene and Pandora both walked in, huge grins on their faces, with handfuls of plants. Marlene was panting and sweaty all over; Pandora looked amazing as always. 

Lily had expected the plants to immediately start making noise, but it was strangely silent. The two girls trudged over to the far corner that had been designated for the plants earlier this morning. Lily and Mary watched as they carefully put the plants onto the ground, still, no sound coming from the plants. 

Pandora glanced over at Lily and Mary and immediately smiled, having noticed the absolute confusion taking over their faces.

“We put silencing charms on them. We wouldn’t have been able to get them here if we hadn’t.”

Marlene grunted in agreement, lowering one of the larger pots onto the ground. Pandora pulled the tarp back over the spot after all the plants had been deposited onto the floor. 

“Alright, everything in place then?” Lily asked, glancing between everyone. The only part of the preparation she had to help with was cutting the vines, the rest was up to them, so she wasn’t sure if they were all set.

“All set,” Mary smiled, returning to her notes.

Lily took a deep breath in. The lingering feeling hadn’t faded. 

And she was nervous. 

***

Mary and Marlene had already lugged the large bag of vines out of the dorm room by the time Pandora arrived. Lily wasn’t entirely sure how the girl got in, no one was left in the common room and no one had told her the password. The mystery of Pandora Rosier. 

Light tapping at the door that Lily could only know as Pandora led her to opening the door. Instead of normal clothes or robes, Pandora was dressed in all black. Lily couldn’t help the giggle that escaped her lips.

“Got them from Regulus,” the girl beamed proudly, turning side to side to show off her outfit. Lily wrapped her fingers tightly around her wrist and tugged her in, quietly clicking the door shut.

“You know it’s more suspicious if you’re wearing all black right?” Lily smirked, walking over to the corner with Pandora in tow.

“How good are you at levitation charms?” Lily asked, eyeing the large pile of flower pots. 

“Spectacular.”

Pandora pulled her wand out and with the smallest flick of her wrist, lifted the cloth, all the pots a top of it, off the floor and into the air. Lily felt her eyes widen slightly as she watched the girl effortlessly float it around the room, weaving it between bed posts. 

“Perfect.”

Finding the first classroom was easy, they went to the bottom floor and picked a room they knew was used frequently. As they descended the stairs, Lily caught a glimpse of Mary and Marlene replicating the vines all over the hallway. They stretched and weaved over the walls and floors, creating clumps where seeing anything but vines was impossible. There were also small flowers sprinkled about, adding pops of color that were definitely needed in the sea of green.

Pandora dropped the blanket onto the ground and immediately started grabbing a few pots and placing them on tables. The girl spoke the incantation and two more popped up. Lily grabbed two and Pandora grabbed two, both of them scowering the classroom for places to put them. 

Lily placed one of hers in a cabinet and the other in a trashcan. She had no idea where Pandora had placed hers because the girl re-levitated the blanket as soon as she was done. They repeated the same steps in the rest of the most used classrooms on the bottom floor. After the last room, they were working with ease, getting out of the classroom in about 3 minutes. 

In the last room on the second floor, Pandora broke the silence. 

“So how has your week been?” the girl asked, shuffling around in the drawer of one of the professor's desk. Lily glanced up, blowing her hair out of her face. 

“Mediocre I suppose.”

Lily was slightly confused. Yes, they hadn’t necessarily seen each other that much this week, not without other people being there, but Pandora had never made casual conversation like this. It was a territory that had yet to be explored. If it could be called that.

“How was yours?” Lily might as well continue the conversation.  

“Great,” Pandora lightly smiled, pausing for a moment before going back to organizing the papers and putting a plant in the drawer. No other response. Lily wasn’t sure how to keep the conversation going. She never talked to Mary and Marlene like this, not often at least. After a few seconds of thought, Lily dropped her attempt to continue the conversation and went back to placing her plants. 

You know you can’t be doing this

Lily whipped her head to Pandora, eyes growing. 

“Marlene gave me a walkie-talkie,” Pandora whispered, pulling said walkie-talkie out of her pocket and holding it out into the open. 

C'mon James, why don’t you just let us off alright?

“Shit,” the two girls whispered at the same time. James had found Marlene and Mary. How exactly had they been caught though? They had the fucking map, unless they left it in the room. Lily swears she saw Marlene shove it in her pocket. Normally, Lily wouldn’t be that worried, Marlene could easily charm James or get him to let him go. But, he was with the 5th year. There was no way they split up, James would never leave a 5th year to wander the castle alone. Lily knows for a fact that James likes showing off his authority sometimes, so there is no way that James is going to let Marlene and Mary off. 

“They’re fucked,” Lily walked over to Pandora and placed her hands on her hips. Pandora nodded her head solemnly and dropped her arm, walkie-talkie still in hand. 

You know I can’t do that Marls

Lily just knows that James is running his hands through his hair right now. He does that all the time when he’s unsure, and he is definitely unsure right now. 

C’mon, we’ve got to go see McGonogall

“Fuck,” Lily whispered, rubbing her hands over her face. “Fuck,” she repeated again, this time more urgent. Pandora looked up at her this time, fright over her face. 

“What?”

“We have to get back to my dorm, now ,” Lily urged, starting to collect their things. Pandora did the same, placing everything back on the blanket and levitating it. 

“What’s wrong,” Pandora asked, picking up her pace to keep up with Lily who was now speed-walking out of the classroom and into the halls, her head on a swivel. 

“If he’s taking the to McGonagall, she’s probably going to come get me because it’s not that late. If they go to find me in the dorm and I'm not there, I’m screwed,” Lily said, trying to stop the anxiety from creeping into her voice. She had no idea how close they were to McGonagall's office, meaning they might not get there in time. 

“I’ll take these to my dorm, you just get back to yours okay?” Pandora said softly, walking in the opposite direction. “Okay I’ll check in with you tonight if I can,” Lily sighed, running up the stairs. 

It only took her a minute to get to her dorm, she ran up the stairs, taking two steps at a time, and rushed into her dorm, changing her clothes. She hopped onto her bed and started to do the first assignment she could find, trying to calm her heart rate before McGonagall came to get her. 

A few minutes later, a knock at the door spiked her heart rate right back up. She got up and slowly shuffled over, trying to wipe the worry from her face. McGonagall greeted her politely and led her out of the common room and to her office. 

Walking into the office, James and the 5th year, Diana, were standing off to the side and Mary and Marlene were sitting at the chairs right in front of McGonagall's desk. Lily took her place next to James, looking confused and surprised at the sight. McGonagall dismissed Diana and thanked her for her help.

“Now, Ms.Evans, seeing as Ms.Mckinnon and Ms.MacDonald are your dormmates, did you know about this ‘prank’ they were doing tonight?” McGonagall steepled her fingers and fixed her gaze on Lily, just as Dumbledor had done many times. Both Mary and Marlene turned in their chairs to stare her down. It was not a glare of ‘you better tell her’, it was a glare of ‘you better not say a fucking word’. Lily had opened her mouth to admit to knowing but immediately shut it at the sight of the two girls staring her down. 

“No professor. I was aware of no sort of thing,” Lily put on her best smile. McGonagall stared at her for a few seconds, trying to examine her. Lily stood strong, it wasn’t the first time a professor had tried to interrogate her. She had never done any pranks per se until this month. However, that doesn’t mean she didn’t do little things here and there that she wasn’t supposed to. 

“Alright then. Moving on to punishment,” McGonagall continued. Both girls turned back around and grimaced, they glanced at each other before focusing back on McGonagall. 

“As everyone in this room should know, this weekend is Hogsmeade weekend. Instead of getting the privilege to visit Hogsmeade, you two ladies will spend tomorrow cleaning up your mess. Does that sound fair to you Ms.Evans and Mr.Potter?” 

Both Lily and James nodded their heads as Marlene and Mary groaned. Both girls sunk back into their chairs, Mary rolling her eyes and twirling her hair, Marlene crossing her arms and scowling. “Ms.Evans, Mr.Potter, you are free to leave. You two stay,” McGonagall pointed at Mary and Marlene. With a curt nod, Lily saw herself out and quickly started to make her way back to the tower. 

“Lily! Wait,” James called out, jogging to catch up with her. 

Well, shit. 

“Yes, James?” Lily sighed, attempting to pick up her speed and get him to leave her alone. It was no use though, he was very fast. 

“There’s no way you didn’t know what they were doing.”

Lily stopped in her tracks, fixing her face into a glare before she turned to look at him. She placed her hands on her hips and turned. “What are you implying James?”

“That you’re up to something. And I’m going to figure out what it is,” he grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes at waved him off, continuing her walk back to the tower. He let her walk ahead this time, giving her time to herself. As soon as she entered her dorm, she realized what he said. 

He was going to find out in due time. 

She had to tell the girls.

Chapter Text

Lily had attempted to stay up and wait for Mary and Marlene to return to the dorms. Her efforts had been futile however, McGonagall decided to keep them long and Lily ended up dozing off. She only fully realized this when her alarm clock went off. Mary and Marlene, who usually slept through Lily’s weekend alarms, both groaned and rolled around in their beds. 

“What time is it?” Mary croaked, pulling her covers up to cover her face. Marlene grunted and threw her covers to the side, shuffling out of bed and to the bathroom.

“Seven.” 

Mary made another displeased sound, shifting even more violently in her bed before finally getting up. Lily watched her warily, Mary never got up at 7. The girl immediately took her bonnet off and began tending to her hair, placing herself at their vanity. Seeing Mary’s state, Lily wasn’t sure who she wanted to ask about last night. She decided to wait until Marlene was out of the bathroom. That would be best. 

Her clothes for today were already folded neatly atop her trunk so she grabbed them and shuffled over to the bathroom door, leaning against the wall. 

“It’s all Marlene’s fault you know, she was supposed to be watching the map,” Mary scoffed.

“I heard that” Marlene’s muffled voice came from the door. 

“Good,” Mary scoffed.

Within seconds of Mary replying, Marlene wrenched the door open, her eyes blazing. “ I was the one doing the charm the whole fucking time Mary. You’re the one who suddenly decided you wanted to try the charm and told me to watch the map while I was already doing something . You were supposed to be watching the map last night, not me.”

“I told you to watch it for one second and you fucking couldn’t?” Mary sneered. These two always knew how to rile each other up, and it always worked. Marlene immediately stormed out of the bathroom and made her way over to Mary. Before the yelling could start, Lily slipped into the now-open bathroom and locked the door. 

Breakfast was going to be fun.

***

Instead of sitting next to each other like they usually did, Marlene and Mary sat on opposite sides of the table, throwing each other glares every once in a while. They ate in silence until the arrival of Pandora, which took at least 5 minutes. Pandora immediately raised her eyebrows when she locked eyes with Lily after observing the other two girls. Lily only shook her head. 

“So, what happened last night?” Pandora asked, plopping down next to Mary. 

“Well, fucking Marlene-” 

Lily groaned and slammed her head on the table. Mary immediately shut her mouth. Marlene scoffed and dropped her spoon onto the table.

“No matter whose fault it was, even though it wasn’t mine , we both have to clean up all the vines and shit instead of going to Hogsmeade,” Marlene set her mouth into a straight line. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Pandora frowned, glancing between the two girls. 

“I was supposed to hang out with Dorcas today, but no,” Marlene glared at Mary before picking her spoon back up and continuing to push her food around the plate. 

“All of Hogwarts has been spared from being subjected to the sight of you two snogging,” Mary mumbled, returning Marlene's glare. As suspected, Marlene immediately shot up and went to lunge over the table, Lily having to hold her back. 

Right at that moment, the boys appeared in their spots.

“Ooh cat fight,” Sirius smirked.

“Shut it black,” Mary and Marlene yelled back immediately. Lily made eye contact with James as he went to sit. He smiled sheepishly at her before turning to address Marlene.

“Marlene sit down before one of the professors gets involved. Do you really want to have detention on top of everything you have to do today?” 

Marlene shot her gaze over to James, eyes blazing again like they were in the dorm. Thankfully, what James said worked and she shook herself from Lily’s hold and sat down.

“I wouldn’t have things to do today if it wasn’t for you Potter, you used to be fun,” Marlene mumbled.

James rolled his eyes at her.

Peter glanced over at the two girls from his spot next to James, he opened his mouth to ask why they were fighting but James cut him off quickly.

“Don’t. Trust me,” James sighed, finally plopping down into his seat. Silence engulfed the group as they all began to eat again. Silence was a lot better than bickering between Mary and Marlene so Lily had no complaints. 

“Well me and Pandora are going to go,” Lily glanced at Pandora once she finished eating, “Can you four watch them and make sure they don’t kill each other?”

All of them nodded their heads and scooted over as soon as Lily and Pandora took their leave. The two girls walked out of the great hall together and into the halls, catching sight of the few hallways that were covered in vines on the upper floors. Lily had been too busy trying to keep Mary and Marlene calm to notice if any of the students were talking about it during mealtime. More than likely though, if they weren’t talking about it right now, after breakfast they definitely would catch sight of the halls and start talking about it. 

“So who are you going to go to Hogsmeade with if Mary and Marlene can’t go?” Pandora questioned, swinging her arms along as she walked. Lily almost stopped dead in her tracks. How had she not realized that she would be going alone? 

“I’m not entirely sure now that you mention it,” Lily replied.

“You can hang out with me and my friends then,” Pandora turned and smiled at her. 

Lily hesitated for a second before nodding her head. Pandora's smile grew before she skipped off to the Ravenclaw common room, leaving Lily standing in the hallway. This would be fun.

***

Lily could already smell the scent of chocolate wafting through the air as they got closer to Hogsmeade. Pandora had brought it upon herself to link arms with Lily the entire way there, skipping down the path and gently tugging the other girl along. Lily wasn’t sure how to feel about this. 

Up ahead, she watched Dorcas and Regulus wrangle Evan and Barty, nudging them toward the three broomsticks. 

“We’ll meet up with them soon,” Pandora hummed, turning Lily in the opposite direction, “I’d quite like to go to Honeydukes first.”

Lily nodded her head like she had any kind of choice. Pandora was in control at the moment.

They followed the large crowd of students into the candy shop, squeezing in and getting packed in tight like sardines. Too many Hogwarts students came to Honedukes on Hogsmeade weekends.

Pandora weaved the two of them in between students to go to the back of the store, throwing out loads of apologies on the way.

“Perfect,” Pandora chirped, tugging Lily into a more spacious area and unlinking their arms. Lily immediately placed her hands in her coat pockets and watched Pandora pluck a box off the shelf.

“Absolutely not,” Lily gagged. Pandora had picked up Bertie Botts' every flavor beans. Every kid in the wizarding world knew about them, but not many of the kids ever bought them. This was proven by the shelves being lined with tons of pristine unopened boxes.

“They're awful Pandora,” Lily shook her head in disgust. Pandora smirked and snatched a few more boxes. Lily watched her grab a few more sweets stored in the same section. They all looked like rather odd sweets to Lily, some she had never even seen before. Once Pandora's arms were piled with the weird-flavored sweets, the girl shuffled over to the counter to pay. For how crowded the shop was, they were in and out fairly quickly. 

“Alright, off to the Three Broomsticks,” Pandora smiled, discarding her new sweets into Lily’s bag with the extension charm that still hadn’t been returned to her.

The walk to the Three Broomstick was rather peaceful. No words were exchanged between the two of them. They walked with interlocked arms.

Opening the door, Lily didn’t even have to take a glance around the pub to be able to find Pandora's friends, she could already hear the ruckus being made by Evan and Barty. Pandora led them over there and sat down next to the two boys, leaving Lily to sit next to the calmer two. 

“Well well, if it isn’t the Lily Evans,” Barty smirked, taking a swig of his drink which Lily immediately knew wasn’t butterbeer.

“For fucks sake,” Pandora groaned, snatching his mug away and standing up to walk over to the bar. Barty immediately started to pout, and Evan quickly comforted him. 

“Why would you two let him drink,” Pandora rolled her eyes, coming back within a matter of seconds and pushing a giant mug of water to Barty. 

Regulus put his hands up, pleading innocence, “It’s not my fault the pros outweigh the cons.”

“In my defense, I didn’t let Evan have any,” Dorcas smiled, batting her eyes at the girl. 

Pandora waved them off and started drinking her butterbeer, sliding it over to Lily right after. For a split second, Lily felt everyone’s eyes on her before they snapped away and started on a new topic. 

Everyone carried on a conversation whilst Lily cradled the mug of butterbeer. She had no real interest in whatever the group was talking about. Her real worry was James. James Potter who she had sorely underestimated. It felt like someone was breathing down her neck now anytime she looked or even thought about the map. 

