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What would you do if you found out someone dear to you was lying all along?
How would you react? Someone who you trusted with your whole life, you told them everything, every single thought, the bad and good ones. No filter needed, they seemed to understand and care. LIES, LIES LIES! Their whole existence turned out to be just a huge lie.
Back to the day it all started.
Lily Evans, not quite average student. She was the best one to be completely honest. Great marks and talent to literally everything she got her hands on. She was a natural. Not popular, all thought her best friends Mary McDonald and Marlene McKinnon were a hot topic in their university.
Lils or Lil was what most people called her. The “Lil” one wasn’t very true looking at the fact that Lily was in fact quite tall. She was a literature major. Her long time dream was to become an author. So she spends a lot of her free time in the library, going through shelves full of books with forgotten authors. She’s something of a regular there.
That day Lily really forgot about the rest of the world when she sat down with “Quo vadis”. Book about the Roman Empire and stories about the life of Catholics in it. She decided to use it in her paper for professor Dumbledore class. He loves old and not very known stuff. And this book was perfect. Quite long but worth a read.
When she looked outside the window it was already dark outside. She put on her coat and said goodbye to the lady behind the counter.
Lily looked up the fastest tube home on her phone. It was really irresponsible, but she went to cross the road still with her nose in the phone, responding to unread messages. Peacefully walking not knowing that there was a car coming straight at her.
The moment she noticed the lights, Lily thought it was too late to run away from the machine coming right at her. She was about to become a blob on the sidewalk, in the worst case scenario die here on spot.
With the dumb luck she got pulled away. Last minute, if it was any longer she really would have died under the wheels of that car. Lily just noticed she was lying on top of a girl who got her out of the road. She looked at her and saw the ocean in her eyes.
“Oh my god, thank you for saving my life. I’m terribly sorry for the trouble.” Lily said instantly after getting up from the girl. “How can I pay you back?”
The girl looked at her. Another thing that Lily noticed was her hair. Blonde or even closer to white locs put up in a messy ponytail. “There’s no need to, just promise me you won’t get under any more cars.”
Lily looked at her confused. “Are you sure? You really did save my life. I can’t just act like it was nothing.”
“Well, I suggest you should try, cause I really want nothing in return. Now if you excuse me. It was really nice talking, but I gotta go.” She started to run away, but before that she turned to Lily and shouted. “Don’t get under anymore cars, pretty girl!” And like that mysterious girl was gone.
Lily was pretty sure she’ll never see her again. Oh but she wanted to so badly. The girl was just stunning. If Lily had one more chance just to talk to her, it would be a dream. Well there’s nothing much she can do than to keep her promise and look out for cars now.
Rest of that night really was a blur for her. She remembers going home, washing her make-up off and getting in bed. Rest of it is really a mystery for her the following morning. First thing she notices is the lack of Mary in their dorm. They got classes in half an hour so Mary really needs to be here as soon as possible. Lily gives her a call. After a second time trying to get to her, Mary picks up.
“Where are you? We literally got classes in 20 minutes.” Is the first thing Lily says to her.
Mary who definitely just woke up says. “Lils calm down, I got it all under control. I just crashed at Marlenes and Dorcas dorm tonight. See you in class Lil. Bai.” Without even letting Lily add anything more, Mary hangs up.
As much as pissed Lily is, she can't stay mad at her for long. On her way to uni Lily passes a group of her colleagues. Both Black brothers and James Potter. “Lil where were you yesterday. We had a little meetup at our place.” James said to her.
Her history with that latino boy is kinda messy. In their first year he really was trying to get her. Confession of his undying love became something of a weekly ritual. Whole school was confused. Why won't Lily Evans go out with the hottest boy in their year? Usually answer she gave those people was “fuck off.”. Not the nicest one, but it worked. After that year, Lily finally sat him down and talked. When they sorted their feelings out, they became friends. Really close ones. Then came Regulus Black and James completely forgot about his crazy, imagined crush on Lily.
