it was enchanting to meet you
Lily hadn't talked to Pandora since their first and only meeting. She'd seen the younger girl a few times in passing, where she was, as usual, accompanied by her Slytherin entourage. Lily wasn't outright looking for Pandora, though the blonde was the type of person who, once you've met them once, will stick with you forever.
Two weeks later, on a Wednesday evening, Lily decided to read in the small clearing in the woods. It wasn't too far into the forest that it could be considered hazardous, but it also wasn't close enough that people passed by. She would frequently come out there, always with a picnic blanket to lay on in tow.
It was still quite early out. The Gryffindor quidditch team had just started practicing a few minutes ago (they were even more rigorous than usual due to the Slytherin team winning a match last month), and the weather had finally started to really warm up.
To Lily, it was the perfect day to be outdoors. And not just Lily, it seemed, because as she got distracted by the lilies growing near her, Lily heard a soft voice.
"Your namesake"
With a start, Lily turned around to reveal Pandora. The younger girl had changed out of her robes and instead wore a breezy, white dress that reached her ankles.
"What?" Lily asked, still not fully recovered from the sudden interruption.
"The lilies," Pandora said, sitting down to touch the flowers, "You were named after them, weren't you?"
"I was,"
Silence.
The air felt awkward, at least to Lily - Pandora seemed at peace, her hands ghosting over the lilies while she hummed a nonsensical tune.
"What about you?"
"Hm?"
The mumble that left Pandora's lips seemed to indicate that she had been dragged back onto Earth by Lily's question, previously meandering in some different realm that only she could see. It made Lily smile.
"Pandora. What's the story behind that?"
It was most likely from the Greek myth Lily knew, but she wanted to hear Pandora tell her. She wanted to get a glimpse into the blonde's mind.
"Oh, it comes from an old Greek legend. You've heard, I assume?"
"I have,"
Lily had heard the story. Mary had gifted her a book on Greek myths containing the story of Pandora's Box for her 13th birthday, which she now read before bed every night (it reminded her of her mother, and when she would tell Lily and Petunia fairytales until they drifted off to sleep). But, for some reason, Lily yearned to hear the blonde tell the story. So, Lily quickly added, "Refresh my memory?"
This finally, finally, made Pandora turn around and look Lily in the eyes. Once again, the older girl was faced with her sharp gaze. It felt like drowning and flying and falling all at once.
"Oh, I'd love to!" was Pandora's cheerful response. Lily felt giddy herself just seeing the blonde smile. She had a fleeting thought that she would do anything to be the reason Pandora smiled again.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
"Once upon a time, the God of Fire Prometheus decided to disobey Zeus, the King of the Gods and Goddesses. Prometheus did this because his love for mankind was far greater than his love for the divine beings, as he had created men. He loved them so much so that after creating them, Prometheus gifted mankind the gift of intelligence, making them able to harness fire for their benefit. Zeus was unhappy with the men having this power, as it could threaten his rule.
<One day, the Gods were holding a meeting - it's funny to think of them having a group meeting, isn't it? -- on what mortals should sacrifice to the Gods. Prometheus came up with an idea to find out the best gift. He separated the meet and fat of an ox from the leftover bones, presented them to Zeus, and asked which he would prefer. Now, Prometheus wanted the men to have the flesh of the ox, as it was more useful than the bones; so, he decided to wrap all the good meat in the intestines of the ox, leaving the bones covered in juicy fat. This made the bones seem much more appealing than the flesh. Zeus picked the bones.
Now, Zeus knew about Prometheus' trick the entire time, and he chose the bones to give himself reason to punish the Fire God for 'deceiving' him. Zeus punished Prometheus by taking the gift of fire away from mankind, preventing them from being a threat to the Gods.
Prometheus was quite upset by this and decided to steal the fire back for mankind. So, one day, he snuck into the Gods' personal hearth, captured the fire, and brought it back to the humans in the form of a flaming torch.
Upon finding out, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to an eternity of being chained to a rock in the Caucasus Mountains. This wasn't brutal enough for Zeus, so he decided to also have an eagle, an emblem of Zeus, eat part of Prometheus' liver every day as an additional punishment. The liver would regrow overnight, and the eagle would return come morning.
Despite this, Zeus couldn't get the fire back from the men without wiping them all out, so he decided on another punishment: the first woman. Seems more like a blessing than a curse to me. Anyway, she was named Pandora. Pandora was given a box from the Gods, which she was told contained special gifts, with a catch: she couldn't open the box.
Though she was warned, Pandora could not quell her curiosity and ended up opening the box. The 'gifts' from the Gods turned out to be evil spirits such as greed, poverty, war, pain, hatred, hunger, death, etc. When she saw these curses being released into the world, Pandora tried to shut the box and succeeded, but everything was out already. Everything except one gift. Hope"
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
Lily thought that the blonde's storytelling was quite like a predator stalking its prey - but in a much less aggressive way. It was like Pandora would weave her words into a trap, leading unsuspecting bystanders to their fate of... something. Something Lily did not know of yet. Maybe a siren was a better comparison. Or maybe the time spent laying in the sun, the ample words being spoken, along with the fairytale she had just heard had left Lily in some other world. A world where random girls were sirens whose songs were stories of other beings. Was that the world Pandora lived in?
"What were you doing in the greenhouse that day?"
The sound of the older girl's voice came out scratchy and hoarse, resulting in an awkward "ahem" that clashed with the quiet chirping of birds.
"I was there to draw some dittany. The flowers are just the loveliest shade of purple, especially this time of year! During spring, the plants' auras are just so much healthier. "
Ignoring the comment about auras (she had no idea how plants could have auras) Lily replied, "Oh, did Professor Mullein also give you the keys? He didn't tell me about anyone else visiting after hours, but you know how he is."
"No, I just used an Alohomora and got in. Really, it was quite easy. "
The silence that occurred afterward was stifling. For Lily. Not Pandora. She seemed content as ever when the older girl glanced over in shock. Like she didn't just confess to breaking and entering school grounds, and to a prefect, for goodness's sake! It's not like Lily was a stranger to rule-breaking, the Peter, James, and Sirius were always up to something stupid when she saw them (recently with Marlene in tow, much to both Lily and Mary's dismay), and she never reported them - except for one time earlier that year, but, really, she had no choice. The older girl chalked it up to the fact that Remus always knew of the plans - probably played a role in some, Lily suspected - so the blame was technically on him. But could she turn a blind eye to this? A girl she's talked to twice, literally breaking into the greenhouses?
A baritone voice interrupted the Gryffindor's musings.
"Dora! I know you're here somewhere. Reg and Cas are already at dinner, and they're worried those 7th year bitches are bothering you again."
The call left Lily quite confused. The voice seemed to indicate that Pandora had been here often. Assuming "here" was the spot Lily frequently, why had she not seen the blonde? And who were the "7th year bitches" mentioned? were they the ones harassing Pandora?
Before Lily could even mention that the younger girl's dress was covered in dirt, Pandora was off, disappearing into the woods.