It was even worse that she could ever so faintly hear the booming laughter coming from the boys across the pub. Lily felt on edge every time she heard as little as a cough come from their table.

“Speaking of, where is Marlene?” Dorcas asked.

This time all eyes locked and stayed on Lily. 

“Hm?”

“Marlene?”

“Ah.”

Marlene's ego was about to take a massive hit.

“She’s stuck at the school. She and Mary got caught last night while trying to pull a prank. No Hogsmeade for them.” Lily shrugged. Barty and Evan immediately burst into a fit of giggles

“And she said she was slick,” Dorcas chuckled.

“Yeah, it was mostly out of her control though. Sorry you two couldn’t hang out today because of that,” Lily smiled softly, trying to convey how sorry she was. 

Lily knew that both girls were very busy and never really had time to see each other. So, Hogsmeade had been something Marlene was ecstatic about.

“Eh, it’s fine. She’ll come find me later.”

“Oh?” Evan perked up, waggling his eyebrows.

Pandora smacked him up the back of the head, immediately scolding him. Lily’s jaw dropped. She had never seen Pandora act this way. When Evan was around, Pandora acted more freely. This however was bad news for Lily. The girl could feel her pale skin burning up and changing color.

“Oi! That shit hurts you know.” Evan grumbled. 

Barty immediately leaned over and kissed him, mumbling something about making it better.

“It’s fucking disgusting,” Regulus sneered, shooting his hands out in front of him to block the view. This egged the two on even more, who were outright snogging at this point. Lily could tell by now that Evan had also had something to drink, he just hid it way better than the other boy. 

“Your one to talk,” Dorcas giggled, taking a swig out of Lily’s drink. Everyone stopped what they were doing. 

“What?!” was shouted in unison. A few tables turned to look at them, including the table housing the marauders 

“Dorcas, have I ever told you I hate you,” Regulus mumbled, running his fingers down his face.

“Everyday.”

Regulus immediately began to usher everyone out of their seats, ignoring all protests and questions. Lily watched him flick Dorcas off and storm out of the pub. 

“Is all of the Black family dramatic?” Dorcas scoffed, taking her seat back.

“Yes,” Lily sighed.

Right after the door slammed, Lily and Dorcas watched James excuse himself from the table and discreetly make his way after Regulus.

“Huh,” Lily voiced.

“Huh indeed,” Dorcas smirked. 

***

“How exactly is it that your friends are always riling each other up?” Lily grunted, heaving Evan up as he started to slip. 

“Not so sure,” Pandora pondered, pushing harder into Evans' side to wedge him between both of them. Dorcas was left dealing with Barty alone, who had brought it upon himself to try and touch her face instead of walking back to the castle. 

“It’s a Slytherin thing I think,” Pandora settled on.

“Dora my legs hurt,” Evan pouted, hanging his head low as he dragged his feet along.

“Too fucking bad. Keep walking.”

Lily held back a chuckle as Evan groaned and continued walking. 

“Mary and Marlene always rile each other up too though,” Pandora noted.

 “More like they fight like siblings.”

“Mm,” Pandora hummed in agreement.

The five of them walked back to the castle, making sure to avoid any of the professors still scattered around the grounds. 

The three Slytherins were discarded at their common room first, Regulus finally reappearing to help get Evan and Barty into their dorms without a fuss.

“So, did you enjoy yourself today?” Pandora asked as the two girls got closer to the Ravenclaw common room.

“Yeah. Yeah, I did,” Lily smiled.

“I’m glad,” Pandora smiled back, giving a quick wave and slipping into the common room.

Lily’s smile was on her face the whole way back to the common room.

Today was amazing.

Chapter Text

“Mary, stop glaring at Marlene.”

“She fucking started it.”

Lily sighed and rubbed her hands over her face, Remus shared the same exasperated look that she knew she was sporting on her face. All morning, the two girls had been glaring at each other, bickering if they were close enough. Remus and Lily had wrangled Mary over to their table, the other 3 boys wrangling Marlene to theirs. All of them decided it was best to keep them apart right now. Especially after they shared that they had detention all week.

“Come on then,” Lily began sliding her work over to Mary’s spot.

“What?” Mary asked, breaking her staring contest with Marlene.

“We’re switching spots.”

Mary opened her mouth immediately to retort but Lily was quick to stop her.

“You can glare at her during your full week of detention Mary, I don't want to deal with it.”

The two girls switched spots, Lily now facing Marlene who suddenly was no longer glaring. 

Perfect. 

All of the Gryffindor 7th years had been huddled up in the library since breakfast. Any studying had been put off until today so they could spend all day in Hogsmeade. Lily, Remus, and James were the only ones taking their studying seriously though. Mary was at least staying quiet, unlike the other table. Lily was finishing up her DADA essay by the time James migrated to their table. 

“Can’t focus over there James?” Remus chuckled, thumbing through one of his textbooks.

“Sadly,” James smiled weakly. His hair was even messier than usual. 

Lily wasn’t the only one getting torn to pieces by head girl duties. James and his head boy duties were not doing any better. He also had quidditch on top of all of it. Lily has no idea how he spends most days looking put together and looking completely stress-free. She could feel her stress coated around her like smog. Once she had gotten to the library this morning and made a to-do list, she realized how badly off she was. The last time she had done homework was Friday morning, and even then it was very minimal. 

She still had assignments from 3 of her classes by the time lunch rolled around. Remus and James were still deep into studying by then too. Lily had been so entrenched in her homework that she barely registered why the library had gone silent. She assumed that maybe Sirius and Marlene had run out of things to talk about. The appearance of a feast on the other table said otherwise and caught her attention, pulling her back to reality. 

“We got enough for you guys,” Marlene grinned, grabbing a chicken leg to munch on. 

Remus paused his studies immediately at the sight of food, levitating half of the food over to their table. Lily conjured a plate and grabbed a few things before Remus went to town, the rest of the table following suit. 

“So what all do you have to do Lily?” Mary asked, shutting one of her textbooks and shoving it to the side. The girl seemed to be done with homework for the time being.

“Everything but DADA,” Lily paused to shove a spoonful of beans into her mouth, “So, Alchemy, Arithmancy, and Potions.”

“Yuck,” Mary grimaced. 

“Putrid,” James added. 

Lily rolled her eyes. They weren’t entirely wrong, but she could be way worse off. And anyway, the two of them only had 3 NEWTs, they barely were doing much homework these days. Homework for 4 classes was appalling to them. 

After scarfing her food down as Remus does, Lily pulled out the rest of her homework and focused. Preferably, she wanted to get all of her homework done today, but if that couldn’t happen then she needed Arithmancy and Alchemy done. 

She bent over and got to work, scribbling out a few equations for Arithmancy. For some god-awful reason, her professor gave them loads of homework this weekend. This was the longest homework she had gotten for this class all year. They were also assigned an essay. 

Pushing her thoughts off to the side, Lily opened her textbook.

She had 9 hours.

That should be enough.

***

There was no way it was enough. Lily was barely halfway through Alchemy when half of their group wandered off to dinner, deciding they were done for the night. 

Lily, Remus, and James were the only ones remaining, having gotten more stressed as each hour ticked by. Remus’ somewhat laidback aura was snapped in half. James’ hair got even messier. Lily knew she didn’t look any better. The nails she had been growing out were all gone. 

Her Alchemy homework wasn’t making it any better. She had her homework finished but she still had to teach herself some of the new things. At a glance, the new topic looked to be more difficult than the new ones usually were. 

Lily was on the verge of giving up, her energy was drained, and doing all of this homework tomorrow seemed like the best idea. The sound of the library door opening and a familiar voice flooding the space made her mood do a 180. 

The group sauntered to the back and stopped at the sight of the 3 gryffindors. 

“Bloody hell you lot look fucking terrible,” Dorcas chuckled, taking in the scene before her. 

Remus and James glanced up, finally noticing the group. 

“Reggie!” James beamed up, his mood changing immediately just as Lily’s had. Regulus looked down at James with his arms crossed, a smile tugging at his lips. 

Dorcas took the seat next to Remus, scooting closer to look at his homework. Lily observed the two of them, watching them banter back and forth. James was doing the same until Regulus grabbed the arm of his shirt and tugged him up, leading him to the shelves. This open spot allowed the last person to sit down. Pandora took the seat next to Lily and smiled. Lily immediately felt her lips upturn. 

“What are you doing?” Pandora tucked a loose curl behind her ear, tilting her head to the side to glance at Lily’s paper. Lily forgot to respond, too busy watching Pandora bite and play with her lips while reading. Pandora glanced up after a moment of silence. She caught Lily’s eye and smiled softly at her. Lily thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest. 

Pandora’s hair right now looked absolutely angelic. Her curls were delicate and pulled up into a loose bun. The strands that had fallen out framed her face so nicely. There were hairpins littered throughout as well, shimmering when the light hit them just right. And don’t even get her started on how Pandora’s lips look. 

“Is it Alchemy then?” Pandora asked, amusement bleeding into her features.

“Mm?” Lily snapped out of her trance, her pale skin tinting easily from embarrassment.

“The assignment,” Pandora reached her hand out and tapped the paper, showing off all of the bangles and rings covering her arms and hands. It took all of Lily’s self-control to stay on task. 

“Uh yeah, it’s just reading though. I’ve got to teach myself some new stuff.”

Pandora hummed in acknowledgment, running her fingers over her lips before leaning back in the chair and observing Lily. 

Lily tried to focus back on her work, she really did, but how was she supposed to focus when Pandora was staring at her the way she was? Her gaze was extremely distracting. Lily felt like Pandora was breaking her open and staring into her soul, trying to figure her out. 

“Dora,” Dorcas snapped her fingers at the blonde. Pandora let her gaze linger on Lily for a second before slowly turning her head and then eyes to Dorcas.

“Let the girl study in peace. Stop staring at her so intently yeah?”

Remus reached into his bag and grabbed a book out, sliding it across the table to Pandora. The girl threw Remus a smile before picking up the book and flipping through the pages. Dorcas and Remus fell back into their chatter for a minute until Dorcas addressed the group again. 

“Where’s Regulus?” Dorcas asked. 

Lily saw Remus and Pandora make eye contact for a split second before looking back at their work. She glanced between the two of them before answering.

“I’m pretty sure he pulled James off into the shelves.”

“What?” Dorcas’ face split into a grin.

“Homework Dorcas, Homework ,” Pandora chided.

Dorcas threw her hands up in mock offense, the smirk not even close to fading. 

Within seconds everyone went back to their work, dropping the subject. Now that Pandora was silently reading, Lily had an easier time doing her work. Every once in a while, she’d glance up and watch the other girl. She looked so good that Lily couldn’t help but sneak a glance.

James and Regulus showed back up when Lily had a few pages of reading left. At this point, Lily only wanted to finish her Alchemy. She had Monday and Tuesday night to do Potions. 

Dorcas and Remus willingly gave up their seats to the two boys and threw out a pathetic excuse. They headed off and told everyone they’d be back. James went back to doing his homework, looking the slightest bit flustered. Regulus and Pandora scooted their chairs together and whispered to each other. 

Lily finally had time to finish her reading. When she got to the final page she was reading extremely fast, scrawling out the last of her notes. Lily sighed out of relief when she read the last word, allowing herself to slump forward on the desk. It was so comfortable. Her hand was cramped up and it felt like if she moved it one more inch it would fall right off. 

“You finally done Lily?” Regulus asked.

Lily groaned in response, not being able to do much else right now. Pandora giggled, scooting her chair over a little to run her hand through Lily’s hair. The girl felt the start of a shiver building up in her spine. Thankfully, Pandora removed her hands before Lily lost her mind. 

Lily quietly breathed against the table, listening to the scratching of James’ quill against the parchment. He was still flipping through textbooks and asking the occasional question from the two 6th years. Regulus was the one who answered most of his questions, Pandora remaining mostly silent. 

Dorcas and Remus’ entrance was marked by the falling of books onto the ground. By now it had to be 9 pm, meaning they had to leave soon. It also meant that Dorcas and Remus shouldn’t have eyes so bloodshot. Lily glanced up as Remus stumbled around to pick up the books, Dorcas standing off to the side giggling at him.

“Are you two fucking high?” Regulus deadpanned

This only set the two off into even more giggling. Lily had not heard Remus giggle so much since 4th year. It was an interesting sound with his voice so deep now. Regulus turned to Pandora, arching his eyebrow at her.

“It’s not my fault if Dorcas snooped around my room,” she shrugged. 

“It’s your weed?” Lily gaped. Pandora turned to look at her. Lily’s words died on her tongue. 

“Maybe,” Pandora smirked. 

Lily nodded her head and shoved her textbook into her bag. It was honestly embarrassing how flustered she was getting over Pandora just looking at her today. Pandora needs to start wearing her hair down. Maybe just chop it all off. 

“Let’s get back to the common rooms before Pince kicks us out.”

James glanced up and nodded his head, following Lily in packing up. Regulus and Pandora packed up for Remus, seeing as he could barely walk a few steps without bursting into a giggle fit. Lily isn’t sure how much they smoked but it was way too much.

The group trudged through the halls, shushing Dorcas and Remus when they got too rowdy. Lily wasn’t sure when the two of them got this close. Matter of fact, Lily wasn’t sure when Remus had gotten so close to any of the Slytherins. Anytime they ran into the group, Remus was always so comfortable with them. Comfortable enough to get high with them too. 

Lily waved goodbye to Pandora as they split off. The girl raised her hand slightly to wave back, the bangles jangling as they always did. Lily felt her stomach flutter. What was with her tonight?

By the time they made it back to the common room, Remus was mostly quiet. Sirius took him from Lily and James as soon as they entered, cooing at the boy while he giggled. James slipped away before Lily got a chance to speak with him. 

She made her way to the stairs and slowly walked up them. During her ascend, she heard a growing bickering sound from her room. Of course, Mary and Marlene had been left alone. She hovered her hand over the door knob, listening to the bickering between the two girls.

God, she would never forgive James for not just letting them go. 

This week would be hell.

Chapter Text

Lily sat down in the empty spot by Pandora at the Gryffindor table. Mary and Marlene were officially willing to sit next to each other. The other two girls relished finally not having to stop bickering or lunging during meals. 

After last night, the two girls were on better terms. Lily had walked in on the nastiest fight she had seen between them ever, if not in years. She had stopped them immediately, putting space between them before things got even more ugly. The amount of anger and passion radiating off of them was concerning. Lily wasn’t sure why they were getting this heated over detention. Marlene had missed Hogsmeade with Dorcas, but they still had a few more times to go so there was no way that was it. When Lily had confronted the two girls about it and tried to get answers out of them they had insisted it was just about the prank and detention. Either way, Lily was over the tense atmosphere and told them to sort it out before she started digging. 

Thankfully, their little talk worked out. It would take a while for the two of them to get back on good terms, but it wouldn’t be the first time. No matter what, Lily was glad the vibes at the end of the Gryffindor table were back to normal. 

“Dynamic duo back together eh?” James smiled, the rest of the boys clattering down in their seats after him. 

“You know it,” Marlene smirked.

Instead of sitting next to each other like they usually did, Sirius and Remus sat on opposite sides, barely sparing the other a glance. There goes the normality. 

Lily nudged Remus’ shoulder, arching her eyebrow and nodding her head toward Sirius. The boy only shook his head and went back to filling his plate. She wasn’t likely to get much information out of him today, she’d have to wait until DADA tomorrow morning. The two boys were known for blowing up at each other every once in a while though, so Lily wasn’t too surprised they were fighting.

“So Pandora,” Sirius drawled, pushing his food around, “how’s Reg? Haven’t talked to the git in a minute.” 

“Hm,” Pandora pondered, glancing around the Great Hall before answering the boy. “He's doing good, I think he might be sneaking off to see someone in secret.”

Everyone perked up at this. Remus and Pandora made eye contact for a quick second before ceasing it just as quickly. James began to choke on his food, Peter leaning over to slam on his back.

“Really?!” Sirius gaped. The boy dropped his fork and leaned forward with wide eyes. 

“Maybe so,” Pandora smirked, revealing no more.

Peter finally helped dislodge the piece of sausage from James’ throat, who now looked extremely worried at the conversation topic.

“Well, I mean do you know who it is?” Sirius sputtered. Pandora shook her head. Since her smirk was still covering her face, Sirius immediately called bullshit. 

“Oh you fucking know. You can’t just say that and not tell me who it is!”

“Mm but I can.”

“Such a Slytherin.”

“Ravenclaw,” Pandora corrected, smiling as she pushed a few strawberries onto Lily’s plate.

Sirius continued to glare at her, seeing he was getting nowhere with this. 