Lily looked around to find two other people who usually were dragged behind them. “Where’s Remus? We are starting with the same class today.” Sirius looked at Evans and tried to hold his laughter. “I would start to run if I were you. Unless you want to be late for professor Dumbledore's class.” After hearing that Lily sprinted all the way down to the great hall. On her way out, she heard Sirius yell at her. “Good Luck Lils!”
Not the best way to start a day, but it always could be way worse. Lily barely made it in time, the moment she sat down next to Remus the bell rang and the professor entered. He was quite old, with a grey beard and hair. To everyone's surprise he was quite tall and had better posture than half their class.
The men went to the centre of class and started his typical monologue. Every single word he said was later important on exams or in their works. “Good morning, I should typically start with gathering your weekly essays. This week's topic was free of choice, only one rule is to satisfy me with your interpretation and writing style.”
Lily confidently reached inside her bag to get the paper she worked on yesterday, the one about the Roman empire. When she noticed the disappearance of it, Lily began to panic. She must have left it in her dorm right? Or it's just in another notebook. Right? Right..?
No need to panic, it's just a paper. Paper, she spent the whole week writing. Paper worth a huge percentage of her grade this semester. Paper that she considered one of her bests.
Remus noticed his friend was spiralling over the professor announcement. “Hey, Lil everything alright there?” he whispered to her politely. She looked at him, still not paying much attention to anything other than pieces of papers that were being collected at that said moment. “I left my paper in my dorm. I need your help Remus.”
Lupin slowly raised his hand hoping that professor Dumbledore would notice him in time. “Yes Mr. Lupin?” an older man asked. “Evans isn’t looking good. May I take her to the nurse's office?” “Just, be quick Mr. Lupin.” As soon as they heard the approval, they left the classroom. “You owe me one Lily.” Remus said to her when they left that wing of the uni. “Yea, yea. Thank you very much. Now I need to look for my paper. Thank you Remus!!”
Lily was sure it would be in her dorm. To her utter disbelief it wasn’t there. Not even in Mary’s room or on that pile of abandoned works in their living room. It was gone, vanished.
She starts walking in circles around the dorm. “It can’t be happening. No, no, no. Okay, what was I doing yesterday? LIBRARY, that’s right. I have probably left it there.” With the library being her last hope, Lily went straight there. Greeted the librarians and asked them about anything left yesterday. “Sorry sweetheart, but we haven’t found anything. You can still look through books you used yesterday, but that’s all we can help you with.” So Lily indeed looked through every single book she touched yesterday. Nothing at all. Her work was gone.
She left the library in a bad mood, all hope about finding it left her. She just gave up. Walking down rainy streets in the directions to her campus. The search for the paper took her almost the whole day, it was already past sunset. Streets were cold and wet. The traffic lights showed green and LIly stepped on the road. She felt something of a deja vu. The car lights were looking at her once again. This time there was no one to save her from them, or so she thought. Once again Lily saw those ocean eyes.
“Haven’t you learned anything, pretty girl. We really need to stop meeting like that.” LIly was still in shock, not quite getting what was going on. Until she saw similar papers in the girl's hand. “Oh, you dropped this yesterday. Really interesting. Although I prefer much darker books, I was really hung up on your writing.”
“Thank you.” was all Lily was able to say right at that moment.
The girl was looking around, really avoiding eye contact. “So, I was thinking, would you like to grab a coffee sometime? Talk in a place other than the middle of the road. I left my number at the end of your work. Right next to my notes.” Girl smiled at Lily and oh she was gone. That smile felt like July morning, when you wake up to the hot sun peeking through your curtains. Lily wanted to say something more, but the girl disappeared.
She made notes, she liked it. She gave me her number.
Lily never had much of a romantic experience, shure there were a couple of boyfriends and girlfriends in the past, but none of them felt the same way as those two meeting with that mysterious girl. The way she touched her so gently, or the way she was looking right into Lily's eyes. There was something inside telling her it’s too perfect to be real, but it wasn’t really relevant to her at the moment.
Rest of that day is really blurry for her, it doesn’t matter because the only thing she wishes to remember are that girl's eyes.
