#pandalily microfic

[outromoony]

Art Museum

@pandalilymicrofics | Word count: 338

"That's my favorite painting."

Lily turned her head to see a blonde girl standing next to her, mesmerized by the same painting. To Lily, it looked like a random splash of colors, a chaotic blend that made no sense.

"Really?" Lily asked.

The girl nodded, her eyes still fixed on the artwork. "The chaos of colors, the way they blend yet stand apart—it’s mesmerizing. Beautiful, unpredictable, and full of hidden meanings."

"Like life," Lily said, meeting the girl’s gaze. Her eyes were a stunning blue, the kind Lily could lose herself in.

"Like life," the girl agreed, her eyes lingering on Lily's face. "What do you see?"

Lily blinked and looked back at the painting. Suddenly, it seemed different, more beautiful, though it still couldn't compare to the girl's eyes. "Pandora's box," Lily said softly. "It feels like an explosion of everything inside, both wonderful and terrible."

A hint of surprise flickered in the girl's eyes. "Exactly," she whispered. "Pandora's box. You know, my name's Pandora."

Lily's heart skipped a beat. "Really? That’s... beautiful."

Pandora laughed softly. "Most people think it’s a curse. But I think it’s about hope—how even in chaos, there’s something worth holding on to."

Lily nodded, captivated. "I think that's beautiful. The idea of hope, I mean."

Pandora took a step closer, their shoulders almost touching. "So, what’s your name?"

"Lily."

"Lily," Pandora repeated, savoring the sound. "Like the flower. Delicate yet resilient."

A warmth spread through Lily's chest. "I- yeah. Yes, I guess so."

Pandora smiled, her eyes sparkling. "Names have meanings, just like art. Sometimes, you just need the right perspective to see it."

They stood in silence for a moment, the chaos of colors on the canvas reflecting the emotions swirling inside them.

"Would you like to see more paintings with me?" Pandora asked, her voice hopeful.

Lily smiled, her heart fluttering. "I’d love to."

As they walked through the museum, Lily thought that maybe they were starting to paint a new story together, one filled with color, chaos, and hope.

[pandoras-boxs-world]

@pandalilymicrofics Prompt 7 (Literature)

Lily was so bored. She may love being one of the top students at hogwarts, but studying was the worst.

"Hey Lils," said Pandora as she came skipping into the library. "What ya doing?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just working on my potions homework"

"Oh, okay, need any help?"

"Okay, yeah, just let me grap some of this schools wonderful literature to read while you finish up your work"

"No I'm good,"

"I'm just gonna go then...."

"No Panda stay, I would love the company,"

Lily's cheeks flushed red. She hadn't quite realised what she had said. She'd never called her panda before.

"Yeah, okay, just let me grap some of this wonderful library's literature to read while you finish up"

Pandora didn't seem fazed at all by the new nickname, but inside, she was jumping for joy. Maybe this meant Lily liked her back after all.

[marauders-bs]

august 6- pandalily prompt: surfboard @pandalilymicrofics

Lily's trudging back up the beach towards water and James's judgmental looking boyfriend when someone taps her shoulder.

"Hey, can you teach me to surf?"

Lily's pretty sure her brain short-circuits. Standing in front of her is a blonde woman with a yellow bikini and one blue eye and one gold eye. Madre de Dios, this girl is gorgeous. Like a goddess. Joder, she's beautiful.

"Ah," Lily says, like a real genius. "Yeah. I'm- ah- do you have a surfboard?"

The girl nods, gesturing to it, and Lily is really being stupid because it's in her hands.

"Ah- okay. I'm gonna get some water, and I'll be down. See the five people down there looking like idiots? They're my friends, I'll be over there."

The girl nods and walks down, and her hair is billowing in the wind, and Liliana Evans is such a lesbian.

She gets back down, and the girl- Lily learns her name is Pandora, seriously, can she get any more gorgeous?- does better than any of them on their first tries. Even Marlene, and she moves like she was made for the water.

Later, as the sun begins to set, Pandora smiles at Lily. "I'll be here tomorrow, Lily," she says, and she walks back up the beach.

Sirius laughs at the look on her face and Mary puts an arm around her, and joder, Lily already knows she's done for.

[thebibutterflyao3]

“Leave Him”

@pandalilymicrofics - 601 words

It was a running joke between them for years.

Whenever Lily came into work ranting about her husband’s latest mishap with his friends - an explosive experiment in their kitchen or run-in with muggle police - Pandora teasingly told her to “leave him and run away with me.”

When her own husband printed an embarrassing article in his magazine - questioning celebrity identities or the existence of alien creatures - Lily bumped her hip and said, “You should leave him and open a flower shop with me.”

They were friends. Coworkers at a prestigious potioneers’ lab in Diagon Alley that luncheoned together every week day, shared meaningful looks, and met up for play dates every Sunday at the park with their kids. Harry and Luna were fast friends from their first meeting, when Harry took Luna’s hand and gently led her to the swings.

