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Pandora showed up to Lily’s flat early on Tuesday morning.
She opened the door in her dressing gown, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she looked at the person standing bright-eyed on the doormat.
“Dora? What are you doing here?”
“We,” said Pandora lightly, pushing past Lily into her flat, “Are going on an adventure.”
“What?” Lily followed her into the kitchen, still half-asleep and confused. “An adventure? Pan, it’s seven in the morning. On a Tuesday. I have work.”
She heard Pandora scoff from where she was rummaging through Lily’s cupboard, clearly searching for something. “Work is overrated, Lils. Live a little.”
Lily gaped at her. “I- I do live! I live a lot, actually!”
Pandora smiled sweetly at her, turning around with a jar of jam in her hands. “Then it wouldn’t hurt to live a little more.”
Seeing that Lily didn’t have an answer for that, Pandora swept past her, jam still in her hands, and marched back out of the still-open door, calling out behind her, “I’ll meet you outside in 20 minutes! Oh, and bring a swimsuit.”
And against her better judgement, Lily found herself complying.
Pandora was waiting on the street outside when Lily joined her, dressed in loose trousers, converse, and the embroidered denim jacket Pandora had gifted her for her 20th birthday. Pandora smiled when she saw her.
“Oh, I do love that jacket on you.” Lily felt her cheeks flush slightly.
They climbed into Pandora’s functional but slightly eccentric car, and Pandora flicked the heating on almost immediately.
“It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Lily agreed, amused, “So why are we going somewhere that requires a swimsuit?”
Pandora grinned cheekily over at her, and she’d be damned if that single look didn’t send electric sparks shooting through her, warming her more thoroughly than the car’s crappy heating ever could.
“You’ll see, Lilyflower, you’ll see.”
And so Pandora drove them out of the neighbourhood, down twisting, winding roads, and they whispered and laughed and played cheesy love songs on Lily’s phone as swirling clouds began to gather overhead.
When they finally pulled into a deserted stretch of land, Lily realised where they were. And her suspicions were only confirmed when she opened the passenger door and was met with soft, white sand under her feet.
“Surprise?” Pandora called merrily, and Lily laughed, kicking off her shoes and twirling on the sandy ground.
“Come and help me with this,” came Pandora’s strained voice, and Lily walked around the side of the car, where Pandora was trying to haul a large picnic basket and rug from out of the tiny boot.
“What’s all this for?” she huffed as she helped Pandora drag it out. Pandora shot her a mischievous look.
“A picnic, of course.”
“Well, obviously.” They each took a side of the basket and lugged it through what was clearly meant to be a parking lot, but was wildly overgrown. Thorny bushes and sprawling brambles hedged them in, but Pandora led them to a small opening, and then-
There was the beach. Crashing grey waves pounded against the silky white sand, and though the sky was cloudy, the sun was still casting a pinkish glow over the scene. It was beautiful.
Lily must have said this aloud, because Pandora nodded. “It is, isn’t it? This is one of my favourite spots in the world.
They carried their stuff over to a smooth bit of sand, close to the water but far away enough not to get splashed. The beach was utterly deserted.
“Would you like to see what I brought?” Pandora asked, eyes twinkling as she spotted Lily gazing longingly at the picnic basket.
“Yes, right now, please,” Lily said immediately. She was starving.
Pandora opened the basket, and Lily’s mouth watered; she had somehow managed to procure the most delectable looking breakfast known to man.
There were strawberries, pastries, tiny cinnamon muffins, steaming coffee in a hot flask, little sausages on toothpicks, slices of toast wrapped carefully in napkins, and then Pandora pulled out one last thing.
Scones.
Lily stared at them, unable to look away. Eventually, she tore her eyes up to Pandora. “You remembered.”
Years ago, she had told Pandora that her absolute favourite food in the world were scones, fresh from the oven, delightfully golden crusted and complete with clotted cream and jam. And Pandora had remembered.
“I brought them specially for you,” Pandora said, and now Lily wanted nothing more than to reach over and gently run her fingers over Pandora’s face, but she was still talking.
“-And then I was all ready to go, and then I realised I didn’t have any jam. So, I came and stole yours.”
And sure enough, there was Lily’s jam.
“Pan, this is amazing,” Lily finally managed, and Pandora’s smile was like a glow of brightness in an otherwise dark world. “Thank you. I don’t know how I can ever-”
“Well, you can start by having a scone,” Pandora said, pushing the container of scones toward Lily. “I didn’t get all this food for nothing.”
They enjoyed their breakfast together on the beach, wind whistling through their hair, the smell of salt on the breeze. Lily had had the sense to bring extra coats, and they used them as windbreakers, huddled up close to each other and sipping hot coffee long after the food was gone.
The scones were delicious. As Lily knew they would be.
Finally, when they were both satisfied, Pandora stood, pulling Lily to her feet as well. “Fancy a swim?”
Lily stared at her, aghast. The sun was higher in the sky now, but the temperature hadn’t risen one bit. “Dora, it’s freezing. There’s no way-”
“Live, Lily,” Pandora reminded her, and Lily paused, staring anxiously at the gently crashing waves.
Fuck it.
She was already wearing her only swimsuit underneath, an orange bikini that clashed horribly with her hair. Pandora laughed when she saw it, but still told her she looked beautiful, and Lily’s jaw dropped when Pandora pulled off her own clothes to reveal the black and white one piece underneath.
She looked like a goddess.
Lily told her so, and Pandora chuckled lightly and grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her toward the ocean.