“What got you in such a mood?” asked Mary the following day, while sitting on the couch in their dorm room.
Lily looked at her confused. “Nothing.” she smiled a little and went back to looking at her phone. “If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be smiling at your phone, like Marlene when Dorcas is texting her.” Mary added. “So, tell me. WHO IS IT?”
She sighed. There was nothing she could really hide from Mary. Especially when it comes to relationship stuff. “It’s just some girl I met in the library.” “Library? Tell me more, now!”
“It;s nothing big. We bumped into each other twice. She found my literature paper the first time and when I was looking for it she magically showed up with it. Read it and she leaves notes on it. Then she asked me out to grab a coffee today.”
Mary went closer to her and asked. “Go, girl. So proud of you. Now show me some photos of her. We need to look her up.” Lily made an awkward face when Mary said that. “See that’s the thing. I don’t even know her name, yet.”
“Lils I love you, but what. That’s rule one of dating. Always do a background check on your date” she paused “Now, we need to make a plan. I’m going to call the girls. One thing for sure, you’re not going there alone.”
After half an hour four of them were sitting in the living room with Lily’s phone in the middle, still texting now that they know, girl named Pandora. With laptops on they are looking her up on social media, but nothing is showing up.
“It’s like she doesn’t exist. How much time do we have?” Marlene started. “Something around two hours. Adding up the time of getting ready.” Dorcas answered her. “Thanks darling. We gotta find something. I don’t believe there are still people our age without social media.”
Lily gave up sometime ago and wasn’t even going to stop them. She sat down on the couch next to Marlene “Do we really need to do that? I’ll be alright, she was really nice.”
“Yes we do.” they all said at the same time. “You know who also seemed nice, Ted Bundy and look what he did to those people. So you got your answer there.” Lily rolled her eyes and just let them be.
Time passed pretty fast, because a moment later all four of them were getting ready to go out. One difference was that Lily was getting ready for a date and girls were getting ready to spy on her at said date.
“You look gorgeous, Lils. Now go and don’t get kidnapped if something happens just do what we said earlier. Then we will call you with some “emergency”. Got it?” Mary said to her when they were on their way to the tube. “Yes I get it, mom.”
When they got to the cafe Lily spotted her date and the rest of the girls sat in a place where they were able to see them.
“You look great.” Said Pandora. “Thank you. You look stunning as well.” Lily complimented her. It was really awkward. What was he supposed to say? She literally knew nothing about Pandora. What if she’s going to come across as a boring person who can’t keep up a conversation.
“So what school do you go to?” Lily decided to break the silence. “Oh I graduated last year, but I majored in literature.” She smiled at her. “I really enjoyed reading your paper on the Roman Empire. I'm looking forward to reading some more of your works.” Lily blushed, oh this girl was making her think about many unholy things while talking like that. “Well that’s nice knowing. Right now I’m working on vampire motives used in literature.”
Pandora's eyes widened “uuu vampires. Quite some topic, tell me more.”
Lily was speechless, could this girl get any better. “So I mainly focus now on reading Dracula, but I’m also looking at smaller stories created around vampires. Adding up all past beliefs about them. Some people suspect they are real. I found a group of vampire hunters here in New York. Isn’t that funny. They are just legends, but it’s really fun to read about them.” Lily took a breath and realised how much she was saying. “Sorry for rambling about it.”
Pandora chucked. “No it’s fine, it was cute. You get all about vampires, I really liked that. So what would you like to order then?” She asked when she noticed waitresses coming their way. “I was thinking about Carmel Capuchinho with oat milk. And you?”
Waitress approached their table before Lily could get an answer. Pandora decided to take care of order and got their drinks herself. While leaving a very generous tip for the waitress. “I got them to go. I got a place I want to show you.” Romantic, Lily thought. “That’s so sweet. So while we wait, tell me, do you work if you’re not in college?”