“Well I think it’s time to go,” James clapped his hands together abruptly after scarfing down the rest of the food on his plate in record time. He grabbed a hold of Sirius’ arm and tugged him up. Peter excused himself as well, chuckling as he followed them out. Sirius was attempting to fight James’ grip but it was no use, they were out and into the halls in no time. 

“Well?” Marlene asked.

“Well what?” Pandora responded, returning to her usual calm self. Remus snickered as Mary and Marlene gaped at her. 

“Wait, Pandora you have to tell us,” Mary pleaded, dropping her utensils and pushing her hands together. Marlene nodded her head vigorously in agreement. 

Pandora glanced at the two girls and then to Remus. “I would but I fear it’s time for us to go to class,” Pandora sighed, her smirk returning only slightly. Mary’s jaw dropped further.

“What!”

Marlene turned to her and smirked, sticking her tongue out in victory as she grabbed her satchel. Mary reached out and swatted her arm.

“Tough luck Macdonald,” Marlene teased, following Pandora and Remus out.

“This is bullshit!” Mary shrilled. She whipped to face Lily, eyes wild. “Can you believe this?”

Lily shook her head; “If Marlene finds out before us I’m rioting.”

***

Hestia Jones was the most annoying person Lily had ever met. This girl was talking her ear off. Maybe calling her annoying wasn’t very nice, but Lily was in no mood for this shit.

For some reason, their Arithmancy professor assigned partners for today's assignment. Now she was sitting next to Hestia, who couldn’t give a damn about their assignment let alone the subject. The girl was talking while painting her nails, not giving the assignment a second glance. The worst part was that the professor was very strict about both parties having to participate, meaning Lily couldn’t just do all the work. The man had eyes everywhere .

“Hestia, could you help me with this problem?” Lily asked politely, trying to allow her to jump in and do her work. The girl glanced up, ceasing chatter for a second.

“You don’t want to just do it all yourself?”

Lily could just grab her by that stupid blue tie and tell her off. Sadly, there would be no benefit.

“We can’t. You know how he is.”

The girl sighed exaggeratedly, twisting the lid back on the bottle and carefully pulling her wand out of her pocket. She cast a drying charm and shook her hands out before grabbing the spare quill.  

Throughout the entire assignment, the girl asked Lily how to do every little thing. She was asking about things they learned in 5th year. The most annoying part was that Lily knew the girl was smart. Most times when their assignments or tests were returned, she was one of the people who did the best. The girl knew what she was doing; she just really didn’t want to do it. 

Lily watched as the girl slowly scribbled out her work, taking breaks to doodle across the parchment. When Lily finally got her hands back on the parchment she almost burnt it to a crisp. Half of it was fucking wrong. 

“Hestia.”

The girl had pulled the nail polish back out; “Mm?”

“Half of this is wrong.”

“Really? Sorry about that.”

Lily stared at her as she continued to tend to her nails.

“Are you going to fix it then?”

Hestia took a pause, seemingly deciding if she was going to do her work. 

Lily pinched the bridge of her nose. “How about this? I’ll paint the nails on one of your hands if you fix the work. Does that work for you?”

Hestia immediately perked up, a grin taking over her face. “Cheers!”

Lily tried not to scoff as she picked up the lid and gently grabbed the girl's hand. What the fuck had her studies come to? Hestia hummed happily as she quickly fixed the work and basically got a free manicure. Lily made sure to be careful and paint as delicately as possible. The last thing she needed was Hestia complaining about nail polish being on her skin. 

This time it only took about 5 minutes for Hestia to finish the problems. Suddenly she was a fucking genius who knew how to do all of it and didn’t need any help. 

“All done!” The girl smiled cheerily, dropping her quill. She turned to watch Lily paint the last nail on her hand. “You’re really good at this.”

Lily attempted a small smile as she twisted the lid back on and quickly dried Hestias nails. 

“Mary will do that to you.”

Hestia smiled before going back to painting her nails and gossiping. 

At least the work was done. 

***

Mary dumped her stuff on the table, taking extra care not to mess with any of Lily’s things that were already spread out. The two girls decided to spend the night at the library doing their potions assignment. Neither of them had started it and the assignment was to write an essay about a potion they were going to be making soon. Looking at the recipe, Lily had a bad feeling.

“So, how was class today?” Mary asked, sorting through her textbooks.

“Alchemy was fine. Arithmancy however, I thought about death.”

Mary chuckled a little while prying open her textbook.

“What happened then?”

“Hestia fucking Jones.”

Mary’s chuckles turned in to full blown laughter. The girl almost missed her seat when trying to sit because she was laughing so hard. Lily glared at her until she calmed down.

“She’s not that bad, Lils.”

“Oh but she is. I had to paint her nails just to get her to do the work.”

“Girls got her priorities.”

Lily rolled her eyes. Of course that was Mary’s response. 

The two girls got a good start on their essays before they spoke up again. This essay was already looking like it was going to take some time, so they allowed themselves a small break.

“How was your day?” Lily asked, twirling one of her strands of hair.

“Fantastic. Having Mondays off is an absolute blessing.”

“I bet it is.”

Mary popped the piece of gum she was chewing on, blowing a large bubble soon after. The girl twirled her quill around while Lily started back up on the essay. There really was no time for breaks, Lily just wanted this essay over and done with. 

“Oh also, Marlene was told nothing. Apparently Pandora still wouldn’t budge.”

“Thank fuck, Marlene would have bragged until the end of time.”

Mary nodded her head, giggling fondly. 

The girl eventually got back to work, getting bored in the silence. The two of them scribbled away, finally getting in the groove. Lily was able to write quickly for the first time today. It definitely wasn’t quick enough though, she would only be able to finish the potions assignment tonight. Her alchemy homeowork would have to be left for wednesday morning. 

They swapped essays and read them over for each other, scribbling eraseable small notes on the side. With the small critiques getting fixed hastily, they were able to get out of the library by 9:30 pm. The girls collected their things and headed out.

“So do you have any idea who it could be?” Mary asked, breaking the silence. 

Their shoes clicked against the floor, echoing throughout the eerily empty halls. The dark of night engulfed the castle, making it feel a bit more calm. 

“I’m not really sure. It’s probably not a Slytherin though.”

“I agree. Why else would he be sneaking around?”

Lily nodded her head and shrugged her tote higher up on her shoulder. The two girls walked the rest of the way in silence, pondering about what mysterious boy Regulus could be sneaking off with. They entered the common room to the boys laying all about the couch. 

“Lily!” Sirius cheered, staring at her from his upside down state. Remus was sat on the opposite couch, nose stuck in a book with James reading over his shoulder. 

“Hey Sirius.”

Lily took the spot next to him and sighed. 

“Bad day eh?” Sirius smirked.

“Yeah. Fucking Hestia.”

“Hey! Don’t bad mouth Hestia. She’s my favorite Ravenclaw.”

Lily arched her eyebrow, extremely unimpressed. She had never seen the two interact.

“What can I say, she always has the most interesting gossip.”

Mary burst back into giggles. Leave it to Sirius and Mary to side with Hestia. Lily tuned the two of them out, laying her head ont he back of the couch. The only thing she could think about was how chaotic the rest of the week would be; she was already behind on her homework.

The one wish she had was that none of her other teachers would force her todo any more work with the idiots in her classes. It would honestly be her last straw. 

Lily slowly drifted off to the sound of hushed whispering and giggling, thinking about all the things she had to do this week. 

She was not excited on bit.

Chapter Text

All Lily needed to hear was the wince from Remus to know she looked horrible. This morning she had woken up on the common room couch, way past when she usually does, and had to rush to get ready. Why no one woke her or moved her upstairs was a fucking mystery.

“You look dashing.”

“Why thank you, Remus,” she deadpanned, dropping her things onto the table and slumping into her chair.

Remus smiled guiltily and gave her head a small pat. “If it makes you feel any better, I fell asleep downstairs too.”

Lily huffed, blowing a few strands of her hair out of her face and crossing her arms.

“It’s fine. Now, will you tell me what happened with you and Sirius?” she asked, suddenly remembering the previous breakfast. 

“Ah. It’s nothing.”

Lily glanced at him unimpressed. The boy rubbed the back of his neck before finally giving in.  

“It’s about me wandering off.”

“Wandering off?”

“Yeah sometimes I sneak off to… places.”

“No wonder he’s pissed off, with you being so vague and all,” Lily scoffed. Remus rolled his eyes and stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking up again.

“We also argued again yesterday, about Regulus.”

“You two really had a row about his brother?”

“Yeah.”

Lily sat there trying to think of why. It felt so random. Sirius and Regulus weren’t that close even now that they were talking again. What would make the two of them fight about Regulus? And then it hit her.

“Oh my god, you know .”

“Know what?”

“Who it is.”

Remus stared at her, licking his lips. “Lily, I'm gonna need a little more than that.”

“Don’t play dumb Remus.”

He smiled guiltily at her for the second time today, squirming under her gaze as their professor strode into the room, silencing everyone.

Lily sighed while their professor began to drone on about today's lesson. They wrote their notes together, dropping the subject until they finally got a break from the monotone voice of their teacher.

“So how’d he know?” Lily asked, leaning her head against her hand while she scribbled on her parchment, starting the assignment their professor so kindly assigned.

“I honestly have no idea, he just got snippy again and we ended up arguing in the dorm. I think the pent up energy from our previous row just encouraged him even more. James and Peter were somewhat roped in too, they looked absolutely terrified.” 

“And you couldn’t just tell him who?”

“It’s not that easy.”

Lily shook her head while dipping her quill back into the pot of ink. She could only imagine the two boys having a screaming match in the middle of their dorm. Lily had never seen one of their rows in person, but from what Peter said they could get really really bad. “Who else knows then?”

“Dorcas and,” the boy paused his writing to glance up at her, nervousness seeping back into his aura.

“And?”

“Uh, Pandora.”

Lily’s head shot up. She would say she was surprised, but honestly, there was no reason to be. Pandora and Regulus were extremely close, of course Regulus would’ve told her. Regulus telling Dorcas and Remus though made a little less sense.

“How’d you and Dorcas find out?”

Remus smirked; “Right place right time.”

Lily couldn’t help but chuckle. Of course they caught them. “If Marlene knew Dorcas knows she’d lose her fucking shit.”

“Absolutely,” he paused for a second, “Do you not want to know?”

Lily shrugged, going back to her writing, “I mean I do, but I doubt you’ll tell me since you got in a row with Sirius about it and I also just know Pandora will keep her lips sealed when it’s about Regulus.”

Remus tilted his head to the side in thought before nodding. He knew she was right.

“Touché.”

“Touché is right.”

***

Pandora walked into the classroom with her usual curls in neat plaits, flowing gracefully behind her back. Her bangs and stray hairs curled and framed her face perfectly like they always did. Lily felt her stomach flutter just as it had done on Sunday, but she didn’t have the energy to try and figure out why.

The girl cupped her skirt and sat down next to Lily, smiling fondly at the girl. Lily wasn’t sure how she never truly noticed that Pandora was always wearing flowy skirts with her uniform. It also occurred to her that the girl never got in trouble for it. The mysteries of Pandora Rosier.

“Do you like them?” Pandora motioned to her hair. Lily smiled back, reaching over to run her hand over the perfect braid.

“Of course.”

Satisfied with the response, Pandora pushed them behind her back and started to get her things out. 

“Dorcas did them for me this morning.”

“Well, they look lovely.”

They settled into a comfortable silence while their professor droned on for what felt like the millionth time. In previous years, Lily remembered classes being much more hands-on, her memories full of casting spells and late-night class trips to look at the stars. Nowadays, the only thing Lily remembered was the monotone voices of mostly old men and pages upon pages of notes.

For some glorious reason though, today their professor decided he wanted to do a little more than talk. Lily watched him cast a charm that turned the ceiling into the night sky, similar to what they did in the Great Hall. He continued to go on, but now he was pointing out what he was talking about. Even though it was only a charm, the stars shone down on them, making the classroom feel calm. 

“What’s your favorite color?”

Lily stopped her writing and turned to look at the girl next to her. Pandora was lying down on the table and looking up at her through her eyelashes. For a small moment, Lily felt like something was squeezing her heart, but it went away quickly.

“My favorite color?”

“Yeah.”

“Sage green I suppose.”

Pandora hummed in acknowledgment and Lily thought that was that. She slowly continued her writing again, getting back into a rhythm.

“You have a sister don’t you?”

Lily carefully set her quill down and turned back to the girl. She hadn’t moved an inch, still staring at Lily with curious eyes.

“Yeah.”

They stared at each other.

“Older or younger?”

“Older. Her name’s Petunia.” Lily supplied. 

The light from the stars illuminated every part of Pandora. Her hair shined bright just like the stars above them. Lily wanted to reach out and touch it again. 

“Do you two get along?”

“Used to. Not much anymore though.”   

Lily officially tuned out their professor, solely focusing her attention on the girl in front of her.

“And you?”

Pandora raised an eyebrow and sat back up, leaning her head on her hand now.

“It’s just me and Evan. We get along pretty well.”

Lily paused, deciding how much she should ask.

“Do you two have any…. responsibilities?”

Pandora giggled, keeping her eyes fixed on Lily, “A bit yeah. Well, mostly Evan since he’s the heir. My parents gave up on me a long time ago so I'm free to do whatever.”

When a small bout of silence took over them, Pandora kept her gaze on Lily, not wavering for a second. The girl wasn’t sure what to do about this, the longer Pandora stared the more nervous she got. Why was she staring? Was something on her face?

“What’s your favorite color?” Lily croaked, gulping as she glanced away and picked up her quill just to mess with something. 

“Hm. Emerald green.”

Lily glanced back and Pandora was staring straight into her eyes. Merlin, what was her angle? She had to clear her throat before responding just to make sure her voice didn’t betray her and crack.

“That’s nice,” Lily attempted a smile but failed, her flustered state getting the best of her. “So Regulus,” she supplied, trying anything to get the subject off of herself. 

“Mm, what about him?”

“His secret rendezvouses.”

“Ah can’t tell you about that, sorry love.”

Lily felt a blush creep up her neck at the nickname. Honestly, what was this girl getting at?!

“Well, I think I might know who it is,” Lily said, deciding she was going to try and get the information out of the other girl. At least it would keep her distracted. 

“Who?”

“James.”

“Nope.

Pandora had answered so quickly and with such confidence that Lily took pause. It was Lily now who was flitting her eyes across the other girl's face. How could it not be James? Regulus liked him, she knew that for certain. So unless Regulus was sneaking off for a meaningless shag with someone, it had to be James. And yet there was not one thing that Lily could pick out about Pandora's expression that would say she was lying.

“Really?”

“Yup.”

Lily hummed in acknowledgment and furrowed her brow, biting the end of the quill. Pandora finally fully sat up, reaching upwards toward the stars to stretch. Their professor had now charmed lines to make the constellations. Pandora pointed up at one of the ones straight over their heads, using the same finger she had in the astronomy tower.

“That one’s Lupus, reminds me of Remus.”

Lily stared up at it, “Is astronomy your favorite subject then? It feels like you know every star and constellation.”

Pandora smiled and leaned back in her chair, “Yeah you could say that. It’s so beautiful to have so many stories held in just one star or one pattern. I used to sit outside my house every night when I was little and memorize any star or constellation that shined in the sky. Evan would laugh at the textbook I lugged outside with me. He was just too dense to understand. Still is.”

“That’s so cute,” Lily smiled, glancing back down to look at Pandora.

“Our nanny didn’t think so. She hated having to stand outside and watch me.”

“Well, she sounds like a right bitch.” 

Lily gasped at her own words, covering her mouth instantly. Pandora only laughed, head leaning back and eyes crinkling at the edges. 

“She wasn’t that bad. From what I've heard about Regulus’ or Barty’s nanny, me and Evan got lucky,” Pandora mumbled, mindlessly spinning her ring. Lily couldn’t keep her eyes off it. 

“Why does the ring have your and Evan’s name engraved in it?”

Pandora paused her spinning to slip the ring off and hold it in front of her face. She delicately ran one of her fingers over the engraving, smiling softly to herself. 

“Twins are very special in my family. My dad's a twin you know. So, when my mum had us, it was a big deal to all of them. My dad’s side has all of these traditions they do when twins are born into the family, one of them being the rings. Ever since I can remember, Evan and I have had matching rings. If both of us are wearing them, and I focus hard enough, I could find him no matter where he is. It’s very powerful magic,” Pandora dropped her hand and the ring stayed in place, levitating in the air in front of both of them. “Too bad Evan rarely wears his.”

Lily glanced over at the other girl, finally tearing her eyes off of the ring.

“Then why’d you give it to me in the astronomy tower?”

