until i found her
Lily welcomed the comfort of the Great Hall with open arms. The warm candle light, coupled with the comfortable chatter echoing across the room, created a sense of safety that was incomparable to anything else. She didn’t fail to notice the fact that her seat on the Gryffindor table was gradually getting further and further back, every year being replaced by a new collective of first years near buzzing with raw excitement.
This year was like every other; as she took in the atmosphere of the room, the boys attempted to predict the houses of the new first years. Every year they played this game, every year James was convinced he would win, every year he was wrong. Whoever got the least right had the forfeit of a dip in the Great Lake, and James was currently on track for his 3rd first night swim in a row.
“Oh absolutely Slytherin, that is a Slytherin if I have ever seen one!” James cried out, pointing as though to prove his point.
“I agree, definitely Slytherin.” Sirius responded with, which James looked immensely grateful for.
“Nah, definitely a wild-card. I think Gryffindor.” Peter added thoughtfully.
All heads turned to Remus as the Sorting Hat seemed to be on the verge of announcing its decision.
“Hufflepuff.” He said casually.
James shook his head at this, complete confidence in his own answer. Until the Sorting Hat announced its final choice. Hufflepuff.
“You have got to be joking.” James cried out, his head landing in his hands.
Remus merely grinned in a response, Sirius and Peter laughing loudly at James’ reaction. Lily couldn’t help but chuckle at them, shaking her head fondly at their antics.
“How the fuck do you always get it?” Sirius asked in between laughs, his eyes wide with wonder.
Remus glanced over at Sirius with a grin, his eyes practically forming into hearts. Lily fake gagged, clutching her stomach for dramatic effect.
“It’s only the first day, give me a break, guys,” she says, trying to sound serious, but she can’t help the giggle that slips past her lips. Sirius kicks her shin under the table as everyone else starts to laugh as well.
Lily noticed that Mary’s mood seemed to have uplifted significantly, joining in with the laughter that surrounded her. She smiled to herself at this.
As the feast continued, Lily couldn’t help but admire her friends around her. Pure joy radiated off of each and every one of them. Excitement at finally seeing one another, laughter over the smallest things as they all grew delirious with exhaustion and emotion. In her distraction, she didn’t notice the figure stood behind her, at least not until she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She jumped slightly, turning with a hand on her chest as her heart beat rapidly. Now in front of her stood a girl she recognised, a Ravenclaw girl who was close friends with Regulus.
“Oh, you scared me! Pandora, right?” Lily asked, smiling kindly at the other girl.
Pandora smiled softly, close-lipped. She nodded her head in quick succession. Lily took the time to look at her, noticing how she was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, her hands fidgeting with a ring on her middle finger that seemed to spin, the way her gaze never remained on one thing for more than a few moments.
After analysing the girl, Lily realised that Pandora… still hasn’t said anything. Lily raised her eyebrows, not judgmentally, just curious. “Um… Pandora?”
The white haired girl blinked hard a few times, shaking her head. “Sorry. You’re Lily? Lily Evans?” Lily smiled, nodding, turning her body so she could face Pandora better. “I missed the prefect meeting on the train.”
Lily waited for Pandora to continue, but she didn’t. “Oh! Okay, um… Did you want me to catch you up on what happened?” She asked. Pandora was still rocking.
“If you would be so kind, Lily Evans,” she responded. She smiled wider.
Lily realised, then, that Pandora’s smile was contagious. She caught herself smiling without even realising she had started. “It– It’s just Lily.”
It got really hot in the dining hall all of a sudden. Lily found herself tugging her sleeves up slightly. God, was anyone else sweating through their robes right now? She quickly glanced at her friends around her, trying to catch if anyone else looked uncomfortably warm. She noticed her fingers tapping the table. When did she start doing that? She pulled her hands into her lap swiftly.
“Okay, Just Lily.” If it was even possible, Pandora grinned even wider, her shiny white teeth on full display. Oh, she had a lovely smile, didn’t she? It was joyful, as though it could ignite happiness into every single person who ever saw it.