It was a joke, until it wasn’t.

Pandora stared at Lily in astonishment, her hands trembling against Lily’s waist. She followed Lily into the loo after she’d walked into the office with tears streaming down her cheeks. No words were needed. Pandora didn’t require an explanation to offer comfort.

Then, Lily kissed her. It wasn’t friendly. It was real.

Every platonic thought flew from her mind. The world’s axis tilted the opposite direction, yet still rotated around the same ball of sunshine, Lily. It always was and forever would be Lily.

“What…happened?” Pandora asked, resisting the urge to flee from the volcano of emotions bubbling to the surface. Feelings that she’d repressed for so long now overwhelmed her all at once.

“I ended it,” Lily said, half-sobbing. Her warm hands framed Pandora’s face. “We tried an open relationship for a while, hoping it would fix things. I’ve felt guilty that I couldn’t be as intimate as he wanted, as he needed, really. He found someone who could and I couldn’t continue playing along. I was holding him back, holding myself back.”

Pandora sagged against her, trying to find the right words. To figure out how to describe all of these feelings that she’d boxed up and hidden away. She never thought she could have this. It was a fantasy that she enjoyed in her own mind, a little moment of escapism before returning to reality. Returning to a life that was satisfying, but unfulfilled.

“You don’t have to say anything. I just had to…I don’t know.” Lily’s hands began to slip away, her chin dropping to her chest. “Show you how much I love you? Is that a daft thing to say to a married woman?”

Pandora caught her wrists and lifted Lily’s hands back to where they belonged, cradling her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into Lily’s warmth. This was what she wanted, what she needed. Her own needs were long ago abandoned to care for Luna, but now…now that Lily was here and felt the same way? I can’t lose her.

“Lily, if you’re daft for loving me, then I’m equally daft for loving you,” she said, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her lips. Against those lips, Pandora whispered, “We will make this work, I promise.”

“I can’t ask you for this, Pandora. You’re happy with Xeno and have Luna—”

Pandora hushed her gently and wrapped her arms around the curves that she’d only ever dreamed about holding. “Lily, you make me happy. Besides, I think even Xeno, oblivious as he is, saw this coming. He’s hinted at us seeing other people so many times.”

“Please,” Lily pleaded, hugging her tight. “Don’t let me ruin your life.”

“As if you ever could.”

[lily-evans-stan]

“help me” @pandalilymicrofics prompt for june 22!! it’s my second microfic and my first w a prompt so any insights would be so helpful:)))

TW- Eating disorders and mentions of suicide please take care of your self and read with caution

lily had eaten too much.

that much she knew.

pandora had been passing her drink after drink and as lily lost her inhibitions she lost her control.

and she wasn’t allowed to lose control.

control was the only thing keeping her from madness, from destroying herself inside out.

and it wasn’t doing a very good job.

so lily was eating.

so far she had eaten half a cookie, thirteen potato chips and four and a half beers. it was just too much, she was going to cry.

instead she reached out for her fourteenth chip. according to the bag serving sizes were twenty eight chips, lily, in her mind, was getting dangerously close.

as she realized what she was doing she pulled her hand back suddenly.

pandora appeared at her side, “ what are you doing my love?” she hummed. lily flinched and hoped that the blonde girl hadn’t seen the momentary weakness.

“nothing dear,” lily murmured, leaning into pandora’s touch, suddenly imagining what her lover would think had she know how much lily had eaten.

the redhead stiffened ever so slightly, “im going to go to the bathroom.”

lily stumbled towards the bathroom, her mind going over the rules.

one

never eat anything you can’t throw up

two

never let anyone know

three repeat my mantras :

“if she knows then she will never love me again”

“she only loves me because of how i look”

“if i eat so much, i’m going to be fat and then no one will love me ever again”

“i’m miserable now but one day i’ll be happy”

i’m the bathroom lily flung open the stall and kneeled at the toilet bowl if anyone walked in they would think she just had too much to drink. gryffindor parties often got rowdy, especially when all the houses had been invited like they were tonight.

but that was far from what was happening in lily’s mind.

as she stuck her hand down her throat she gagged. and gagged again. and once more but nothing came up. she started sobbing. she was hiccuping and gagging against the hand in her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

what if she couldn’t throw up? what if she has to digest the food?

what if… what if the next time she stepped on the scale she saw the number go up instead of down.

that truly was lilys greatest fear.

she started hyperventilating. she was gagging and blood was coming up and stomach acid was coming up but nothing solid or even that had once been remotely solid. tears and snot were all over her and she could feel the spit sliding down her arm.

that’s when pandora walked in. her eyes took in the scene, the pitiful girl so deep in her mind that she couldn’t even think straight. so tainted with the monster inside that everything she did was traced back to it.

pandora looked at lily and lily looked back. lily was disgusting, she was covered in bodily fluids and was hyperventilating, shaking and still gagging.

