Advent- Pandalily
“Okay, so this is our first Christmas together,” Lily starts excitedly, holding something behind her back, hidden from Pandora’s view, looking so ecstatic that Pandora really wants to kiss her. “And I know you’ve never celebrated the muggle way before.” She sits down in front of Pandora, her eyes lit up with happiness. Pandora can’t resist and leans forward, pressing their lips together softly, getting lost in the moment.
When they finally pull apart, Lily laughs softly, and it’s the sweetest noise that ever existed, “I’m supposed to be giving you a gift.” She brings the hidden object out from behind her back, passing it to Pandora who looks at it in confusion.
Its an odd, flat box with a plethora of small pictures on the front. There are presents with cartoonish bows, waving teddy bears and grinning reindeer, one with a bright red nose, in the sky dragging an odd vehicle she has never seen before. Sat in it is a man dressed in all red, barr a thick black belt, boots and some white detailing. He wears a floppy red hat with a fluffy white trim and pompom, his face is bright red either from the snow that appears to be falling around him or the way his smile stretches across his face. The box is covered in little doors, numbered from 1-24 with the last one being much larger than the others
“What is this?” She asks, looking up at Lily, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “It’s lovely but I don’t understand,”
“It’s called an advent calendar,” Lily explains gently, smiling at Pandora, so excited to be teaching her about the muggle celebrations. “You use them to count down to Christmas,” She repositions herself on the sofa to lean her head on Pandora’s shoulder, sneaking a kiss on her cheek as she does so.
“There are 24 doors for the 24 days of December before Christmas, every day you open the number that matches the date,” Lily points to the first door as it’s the first of the month and Pandora hums to show she’s taking this in. “Each door has a little chocolate behind it and it’s just a fun way to count down to Christmas,”
“Is there a reason for it?” Pandora asks, intrigued by the concept. Lily hums in thought, clearly not entirely sure the origins of it
“I think it had a religious reason, but I’m not entirely sure and most people that celebrate aren’t very religious so it’s mostly just for fun.” Pandora turns and takes Lily’s face in her hands, having dropped the calendar in her lap.
“Well thank you, it’s wonderful, and I like learning your traditions.” Christmas was celebrated very differently in the wizarding world, they had adopted the same decorative practices, with similar trees and lights going up every December, but it was very rare for someone who had grown up solely in the Wizarding world to have ever even heard the story of Jesus.
“I got your brothers them as well, I know they’re quite into Christmas now too,” Lily smiles, knowing exactly what Pandora was thinking. She laughs and then kisses Lily again before she responds.
“Oh I’m sure Regulus will hate it, but Evan will adore this. I love it, and I love you, thank you.”