It was colder than Lily could have possibly imagined. She stood right on the edge, her toes barely submerged in the water, yet she was already covered in goosebumps. Pandora looked no less freezing, but she was clearly braver than Lily, wading in up to her knees.
“Let’s go, Lils!” she called over her shoulder, and Lily’s breath caught at the way her long blonde hair flew wildly in the wind, tangled in a maelstrom of salt and racing droplets.
Lily plunged after her, gasping in shock as the ice-cold water sent pins and needles up her legs. Pandora stopped, letting her catch up, and grasped her hand as the waves pounded a strengthening rhythm against their bodies.
And Lily knew she had to tell her.
On that freezing beach, knee deep in the wild ocean, she turned to the other girl, squeezing her fingers.
“Pandora?”
She turned, and the fire in her eyes gave Lily the strength to speak as Pandora gazed upon her.
“I love you, Pandora Lovegood. I love you more than all the grains of sand on this beach, I love you more than the entire ocean, I love you more than anything in this universe. It’s only ever been you. It’s only ever going to be you. ”
Pandora’s eyes blazed brighter than the sun could ever dream of, and then her hands were cupping Lily’s face, and Pandora’s lips were pressed to hers, and this was it, this was the moment that would shape Lily’s life, change her as a person. She was truly, irreversibly in love.
“I love you too, Lily Evans,” Pandora breathed, her hands still cradling Lily’s face as they broke apart. “I love you more than all the stars in the sky, I love you more than every creature that has ever roamed this planet, and I am yours, if you will have me.”
And there was nothing that could stop her from saying no.
They stayed like that, bodies pressed together in the churning sea, until their limbs grew numb and they were shivering uncontrollably.
Hand in hand, they scrambled out of the water, racing up the beach, never letting go of the other. The sand was soft beneath their feet, and they twirled on the open dunes, and they were young and in love.
Once they reached their stuff, they didn’t hesitate.
“Cold, cold, cold,” Lily gasped as she desperately rubbed a towel over herself, trying to pat dry the last droplets of freezing water.
Pandora hadn’t bothered with the towel, and was simply pulling her clothes over her head as quickly as possible. By the time they were dressed, their teeth were chattering and they were shivering like branches in a strong wind.
“I have blankets in the car,” Pandora gasped. “I’ll grab them now.”
She ran off to retrieve them, and Lily sat down on the spread picnic blanket, rubbing her hands together to try to get some feeling back. This was, without a doubt, the most reckless thing she had ever done in her life. They might both die of hypothermia now.
But somehow, it was worth it. Pandora was worth it.
She gazed out at the sky, still swirling and stormy. She didn’t like the look of those clouds, but tried to push it from her mind as Pandora returned, arms laden with thick, heavy blankets.
“You are my saviour,” Lily groaned as they piled the blankets over themselves, huddling down on the picnic blanket as the winds picked up. It would be sensible to leave now, to try and get out of here before they were caught in a storm. But Lily wasn’t ready to leave just yet.
“I love you,” she said, just because she could. And then she said it again, just because she wanted to.
“I love you too,” Pandora replied, and pulled something out from beneath the blankets with a wicked smile. “But I think you might love this more.”
It was a flask, and Lily had never been more grateful for something. She didn’t know what was in it, and she didn’t quite care - it burned going down, and sent heat ricocheting through her chest, and that was enough.
They passed the flask back and forth for a bit, before Pandora suddenly sat up with a start.
“What is it?” Lily said, and Pandora laughed breathlessly.
“Snow. It’s snowing.”
Lily sat up too, and sure enough, frosty white flakes were drifting from the sky, settling on the sandy ground and dissolving into the roaring waves.
Pandora was still laughing as she stood, spinning around with her face upturned, trying to catch a snowflake with her tongue, and Lily watched her joy for a second longer before standing.
She caught a few snowflakes on her tongue, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Pandora for long. The other girl looked radiant in the rosy light, a light powder dusting her shoulders as she spun on the snowy beach.
Lily was so in love.
Eventually, she couldn’t hold it in, and tugged Pandora into a kiss. She tasted like salt and snow, strawberries and daffodils, joy and pure happiness. And as the snow fell all around them, Lily knew that this was the best day of her life.
She never thought she would experience something quite like this; snow on the beach, They chased each other over the powdery dunes, throwing handfuls of mixed snow and sand, laughing and falling, pursuing and fleeing, sometimes just out of reach but always caught in the end.
Eventually they slowed, out of breath, and collapsed side by side to make snow angels. Lily’s eyes were closed, red hair splayed out around her, but she could still feel Pandora’s eyes on her. She rolled on her side to face her.
“What are you thinking about?” Lily asked her.
Pandora took her time answering her. “I’m thinking about how cold I am. I’m thinking about how the snow feels really nice under my skin. I’m thinking about how pretty you look right now. And I’m thinking about how much I love you.”
Lily nodded slowly. “All good things to think about.”
Pandora just looked at her. “What are you thinking about?”
She sighed wistfully. “I’m thinking about how much I don’t want today to end.”
Pandora raised an eyebrow. “Who said it has to?”
“Oh?”
“Well, I know a great little café near here we could get lunch at…”
Lily felt her face break into a smile. “That sounds lovely.”
“Doesn’t it?”
They climbed to their feet, brushing off sand and snow as flakes continued to drift from the sky.
Lily stole one last look at Pandora, cheeks flushed and rosy against the backdrop of the snowy beach, before they packed up their stuff and set off to find Pandora’s café.
She knew she would treasure this memory for the rest of her days, and this was only the beginning of their lives together.