“Well not right now, I sometimes take a part time job just to get enough money you know. Nothing is really stable in this city. I’m still living with my brother and his boyfriend so there’s that.” She smiled once again. Pandora was like a mystery that Lily was dedicated to solve. “You’ve got a brother, older or younger one?” Her date laughed as if it was something Lily should have known the answer to. “We’re twins. But I’m older by 5 seconds.” She said really proudly. “And what about you Lily, got any siblings?” Oh, that was a really hard topic for her. Especially now. “Older sister, she recently got married, but we don’t really have a good relationship.”
Pandora looked at her with understanding. Like she knew it was hard for Lily and they just left that topic behind. When they heard their names being called to the counter they got up from their seats and got the coffee cups to go. Pandora took Lily’s hand and led her out of the cafe. Lily was way too distracted by that gesture to remember about her friends who were “spying” for her, for her safety.
“So where are we going then?” Lily asked Pandora while they were passing through alleys of London. Her phone was blowing up with notifications from her friends, but she was smitten with the looking Pandora eyes and forgot about the rest of the world. It was just two of them.
They were going up the stone stairs right now, leading to the roof of some building. “And this is where our walk ends.” Pandora announced. “It’s so pretty, I can’t believe my eyes.” “Not prettier than you, for sure.” That made Lily blush, she was already head over hills for that girl. “I need to take a picture of that view, so badly. Oh maybe we should take a photo together?” Lily suggested Pandora's reaction to that question was really unexpected. “Maybe let’s keep this moment just for us.” She tried to drop the topic of the picture so badly and Lily just went with it.
It was one of the prettiest sunsets she ever saw in her life, with the prettiest person she ever saw in her life. The sky was turning orange slowly blending into the colour of Lily's hair. Now the sky looked like Pandora's eyes spiced up with stars, shining so bright. It was like time never existed, they were timeless. Like the world sets them up to meet in every single one of their lives. Like names Pandora and Lily were always supposed to be said in the same sentence.
Pandora wasn’t looking at the sky, but Lily's cheekbones, her eyes and her lips that she wanted to kiss so badly. One move and their lips would touch. Even a thought of that made her blush and she felt an electric buzz go through her body.
That moment was alive, that moment was them. It felt like second or eternity she couldn’t really tell. Lily moved towards Pandora getting locks of her face to see it. Lightly greasing her cheeks and tracking the moles on her neck. Then she moved onto her lips. Slowly closing the distance between hers. Then they became one, like their lips were made to fit. It was their moment and no one else's.
~~~
"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN” that was the first thing that greeted Lily morning after she tried to silently enter her dorm. “WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU ALL NIGHT.”
Then reality came crushing and Lily woke up from her lucid dream. She left her friends behind without even thinking about that. “Oh god, I totally lost track of time. I promise this won’t happen again.”
Marlene scanned her up and down with her golden eyes and said in the most serious tone possible. “I hope so, or else..” Then her voice changed to normal Marlene who always had something to add. “Now tell us, did you get laid?” There she is, Marls is back from acting like her dad. Lily was not going to answer that question. “Silence means yes!” Mary shouted from behind her.
Dorcas was now the only one left with that disappointment face, but there was something else to it. Lily just couldn’t really decode it. It didn’t last for long and she was smiling once again. Still Lily couldn’t get that look of her mind.
~~~
“I heard someone had a great night.” That was Sirius, no wonder they already knew that. She was the biggest gossip girl in this school along with Marlene and Mary of course. There was only a little that they wouldn’t know about the person and rumours about them. “Is that true? I can’t really trust Marls with that kind of information when it comes to her best friend.”
“I won’t deny it nor I won't say it’s true.” “So then it’s a yes. Was she cute? Is she from our campus?” Classic Sirius, but that’s just their charm. They know when they cross boundaries with their questions and that’s what really matters. “Why are you assuming “she”, maybe i had a fun night with Remus in the library.”
Sirius gasped dramatically. “How could you, with my husband? You dirty girl Lily Evans.” she just smiled showing dimples in her cheeks. “What can I say, everyone wants to have a chance with the infamous Lily Evans.” Sirius laughed and agreed. “Oh, I sure would like to have a chance with you, but I got a divorce papers to file. Make sure to kiss that girl of yours as passionately as you did with “Remus” yesterday.” and she disappeared into the depths of school corridors.