“help me.”

with one step pandora was beside her girlfriend, arms around lily. and lily was sobbing into her shoulder.

things would be sorted out, pandora would get the whole story, and everything would be fixed.

eventually.

but for now lily was in pandoras arms and that was enough.

[theprongspotter]

24 Prompts til Christmas: Day 4

“Christmas Cookies” (Pandalily)

Pandora reaches over and gently grabs the bag of sugar from Lily’s hand. “Wait, that’s too much! Lils, the recipe calls for one cup… were you just eyeballing it?”

Lily shrugs. “Baking can’t be that much different than making a potion, can it?”

The blonde sighs, shaking her head, though a smile is still on her face. “What ever will I do with you, Miss Evans?”

"Whatever you desire.” Lily winks playfully before letting out a laugh. Pandora joins in, too.

“You’re something else, really.” Pandora looks back at the recipe. “Okay, you pour in half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and I’ll pour in 2 tablespoons of cream.”

They do just that, even if Lily spills the vanilla extract everywhere and they spend at least ten minutes cleaning it up.

“How are you so good at baking?” Lily asks as she whisks the mixture, looking at the other woman.

Pandora hums and a smile forms on her face again as if she’s looking back on a memory. “Ev and I used to bake all the time. It started off as just something to do to pass time and kind of escape reality, but then we started to actually enjoy it.” She pauses. “Don’t tell Ev that I told you, though.”

“I’d never.”

Lily puts her hands on her hips as she stares smugly at the bowl of icing. “It looks perfect. I’m basically a professional, now.”

“It looks perfect, but does it taste perfect?” Pandora dips a finger into the bowl and puts it in her mouth. She nods approvingly at her friend. “Tastes perfect, too.”

A smear of icing is on her bottom lip and Lily must be staring for too long, because Pandora raises a curious brow. “What?”

“Dora, you have a little something right there.”

“Where?”

“Here, let me get it for you.” Lily says before quickly pressing their lips together.

Pandora grins. “You sly girl.”

Lily grins back and lets Pandora pull her into another kiss. It doesn’t last long, though, because Lily frowns when a burnt smell hits her nose. “What’s that smell?”

Pandora pauses and then gasps. “Lily, the cookies!”

[marlsswrites]

June 27th

“Leave him.” - @pandalilymicrofics - words: 698

Lily has been on her fair share of bad dates in her life, but this had to be the absolute worst.

His name was Severus Snape, really? That’s the most stuck up, trust fund baby, prick name ever. He even lived up to all three of those insults.

He was slimy, disgusting, dry, and a certified douche bag.

She scooted her chair away from the table with a squeak on the restaurants wooden floor, claiming she had to use the restroom.

After locking the door, she pulled out her phone and dialled the one person she knew she could count on.

Pandora Rosier.

The truth about her and Lily’s relationship was a mystery, she was one of Lily’s best friends, also the girl she’s been in love with since she was 17.

Now, at 23 years old, Lily goes on date after date trying to find someone who could compare to Pandora, but no one ever did. The beauty and perfection of Pandora Rosier was unmatchable.

“Dora.” Lily sighed into the phone as Pandora answered.

“Lils?” She asked in a worried tone.

“You know that date I had going on tonight?”

Pandora didn’t respond straight away, Lily swore she could hear the deep breath the blonde girl took before talking in a slightly less steady voice. “Yeah?”

“You have to help me love, he’s disgusting.” She spoke out, gagging at the end of her sentence to prove a point. “What do I do?” She whined.

“Just leave him, flower.” Pandora suggested with an even softer tone. “Tell him it’s a family emergency and run away.” She laughed that beautiful laugh behind the phone. “I’ve pulled that stunt multiple times.”

“Yeah-“ Lily was cut off by the rustling of keys and the click of a door lock. “Where are you going?”

Lily swore she could feel Pandora’s smile through the phone. “Picking you up of course, silly. Send me the location.”

It was such a small gesture, the two did things like this for each other all the time, yet it still made Lily flush up to the tips of her ears. “Right- sent!I’ll see you in five?”

“See you soon, flower.”

-

“Are you sure you’re fine letting me stay here?” Lily said warily.

Pandora had offered Lily a place to stay at her house tonight, due to Lily’s total fed up mood and an obvious bad date. Pandora just wanted to make her friend happy, make sure her friend was okay.

That was the problem, wasn’t it? Friend.

If only they were more, Pandora constantly thought.

Admittedly, it was rather painful to watch Lily go on date after date, every time was spent with Pandora wishing she was in whoever the lucky and unworthy man or woman it was who went out with the Lily Evans. Pandora could treat her so much better than them, if only Lily knew that.

“Of course.” She replied casually, throwing on another few pillows onto her double bed for Lily. “Remember those sleepovers we used to have as teenagers?”

She heard Lily’s sweet laugh from behind her. “Those were good times.”

Five minutes later both girls were changed into something to sleep in, Pandora in green silk pyjamas and Lily in one of Pandoras oversized t shirt and a pair of fluffy pj bottoms.