“Okay, Just Pandora. We didn’t cover much. We got our passwords, the Head Girl and Boy will have the Ravenclaw one, I’m sure. General protocol, and a rota of shifts for watching the corridors is going up later tonight, I think, on boards in each common room. We just need to lead the first years to their Houses tonight, but luckily there's no patrols.” Lily explained patiently, the other quietly nodding along, still smiling.
“Okay,” Pandora responded. She stepped closer to Lily, and the latter found her heart picking up speed. “Is it alright if I sit with you?”
Lily’s eyes widened at this, momentarily unable to form a response. As she stuttered over her words, she eventually resorted to nodding, turning in her seat and moving aside to make space for Pandora. The other sat down, smiling warmly at those around her, who stared in confusion.
“Hey, you’re Regulus’ friend, right?” Sirius asked, leaning forward in his seat slightly.
Pandora’s smile never failed to shine. “Pandora Rosier, actually,” she responded.
Sirius’ eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he was smiling. “Well, yeah, but you are Regulus’ friend, if I remember correctly.”
“My name is Pandora Rosier. I also happen to be Regulus’ friend, though, yes.”
Sirius looked confused. Remus, too. And James. Lily certainly felt confused.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed Mary staring at Pandora. Not in the same confusion as the others, but more as though she was interrogating Pandora with her eyes. She seemed suspicious, almost.
“What is happening?” Lily heard Peter say, forcing her to pull her eyes away from Mary.
Pandora turned her head towards Peter, with her kind eyes and soft smile. “We’re at Hogwarts. The sorting ceremony is going on right now. Are you okay, Peter Pettigrew?”
Peter’s mouth opened and closed, like he was trying to think of something to say in response to that.
Before he could, though, Mary beat him to the punch. “Aren’t you a Ravenclaw?” She asked. Lily doesn’t think her eyes have ever left Pandora since she sat down at the table.
Pandora looked away from Peter, her eyes jumping from person to person at the table. “Sorry, who– Who said that?” She asked, her smile faltered. “It’s– It’s just, it’s quite loud in here, and I can’t–”
“I did, hi,” Mary interrupted her, smiling tightly and holding her hand up in a wave. Pandora’s eyes locked onto Marys.
“Mary Macdonald,” she replied. It was not a question, more of a statement, and it appeared to catch Mary off guard.
“Um, yeah, how–”
Mary was interrupted, though, by Regulus stepping behind Pandora. “Dora. You coming?” He asks, only putting his hand on Pandora’s shoulder once she turned around and realised who it was.
Pandora smiled once again and nodded. She hadn’t really stopped smiling the entire time, but this was a different smile. It was, if it was even possible, softer, kinder. She turned back to face the others, waving at the group, who tentatively returned it. She once again faced Lily.
“I’ll see you when we lead the first years, Just-Lily!” She stated, before jumping up and following Regulus back to the entrance of the hall without a second glance back at the Gryffindor's.
Lily sat still for a moment, in mild shock at what had just happened.
“How on earth did she know my name?” Mary questioned, her eyes still trained on Pandora as she walked away.
Lily shrugged slightly, her silence however didn’t appear to be the answer that Mary had been looking for. The other frowned slightly, before turning back to her food.
“James, your boyfriend’s friends are a little scary.” Marlene commented.
“Excuse me, he was my brother before he was James’ boyfriend!” Sirius responded, leaning over to glare down the table at Marlene, who merely raised her hands in defence.
Lily’s eyes stayed on the door that Pandora had exited through moments before. She didn’t know where she was going in the middle of the feast, but Regulus’ tone had been more gentle than she had ever heard it. She would see Pandora again at the end of the feast, and could maybe ask where she had gone. Or would that be weird? That would probably be weird, she barely knew her. Not that she wouldn’t like to know her. Pandora seemed inexplicably kind, somehow taking the time to learn everybody’s names.
The chatter picked up once again around Lily as the feast came to the end, yet she was unable to focus on any of it, and she had no explanation as to why.