“As I said, Evan always forgets to wear it so it has no use really. You also couldn't keep your eyes off of it. Decided I would let the ring go on an adventure.”

Lily nodded her head, trying to keep the shock off her face. How could Pandora so easily give her the ring, when it had so much meaning, so much history? Lily continued to try and find the answer, watching the light hit the ring just right and make it shine. 

It only floated for a few more seconds before Pandora slipped it back on her finger, pushing it all the way down. The girl went eerily silent for a second, closing her eyes and staying still. 

“Look at that. Evan’s actually wearing it,” Pandora smiled. 

“Where is he then?” Lily asked, suddenly curious. 

“Not in class that’s for sure. He’s out at the greenhouses, likely going through my stash,” Pandora hummed, slipping her wand out of her pocket and pointing it at the ring.

“Stash?” 

Pandora murmured to herself quietly before answering, slipping her wand back into her robe pocket. “Well, where do you think Remus gets his weed from?”

“Ah, right.” Lily had forgotten.

Pandora turned to look at her and smiled. The girl opened her mouth to speak again after a second, eyebrows slightly furrowed when the classroom was flooded with light again. The moment passed and both girls looked up again to see the usual brick ceiling. 

“Looks like we missed the entire lesson,” the girl mused.

“Looks like it,” Lily sighed, leaning down on her hand and scribbling down notes again as their professor explained their assignment. She needed to stop getting distracted in class. If she kept this up, she would continue to get behind and become even more stressed. 

Why did the professor assign so much homework anyway? Yes, it was NEWT levels but so what? She wanted to have a social life or even a few minutes of relaxing. After Hogsmeade on Saturday, Lily had barely had time to breathe. Her bones were starting to ache and she felt so sluggish.

At this point, Lily wasn’t sure how much longer her alarms would do their job. She started to ponder on other ways to make sure she was woken up on time in the mornings when Pandora nudged her shoulder. 

“See you tomorrow?”

Lily realized just then that she had zoned out for the rest of the class, so focused on writing notes and whinging over all her work.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Pandora waved goodbye to her as she hopped up and skipped out of the classroom, braids swaying behind her back. 

Lily was so fucked.

***

Just 24 hours later, Lily was in the same spot as last night doing the same thing; Homework. Anytime she made a dent in her long list of things to do, she had to add more. It was starting to drive her fucking insane.

Lily groaned and dropped her head onto the table.

“You okay over there Lils?” Remus chuckled, watching her repeatedly hit her head on the table.

“No,” Lily moaned.

Peter chuckled from his spot next to Remus. Lily lifted her head to shoot a glare at him, making him hold his hands up in innocence.

“Why are you here Pete? I never see you study,” Lily mumbled, lying back down.

Peter scoffed; “I was trying to catch Marlene to help me with Ancient Runes.”

“Isn’t she in detention?” Remus asked.

Peter sighed, “Yeah, I had forgotten about that.”

“How much longer do they have?”

“Not sure.”

Lily picked her head back up and resumed her work. “They have it until Friday.”

Peter and Remus hummed and glanced at each other before Remus got the courage to speak up.

“Are you ever going to tell us why they have detention? Prongs didn’t tell us much.”

“Why don’t you ask them? I don’t have time to explain that shit, too much homework,” Lily grumbled, pressing her quill harder into the parchment.

Remus and Peter shrugged, letting her get back to her homework.

The thought of finishing her homework didn’t even give her peace, tomorrow she had to do so much Alchemy that she knew she would be tired of it by the time lunch rolled around. Slughorn had also been talking about some sort of project, so Lily had a feeling she was going to get a terrible surprise tomorrow afternoon.

The tip of her quill snapped, spilling an ink puddle on her parchment. Lily slumped over her paper again, feeling the ink wet her forehead.

This week needed to be over already.

Chapter Text

Lily was at her wits fucking end. The only coherent thought she could make at the moment was anything Alchemy-related, which made her even more frustrated. From after breakfast to right before Potions class was set to start, Lily had been working on Alchemy. Usually, she plowed through her Alchemy homework, but for some reason she had the absolute worst time trying to focus this morning. So, it took her the whole block.

All of the kids in the hallway moved to let her through, parting like the Red Sea. Lily could feel her robes fluttering behind her as she dashed through the halls. She made it to class just on time, slipping into the classroom and taking her seat next to Mary.

“Took you long enough,” Mary glanced to the side, already fully prepared for their lesson. 

“Sorry. Had a shit ton of Alchemy.”

Mary hummed, turning back to the small compact mirror she had clutched in her hand. While Lily started yanking all of her things out, Mary carefully reapplied her lip gloss, smacking her lips in satisfaction. Before snapping her mirror shut, she turned to Lily.

“You could definitely use some.”

“Oh come off it,” Lily scoffed, batting away Mary’s lip gloss as the girl attempted to swipe it across her lips. She giggled and put her things back in her makeup bag when Lily made it clear that she was not getting anywhere close to her face. 

“Seriously though Lily, are you okay? You look even more stressed than you were the other day.”

Lily grunted in response, starting to search more frantically for her potions textbook. It had been right here the other day. Where the fuck had it gone?

“Everyone else has seen it too. You seem a little more on edge recently. ”

“Have you seen my potions textbook?” Lily asked, ignoring the girl's question.

“It’s fine you can just share with me.”

Lily nodded, finally taking her seat and opening Mary’s textbook, trying to remember what potion they had been learning about.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Merlin Lily, are you doing okay?!” Mary huffed.

“Yes! Absolutely brilliant!” Lily snapped, harshly flicking pages to the side.

“You don’t sound ‘absolutely brilliant’ now do you?” Mary arched an eyebrow, darting her hand out to cover the page.

Lily sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers. “Mary, I'm fine. I’ll be fine. Just a little stressed is all.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” Lily sighed, trying to keep an exasperated tone out of her voice. Mary only meant well, even if she was nagging her like her fucking mum. 

“If you say so.”

Wordlessly, Mary reached over and quickly flipped to the right page, tapping the textbook lightly before leaning back. Lily smiled at her gratefully. The girl reached over and pinched Lily’s cheeks, quickly evading her swatting hands.

“Christ you're not my mother Mary!” Lily laughed.

“Alright, attention everyone.”

Chatter ceased immediately.

“As you may know, if you have been paying attention of course, we’re going to be brewing Draught of Living Death next class. During class today you will be writing an essay detailing how to properly collect ingredients and brew the potion. Before next class, you and your partner will have to venture down to the Greenhouses to collect some of the ingredients,” Slughorn informed them, turning around to direct the chalk across the chalkboard. “You will need to collect the Root of Asphodel, Valerian root, sopophorous bean, moon dew, and flower head.” 

A few students scribbled down notes as Slughorn finished writing the last item, discarding the chalk. Mary’s hand shot up immediately.

“Yes Ms.Macdonald?”

“Can we do the essay with partners?”

Slughorn stood there for a second, glancing around the room at all the pairs.

“Yes. I suppose that’ll do.”

Mary beamed back at him, immediately hunching over to start scrawling out part of the essay. Lily made sure to pay attention to the rest of Slughorn's spiel before nudging the textbook further up their desk. 

“We can go tomorrow night,” Mary mumbled, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at her writing, “Before my detention, that is.”

“Yeah that works for me.”

“Common room?”

“Common room.”

The two girls alternated writing the essay, reading off things from the textbook to the other. When they weren’t writing, they were gossiping. Even with spending half of her time in detention, Mary still had so many new things to tell her. There were names being brought up that Lily had no hope of recognizing. 

“I mean in public?! These people have absolutely no decency. David had his tongue halfway down her throat for Merlin’s sake!” Mary trilled, braiding her curls into loose plaits while Lily finished up the essay.  

“And these are?”

“The Hufflepuffs from Ancient Runes. Who knew they were so horny?”

Lily giggled, swatting Mary’s arm.

“Stop making me laugh, I'm trying to focus. And anyway, haven’t you dated a Hufflepuff?”

“Yeah a few. I can definitely confirm they’re horny. I mean the things they can do with -“

“Bloody hell, Mary!” Lily shrieked, cutting the girl off before she got an onslaught of details she definitely did not want or need. “Save the detailed description for your diary or something.”

“Prude,” Mary stuck her tongue out teasingly. “Maybe all you need is a good shag.”

“Merlin and Morgana both,” Lily groaned.

Mary fell into a fit of giggles, continuing to tease Lily until Slughorn dismissed them. 

This girl needed to get another week's worth of  detention alright.

***

Lily glanced up at the clock against the wall. She had a few more minutes until she was set to meet Regulus for rounds tonight. Thankfully she was making pretty good time on her Arithmancy homework. It wouldn’t be finished in time, but that was fine. Only a few problems would be left. Nothing she couldn’t handle. 

She finished one more problem before quickly packing her things and pushing out into the corridors. After Dinner, Lily had been in a slightly better mood. There was still the lingering feeling of dread when she thought about everything she had to do, but she was a bit more at ease. At least, that’s what she thought until she was stood in front of Regulus.

“Who died?” Regulus winced, taking her in.

“I’m a bit tired of everyone commenting on my appearance,” Lily grumbled, dismissing him.

She leaned into the common room past the portrait and discarded her bag onto one of the empty arm chairs.

“Sorry Evans,” Regulus put his hands up, a smirk creeping on his lips.

“Yeah sure you are.”

The two of them set off down the hallway, taking their regular route. They had a bit of a routine now for rounds, keeping in step with each other.

“So Pandora mentioned you’ve been sneaking off to see someone,” Lily drawled, peeking into a classroom.

“Her and her big mouth. Knew she shouldn’t be hanging out with your lot. Bad fucking influence,” he grumbled.

“Well?” 

“Well what? Not like I'm telling you who,” he snapped, stepping to the side when she leaned in.

“Come on Black, thought we were friends?”

He paused for a second, eyeing her cautiously.

“And what gave you that impression?”

Lily scoffed; “Well you’re not a complete asshole to me anymore and…. we talk.”

“Really? That’s your reasoning?” He asked smugly, stifling laughter.

“Fuck you Black, I recede my friendship.”

“Fine, fine. We’re friends.”

Lily grinned at him.

“Still not telling you who,” he smirked.

“Useless,” Lily threw her hands up.

“With my luck, you’ll find out on your own.”

Lily couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up, turning to the side to avoid the boy's glare.

“Fucking stoners. Dora needs to stop drugging them up for Merlin’s sake,” he grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting like a child. This only made Lily laugh harder.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while, Regulus continuing to throw his little tantrum. After they caught two 5th years snogging in one of the empty classrooms and sent them off with detention, Regulus seemed to have calmed down.

“You doing well then?” He asked, trying to be nonchalant. It didn’t work. 

Lily turned to him and arched her eyebrow; his face went slightly flush when he looked at her.

“What?! Am I not allowed to ask? You just said we’re friends didn’t you?” He balked, bristling slightly and picking up his speed. 

Lily quickly picked up her pace as well to catch up. “Sorry sorry. Just surprised.”

“Well i’ve never seen you look so-“

“Thanks,” Lily cut him off, grimacing. 

“Gryffindors and their pride,” he mumbled.

“Slytherins and their snark,” she countered.

Lily could see the small smile playing at his lips while they continued down the hall, walking in tandem again. She sighed to herself.

“I’m fine Regulus. These professors just get worse when you’re taking NEWTs.”

Regulus groaned at this. 

“Great. Well try to destress or something. I’m tired of hearing Pandora worry about you.”

Lily whipped her head to look at him.

“She said she’s worried?” Lily sputtered.

Regulus turned to look at her, taking in her shocked gaze and chuckling. 

“Yeah. It’s quite annoying actually. Get your shit together for everyone’s sake.” Even with his harsh words, Lily could tell he meant the opposite. His eyes were so sincere, conveying what his words never could. Lily smiled softly at him and nudged his shoulder.

“I’m telling everyone you're a softie,” she giggled, brushing past him. He gaped at her for a second before rushing forward after her.

“You better not Evans!”

Lily glanced back at him as she rounded the corner, seeing the look of fear and annoyance on his face. She only got a good look at it for a few seconds before bumping head-first into someone. 

“Shit,” Lily hissed, shooting her arms up to steady the girl standing in front of her.

When Lily looked up she found her hands steadying the only girl she would run into. 

“Dora, what’d I tell you about being out during curfew,” Regulus deadpanned, crossing his arms while taking in the scene. 

“Not to do it,” the girl chimed, beaming up at Lily who was properly flustered. They were a bit too close for comfort.

“ But , I thought there wasn’t a better time than tonight. As if you’d give me detention,” she smiled at Regulus, delicately brushing Lily’s hands off.

“And if Filch caught you?”

“Not a possibility.”

“Uhuh,” he scoffed. 

The boy walked off ahead while the two girls stood there for a second.

“Hi Lily.”

“Hi,” Lily breathed out.

“Come on!” Regulus shouted back, scoffing in annoyance at them lagging behind.

“Coming!” Pandora beamed, skipping past Lily to follow him. Lily followed shortly after. She placed herself on Pandora's left side, Regulus being on her right.

“Please tell me you weren’t out at the Greenhouses,” Regulus sighed. 

“I have to keep Sylvie’s legacy going strong, Reg. Of course I was out there.”

“Sylvie?” Lily asked, completely lost.

“My idol!” Pandora beamed at her. Lily felt her stomach twist at the all encompassing smile.

“She’s how Pandora got started growing. Recruited her during our 3rd year. Made her the menace she is today.”

Pandora giggled; “You love me Regulus, don’t lie”

Regulus didn’t dignify her with an answer, only smiling softly at her. That’s all Pandora seemed to need.

“Heard you spilled my secrets Dora,” he snarked as they got closer to the Ravenclaw common room. 

“Of course! What are secrets for if not for sharing,” she smiled.

“Christ you’re impossible. When’s your next vow of silence? Need to start counting down.”

“Two weeks.”

“Too far,” he groaned. 

Lily couldn’t help but giggle at the two of them. Their friendship was so interesting to her. They were practically complete opposites but it worked so well. Pandora also always lit up when she saw Regulus, so how could Lily not like it?

“Whatcha doing tomorrow night?” Pandora asked, turning to Lily.

“Uh, homework and a project with Mary.”

“In the library?”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect! See you tomorrow then!” Pandora ran her hand down Lily’s arm before skipping off, slipping into her common room.

Lily shivered and stood there in shock.

Regulus stared at her, clearly trying to get her attention by snapping his fingers but it didn’t work.

“Pathetic,” he sighed.

He grabbed a hold of her wrist and proceeded to drag her along, all the way to the Gryffindor common room, passing her off to Marlene who was just getting back as well.

“Do I even need to say what happened?”

Marlene flitted her eyes over Lily and smirked.

“Nope. Thanks for returning her baby Black.”

Regulus scoffed at the nickname and was off.

“How long is it going to take you to realize?”

“Realize what?” Lily asked, finally out of her daze.

“Nothing.”

Marlene continued to drag an utterly confused Lily into the common room and up to their dorm.

What was she on about? When was she going to realize what ? 

Just another thing for her to think about tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

Lily woke a lot more optimistic than she usually did. For some reason, a lot of her dread had gone away. She decided that she could do this, no matter how much homework she had. All she had to do was stay organized. The best way to do that was with a list. 

Mary and Marlene stumbled around the dorm room while Lily was sitting at her desk writing her list. There was a bit of Astronomy homework left, the DADA and Arithmancy homework she would be getting today, and getting the ingredients for potions. At the way bottom, she had a small note about planning a prank. Without needing to say it, all of the girls knew that they wouldn’t be doing anything until at least next week. It was definitely not the best idea to do a prank when Mary and Marlene still had detention every night. Along with that, James was onto them. Lily still hadn’t told the girls, not having been in a room with them long enough to bring it up. Either way, Lily had a feeling they wouldn’t have the map for much longer, so they might as well do one last thing. It had to be big. 

Once she was satisfied with the list, Lily tucked the paper into her pocket and hopped out of the chair. Instead of getting ready, Mary was rifling through her dresser and picking out pieces of clothes to lay across the top. Marlene popped up next to her, leaving her toothbrush in her mouth while she helped sort through. 

“What are you two looking for?”

Marlene tossed one of the shirts onto her bed and walked back into the bathroom.

“Picking out outfits for Saturday,” Mary murmured. 

“Saturday?”

“Yeah.”

Mary pulled out a pair of pants and held them out at eye level before tossing them onto Lily's bed along with one of the shirts folded on her dresser.

“For what?”

Marlene leaned out of the bathroom; “James’ party.”

Shit. Lily had forgotten his birthday was coming up. She leaned over the desk with the paper and scribbled out “James gift” before putting it back in her pocket. 