The image of Lily with her red messy hair pinned up into a bun, her body covered up to her thighs with Pandora’s massive t shirt and a shy smile on her face made Pandora feel slightly faint. Only slightly.

“Goodnight Dora.” Lily sighed as she sunk into the soft mattress of Pandoras bed.

“Goodnight flower.” Pandora whispered as she watched her flower drift off to sleep. “My flower.” She corrected when she thought Lily was fast asleep.

-

Lily, in fact, was not asleep.

That is how she woke up with her limbs tangled with Pandora’s, her shirt wonky and her shorts completely discarded on the floor. Her messy bun half fallen out, and last nights makeup smeared.

Pandora was a mess too, not really though. She looked perfect, ethereal, magical. Like she always does, now Lily can truly admire her like she was born to do.

[pandalilymicrofics]

Feel free to use for any fandom or ship, I will reblog the ones focused on Pandalily. 💕

[marauderstarss]

pandalily kinktober; prompts 2, 25, 29 ig @pandalilymicrofics

Lily Evans es consciente de que tiene una novia terca, por lo que casi nunca puede ganarle una discusión a Pandora.

Esta noche, se encontró persiguiéndola hasta el bosque, casi en horario de toque de queda. Ella le rogó que la acompañara a buscar una especie de flor rara para una poción que florecía a mediados de otoño. Lily, por supuesto, siempre era la mente lógica de la relación. Porque, ¿quién en su sano juicio iría al Bosque Prohibido por la noche? Al parecer, solo su novia.

— Dora, podemos regresar por la mañana, ¿por qué es tan importante obtenerla ahora?

— Lils, amor. Es una flor nocturna, tenemos que conseguirla ahora. Además, la luna llena será en dos días, el cielo está despejado y el clima ha estado decente estos días. Las criaturas están felices y tranquilas, nadie nos molestará a menos que— ¡Mierda!

Lily no terminó de escuchar lo que Pandora decía, porque la vio tropezar con una rama. Lo siguiente que sintió fue caer sobre Pandora. En su intento por ayudarla, terminó en el suelo con ella.

La tierra está fría, hay algunas hojas tiradas y flores esparcidas por todo el suelo. Estaba a punto de levantarse cuando Pandora la tomó por el cuello y, con una sonrisa en los labios, comenzó a besarla.

Comenzó con un beso dulce y tierno, pero a medida que Pandora empezó a tocar más el cuerpo de Lily, el beso se volvió acalorado y un poco desesperado.

El aire se estaba tornando cálido. Lily agarró la cintura de Pandora con una mano y, con la otra, se sujetó a la tierra. Pandora tenía sus manos sobre su cuello y mentón. El beso era salvaje y apasionado. Lily comenzó a excitarse, y por la forma en que Pandora buscaba fricción, se dio cuenta de que ella también lo estaba.

Un momento después, Lily las giró, haciendo que Pandora quedara encima de ella. Levantó los volados de sus faldas y acomodó su muslo entre las piernas de Pandora, invitándola a buscar su placer.

Pandora inclinó la cabeza hacia atrás. Lily comenzó a dejar besos sobre su cuello; su visión y sus sentidos estaban un poco nublados. Solo podía escucharla diciendo “Lily, sí, sí”. La tomó por la cintura y comenzó a guiarla mientras se frotaba contra su muslo. Era feroz y salvaje. Se besaban con dientes, mordidas y sangre. Lily, ocasionalmente, le agarraba el cabello a Pandora para que no fuera tan rápido, y de su boca solo salían halagos hacia su novia como “Lo estás haciendo muy bien, Dora”, “Toma todo lo que quieras” o “No te calles, te escuchas tan bien”.

Este es el lado dominante que Pandora ama de Lily, y solo ella lo conoce.

Con un mordisco fuerte en su labio inferior, Lily sintió cómo Pandora se corría. Cayeron exhaustas en la tierra, sonrojadas y ruborizadas. Luego, Pandora solo la miro se río, y aunque Lily no entendía el motivo, también terminó contagiándose.

Lily esta muy enamorada de Pandora. Es la chica más hermosa que ha conocido, con la sonrisa más radiante y fresca de todas. No puede creer que acababan de tener sexo en medio del bosque. Están llenas de tierra y hojas. ¿Cómo les explicara esto a Mary y Marlene cuando llegue a su habitación?

[outromoony]

Library

@pandalilymicrofics | Word count: 239

"Your book is upside down." Pandora jumped at the sudden voice beside her. She looked up to see Regulus staring at her, eyebrow raised.

"You know, when you said you were going to the library, I thought it was for studying, not for staring at Evans."

"I..." Pandora glanced down and realized her book wasn't just upside down but also in a language she couldn't even recognize. She cursed herself internally. "It's not what it looks like."

"Sure, of course it isn't," Regulus sighed, taking a seat in the empty chair beside her. "Quite a coincidence she's sitting right there at the next table."

