I was enchanted to meet you
Lily Evans had always doubted herself, from when she was little and her classmates would tease her, to her teenage years when her (now ex) best friend would talk to her like everything she said was crazy. Even when she had left her old town, her old best friend, found people she truly felt comfortable with, and found her passion, she still doubted herself when her friends said her dreams were worth pursuing. So when she saw the famous singer Pandora Rosier walk into the little side shop of her studio in the outskirts of London, Lily doubted her eyes like never before. Because there was no way that the singer (and Lily’s celebrity crush since she was a teenager) would ever take a step into her studio and there was definitely no way she would look at her paintings. Yet that’s exactly what Lily’s eyes were telling her.
Pandora went around, spending time looking at each painting while Lily tried to hide the fact that she was staring at Pandora’s (objectively hot) face.
Lily tried to keep herself busy, she organised some of the sketches she had been working on while the shop was empty, she counted the money she had earned during the day, yet her eyes kept drifting to the woman walking around her shop. The clock on her wall ticked over to four, announcing it was time for Lily to close the shop and prepare for her lessons. She looked up nervously and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, but I have to close down now, we open at 9 tomorrow if you’d like to continue looking then.” Lily explained nervously with an apologetic smile on her face.
Pandora turned to her and smiled and Lily swore she was going to faint. When Pandora smiled her entire face lit up with this genuine kindness that made Lily’s heart melt. She felt her cheeks heat up and hoped Pandora couldn’t see the tint of scarlet in Lily’s face. She glanced up and let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding, when she noticed that Pandora had now turned around and was walking towards the door.
As Pandora walked out into the sun, Lily couldn’t help but notice the way that the sun hit her tanned complexion in a way that she thought must be unnatural. Because how could such a being exist that way naturally. With her light blonde hair weaved into long braids, currently tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head. Of course, Lily had seen her before, but only in photos that really did not do her justice.
She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the backdoor open. Lily walked out back and was met with the source of the sound. Minerva McGonagall, the owner of the studio and shop that Lily worked for, smiled at Lily as she walked towards the studio itself. Lily followed her and they made small talk as they both prepared for the upcoming lesson
Lily mostly taught children and Minerva handled the adults that came to the art courses that the studio offered. But on friday afternoons, such as this one, they would both handle the teaching as it was for a big group of both teenagers and adults.
While getting lost in the preparations of the lesson, Lily almost forgot about the interaction with Pandora. Almost.
-
Pandora sighed to herself while walking back to the cafe where she was supposed to wait for Regulus. Recently, Regulus and his brother had tried to mend their relationship. At first it had always ended in screaming matches full of harsh words that cut each other like knives. But it was needed, because god knows it was that needed to be said. In recent months though, they had started meeting up more regularly, actually talking with each other, not only about their shared past but also about their current lives. They were starting to get to know each other again, and Pandora could see how happy it made Regulus.
But most days after these meetups, Regulus was not in a state of driving home alone. So Pandora always waited at the cafe just around the corner from Sirius place. While it was usually not needed anymore, it was a routine they had easily fallen into and neither of them felt the need to stop.
As Pandora turned onto the street of the cafe she heard the familiar sound of hushed whispers and the feeling of being watched crept up. Usually she didn’t mind being spotted in public, most people were actually quite nice about it and she loved meeting fans. But at the moment she was in a bit of a crisis because she had just met the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The woman had fiery red hair cut into a fringe that framed her face so perfectly. She had fair skin, prickled with freckles that Pandora thought should not be allowed to be as attractive as they were.
Outside of the cafe stood Regulus with his head turned so she couldn’t see his face. Her first thought was that something was wrong, because their meetings had only ever ended this early when they had got in a fight. But as she neared, he looked up and while he didn’t smile (as that wasn’t nearly as common as it was for Pandora) she could see that he was (in his own way) beaming.
“Sirius has work soon so we ended a bit early.” He explained as he noticed the worried look in Pandora’s eyes. She just nodded as they started their walk to the car that was parked down the road.
“So how was it this time?” Pandora asked, no longer worried that they had fought again.
“Fine. Normal.” Regulus answered shortly but she could tell by his tone that he had enjoyed it. “Where were you?” He asked as they jumped into the car. Pandora was driving as usual. Just the thought of the beautiful woman she had seen made Pandora smile and out of the corner of her eye she saw Regulus smirk at the gesture. She smiled longingly and started explaining the meeting while pulling out of the parking space.
“And Reg, she had the most beautiful eyes, they were like shining green and her smile, Reg! Oh she had the most lovely smile.” She said for about the third time that car ride.
Regulus looked at her and smiled in that knowing way that she often found annoying, she didn’t like to not be in the loop about things.
“What?” She asked him while stopping at a red light. Pandora turned to him and the smile only grew bigger. “What!?” She repeated again, a smile growing on her face as well.
He only laughed cruelly. She shoved him as hard as she could while still focusing on the road.
Regulus was still smirking as they pulled into the garage of the house that she and her brother shared. The house was quite big, and stood proudly in the outskirts of town. She had fallen in love as soon as she saw the old white walls and the garden filled with bushes and flowers that filled the garden with an incredible smell.
They went inside and found the rest of their friends (and the rest of Pandora’s band) in the living room, talking amongst each other while some shit movie played in the background.
And when asked about their days, Pandora wasted no time before once again ranting about the beautiful woman again.
“And what is the name of this new crush of yours?” Dorcas asked as Pandora finished the story.
“Why? So you can stalk her online?” Evan asked with his eyebrows raised.
“Of course, I can’t let our beautiful Dora go out with just anyone.” Dorcas said with a smirk, already opening up Instagram on her phone.
“Well I don’t actually know her name, besides I’m not going on a date with her. I was simply admiring her beauty.” Pandora said defensively, earning a scoff from Barty.
“But you want to go on a date with her, so just go back tomorrow and ask her out. Get that action Dora.” Barty said from his position on the couch. Wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively. That earned him a kick from Evan who had his legs on Barty’s lap.
“Please shut up, I don't want to hear about my sister, “getting action””
“When did this become a discussion about my sex life?”
Evan groaned loudly and put his head in his hands. Bringing out a laugh from the rest of them.
The subject changed and the night was brought to an end. But no one failed to notice how distracted Pandora was, still thinking about the beautiful woman from the art shop.