“Don’t worry Lils, I’ve got your outfit covered,” Mary beamed. 

“Thanks.” Lily had never been more grateful for Mary’s obsession with clothes. 

“See you in DADA?” Marlene called from the bathroom.

“Yup,” Lily yelled, shutting the door behind her and heading off to breakfast.

Lily ate her breakfast relatively quickly, catching her friends when she was almost done eating. They all piled in and immediately started causing a ruckus. It put Lily at peace, seeing her friends laughing and messing with each other. Remus and Sirius even seemed to be acting a bit more civil toward each other. 

The chattering followed her to DADA as she and Marlene walked ahead of the group of boys. How they were still rowdy and insane without the map continued to baffle her. 

“Oh right, by the way, James is on to us,” Lily whispered.

Marlene's eyebrows shot up; “Like the map?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit,” Marlene rubbed her eyes and groaned, “Since when?”

“Since the night of the prank.”

“What?!” Marlene hissed, lightly smacking Lily’s arm. “And you waited to tell us until now?”

“Actually the others don’t know, I keep forgetting to tell them, and anyway it was hard to worry about that when you and Mary were at each other's throats.”

Marlene scoffed. The two of them glanced back at the group of boys at the same time, observing them as they whispered and shoved each other around.

“Well I guess I’ll have to do something about it, don’t ya think Lils?”

Lily’s face split in a grin. “Why yes, I think so.”

Marlene smirked and slowly fell back, sending Remus up to the front with Lily.

“What’s she up to?” Remus asked, jutting his thumb behind him as he fell into step with her. 

“Don’t ask.”

The two of them ambled into the classroom and took their spots at the front. They watched the doorway as Sirius and James wrestled each other to get in the classroom first. Marlene and Peter stood behind them, smirking before they extended their arms and shoved the two boys inside. Sirius and James yelped as they crashed down to the floor, Marlene and Peter walking over them smugly.

“Sirius is going to whinge all day about that.”

“Tell me about it,” Remus sighed.

***

So far the list was doing Lily good, as good as it could do before she started studying. During lunch, she had finished off her astronomy homework before heading off to Arithmancy, leaving just the two assignments assigned today. She showed up to dinner early like she usually did on nights where she planned on only studying, catching Remus and Marlene as well. The three of them scarfed down their food before setting off to the library. 

Lily was in a pretty chipper mood. Maybe she should make lists every day. Even then, she hadn't even needed to write it out. After this morning, she never had to pull the list out of her pocket. It was easy to pull up a mental image. 

Sitting at their usual spot in the back, Lily carefully pulled her things out and cheerily spread them out. 

“What’s got you so delighted?” Remus chuckled, joining her in tugging his things out.

“Finally got shagged I bet,” Marlene quipped.

“Christ you lot are terrible,” Lily glared at the two of them while they snickered. 

“So she’s wrong then?”

“Yes!”

Marlene raised her hands up innocently, failing miserably to rid the smirk off her lips. Lily yanked her wand out and shot it toward Marlene’s hood, causing it to fly over her head and blind her. 

“Okay, okay!” Marlene screeched, yanking at the hood and laughing wildly.

Pleased, Lily tucked her wand away and continued to sort through her things. The first thing she got started on was Arithmancy. It was better to start on that first seeing as Remus and Marlene were likely to start on other subjects first as well. Arithmancy was also one of her favorites.

Not being stuck with a partner, Lily sped through her homework, getting it done in just under an hour. There was even time to read ahead a bit before she started on the DADA work. It was such a delight to tuck away her Arithmancy homework with the sun still shining outside. 

“Merlin, I have no sodding idea how our DADA assignments keep getting worse,” Marlene moaned, doodling at the edges of her parchment instead of actually doing the assignment.

“Need help then?” Remus mumbled, not taking his eyes off his parchment for a second.

“Nah i’ll be fine. I’m off to detention anyway.”

“Tell Mary I said hi.”

Mary. 

Oh my god Mary.

Lily could just rip out every strand of hair attached to her scalp. She felt the color drain from her face at the realization. How could she have forgotten?! She wrote a list for Merlin’s sake! And yet she still had not remembered. It slipped from her mind like it was one of her Nans cooking recipes. Off to the winds. God if she had just pulled that list out of her pocket once .

“When does the detention start?” Lily croaked, trying to stifle the sob that was quickly starting to build in her throat. She didn’t have time to forget things like this, but maybe there was hope.

“Uh about 5 minutes.”

And that was it. It was all too good to be true. Of course the list didn’t work. Nothing ever worked when she needed it to. She didn’t even try to stop the tears pricking at her eyes.

“Lils, are you okay?” Remus asked cautiously, gently dropping his quill.

“I was supposed to meet her for an assignment due tomorrow,” Lily whispered, trying not to wail or shout or yell. 

“Aw shit,” Marlene mumbled, taking Lily in as she keeled over the table, stifling the sobs coming up her throat. 

Lily couldn’t take it anymore. It had been building up all week. Yeah there had been a few moments here and there where things weren’t so bad, but the dread never truly left. It was like she could feel a small storm cloud creeping behind her wherever she went. Right now, she could feel that same storm cloud floating over her and raining down with full force. The embarrassment that should’ve come with breaking down in the library didn’t come, she was too tired to be embarrassed. She had fucked up. The whole week she had known all it was going to take was one little thing to break her. Here it was. 

“Shit! Lily, it's okay. It’s gonna be okay,” Marlene whispered, voice sounding panicky as she rubbed soothing circles into her back for a few moments. The motions stopped as soon as they came. 

“Fuck! If I'm late to this detention Minnie will skin me alive. Do her DADA homework Remus, yeah? Try to make her feel better too, please.” 

Remus grunted in agreement as Marlene leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Lily’s temple before rushing out into the hallway.   

“Come on, Lils, it's okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Lily wailed. 

Remus stayed quiet after that, shifting his chair closer to rub the same soothing circles Marlene had been. It didn’t help much though. Lily felt like shit. She was so tired. So tired of all the work, so tired of messing up, so tired of not being perfect. What ever happened to the perfect head girl Lily Evans?

“Lily?”

She recognized the voice immediately, wanting to glance up at the glorious girl standing mere inches away, but her head felt too heavy. 

“Oh love, what’s wrong?”

Lily felt her heart twinge at the nickname, more sobs racking through her body. 

“Nothing. Everything. I’m stupid, I’m so so stupid,” Lily whimpered. She lifted her hands up and started to tug at her hair, trying to ease the pain aching throughout her body. 

“Don’t say that,” Pandora gasped, shooting her hands down to cup Lily’s chin and scoop her up. Just as she did that, Lily could distantly hear Remus excuse himself to grab a book. 

“You are so smart Lily. Don’t ever say differently.”

“I’m not. I’m stupid, I’m forgetful, I’m a mess, I’m imperfect and I hate it,” Lily blubbered, taking no time to wipe the incessant tears streaming down her face. 

“Don’t,” Pandora chided, lifting her thumbs to wipe the tears away for her. 

“You are the smartest person I know, Lily Evans. You are not a mess. The exact opposite actually. You are order, you are neatness, you are harmony, love. So what if you’re not perfect? Imperfection makes you beautiful. Don’t hate yourself when you are everything and more.”

Pandora gave her one of the soft smiles she always did and then it hit. 

Oh god she likes Pandora. 

She’s liked Pandora since the day she laid her eyes on her. It was so obvious. The way her stomach did flips when the girl called her ‘love’, which Mary had been doing since their 1st year. When Pandora was in the room, Lily could always find her eyes drifting back to her. It was inevitable.

There were so many signs and Lily had ignored every single one of them. She could add oblivious to the list of things she was. At this rate, Marlene probably knew before she even knew. 

Her mouth fell open as she stared at the girl right in front of her. They hadn’t been this close for this long in a while. Lily could make out every feature on the girl's face. They were all perfect in a way that she could never truly explain. There were even faint freckles she had never noticed. She wanted to kiss every single one of them. 

“Please don’t cry love, I like it better when you're happy and smiling. Smile darling.”

Lily had been about to fold right then and there. All self-deprecating thoughts flew out of her head at those words. The blush that crept up her cheeks was mortifying. She gave a quick smile to get Pandora off her, hands flying to her face to throw the tears off her face. 

“Uh thanks. I’m fine now,” she smiled weakly, stealthily scooting her chair further away from Pandoras so she couldn’t smell the girl's perfume. 

“What happened?”

“Forgot to do something with Mary tonight, that’s all. We can do it tomorrow morning I think,” she mumbled, immediately sobered up. How Pandora did that to her so quickly amazed her. 

“That’s good then. Mistakes happen Lily don’t be too hard on yourself. Can’t have you doing that now can we?”

Merlin, she wished she had stayed oblivious for a bit longer. She forgot how red she could get. Being the same color of her hair was not something Lily strived for, especially not in front of Pandora. 

“Uh yeah,” she mumbled, leaning her face in her hands to cover the blush. It was burning her hands right up. 

Just in time, Remus skittered back to the table and interrupted whatever was going on between the two girls. The amount of relief that flooded Lily’s body was enough to make her want to grab Remus by the face and smother him with kisses. 

The rest of the night they all worked in silence except for the occasional sniff from Lily. The silence was appreciated, the closeness however…

Every once in a while Pandora's hand would brush hers, causing a shiver to run up her spine. It was absolutely shameful. Even just a curl falling out of Pandora's bun sent her spiraling. Her focus was nonexistent, making everything ten times worse. This time though she sucked it up. If Pandora got so close to her face again, Lily wasn’t sure what she would do and she definitely didn’t want to find out in the library of all places. 

Lily had never missed her obliviousness more.

The worst part was that she wasn’t even sure if Pandora liked her back. There had been signs for that as well, so many signs. What if she was misinterpreting them? What if it was just kindness? What if Pandora had no interest in her at all? 

What if, what if, what if. 

Lily was positively going nuts. Thoughts were racing around her brain like cars on a race track, new ones joining in at any moment. The whirl and speed of it all was making her dizzy. 

“Alright I'm going back to my dorm. See you tomorrow Lils!” Pandora smiled, one of those genuine beautiful smiles, before hopping up and skipping out the library. Lily’s eyes followed her until they couldn’t anymore. 

“You’re absolutely smitten,” Remus mused. 

“Am not!” she retorted, though she sounded like a small child with her congested nose and small sniffles. 

“Oh you so are and you know it .”

“Whatever.”

Remus chuckled lightly, flicking through his book as Lily poured over her notes one last time. 

“Are you good now?” Remus asked, leading the two of them out of the library and into the hall. 

“Yeah I'm fine. My list was just shit.”

“Lists are never shit! As long as you do them right..”

“Well teach me then, oh wise one.”

Remus smirked; “Oh I will.”

Lily smiled back, feeling calm wash over her. Breakdown aside, today hadn't been awful. 

“I look forward to it.”

The two walked in tandem back to the common room, chattering away. Another moment of peace to tuck safely away into her mind. 

Hopefully there were many more to come. 

Chapter Text

“Hurry up Mary!” Lily whined, leaning her forehead against the bathroom door. The girl had been in there for about thirty minutes and if she didn’t come out now Lily was going to piss all over the floor. Just as she contemplated using alohamora and taking her chances, the door swung open and Mary caught Lily’s forehead with her hand.

“Can’t a girl put pride in doing her hair?”

Lily rolled her eyes and slipped past her to use the restroom. Mary sauntered out and let her have her peace. 

“I’ll be ready when you're out, Lils,” Mary called.

“Good,” Lily mumbled, washing her hands and quickly brushing her teeth.

“See you two at lunch,” Marlene shouted, slamming the door so hard it rattled the room. 

Lily opened the door to make eye contact with Mary, both of them rolling their eyes at the girl. Mary was thankfully fully ready, so both girls grabbed their things and headed off to the greenhouses. 

“Sorry about forgetting last night, by the way.”

“Ah don’t sweat it, love. Sirius and James found me and kept me company. If we're being honest, I kinda forgot too.” 

Lily sighed in relief, shoulders sagging as some of her muscles relaxed. At least Mary wasn’t mad at her. The girl's anger would have trudged up the lingering distress from last night. 

“So what were you doing when you stood me up?”

“Mary!”

“What?! That’s basically what you did,” she smiled.

“Homework.”

“Ah, and that does not surprise me.”

The walk to the greenhouse wasn’t too bad. Once they made it outside, the crisp wind whipped their hair slightly and sent a chill down Lily’s spine. Even though it was March, the air was still cool. Lily didn’t mind one bit since it made sitting outside comfortable. It was her favorite time of year. 

“Christ, it's cold.”

Apparently, Mary felt differently. 

“I don’t know why we have to go and collect the ingredients. Aren’t there people who do that?” Mary whined, pulling her coat tighter when the wind whipped a little harder.

“Probably but Slughorn wants us to collect our ingredients this time round,” Lily supplied, watching the girl shiver.

“Well, he can sod off.”

The air in the greenhouse was significantly warmer, making Lily’s fingertips tingle. Slughorn said that the plants should be in the far right corner so the two of them shuffled that way. A lot of the plants were growing wildly, one of them almost poking Lily’s eye out and another getting stuck in Mary’s hair. 

“Fuck this place, I'm never coming back,” Mary scowled, gently recoiling her hair. 

Lily chuckled at the girl as she spotted the plants. The two walked over and Mary pulled out Lily’s bag once again. 

“So,” Mary drawled, pulling the bag wide as Lily began to snip off the flowers and roots. “Marls told me you showed up off your rocker the other night.”

“No idea what you're talking about.”

“Oh sure you do. So what caused it?”

“Nothing.”

“Was it Pandora?”

Lily’s hand fumbled at the girl's name and made her drop the root she was holding. Mary smirked and leaned down to pick it up. 

“Called it.”

Lily felt her face burn up. Mary stood back up and split into a smile at the state of her.

“Oh my god, are you blushing?!”

“No!” Lily retorted, feeling her face burn hotter. She silently cursed her extra pale skin. 

“You so are!” Mary giggled, “You’ve never done that before when I’ve mentioned her. Did you just figure out you like her or something?”

Lily ignored her comment and grunted, trying to put all of her focus on collecting the ingredients. Mary gaped at her when she got no response.

“Merlin, tell me you’re joking Lily.”

When there was no response again Mary fell into another fit of giggles. Lily wanted to reach over and strangle her, with love of course.

“I thought you were smart, Lils!”

“Oi!” Lily smacked Mary's arm, making the girl laugh harder. Lily collected the last of the sopophorous beans and dropped them into the bag. When she turned to look at the girl she was met with her beaming at her. 

“So what are you going to do about it?”

Lily reached over and snatched the bag from her, depositing it into her pocket and walking toward the door. 

“Nothing of course. I don’t have time to date right now, Mary, and even if I did Pandora doesn’t like me back.”

Lily could hear Mary’s groan of annoyance as she pushed the door open and followed her out. 

“You are so dense sometimes! She definitely does!”

“Am not! And she doesn’t. ”

“Oh, you sooooo are Lily Evans cause she does.”

The tone of her voice made Lily whip around, just in time to see the smirk on her face. Lily strode back to her and poked her in her chest.

“Mary Macdonald I swear if you meddle in this you're never sleeping in again,” Lily threatened, reaching up to yank off the beanie Mary had tugged on a few seconds ago.

Mary glared at her, seemingly weighing her options. 

“Fine,” she mumbled, reaching out and snatching her hat back. “ I won’t meddle.”

The emphasis she put on the ‘I’ made Lily squint her eyes suspiciously, but Mary only smiled.

“Awww little Lily has a little crush!” she reached both her gloved fingers out to poke at Lily’s cheeks.

“Christ you’re insufferable. Let’s just go brew this potion before I throttle you,” Lily groaned, swatting at the girl's fingers.

Mary skipped along with Lily back inside to the cozy atmosphere of the castle. She pestered her a few more times before potions but seemed to lose entertainment in it after a while. 

“Shit!”

Mary skidded to a stop just as Lily did.

“What?!” Mary asked, eyes wide.

“We missed breakfast.”

***

Pandora nudged her for what must’ve been the hundredth time today. It wouldn’t have been a problem if it wasn’t…. Her.

“Hm?” Lily hummed, trying for nonchalant but coming off very flustered. 

“Want to come back up here tonight? Well to the actual tower part.”

Lily spared a glance at the girl, regretting it immediately when she felt a pull at her navel. Christ this was going to be insufferable.

“Why?”

Pandora sighed, twisting a loose hair that was hovering in her face. Lily’s stomach was doing backflips. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to hang out with the girl tonight, all alone .

“I wanted to look at the stars with you.”

The look in the girl's eyes was so sincere that Lily knew she was screwed. It always went like this. She was going to lose her fucking mind.