Pandora looked up at Lily, who was absorbed in her book, her brow furrowed in concentration. She seemed remarkably serene, a stark contrast to her usual bustling presence around the castle or reprimanding third years for rule-breaking. Lily was always vibrant and energetic, but in the library, she exuded a calmness that Pandora found captivating. It was as if she allowed herself a moment to simply be herself, away from the pressures of perfection everyone attributed to her.

"She's definitely a beautiful coincidence," Pandora replied, unable to tear her eyes away from the redhead. Regulus made a disgusted noise beside her, and she chuckled softly.

"You're hopeless," he shook his head, sighing.

"Maybe," she grinned. "But isn't that where the best stories come from?"

Regulus looked at her like he didn't agree in the slightest.

[pandoras-boxs-world]

@pandalilymicrofics -Prompt 11 (Discipline)

"I can't believe you, Pandora. This is the third time this week you've been late to my lesson, " snapped professor Mcgonagall,"if this happens again, you'll have to be disciplined"

"Huh umm...yeah of course, professor."Pandora said quietly.

She took her seat at the back of the class.

"As I was saying before Miss Rosier rudely interrupted us. This is Lily our new student"

The new girl waved and gave the class a small smile.

"Lily go take a seat"

The only seat left was next to Pandora. Lily slowly sat down next to Dora and stretched out her hand.

"Hi, I'm lily well you already knew that, but ya know." Lily gave out a small awkward laugh.

Pandora looked into Lily's beautiful eyes. They were like pools of emeralds , Pandora could look into them for hours. Lily's hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, and her hair was a beautiful tangerine colour. Her cheeks were a rosy red, and freckles ran across her cheeks.

"Hello there, I'm Pandora," Pandora said gently shaking her hand.

Maybe Pandora wouldn't be late to class anymore.

[marauders-bs]

pandalily- august 7 prompt: summer @pandalilymicrofics tw: idk some heavy trauma on dora's part, dead bodies mentioned, dora has a vision

this is a long one folks

Pandora hasn't felt alive since she left her parents' house. Everything she's ever done has felt like someone else is controlling it, probably because her parents were controlling it. Even if they're not now, she can still feel it.

"Get the fuck up, Panda," Barty says randomly one day. Pandora looks up, and her roommate looks incredibly pissed off. "You've been wallowing and I am not having it. That's Reg's job, not yours."

"What do you want me to do?" Pandora asks, not really caring.

"I don't know!" Barty says angrily. "It's fucking summer. Go to the beach. You know what, that's exactly what we're going to do. Reg's brother and his friends are going to be there."

Pandora just shrugs. Barty looks angrier still.

--

Pandora still doesn't feel alive, but she feels present, and that's a little better. Mary and James have control of the stereo, but she doesn't mind much.

Lily Evans is there. She's gotten prettier somehow since they left school.

Regulus and Sirius appear to be bonding. That's good, Pandora thinks. A bridge, mending.

--

She's walking to buy chips, Lily beside her, when she feels it. The snap, the sort of pain. The Rosier curse, kind of. Visions, prophecies.

Images flash. Bodies- dead bodies. Evan's, then Reg's, then James's, then Lily's. Peter. Barty. Fire, water. Green. Silver. Black, accompanying rasping breaths.

"Pandora? Dora!"

Pandora wrenches herself into the present. The vision is already slipping, and she's grateful. She doesn't need to know how she dies.

Lily is holding her.

Lily is holding her.

"I'm alright," Dora mutters. "I'm alright."

[thebibutterflyao3]

“Coffee Shop”

@pandalilymicrofics - 1260 words

Pandora didn’t even like coffee, so it was rather difficult to explain to her friends why she returned to this specific coffee shop at 7:15 on the dot, two mornings a week, every week. Especially considering she spent an absurd amount of money on a cup of tea every Monday and Friday, only to abandon it half-finished.

They were even further confused when she brought a book or magazine along with her, just to summarily ignore it. Her standard excuses were, “I’m admiring the scenery” or “It’s just a guilty pleasure.”

I doubt they believe me, but what am I supposed to say? I’m obsessed with a mum?

It started innocently enough. A month ago, Pandora spotted a curvy redhead with an impossibly cute toddler on her hip walking into this shop. She followed curiously, intending to say “hello” and possibly ask for her number. Except, she didn’t.

After showing up at this same time every day over the next week, she determined the redhead’s schedule. Internally, Pandora acknowledged it was slightly unhinged behaviour. She could have approached any one of those days, but couldn’t bring herself to interrupt their adorable mummy/son dates.

Then, he showed up.

Pandora sat in her usual seat, fuming. She hadn’t even tasted her lavender and cinnamon concoction yet. Instead, she assuaged her disappointment with a pastry.

Although the redhead didn’t wear a ring, she should have assumed she was seeing someone already. No one as pretty as her stayed single for long. Her only consolation was in how much the little boy favoured him, he had to be the toddler’s dad. She hadn’t missed her chance then, there wasn’t one.

