Lily Evans lived on the outskirts of the woods. If you looked behind the cottage she called home, you would see thinning words quickly turning into trees pressed so close together that she could spread her arms and touch two trees easily. Infront of her house lay fields of flowers, that only had the occasional tourist.
Lily Evan’s was an auror. She had gotten the job pretty easily, she had always had top marks at Hogwarts, and she had many people (Professor Slughorn was a big help, with all his ministry contacts) recommend her for several different jobs. She was quite happy with her job and felt a sense of moral goodness by showing up every day.
When Lily Evan’s was at school, she met James Potter. She disliked him for years, until, finally, she fell head over heals for the man. She was only two years out of Hogwarts, at the good old age of 19, when she found out she was pregnant. She and James had both been shocked, but had always wanted to start their own little family, so what if it was earlier than they expected?
Though, around 4 months after Harry was born, Lily discovered something. She wasn’t in love with James Potter. She resented herself for this- he was an amazing person, and she’d just had a child with the man for god’s sake.
After that she spent a lot of time at Pandora’s house. She found her comfort worth so much, and she knew that she would never tell a soul. Remus, as amazing as a friend as he was, might accidently let it slip to Sirius, the two were so in love that in the late months of her pregnancy, she often looked at them, holding each other lovingly, or their lips interlocked, and wondered why she didn’t feel that way about James anymore. She knew logically that he wouldn’t, he was an amazing secret keeper, but she still worried. Sirius would pity James greatly and would not be able to keep it from him for that long. She knew the other girls wouldn’t tell a soul, but yet she chose Pandora every time.
She’d leave Harry with James and his godfathers and run to Pandora’s house, and cry in her arms for hours.
During one of the many hours, they spent together, Pandora admitted that her and her husband, Xeno, had split. It was a decision that they both made and felt equally about it, and that Xeno was travelling for a bit while she took care of Luna, her daughter who Lily adored dearly.
Lily listened to Pandora talk and realized that it was a possibility. She told Pandora that she might try and break things off with James. Pandora said (in a very much no pressure way) that if Lily needed a place to stay, her house was always open.
Eventually, Lily told him.
She told James about how she felt. She told him while sobbing, apologizing every few seconds for the pain that she caused him. James wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair, telling her that it was okay, but she could tell from the way his voice was breaking that he was silently crying.
Once they’d both calmed down, they had a conversation about Harry, who was sleeping in the other room. They’d decided that they’d split weeks when he was a child, and that if it became too much as he grew older, they could figure something out. Their whole friend group got together every Halloween and Christmas, so Harry would see both of them then. At 11, Harry would only be home for the holidays while he was at Hogwarts, so they didn’t even have to worry for 7 years.
Lily told James that she was staying with Pandora for a little bit, and that she knew that James would need Harry and his friends right now, so she would leave them, but she promised that she would be back. She tip-toed into Harry’s room and kissed his forehead, whispering to him that “I’ll be back okay darling? Mummy will be back. I promise you, Harry James Evans-Potter. I promise I promise I promise”. She packed, and went to the door, kissing James one final time before appariting to Pandora’s.
The next month was a mess. James and Lily were still trying to figure out their situation, and Lily was just overall a mess, feeling extremely guilty anytime Harry wasn’t in her arms.
She would wake up, not see Harry and panic, thinking she lost him. Once she screamed and started tearing around the room, sobbing for Harry. Both Pandora and Luna had woken up, and Pandora quickly ran to Lily’s side, holding her tight to her chest, and explaining the situation to Lily, her mouth pressed to the crown of Lily’s fire red hair. Luna didn’t cry, but they could hear her making faint noises from the other room, and eventually Lily fell asleep in Pandora’s arms, and Pandora set her on the bed, and then put Luna back to bed.
Lily couldn’t recall the exact day, but one day she and Pandora became more than friends. It started as one kiss that quickly turned into a thousand, and now Lily knew how Remus and Sirius felt. She didn’t know why they hadn’t been doing this all along, and why it took her so long to realize. Pandora tasted of fruit and mint, and whenever Lily kissed her, her eyes would crinkle, and she would grab Lily’s waist as Lily would grab onto Pandora’s bright white locs.
Their love was electric, but like a thunderstorm in the middle of the ocean- natural and surrounded by calm, but yet chaotic at the same time.
Eventually, Lily told the others about her and Pandora. Remus walked over to hug her, Sirius and Peter looked utterly shocked, and James just smiled at her. There might have been some sadness laced in the smile, but she was too happy to notice. Mary and Marlene had screamed so loudly that later the neighbors came to ask if everything was ok, and Dorcas made an endearing yet sarcastic extremely not child appropriate joke, while Emmeline fist bumped her and said “one of us, eh Evans?” and Alice burst into tears out of happiness. She had told her parents, who took a bit, but came around and said that they were proud of her. Petunia had just glared at her, but Lily could never tell how Pet really felt lately, which made her extremely sad.
She quickly moved in with Pandora and Luna in Pandora’s cottage (Xeno was still traveling and they agreed that he would get a separate place when he came back) and Harry was a part time resident as well. Usually, Harry and Luna would play with each other as Lily and Pandora would sit with their tea on the couch, or they would all go out and run through the flower fields.
They lived. Finally, Lily was living.
She loved Harry, she loved that he had her bright green eyes. Even though he looked a lot like James, with his dark skin and black hair that could never be tamed, she would look at his face and find small features that were hers, like a little treasure hunt. Luna looked like practically a duplicate of Pandora, but with a mix of Pandora’s darker skin and Xeno’s pale one, and Xeno’s round eyes, and Lily loved her daughter. She loved her wife too, her laugh, her smile, her everything.
They got married in the summer, when both Harry and Luna were four. Everyone came to their very wedding, which was full of children running around and screaming, and friends laughing, and parents crying. Petunia didn’t come.
They were happy together. Their little family of four, even though half of the time, only three of them were in their house, they were still a family (Lily was extremely relived that Pandora loved Harry just as much as Lily loved Luna)
Lily pulled herself out of her thoughts, as she apparated to her house. She had a long day, and it was one of her days with Harry, so she was excited as ever to return home. She arrived at the doorstep, and quickly pressed her finger to the gold ring on her ring finger (this unlocked the door, and Lily and Pandora found it much easier and romantic than having to carry around a key) as she threw the door open.
Once upon the threshold, she dumped her bag on the floor and quickly pulled off her shoes. She almost sprinted to her and Pandora’s room, where she exchanged her work outfit for a gray sweatshirt and pink sweatpants, removed all her makeup, and switched out her more practical earrings for comfortable ones before exiting her bedroom and into the living room.
There she found Harry and Luna playing with their train set on the floor, and Pandora reading a book on the couch.
“Mum!” Both Luna and Harry scratched as they dropped their trains and ran over to Lily as she scooped them both up in a hug, laughing.
“Hello, sweethearts-” she kissed both of their heads before setting them down “-oof, you two are really growing” She shook her head endearingly as she walked over to the couch and sat down next to Pandora, who had set down her book. Pandora extended her arm, and Lily gratefully cuddled up next to her wife, Pandora wrapping her arm around Lily and offering some of her iced tea. Luna and Harry spent the next while talking about the day that had, and all the adventures they’d had, as Lily nodded and smiled.
This is where she belonged.
Home.