“Sure,” slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

And that’s how she found herself standing in front of the mirror, fretting over her hair. 

Mary and Marlene were tucked up together on Mary’s bed, flipping through a random magazine they’d found in the common room. If Lily had to guess, it probably came from one of the poor first-year girls.

“Whatcha doing over there Lils?” Marlene asked, flipping onto her back and leaning her head over the edges of the bed.

“Nothing,” Lily squeaked, dropping her hands and sliding away from the mirror. The two girls giggled at her, sharing a knowing look.

“Not meeting a special someone?” Mary asked innocently, passing the magazine to Marlene who turned it to the side to look at a girl posing.

“No!” Lily sputtered. When she turned around, she was met with an unconvinced look from Mary, Marlene still flipping through the magazine.

“Uh huh sureeee,” Mary snickered, rolling onto her back to look over Marlene’s shoulder.

Before Lily could prove her wrong, there was a soft knock at the door. She froze for a second before walking over and clicking the door open. It was only a third-year girl telling her that Pandora was downstairs waiting for her. Lily thanked the girl with a soft smile and waited a few seconds before hovering in the doorway and glancing out into the hall nervously. 

“Have fun!” Marlene shouted, grunting when she rolled too far and tumbled to the ground.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Mary sing-songed, giggling at the pile of limbs on the ground. 

“Oh shut it you two.”

She heard the start of a wolf whistle as she slammed the door shut, rushing down the stairs and trying her best to not look too excited. It couldn’t be helped. The girl leaning against the fireplace chatting with Remus couldn’t have looked better. Her hair was now done in a bunch of small box braids, platinum blonde hair shining under the firelight. Remus said something that made her laugh, face splitting into the most beautiful smile. Somehow it grew even wider when she caught Lily’s gaze. Yeah, Lily was absolutely smitten.

“Lily! Are you ready?”

The girl had on one of her usually flowy skirts but it was now paired with a crop top. Lily had to drag her eyes back up to not embarrass herself.

“Yeah, I'm ready.”

The halls were semi-dark as they walked out of the common room. Pandora brushed up against her, swinging her arms and humming a tune. As they got closer to the astronomy tower, Lily could feel her nerves getting worse. How had she thought this was a good idea?

“Almost there!” Pandora squealed, reaching over to softly grasp Lily’s hand and tug her along. There was no time to fight it, the two girls were now rushing through the hallway to the astronomy tower. Lily fell into a fit of giggles as the air whistled in her ears. The running only stopped when they reached the stairs, Pandora slowing down first. 

“So are you doing better tonight love?” Pandora asked, starting the trek up the stairs. Lily was really going to have to ask her to pick a different nickname. The way her breath caught and her heart squeezed was too much. 

“Yeah.”

“That’s good.”

They walked up the stairs some more, slowly coming closer to the door at the top.

“Those pants look really nice on you.”

Lily blushed bashfully, looking down to run her hands over them. “Thanks.”

“Of course.”

Just as she was about to look back up, she ran straight into Pandora. The girl steadied her by the waist. When Lily looked up, they were practically nose to nose; She could hear her slow breathing and watched her eyes flit across her face. Right when she was considering throwing out all plans and wisdom to lean in, Pandora brought a finger up to Lily’s lips to shush her and opened the door behind her. Lily followed her as she weirdly snuck in. She had no idea why until the girl shuffled out of the way and Lily saw the sight.

It was Regulus Black snogging none other than James Potter. And they were going at it .

“Holy shit.”

The two boys jumped apart, James scrambling to fix his glasses on his face and button up his shirt. The heavy blush painting both boys’ faces was hilarious. 

“Holy shit!” she repeated, a smile crawling up her face.

“Ah,” Regulus sighed, lips in a straight line. 

“I fucking knew it!” she screeched, pointing an accusing finger at James and shaking it. James stared at her wagging finger with shock. 

“Lily?! W-What are you doing here?” he sputtered. 

“I could ask you the same thing couldn't I?” Lily arched an eyebrow, pointedly raking her eyes over the two boys. 

“Touché,” he sighed, trying to flatten his unruly hair.

They were all silent for a moment, calming down from the shock until Lily realized something else. 

“You lied to me!” Lily gasped, whirling on Pandora. The girl only smiled back, a glint in her eyes that made Lily melt a bit.

“Sorry love, I had to keep the secret. But I led you to them! That has to count for something.”

Lily glared at the girl but gave up quickly. She couldn’t be mad at her, not truly. 

“You led her to us?!” Regulus gasped, rounding on Pandora as well, who looked nothing less than amused.

“Maybe pick a more private spot to snog your boyfriend and people wouldn’t be able to find you,” Pandora shrugged, the mischievous glint never leaving her eyes. 

“Boyfriend?!” Lily said, absolutely bewildered by how fast information was flowing into her brain. “Christ I didn’t even know James shagged men!”

Regulus chuckled at this, raking his eyes up and down James, well his boyfriend.

“Really Lily? I mean look at him,” Regulus smiled coyly, walking slowly over to the boy. Lily watched James’ Adam's apple bob violently and that was all she really needed as confirmation. Regulus for some reason felt the need to prove a point, so he walked even closer, letting his fingers flirt with the hem of James’ shirt.

“I get it Regulus, no need to undress him right in front of us. I'd rather you not actually.”

“Agreed.”

Regulus rolled his eyes, reluctantly pulling back to look at the two girls while James composed himself.

“Well if you two wouldn’t mind then I’d like it if you’d leave so I can do that. Go find another snogging spot.”

“Snogging?! We weren’t going to snog!” Lily blurted out, trying and miserably failing to act casual and dismissive.

“Yeah, sure whatever. I don’t care. Now leave please.”

Pandora grabbed Lily’s arm lightly and waved goodbye to Regulus and James, leading the two of them out. The both of them said nothing as they began their descent.

Halfway down the stairs, Lily was back to a sane state. James and Regulus ?…

“Did you take me there just to catch them?”

Pandora looked over her shoulder at her and smiled apologetically.

“No. I really did want to look at the stars, but I saw they were there on the map so I thought why not just show you that instead of nothing.”

Lily nodded her head. Well at least she had actually wanted to hang out with her.

“Is that where Dorcas and Remus found them too?” Lily asked, all too curious.

“Yeah. Not sure why they haven’t moved to a different spot but it worked out okay I suppose.” 

Lily hummed, taking the last two steps with stride. They continued the walk back to the common room as quietly as they had left the common room. Lily never really minded, she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep it together if they were talking. The seconds of closeness earlier had been way too intoxicating.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Hm?”

“At James’ party.”

They were standing in front of the common room painting now, Pandora delicately jutting her hip out to lean against the wall. 

“You’re going?”

“Yeah, Reggie’s bringing me along.”

“Oh okay. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye love,” Pandora beamed, reaching over and grabbing Lily’s hand to plant a kiss on it before skipping away. 

“What the fuck?” Lily whispered once the girl was out of earshot.

What was she going to do? Lily wasn’t sure how much longer she could last knowing she liked Pandora. It was absolute torture. 

Lily sulked her way into the common room, catching sight of Remus still sitting on the couch, Sirius fast asleep in his lap. At least they had made up.

“Oh by the way we caught them.”

“Who?”

“You know who.”

Remus smirked and that was that. Now it was time to wonder what exactly was going to go down at James' party tomorrow.

It would be interesting, to say the least.

Chapter Text

Marlene and Lily had spent the morning scouring the school  for things to give James Potter for his birthday. Both of them had forgotten or not had time until this morning, evident by the repeated moaning and groaning.

“When are you two going to give up?” Mary asked, slumping forward to get eye level with the chess board. The girl had been so bored sitting around waiting for them to find something that she had jumped at the opportunity to play chess with Peter.

“Never!” Lily wailed, ripping off a couch cushion.

“His birthday isn’t even until Thursday. You could always wait until then,” Peter murmured, grinning when Mary finally moved a pawn. “Checkmate.”

“Ugh!” Mary moaned in frustration and watched Peter's pawn brutally kill her king. 

“Well yeah that’s true, but you lot have all gotten him gifts so,” Marlene drawled, waving her hand to finish off her sentence. Right after she said that, Marlene shot up in delight with her hand firmly grasping something. “Aha!”

“Nooooo,” Lily moaned, watching Marlene unfurl her fingers to reveal a golden snitch they all knew James had been frantically searching for recently.

“Don’t be a sore loser Lils,” Marlene smirked. She tossed the snitch up into the air, satisfied, before pushing Mary out of the chair and deciding to take her chances against Peter. 

“Mary help me,” Lily whined, now taking to searching every corner of the castle if that’s what it took. “Come with me to look?”

Mary glanced down at her, arms crossed and an eyebrow arched. It lasted for a few seconds before she split into a grin and held out a hand.

“Alright love, let’s go,” Mary chuckled, yanking Lily to her feet and following her out on her adventure to find the perfect gift.

***

Lily did a small twirl in front of the mirror, checking out the fit of the pants. They fit quite nicely. She didn’t wear bell bottoms that much, but Mary always made good fashion choices so if she told Lily to wear them, she would wear them. The pants had been paired with a brown long sleeve shirt with a floral tank top slipped over it. She looked good.

Earlier, on her quest to find James a gift, Mary had somehow tugged her along to the Hufflepuff common room where they ran into Emmeline. There, she found out the great news that the girl could crotchet and she had tons upon tons of yarn. With only a few words with Mary, the girl agreed to crochet a stag for Lily to give James. 

The small plush now sat upon her bed, looking as cute as ever. Lily owed the girl big time. Even with the magic, Emmeline had made it extremely fast, shocking both her and Mary.

Downstairs Lily could hear the arrival of a few people, rowdy as ever. Looking at the time, the party was set to start in a few minutes. 

“Lily! Come over here,” Mary hollered from the bathroom. Lily snapped back to reality and strolled over, taking in the state of the bathroom. Makeup was strewn about everywhere, a flat iron propped at the edge of the sink with steam pouring off of it. Mary was beaming at her with a round brush in one hand and a blow dryer in the other. Marlene was mere inches from the mirror, applying eyeliner to her waterline. 

“Let me do your hair? Please!” Mary whined, trying her best to pout. Lily rolled her eyes, walking out of the bathroom to grab a chair. Mary smiled even wider when Lily drug the chair to a stop right in front of her and sat down.

The three girls trudged down the spiral staircase as the sound of the party amped up. Lily could feel her hair poofing out around her face. Mary had way too much fun with the blow dryer. 

Their usual group was already crowded around the couch, James outshining all of them. She could see Regulus and Dorcas off to the side ogling their respective partners.

“Hi guys,” James beamed, beckoning them over to sit by them. As soon as they sat down, Dorcas made her way over and cozied up next to Marlene

“How’s the party so far?” Mary asked, taking up a spot next to Sirius.

“Not much going on. Pete wanted to play beer pong so we were waiting for you lot,” James answered. He looked around at all of them, eyes eventually landing on Lily.

“Me?!” Lily trilled. When she looked around, she understood why. Marlene and Dorcas were too busy snogging each other's faces off. Mary and Sirius were whispering to each other. Remus was off talking to Regulus. It was just her.

“Who would I even play with?” Lily huffed.

Neither of the boys answered, only looking behind her with bright smiles. Lily laid her head back on the couch and looked straight up to see Pandora standing right above her. She was absolutely gorgeous, even more so when she glanced down at Lily and smiled. God Lily was weak. 

“I’ll play,” Pandora said.

The two girls sorely underestimated the boys abilities. For the next few minutes Lily found herself taking swig after swig of a drink Peter mixed for her. Once she had too much to drink, it was becoming harder and harder to keep her hair out of her face, making the game lean ever more so in the boys favor. Pandora dug around the pockets of her skirt until she found a hair tie, twirling it in the air like a prized possession. 

“There,” Pandora smiled, spinning Lily around and handing her the ping pong ball. She beamed at her, tucking a few strands that had already gotten loose behind her ear. The low ponytail was a great fix.

“Alright bring it on Evans,” James chuckled, taking a step back as Lily lifted her arm up.

“We’ve got nothing to worry about James,” Peter sniggered. Lily threw him a glare before tossing the ball and completely missing. 

“Nice try love,” Pandora laughed, trying to comfort a pouting Lily.

As of now, her and Pandora were still losing miserably. Peter and James had 3 cups left while the girls had 8 cups left. Because of the boys' astounding lead, both of the girls were also pretty drunk. Pandora was definitely holding her alcohol a bit better.

“Cmon Wormy, it’s your time to shine,” James encouraged, hands firmly on Peter's shoulders while the boy aimed. The ball arced through the air and plunked into one of the cups, causing James to hoot in excitement.

“Cheaters,” Lily mumbled.

The two of them went back and forth until finally James and Peter only had one cup left. Thankfully, that let Pandora and Lily catch up a little. They got down to 3 cups before Sirius walked over and interrupted, painfully sloshed.

“Ooh let me throw Prongs pleaseeeeee.”

The two boys went back and forth, bickering at each other until reluctantly, James handed the ball to Sirius and they all watched him ready up for a toss. Remus stood off to the side with an amused look on his face as Sirius raised his arm and squinted at the cups. The boy eventually threw the ball and all eyes followed it as it soared through the air. Well, more like zipped. Sirius threw it way too hard. Lily watched in slow motion as the ball got closer and closer to her face and smacked her right between the eyes. Next to her, Pandora gasped and shot her hands out, forgetting she was holding a drink that then spilled all over Lily.

“Nice job, Padfoot,” Remus mused. 

“Oh shit I'm sorry Lily,” Pandora gaped, leaning down and picking her empty cup up. Lily frowned down at her shirt, trying and failing to wipe the alcohol off her shirt.

“Let’s go get you a new shirt,” Pandora murmured, ushering her toward the stairs within seconds. It was all happening so fast she had no time to protest, letting Pandora lead her wherever.

“Well actually you could just-“ Sirius piped up before 3 hands came smacking over his mouth and smothered the rest of his words.

“We’ll be right back,” Pandora called, calming Lily as she pouted over her shirt. 

The two of them walked into the girls bedroom, Lily immediately flopping on a bed and Pandora walking over to the first dresser she saw. Lily silently looked up at the star stickers pasted to the top of the canopy bed which she now knew belonged to Marlene. The stars were very cute and it immediately reminded her of Pandora. 

“How’s this?” Pandora leaned over her and held a shirt up. Lily immediately got distracted staring at her, taking in every detail that she could. Her braids were pushed back by a floral bandana that Lily absolutely adored.

“Lily?”

Slowly coming back to herself, Lily shook her head no and opened her mouth before she could stop herself. 

“You look so pretty.”

Pandora smiled softly at her and ducked back out of her vision, over to the dresser.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm. You always look pretty.”

Pandora popped back over to show her another shirt and Lily shook her head no again. 

“Your hair is always so shiny and I could look into your eyes for ages,” Lily smiled to herself, reaching down to tug off her soaked through shirt and throwing it off to the side. “They’re sooooooo pretty. Pretty pretty pretty.”

“Love, I think maybe you should stop talking.”

“Only if you talk. I love your voice. It’s pretty.”

She could hear Pandora giggle as she shuffled back over, hovering one of Marlene’s band t-shirts over her. Lily shook her head yes.

“Alright time to get up, Lils.”

Pandora reached out and grabbed Lily’s hands, giving a slight tug. This didn’t so much as Lily had no real intention of helping Pandora heave her up. Lily made it a few inches off the bed before flopping back down with a small giggle. Pandora huffed exasperatedly and then gave Lily’s hands a harder tug, yanking her all the way up and closing the space between them a little too quickly. The two of them tumbled into each other, both girls surprised by how far Lily had been pulled up, faces only mere inches apart. Suddenly, Lily remembered she was shirtless and fancied the girl right in front of her. She couldn’t stop her eyes from glancing down at Pandora's lips. They looked so soft, shimmering with lipgloss. What she would give to kiss her right now. Before she could even consider it, Pandora pressed delicate fingers to Lily’s chest and lightly pushed her back, handing her the shirt.

“Thanks,” Lily mumbled, sloppily tugging the shirt  over her head. The shirt was a loose fit, very different from the tight shirts discarded on the floor.

Pandora reached out and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind Lily’s ear and smiled with all of the sincerity in the world. Lily could feel herself getting even more drunk. 

“Time to go win.”

They did not win. Peter made the shot first try when they got back. Before Lily ever got time to sulk and whine to Pandora, Dorcas and Remus popped up asking her for weed. Pandora picked up her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before disappearing off with the two of them. 

“Well look at you Evans,” Regulus smirked, watching her stare at the portrait longingly. “Are you missing your girlfriend?”