“Panda? What’s wrong?” Dorcas asked, sliding into the booth next to her and slipping her arm around Pandora’s shoulders.

Pandora forced a smile, then dropped it when Dorcas stared back at her. “All the pretty girls are either taken, straight, or both.”

“Preaching to the choir, doll. Who are we glaring at?”

“See the redhead?” Pandora asked, nodding subtly. “She comes in here twice a week at the same time, so I do too. I was working up the courage to ask for her number, but…well.”

Dorcas eyed the couple thoughtfully, then shrugged. “No rings. Maybe they’re exes?”

“Don’t get my hopes up, Cas.”

“Do you want me to scope them out?” she offered.

Pandora turned to face Dorcas fully with her arms crossed over her chest. “Are you mad? No, I don’t want you to annoy a perfectly normal—”

The front door of the coffee shop slammed shut, cutting Pandora off. Suddenly, Dorcas laughed as if she’d said something hysterically funny. Startled, Pandora didn’t even get a word out before a blonde mullet in combat boots stomped over to their table.

“What the fuck, Cas?” the woman hissed. She kicked the leg of a chair and when it popped out from the table, she flipped it around and sat on it backwards. Prooping her arms on the chair’s back, she glared at Dorcas, then Pandora. “Who are you?”

Dorcas smirked. “This is Pandora.”

When she didn’t introduce the woman, Pandora rolled her eyes and held out her hand. “Pleasure to meet you. I didn’t catch your name?”

“Hey Marlene, what’s up?” a deep voice asked. It was him.

Marlene ignored Pandoras hand and scowled up at him. “I don’t need your help, James. I’m perfectly capable of confronting my girlfriend without back-up.”

“G-Girlfriend?” Pandora choked out. She swatted Dorcas’s hip when she regained control of herself. “You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!”

“That’s because I don’t. McKinnon here is just a clinger. The one-off that won’t leave.”

“One-off? We’ve been on three dates! In lesbian land, we’re practically engaged.” Marlene pounded a fist on the table in protest, upsetting Pandora's cup and spilling it on the floor. “Oh shite! I’ll buy you another one.”

“Nice one, Marls.” James tossed serviettes at the spill and started cleaning it up. “I’m James, by the way. Her—”

“My future step-son,” Marlene snarked.

James sighed. “Don’t ask.”

Pandora exchanged curious glances with Dorcas, then shrugged. “Alright then.”

Marlene opened her mouth to speak and was promptly interrupted by James. He plopped on the seat beside Pandora and asked, “Can I borrow your phone?”

“Why?”

“I’ll be real quick. Just need to text someone,” James insisted. “I’ll give it right back.”

Pandora reluctantly unlocked the phone and handed it to him. “Fine.”

He held it for all of thirty seconds before giving it back. “Thanks!”

She glanced at her texts, but didn’t see any new messages sent to unknown numbers. Before she could ask, a cup was held out in front of her face. Attached to that cup was a small child with an eerily familiar grin, and by extension, his mother.

“Oh, thank you,” Pandora said, her voice embarrassingly breathless.

The redhead smiled when she accepted the cup, and Pandora’s heart pounded in her chest. Everything else faded away, as though they existed in a space and time all their own. She’d seen that smile from afar, but up close, it was radiant! A sparkling jewel amidst a pile of stones.

“Lavender chai tea with cinnamon, right?” the woman asked.

“Yes! How did you know?”

“You order the same thing every time you come in.” Her freckled face was even prettier with a slight blush. She adjusted her son on her hip and ruffled his unruly curls. “I’m Lily, by the way, and this is Harry. I noticed your drink hadn’t been replaced after Marlene’s tantrum.”

“I’m Pandora. Nice to—”

Dorcas snorted a laugh. “Tantrum is right. She thinks if she pouts prettily enough, I’ll give in.”

“That’s because you do,” Pandora deadpanned.

Marlene rolled her eyes, but was once again interrupted before she could speak. A blur of dark hair rushed into the shop at a full sprint, nearly colliding with Lily and Harry. Pandora flinched, but James lunged forward and caught him. It wasn’t until he settled back into the booth with Regulus in his lap that she registered who it was.

“Reg?” Dorcas said.

Regulus scowled. “Don’t look so surprised. You just texted me, Panda.”

Pandora pulled out her phone and checked. Sure enough, James had texted Regulus from her phone. Your not-so-secret boyfriend is at the coffee shop with his ex.

“Ah, that’s why you borrowed my phone,” she said, shaking her head.

“That was you?!” he huffed incredulously, swatting James’s shoulder.

James buried his grin in Regulus’s hair. “I missed you. Besides, your friend was staring daggers into the back of my head.”

Pandora turned to defend herself, but Lily was gone. Her heart sank in her chest. I lost my chance.

“Why?” Regulus asked.

“She has a crush on Lily,” Dorcas answered.

James chuckled, then reached out to turn Pandora’s cup around. “That’s convenient.”