Lily felt her drunken blush burn brighter as she whipped to the side to glare at him.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Lily retorted. She backed up to slump on the couch and was soon joined with Regulus right by her side. 

“Uh Huh, very convincing. How are you feeling about that, then?” Regulus mused, watching Lily cross her arms with a frown.

“Don’t care,” Lily mumbled. 

Right after she said that James passed by and gave Regulus a chaste kiss on the cheek. Their eyes connected for a moment and they shared small smiles before James walked off.

“Disgusting.”

Regulus turned to her, slightly flushed and chuckled.

“Lily, it's painfully obvious that you like her.”

“No s’not.”

“I literally just caught you staring,” he deadpanned.

“Whatever.”

Regulus let the silence settle over them, taking a few sips from his cup and sighing. 

“You know she,” Regulus paused, studying her for a moment, “likes you too right?”

“Yeah and your shagging women,” Lily scoffed, reaching over and grabbing Regulus’ drink to take a sip. It tasted like shit.

“Hold up, do you actually think she doesn’t like you like that? I mean seriously Lily,” he asked incredulously, turning to fully face her.

“Why would she?”

Regulus stared at her for a moment, eyes boring into the side of her face, before he grabbed his cup back - placing it off to the side - and called James over to bring Lily water. 

“Look Evans, a while ago Remus told me you were asking about Pandora's feelings and such without necessarily admitting your own,” he started, cautiously watching her like she was a deer in the woods that would bolt at any moment.  

“She likes you . Ever since the day you two saw each other I’ve had to listen to her go on and on about you. I’m not lying, I swear on both Merlin and Morgana.”

Lily looked at him skeptically, still not believing what he was saying. Why would Pandora like her ?

“Christ I really hate to say this,” Regulus groaned, running his hands over his face quickly before spitting it out, “but I see how you two look at each other, it’s so obvious you two want to get together so for the sake of all of us put on your big girl pants and ask her out.”

Lily gaped at him, grabbing the water cup from James as the boy snickered and disappeared again. Regulus looked rather annoyed.

“I’m serious Lily; and don’t make a joke about my brother's name or I might actually throttle you.”

Lily sipped her water in silence, cradling it towards her to protect it from her friends' mean words. They weren’t exactly mean, she just didn’t like his tone. He always had been a snarky little shit. 

After it was obvious he wasn’t going to get a response, Regulus threw his hands up in exasperation before picking his drink back up and settling in. The two of them sat in silence mostly, a few comments thrown here and there. The main thing they did was people watch. It was comforting to watch all their friends and classmates have fun at the party. No worries. No nothing.

Half an hour later, Dorcas, Remus, and Pandora stumbled into the common room, giggling and whispering to each other. Regulus immediately shook his head and watched them meander over to the couch with a less than amused face. 

“How stoned are you three exactly?”

“We’re not stoned,” Remus snarked, his blood red eyes saying otherwise. 

“Sure you aren’t.”

Right as he said that, Sirius wandered over and immediately started snickering at his boyfriend. Remus softened and left with Sirius off to their dorm room, leaving Lily and Regulus to deal with the other two. 

“I’m assuming you two drank a bunch too,” Regulus sighed, discarding his cup off to the side and hoisting Dorcas’ arm onto his shoulder. 

“Can you grab Pandora? Dorcas is probably going to start freaking out soon and I can’t handle both of them at the same time.”

Lily nodded her head and hoisted a very giggly Pandora's arm over her shoulder. The two of them took the out of control girls into the silent hallway. Regulus led the way to the slytherin's common room, deciding extremely quickly that Dorcas was the first to be dropped off. 

“I swear to god Dorcas if you ask me where Marlene is one more time i’m going to shove you down the stairs,” he hissed, trying to rid Dorcas hand off of his arm that had an uncomfortable looking firm grip. 

“But the walls are spinning!” Dorcas whined, ducking down and clinging harder onto Regulus.

“I’m going to kill you.”

Pandora stayed mostly calm, reaching out to touch something Lily couldn’t see and giggling every once in a while. 

The two of them waited outside the common room while Regulus dragged Dorcas inside, hissing at her like a scolding mother. When they were out of sight, Pandora lifted herself onto her tippy toes and placed her lips inches away from Lily’s ear, hitting it with hot air. She could feel the hairs on her arms raise before the girl even spoke. 

“You’re really pretty too,” the girl whispered before falling into another fit of giggles and clinging closer.

Lily was going to combust on the spot if Regulus didn’t walk out right now. 

“Alright let’s get her back too,” Regulus sighed, fixing his shirt as he walked back over to them. Lily had never been so glad to see him in her life. 

No matter how hard Lily tried, Pandora would not let go of her arm, grasping to her like a life line. 

When they dropped off Pandora, she planted a light kiss on Lily’s lips and skipped inside her common room, giggling like little girl. 

“Doesn’t like you, you say?” Regulus smirked, watching Lily turn a bright shade of red. 

“Shut it.”

The rest of the night was a blur of dancing and more drinking. Lily wanted only to drown her sorrows in alcohol and not think about the one girl who was always on her mind. Her friends had no problem joining her, partying the night away. When the party finally started to die down, she rushed upstairs and grabbed the plush to finally give to James.

“I shall call you Prongs Jr,” he had bellowed, eyes lighting up as he showed Regulus, who listened along intently and gave James a small pat on the head. Watching the boys interact, Lily decided to leave them alone and finally end the night. 

Before she made it up a few steps, James called her name out, making her glance at him over her shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“We’ve got rounds together on Thursday!”

Lily smiled and gave him a small wave goodbye, trudging back up the stairs she came down only a few hours ago. Evident by the pounding headache she could feel forming, tomorrow was going to be bad.

The hangover brewing was going to be the worst.

Chapter Text

All three girls woke up way later than they usually ever did. They groaned and moaned as they got ready for the day and made it down to breakfast with about 15 minutes to eat. The boys seemed to have done the same, nursing what seemed to be terrible hangovers, except for James of course.

“Good morning everyone!” he chirped, stirring his tea while Sirius shot him a dirty look for being even the slightest bit loud. 

“Well aren’t you just chipper,” Mary snarked.

“God I just hate how you never have hangovers,” Marlene moaned. 

“I couldn’t agree more,” Peter mumbled, face flat against the table.

The girls took their seats and started digging in, not having the usual luxury of eating slowly. 

“So what are you girls up to today?”

At this Marlene and Mary shared a look that made a shiver run down Lily’s spine. She did not have a good feeling about whatever that was. 

“Ah not much,” Marlene replied nonchalantly. Lily didn’t miss the smile that flitted across her face as she stabbed a fork into the sausage on her plate. “Speaking of, would you come with me to the library after this, Lily? I need some help with the DADA assignment.”

Lily looked at her skeptically, trying to find any sign that something was suspicious, but the pill she had taken wasn’t working yet so the only thing she could think about was her pounding headache. 

“Yeah sure,” Lily sighed. She almost missed the small smile that formed on Mary’s lips. 

The rest of breakfast they ate in silence except for the few times James tried to make conversation with any of them. It always fell flat so eventually he gave up and just hummed to himself. Sirius looked about ready to tackle him to the ground.

“Alright, Lils you ready?” Marlene asked, clearing her plate and standing. 

“Yeah, yeah I'm coming.” 

Lily begrudgingly followed Marlene to Gryffindor Tower to grab her things and then off to the library they went. The walk was relatively slow seeing as Lily did not have the energy to walk at her normal pace. Right when they were about to pass the bathroom, Dorcas and Pandora rounded the corner and they came face to face with them.

“Hey babe!” Marlene chirped, walking up to Dorcas and giving her a small kiss. 

“Huh,” Lily mumbled, watching the two of them interact, still feeling slightly off. Pandora walked over and planted herself right next to Lily.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

Before they had time to exchange more than just hellos, Marlene and Dorcas finally addressed them.

“We’re going to the bathroom, be right back.”

“I swear if you two are going in there to shag I'm going to murder you,” Lily rolled her eyes and leaned up against the wall. The two girls giggled and then slipped into the bathroom without another word.

Suddenly alone with Pandora, all of Lily’s memories from last night came flooding in. It felt unbearable.

“Was Marlene taking you to the library too?” Pandora asked eventually, fiddling with one of her braids. 

“Yeah,” Lily sighed.

“I think they’re up to something.”

If Lily hadn’t still had her massive headache and been feeling extremely awkward she might’ve looked more into what Pandora was saying. But alas, her hangovers were always too strong early in the morning. 

Lily hummed in response, laying her head against the wall and letting her eyes fall shut. The two girls sat in silence until it had been an unusually long time. What were they doing?

“You don’t think they’re actually shagging do you?” Lily winced, eyeing the bathroom door warily.

“Mm I doubt it,” Pandora concluded.

“Should we check on them?”

Pandora pondered for a moment, licking her lips and continuing to fiddle with a braid. Lily couldn’t help the way her eyes wandered down to the girl's lips, watching her tongue dart across. She felt a lurch in her stomach and immediately snapped her eyes to the wall across from them. The rest of this year was going to be hell. 

“Suppose so,” Pandora smiled, pushing herself off the wall and leading the two of them into the bathroom. 

The bathroom was eerily silent, not a person in sight. The two of them stepped in and walked over to the stalls. If only Lily had glanced to the side first. 

Suddenly, the bathroom door slammed shut and both girls whirled around, hearing the sound of a lock click.

“Well, shit.”

The sound of the two girls giggling could be heard faintly as they ran away, leaving Pandora and Lily locked. In a fucking bathroom. 

Out of sheer hope, Lily rushed over to the door and tried to yank the door open, even using a few charms but it was to no use. 

“I’m not sure if you know this, but Dorcas’ magic is really strong; stupid powerful. So, until they decide to come and get us, we’re stuck,” Pandora mused, watching Lily rattle the door knob.

“How are you so calm about this?” Lily groaned, resting her head against the door after she knew there was no use. Sodding Marlene.  

“Life isn’t fun if something unexpected doesn’t happen every once in a while,” Pandora smiled, crossing her legs and plopping to the ground. “Besides, you worry too much Lily, even if it’s a bit cute at times.”

Christ she wasn’t going to survive this. She could just envision choking Marlene out right now. 

Lily cleared her throat and wandered away from the door, finally admitting defeat. She placed herself right against the sink and observed the other girl as she twisted her bangles around.

“What can I say, I like to stay organized and on schedule. This is a far cry from that.”

Pandora hummed, fixing her bangles just right before looking back up.

“If there’s one thing I've learned here, it’s that things never go according to plan. That’s why I just go where the wind takes me. More pleasant that way.” 

This time it was Lily who hummed in response. What she said made sense. Lily could only imagine what life would be like if she was constantly hanging out with spontaneous people like Barty and Evan. A fucking nightmare that’s what.

Silence settled over them for a while, neither girl saying anything. The only thought on Lily’s mind was getting out of there and getting to Marlene. Who locks their friend in a sodding bathroom?

Pandora leaned back on her hands and tipped her head back, staring straight up at the ceiling with a small smile on her face. 

“I can feel your annoyance from over here, you know,” Pandora giggled.

Lily immediately straightened up, uncrossing her arms and ridding the frown from her face. 

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Oh please, you’re dying to get out of here.”

Lily scoffed, softening a bit.

“Well yeah, but only because I had things I wanted to do today. Not because of…” She trailed off, feeling that saying ‘you’ would change something. 

“That’s good.”

Lily let her fingers trace the edge of the sink, feeling the time slowly tick by. The longer they stayed in this close of a distance, the more Lily’s eyes wandered over to the girl and the stronger a pull she felt tugging her towards her. It was starting to drive her insane. Maybe this is what Marlene wanted. Well, just for that, Lily wasn’t going to cave in, completely out of spite. She could stay civil. The only way she could stop herself from walking over to Pandora though was to jump up onto the sink and take a seat there. So she did just that, leaning her head against the mirror and closing her eyes. 

A few minutes later, the sound of a small charm made Lily take a peek. Pandora had a lit spliff propped between her fingers which she then pulled toward her lips, taking a long drag. 

“Do you just carry spliffs on you?” Lily mumbled, picking her head up a bit to watch the girl. She had always thought that smoking was a bit unattractive, but Pandora could make anything look breathtaking.

“Of course, how else am I to make money?”

“Does your family not have a lot of money?”

Pandora took another drag, puffing out circles of smoke with a smile. 

“Oh they do, but my mother made sure a long time ago it wouldn’t come to me. I made it pretty clear at a young age that I like women, so my parents only house me and such. Evan is their golden child; For now at least.” 

Lily wasn’t really sure how to respond. Pandora seemed to pick up on that because she immediately shook her hands. 

“No, no Lily, don't worry about it. I promise you it’s fine. I have Evan and that’s all that matters to me.”

“Well, it’s still a bit shit.”

“Suppose so, but I get to wear whatever I want, do whatever I want, see whoever I want,” Pandora shrugged, taking another drag.

A thick smog started to build up in the bathroom along with the absolutely foul smell of weed. Pandora must’ve seen Lily’s nose crinkle up because the girl took her wand out and muttered a few charms, causing the stench to leave and most of the smoke to disappear. 

“So why’d you and James break up?”

Lily’s eyebrows raised at this. It wasn’t often people asked about her past relationship with James. If she was being honest, it often slipped her mind that they had even dated. Anytime someone asked her about her last boyfriend she always talked about Charlie, the boy she dated her 5th year. Dating James last year felt like a fever dream.

“There just wasn’t anything there?” Lily said, unsure even herself.

The breakup had been of the mutual sort. They liked each other but not like that. No hard feelings and such. Lily was glad about it because James was an amazing friend. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if they hadn’t stayed friends. 

“It was mutual is how I'd put it. Weren’t really meant for each other,” Lily shrugged. “Why?”

Pandora smiled, thoroughly amused.

“Just curious. Regulus always dragged me along when he went to spy on you two, and from what I saw, it didn’t look like anything had been going wrong.”

“You two spied on us?” Lily mused, a smile slowly forming on her lips.

“Well of course. Regulus liked James back then too, you know. Always had his eyes glued to him,” Pandora paused to take a quick drag before continuing. “Regulus was always looking at him and well, I started looking at you.”

Trying to ignore the latter comment, Lily cleared her throat, praying a blush didn’t start to form. 

“Was James his first crush?”

“I think so. James was always hanging with Sirius who Regulus was constantly watching. Suppose his eyes just eventually started to wander.”

“Mmm, I think James was a lot of people’s first crush. I see people ogling him on the daily.”

At that Pandora smiled, seemingly getting what she wanted. Before Lily had time to question it, the girl spoke up. 

“Looks like I'm special then. Sylvie was my first crush,” Pandora started, wiggling her spliff to indicate who she was talking about. 

Lily hummed, curious at the mention of the girl.

“From the day I met her, I had a crush on her. She was absolutely gorgeous and she just had this vibe about her. She was too old for me though, only saw me as a little sister. Well, after she kissed me of course.”

Lily sucked in a breath.

Suddenly, Pandora was slowly strolling over to Lily, spinning the spliff between her fingers. Lily could feel her mouth starting to go dry with each step the girl took toward her. There was a change in the atmosphere and they could both feel it. 

“But Julie, Julie was my first girlfriend.” Pandora stopped right in front of Lily and took a drag before continuing. They were so close that Lily could feel the smoke tickle her neck. 

“Her skin was covered in freckles and she had light auburn hair. I secretly wished it was a bit more red, though,” Pandora confessed, reaching out with her free hand and twirling a piece of Lily’s hair.

Lily could feel her breath hitch. What the hell was going on? Where did this come from? How had they gotten here?

“Yeah?” Lily croaked, suddenly very nervous. 

“Mhm. Her eyes were also blue, but green has always looked better with red hasn’t it?” 

When their eyes met Lily felt like she couldn’t breathe. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure her brain was functioning anymore. The girl was standing right between her legs and looking slightly up at her through long eyelashes. 

“She also very much did not like my weed, so she’s unimportant now. Just another person that left a small mark on me, nothing more.”

Pandora flipped her hand around, Lily's eyes snapping down to the motion. The girl was ever so slowly moving the spliff up to Lily’s lips. It was a challenge.

Lily immediately wrapped her lips around it and held eye contact with the girl as she took a small drag. Pandora watched intently and Lily slowly blew the smoke out of her mouth.

Thank god Remus showed her how to smoke. 

Pandora finished the spliff off quickly, not taking her eyes off Lily the entire time. She vanished the remnants of the spliff before catching Lily’s chin with her hand, the other hand resting on the counter, ever so slightly brushing Lily’s thigh and searing the skin. Her thumb pulled on her chin, bringing her bottom lip down with it. 

“But you, you’re the prettiest girl I have ever set my eyes on. There aren’t enough words in any language to describe your beauty.”

Lily tried to keep her composure, failing miserably when Pandora let her hand wander, fingers dancing across Lily’s neck and smoothing over her collarbone. The full-body shiver that came from the action was accompanied by a sharp inhale and parting lips. Lily could feel her mind go utterly blank. 

Pandora slid her fingers back to rest on Lily’s chin and glanced down at the girl's lips. 

“Can I kiss you?” 

And god, there was nothing she wanted more. 

“Yes,” Lily replied breathlessly. 

Within seconds Pandora pulled Lily in close and kissed her. The moment was pure euphoria, making her head spin like crazy at the sensation. Pandora's lips were so soft, moving gently against her own. Her muscles relaxed all at once. 

Pandora's empty hand slowly found its way to Lily’s thigh, resting on top of it as she pushed further into her. The contact was amazing. Every part of her body that touched the other girl was burning. Lily’s lungs were begging for air, but she didn’t have it in her to break apart. It just felt so good . 

Lily lifted her arms and dropped them onto Pandora's shoulders, pulling her closer and closer until they were flush against each other. 

Right when Lily thought she might actually pass out, Pandora pulled back, resting her forehead against Lily’s and dropping her hand. Lily was slightly panting when the girl made eye contact with her.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.”

“Took you long enough,” Lily breathed out, leaning forward to kiss her again. She could feel Pandora smile into the kiss as she pushed deeper. This time both of the girl's hands were running back and forth on her thighs. Thank god Lily had worn a skirt today because the contact was electrifying. It felt like a fire was blazing through her bloodstream.

Lily wasn’t sure how much time passed until they broke apart again, lips swollen. Pandora gently slid her fingers under Lily’s legs, pulling her closer. 

When she was close enough, Pandora leaned forward and started planting wet kisses along her jawline, slowly making it down to her neck. All the air was punched out of her at the act, eyelids fluttering shut. 

Lily had always known she liked girls. Her eyes lingered on them all of the time, but until today she had never kissed a girl. And god if it wasn’t just better than kissing a boy. Pandora worshiped her like she was a work of art, being oh-so gentle. The girl's tongue lavished her neck with all the want in the world. 

Pandora eventually pulled away, peppering a few kisses on Lily’s face before stepping back and walking over to slump against the wall. The girl pulled out a second spliff and began smoking with her eyes closed. 

With a healthy distance between them, Lily finally started to come back to herself and realized what just happened. Pandora had kissed her. She felt frazzled just at the thought. The girl sitting right across from her, looking as lovely as ever, just kissed her, ran her hands all over her, and wanted her. It was an amazing feeling, that.

Lily lightly hopped down from the counter, almost tumbling to the ground from how weak her legs were. She turned to glance at herself in the mirror, tilting her chin up. There was a slight bruise forming at the junction of her jaw and neck that caught her eye. It would’ve been worrying if she hadn’t seen Mary use a charm to get rid of hickeys all the time. 

“Sorry about that,” Pandora mumbled, pulling the spliff away from her mouth. 

Lily plopped down next to her and gently grabbed her chin, twisting the girl toward her and kissing her. Lily was going to love doing that. Just kissing her whenever, wherever. 

“Mm it’s fine,” Lily mumbled against her lips.

This kiss was a lot slower and more intimate. Lily would never get over how it felt to have Pandora’s lips move against her own. It was pure bliss. 

“Looks like their plan worked,” Pandora mused when they pulled apart, looking at Lily like she was the whole world.

“What plan?”

“Well, they didn’t lock us in here for nothing.”

Oh.

It made sense now. Scheming little shits. Lily would be more mad if she wasn’t looking at the most gorgeous smile she had ever seen.

“I’m glad.”

Pandora took a drag of her spliff again before handing it off to Lily. She took it and placed it against her lips, letting the smoke fill her lungs. On the exhale, Pandora leaned over and peppered her face with kisses, making Lily giggle. When she looked back over, Pandora plucked the spliff back and smiled.

And she was happy. Happier than she had been in a long time. 

***

Lily wasn’t sure when she had fallen asleep, but the light of day was slowly fading away. Her head was resting on Pandora’s shoulder, hair slightly wacky.

“Good morning love,” Pandora smiled, leaning over and planting a kiss on her forehead. Yeah, she was never going to get used to this.

“It’s definitely not morning,” Lily mumbled, rubbing the last bits of sleep out of her eyes. 

Pandora giggled fondly, reaching over to smooth out Lily’s hair as she fully sat up. 

“Oh my! Is this door locked?” came a muffled voice through the door. Lily could recognize that voice anywhere. Mary fucking Macdonald.

“Merlin,” Lily groaned, burying her face further into Pandora's shoulder. She gave herself a few seconds before reluctantly getting up and walking over to the door. Mary opened the door with a wide smile, Emmeline standing right next to her.

Lily deadpanned at her before grabbing Pandora's arm and slipping past them, going to where she knew they’d find Marlene and Dorcas. 

“It worked!” Mary squealed.

“Did you guys really lock them in a bathroom?”

The library was relatively empty, except for a few stragglers but that was to be expected. A couple of days ago Mary had told Lily that she stumbled upon Marlene and Dorcas snogging between bookshelves. Ms Pince would be furious to know.

Lily whipped down the aisles, tugging Pandora along behind her until she finally found them. Dorcas had Marlene pushed up against a shelf and one of her hands was starting to wander where Lily definitely did not want to see it wander. She cleared her throat and watched as the girls jumped out of their skin, softening slightly at the sight of them.

“Hey, Dora.”

“Hey, Cas.”

Silence.

“So did you two snog?”

“Of course.”

“Cheers.”

Marlene looked between the two girls, smiling slightly and then turning to Lily.

“Hey Lils.”

“Mckinnon.”

Silence.

“I’m gonna run now.”

“Uh-huh.”

Marlene kissed Dorcas one last time before bolting off, cackling with glee. Lily took a step forward to chase after her but was stopped by a hand clasping her arm. Pandora spun her around and tugged her forward, pressing their lips together before letting her go with a smile. Lily took a second to recover, face burning bright, and then she was off.

“Sorry in advance Dorcas!”

“No worries!”

The two girls giggled as Lily whipped the library doors open. She spotted Marlene and grinned manically.

“You’re so dead Marls!”

“Only if you can catch me,” Marlene shouted, flipping her the bird as they ran through the halls. 

It was the most fun Lily had in a while. 

Chapter Text

Lunch the next day was the first time Lily saw Pandora after their kiss. She couldn’t help the way her heart fluttered and her stomach did flips just at the sight of the girl. It didn’t help the blinding smile she was met with when she slid into the spot next to the girl. 

“Hi love,” Pandora murmured, leaning over to give her a peck on the cheek. Lily went red all over. 

“Hi,” Lily smiled.

Today, Pandora's braids were tied into two low ponytails, flowing down her back. Her bangs were curled every which way, looking unruly but neat at the same time. Lily wanted to reach out and touch it, and for the first time, she realized she could. 

Pandora smiled softly as Lily reached out and twirled her bangs around her pointer finger. The girl's hair was so soft, like butter. 

“Your hair is very pretty,” Lily mumbled, eyes crossing slightly so she could stare at it.

“Is that right? Pretty?” Pandora hummed with a small smirk. If it was possible, Lily got more red.

“Oh hush,” Lily chided, pinching Pandora's cheeks together and making her lips pucker, before turning back to the table and grabbing food. She wasn’t sure where the confidence to touch her came from. Just looking at her used to make Lily turn into a mess. It was like nothing and everything changed all at once. It was the same but different. Pandora just made it feel natural; the light touches, small glances. Her confidence bled onto Lily so easily.

When Lily finally looked back up, all of her friends' eyes were glued to the two of them, ridiculous smiles covering each and every one of their faces.

“What?” Lily whined, feeling the blush creep back up her neck and blooming on her face. 

“Christ you two are as bad as Remus and Sirius,” James laughed. 

“Oi!” Sirius snapped, shoving James’ shoulder so hard he bumped into Mary and Marlene. 

The two girls protested the sudden roughhousing, pushing back against the two boys with shouts and yelps. Remus and Peter looked at each other exhaustingly before wrestling the boys apart. Those two could be insufferable when together. Remus and Pete dealt with the brunt of it.

“You’re one to talk,” Lily arched her eyebrow at James, who was fixing his hair while smirking at Sirius. Pandora snickered as his face fell and he froze up. 

Sirius flitted his eyes between the two of them until realization dawned on his face. He looked absolutely appalled.

“You know?! Does everyone know but me?!” he screeched at the same time Mary and Marlene landed their piercing gazes on Lily.

“You lot will have to catch them if you really want to know,” Lily shrugged her shoulders and went back to eating, not batting an eye when bickering started throughout their group. Remus looked about ready to blurt out who it was.

“Ooh Lily Jane Evans if you don’t tell me who it is I’m going to kill you,” Mary shrieked as Marlene held her back from lunging across the table. 

“Jane?” Pandora asked softly, propping her head up against her arm. The girl had been relatively quiet until now, wordlessly watching.

“Mhm. What’s yours?”

“Don’t have one.”

Lily reached over and grabbed Pandora's free hand, rubbing soothing circles across it. 

“That’s a shame.”

Pandora nodded her head solemnly.

The rest of lunch went by quickly after the subject of James’ love life had been dropped. Pandora walked with her halfway to class before they split off, going their separate ways.

Alchemy was a bore compared to what she knew she could be doing. The thought of only passing time by Pandora's side was pleasant and a much-needed reality. There was nothing Lily wanted to do more. So, she worked hard in Alchemy, begging the time to pass quickly. Their professor assigned homework, but she couldn’t care less about it once the clock chimed, signaling the end of class. 

Her things were gathered up in a flurry, papers flapping outside her bag as she strode over to the door and out into the corridors. All three girls were patiently waiting for her, conversation lulling when Lily appeared.

“What’s this?” Lily asked, landing her eyes on each girl waiting for an answer. 

Pandora walked up to her and slyly snuck her hand down to interlock their fingers. Lily gave a slight squeeze, still waiting for a response.

“Prank planning of course,” Pandora beamed. 

Mary and Marlene nodded their heads vigorously, openly thrumming with excitement. They only waited a few seconds for Lily to catch up before they were off toward Gryffindor Tower. 

“First night of freedom!” Marlene shouted, skipping backward and pumping her fists in the air with glee. 

“It’s about to be your last if you don’t keep your voice down,” Mary scoffed, whirling the girl around so they could walk faster.

Lily and Pandora laughed with each other as a bickering fight broke out between them. 

It was finally time to have some fun again. 

***

“Any ideas?” Mary asked, tongue ever so slightly sticking out of her mouth as she chopped away at Marlene’s hair. The two girls were stationed at Mary’s vanity, which now looked like a hair salon. Since about their third year, Mary had been cutting Marlene’s hair every few months or so, keeping it in the shaggy mullet it was always in. It somehow turned their dorm into a mess every time.

“Not sure,” Pandora hummed. They were both splayed out across Lily’s bed, Pandora on her back and Lily on her stomach. Pandora was messing with Lily’s hair like a cat does with yarn. No complaints though; it was very relaxing. 

“Oh right,” Lily winced, finally remembering to tell the girls and propping herself up a little taller, “James is onto us. This will probably be the last prank.” 

Pandora pushed herself up on her elbow and Mary whipped around to face her.

“What?” Both girls echoed.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you guys,” Lily grimaced. She laid her head on her hands before continuing. “After he caught the two of you he said he knew I was involved and he was going to figure out what we were up to. He hasn’t done anything since but we should still be careful.” 

Pandora hummed thoughtfully and let herself drop back onto the bed to roll into Lily’s side. Mary turned back to continue cutting Marlene’s hair.

“Well we have to do something big then, yeah?” Mary smirked, making a big chop with a grin.

Marlene flinched and whipped around to glower at her. Mary planted her hands on the girl's shoulders and turned her back around. 

“I agree. I also think that we should do something to them. You know, get them back for all the times they’ve messed with us,” Lily smirked, reaching over to run her fingers over one of Pandora's braids. The grins that were reflected to Lily from the mirror confirmed they wanted to do the same. 

Mary made a few more silent cuts, focusing intently on Marlene’s shaggy hair before speaking up. 

“We should each take a boy,” Mary mumbled over the comb between her lips, “I call Sirius.”

“I’ve got Pete,” Marlene piped up.

Lily turned to glance down at the girl flush to her side as Mary and Marlene chattered. Pandora was looking at her with those wide blue eyes and she couldn’t help but smile at her. The earrings she had on caught the light and Lily reached out to fiddle with it. 

“Are you fine with Remus?” Lily whispered.

Pandora tipped her head back to fully take in Lily’s face, eyes tracing every feature. Lily continued to fiddle with her earring. They were cute little frogs that were enchanted to stick their tongues out.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

Lily hummed at the response, sliding her fingers from the earring to the girl's chin. She passed her thumb over it a few times before dropping her hand back onto the bed. 

Lily turned back to the two girls who whipped their heads forward, pretending like they weren’t watching. They were never slick with it.

“I’ve got James then,” Lily concluded.

All the girls shook their heads in agreement, falling back into silence where the only sound was the snipping of scissors against Marlene’s hair. Lily watched as Marlene’s hair slowly got shorter, making the grin on Marlene’s face only get wider. Small locs of golden hair fell limp to the floor that Lily knew she’d have to clean up later.

“There.” Mary stepped back to admire her work with a small smile on her face. Marlene leaned in close to the mirror and looked at it with all the happiness in the world. Even though the girl had gotten the same haircut so many times, her reaction of utter awe never faded.

“It’s perfect,” Marlene beamed, leaning her head back to smile at Mary. The girl lightly patted Marlene's cheek before turning around and flopping down on her bed. Marlene followed soon after, taking time to fluff up her hair. 

“So what exactly are we going to do?” Mary drawled, staring up at the top of the bed as Marlene slid in next to her.

The room was silent again for a while. Pandora's soft breath tickled Lily’s neck as the girl cuddled in closer. It was the epitome of peace. Right when Lily’s eyes were fluttering closed and sleep was pulling her under, Marlene gasped and clapped her hands together, shooting Lily’s eyes open. 

“Alright, I say we do this Friday because I have an idea for then. You are all free to do whatever with your designated boy until nightfall. Once it’s dark out, bring them to the lake for a little surprise. There’s this person I snuck out to see at Hogsmeade last week that’s going to sell me something fucking amazing. We can go get it on Wednesday after dinner,” Marlene explained rapidly. 

Mary arched an eyebrow at her, waiting for further explanation.

“I promise it will be worth it.”

The three of them waited for more, but Marlene remained silent, keeping a twinge of unknown to their adventure on Wednesday night.

“Well I already know what I’ll do with Sirius then,” Mary flashed a cheeky smile to all of them. 

“Do tell,” Pandora piped up, rolling to her side to throw Mary a curious look.

“A good girl never tells her secrets,” Mary replied, very pleased at the girls’ interest.

“Oh please,” Lily snorted. She covered her mouth to stifle the laughter while Mary glared playfully. The other two joined quickly, sniffing out the irony in Mary’s statement rapidly. 

“Either way, I need all of you to keep your boy on a leash and away from Sirius for my plan to work. You guys can’t speak or acknowledge him either.”

All three girls nodded without question, even with unyielding interest bleeding from their pores.

“I can keep the map on me and make sure we’re all staying away from each other. Evan can help as well,” Pandora murmured, yawning, very adorably if you ask Lily. God, she wanted to kiss her.

Lily squeezed the girl's cheeks, bubbling up laughter from her as Mary and Marlene agreed.

“Every woman for herself then,” Marlene smiled radiantly.

“Every woman for herself,” they echoed.

All of them fell into a fit of laughter, letting the time pass with no worries in the world. 

After the hell and whirlwind of last week, Lily couldn’t be more grateful for the tranquility of this small moment.

It was made ten times better when Pandora leaned over and placed a gentle kiss against the edge of her mouth. Lily grabbed her by the chin and deepened the kiss, not worrying about the people around them. 

They had so much time left in the world and Lily wanted to make every second count.

So she kissed her.

“Oh to be young and in love,” Mary sighed.

“You could be if you really wanted to you know,” Marlene scoffed, arching her eyebrow with amusement. Mary smirked at her like she knew something nobody else did.

“Ugh, I don’t want to hear anything from you either Ms. Let me snog my girlfriend in front of the entire school and make them watch.”

A bout of bickering erupted between the two of them for what felt like the millionth time today. However, Lily hadn't a care in the world.

Pandora's lips captured hers with desire, flooding Lily’s thoughts with only one thing.

The beautiful girl she wanted to call hers.