Written in loopy cursive were four words, “Same time next week?,” followed by a phone number. Lily asked her on a coffee date! Pandora quickly added the number to her phone and texted, Yes! I’d love to have coffee with you and Harry.

“Wait, so you’re not—” Marlene said, sitting up straight.

“No, she’s a friend. You threw a fit for no reason,” Dorcas taunted, looking awfully pleased with herself as Marlene all but crawled in her lap. “Jealous twat.”

Boxed in by the couples on either side of her, Pandora focused on her phone as three little dots danced across the scene. When the response came through, she nearly melted on the spot.

We can’t wait. xx

[kalegreeneyes]

June 17th, 2024 - Self-Love - 725 words - @pandalilymicrofics

Lily has been trying to change her life since her 25th birthday. She’s on a sort of self-love journey, determined to find herself after realizing at her birthday party that she’s been deeply, deeply unsatisfied with her life for quite some time. She started with drinking more water, journaling, and getting a therapist. Those things (minus the water) led her down a terrifying path of self discovery, and after a lot of tears and a lot of back and forth with herself, she finally admitted a truth she’d been burying for a long time: Lily Evans likes women too.

She’s known it on some level for a very long time, but she’s just been scared. Her parents weren’t outspoken about their beliefs, but they always erred on the more conservative side of things, and then there was Petunia. Lily’s sister talked loudly and frequently about how freakish and disgusting she thought queer people were from the time she learned about them to the time Lily left home for good.

Now, Lily has more gay friends than not, and she’s always, always been supportive, but for some reason when it came to herself, she just couldn’t accept that it was true. Any time she caught her gaze lingering or her heart rate speeding up around a pretty girl, she would just hear Petunia’s voice in her head spitting ignorant, venomous rhetoric, and she would shy away from it. Not anymore. She’s leaving that behind.

She told her friends two days ago, and now it’s Saturday night and they’re insisting on taking her out. James organized the whole night with Mary–a gay bar hop. They’ve been to two already, and Lily has managed to get out of her initial awkward discomfort with the help of her friends and a few fancy little shots, courtesy of Sirius, who is more excited about her coming out than even she is. 

The third bar they go to is one James frequents because his boyfriend is friends with the bartenders, Barty and Evan, and they tend to get a hefty discount. This is how Lily finds herself loose-limbed and giggly on the dance floor between Mary and Dorcas, her body glitter sticking to their skin as they move to the music. She’s having so much fun that she doesn’t notice the ethereal woman next to James staring at her, and she doesn’t notice the ethereal woman moving through the crowd of bodies, and she almost doesn’t notice the ethereal woman trying to cut in and dance with her–but Mary does notice. She smiles and steps back, taking Dorcas with her so they can dance alone, and then Lily is alone with the ethereal stranger. 

She’s got long, long, platinum blonde goddess braids, sharp, white eyeliner, and beautiful, soft floral tattoos. She’s also got the prettiest smile that Lily has ever seen, her heart hiccupping as soon as she lays eyes on it. She freezes momentarily, surely looking like an idiot with her mouth dropped open.

“Don’t stop dancing, gorgeous,” the stranger giggles, holding a hand out to her. “I’d like to join you.”

Lily swallows and licks her lips, then collects herself and manages a smile back that she hopes looks half as pretty as the stranger’s as she takes the offered hand and steps in close.

“I’m Lily,” she says, leaning in to the stranger’s ear to be heard over the music. She smells like vanilla and strawberry, a combination that warms Lily down to her toes.

“I know,” the stranger says with a soft, twinkly laugh. “I’m Pandora.”

Pandora–Lily has heard that name before. But where? As Pandora spins her on the dance floor, Lily catches James’ eye, and he raises his cocktail glass up to her with a wink, and oh. This is James’ boyfriend’s best friend. Pandora knowing her name already makes a lot of sense now–and how perfect, how serendipitous. Or maybe not serendipitous, knowing James. This was probably a set up from the start.

Later, once they’ve danced themselves into sweaty messes, Pandora pulls Lily over to the bar and orders her a ‘secret, off-menu, friends only’ drink that is light pink and sparkly and it tastes sort of like how Pandora smells. It only makes sense that when they kiss a half hour later, standing just outside of the bar, that she tastes like it too. 

[orchideous-nox]

i'm still counting down all of the days (pandalily microfic)

Inspired by Subway by Chappell Roan

Pandora didn't appreciate the winter, but seasons were unfortunately non-negotiable. It was much less comfortable to have the cold biting at the tip of her nose than to have the sun gently heating it, but with her scarf wrapped around her neck and a thick jumper paired with her maxi skirt, she was simply having to accept that the loss of feeling in her finger tips wasn’t going anywhere. Gloves were now mandatory.

As she nearly tumbled down the steps at the underground station, Pandora caught the tote back slipping off her shoulder, hoisting it back up as she came to a stop between an old man carrying his dog in his arms and a pregnant woman clutching onto a toddler’s hand. The train had just pulled up as she righted the braid that had come untucked from behind her ear, perfect timing.

In her pocket, Pandora felt her phone buzz and she looked down as she retrieved it, noticing the text from her brother to let her know that he was waiting at her door when she got home. She was so focused on tapping out a reply that she was just getting on the train that she didn’t notice how busy it was until she walked into the shoulder of the man holding his dog. Muttering an apology, she slipped in her earphones and turned up the volume on the button in the tangled wire.

It was too hot now, the scarf which had been necessary when she was walking about outside was now too much when she was crammed between bodies. With three weeks until Christmas, it wasn’t too surprising. Unwinding the knitted length from around her neck, a gift from Regulus, she stuffed it into her tote bag with a huff.

When they reached the next stop, more people thankfully got off than got on, giving Pandora a bit more room to breathe. She was able to turn a bit and grab hold of one of the metal poles for stability as they began moving again. The woman with the toddler was sat on seat to her left, the toddler crouched down and running a finger over Pandora’s sage green skirt, feeling the embroidered flowers along the hem. When the mother reached out to stop him, smiling politely at Pandora as she uttered an apology, she made sure to let her know it was fine. Stooping down, she asked the child if they liked the flowers, and told them what each one was.

As she stood up, however, something hit Pandora, a smell that had been missing from her life four months ago. The smell of orange blossom and jasmine that used to remind her of being wrapped up in pristine white sheets that did not belong to her, but now poisoned Pandora as she looked around.

Pushing past her, a woman with hair the colour of autumn leaves moved between people to get further down the carriage, telling someone on the phone that she couldn’t quite see them yet, that perhaps she was moving in the wrong direction down the train. Deep inside Pandora, something ached that had been like that for too long. It might not be her. In the whole city, what were the chances that this was Lily?

But then there was that laugh, and Pandora would have bolted if she could.

Lily flung her arms around the neck of a young man with glasses and untamed dark hair, kissing him squarely on the lips before smiling wider than Lily had ever smiled at her. This had happened before, except usually the woman would turn around and it was just another person with ginger hair. This time, when she turned around in the circle of the man’s arms, Pandora’s eyes met hers and the smile dropped.

Lily Evans was the type of girl you pined over, the girl you craved in those moments you were alone after she left the room, the girl who seemed to float around unaware of how beautiful she was. Pandora had spent years watching her across the room, the way her skin was painted with freckles and the corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled. Whatever they’d had was never going to be permanent, it was the type of torrid affair made to be brief, Sunday mornings which stretched into lazy weekends. Lounging in the park on a checkered blanket became grocery shopping together, until suddenly the bed was too big and there were too many sandwiches in the picnic basket and Pandora remembered that she preferred her orange juice without bits and the sacrifices she had made for Lily were no longer necessary.

Pandora was supposed to have moved on. She’s told Evan she was fine now, that she was over Lily and open to dating again. Clearly, she had lied. As the doors opened, Pandora realised they were nearly at her stop, and she watched Lily take the man’s hand as they walked off the train onto the platform. The doors closed and they began moving again, but Pandora stood still, watching as the blur of blazing auburn passed the windows.

Pandora was counting down the days until Lily was just another person who had broken her heart, just another passenger on the underground, just another girl. After resetting that countdown too many times, she came to realise that this long-awaited day was not today.

Until then, she would continue letting life pass her by, she would dream about moving away from the memories that haunted her until one day she would stop looking for her when she smelt that perfume and could instead smile and remember Lily as the girl who got away.

[theprongspotter]

24 Prompts til Christmas: Day 11

“Gingerbread Houses” (Pandalily)

Lily’s tongue sticks out the corner of her mouth as she carefully pipes icing onto the wall of her gingerbread house. She finishes icing the last part of that wall: the window. Well, she was finished until Pandora decided to become a terrible person. She swipes a finger across the newly iced windows and proceeds to lick it.

“Dora, what the fuck?” Lily gasps, smacking her arm. “It looked so good.”

“It tastes good, too.” Pandora grins at her glowering girlfriend.

Lily eyes Pandora’s gingerbread house. At the peak of the roof, there’s a line of gumdrops. Well, if that’s how they’re playing this game, then she might as well get her turn. She reaches over and plucks a blue gumdrop off the roof and puts it in her mouth.

“Lils!” Pandora frowns.

“What? I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine,” Lily replies, grinning.

“There’s no sabotaging allowed in a gingerbread house making competition. You should get a penalty for that.”

“Well, you broke that nonexistent rule first,” she argues back.

Through their playful banter, they continue to work on their gingerbread houses. When they’re done, Lily’s resembles a cozy cabin and Pandora’s resembles a beautiful castle.

Lily holds her gingerbread girl beside Pandora’s and squeals, smiling widely. “Oh my gosh, our little people can be in love!”

“Why are they in separate houses, then?” Pandora inquires, quirking a brow.

Her girlfriend huffs. “Shut up, she’s still working on selling the place, okay?”