Rest of the day was quite peaceful, not counting some of her friends' comments about yesterday. Adding up constant texts from Pandora, already planning their next meeting. They were going to the cinema for a night screening of “Scream”.
Lily still couldn’t stop thinking about Dorcas and what she had to say about the whole situation. “Hey Dorcas is everything alright? You seem upset about something.” “Oh, it’s nothing.” she tried to brush it off. “I just feel like I know her from somewhere, I just can’t remember why.”
They never spoke about this again, maybe not until Dorcas will remember why.
~~~
The nights were getting longer and colder by the end of October. Lily still wanted to put on a nice light dress, but weather was definitely not on her side. She had to settle for black tights, a brown skirt and a really pretty cream button up, with a long coat keeping her warm. Girl approved her outfit when she was leaving the dorm and she was all set for her date.
Sun was long gone when she got to the cinema, and there she was standing. Almost like glowing in the moonlight. Her date. In a gorgeous casual suit and paired with that silver jewellery.
“Hi, beautiful. You’re late.” Pandora pointed out the time of Lily’s arrival. “We should still have some time to get popcorn, we will just miss commercials.” Lily just nodded, she wasn’t really listening. One look at Pandora's face and she was gone, mesmerised by her beauty. Is that what love feels like?
NO, no, no. It’s their second date. She can’t be that stereotypical lesbian, with saying “I love you” even before becoming official. No, that’s not it. This will pass, at least she hopes so. Now it’s not the time to say that.
“So, why pick ‘Scream’ when they are playing rom-com in the next hall?” She asked. “I just knew it was your favourite.” Pandora smirked and started ordering popcorn for them. “What would you like to drink?” “Diet coke please.” “Okay, then one diet coke and one apple juice.” she said to the cashier as they handed down their order.
They got in minutes before the movie started. When they sat down the lights went off and the movie started playing. Lilys was a huge fan of horror movies and true crime podcasts, plus she knew that movie by heart at this point. So the experience wasn’t scary. With Pandora it was different, she was jumping at every jumpscare and holding onto Lily's arm on scarier scenes. Movie ended and Pandora wasn’t planning on leaving Lily’s arm alone. They left holding hands.
“So how did you like it?” Lily asked about her opinion. “It was nice, yea, but next time let’s do something else.” next time, next time, next time, next time. “Sure whatever you’d like love.”
Pandora looked down at her shoes for quite some time, then said. “It was nice, because you were there, otherwise I would have left the cinema immediately.” she tucked her hair behind her ear. Lily felt her knees weaken, she was gone, a gone woman. “Are you tired? I live close by, maybe you want to crash at my place?” The girl suggested. “If it’s not a problem, sure.” It definitely wasn’t a one for Pandora.
Everything was going fast, at the same time it felt like time had stopped again, just for them. One minute they were entering the small apartament, next one they were sitting on the couch having heart to heart conversation. Then, Pandora opens wine and hands Lily a glass full of liquid. It doesn’t really matter how, but not long after that they end up in Pandora’s bed. Breath to breath, she could feel Pandora smile between her lips.
Meaningful kisses given all across her body. Their clothes were now laying on the floor. Pandora moved her lips to Lilys neck and started to leave sloppy kisses all over it, they it was her spine circling over her tattoo right under her shoulder. Lily was just giving it all in passionately kissing Pandora everywhere she could. Her gorgeous lips, moles on her chest, her neck.
Pandora had to feel Lily even more, with every move she made, with every sound that left her mouth. She was hungry for her. Kissing turned into leaving hickeys all over her beautiful body. Not only in visible places to let everyone who saw them know that it was her who did it. She went further down her body, leaving marks on her upper thighs. Sucking on her sweet skin, almost like biting. Lily was getting louder and louder with every next kiss on her body.
She felt Pandora biting into her skin, and god that felt good. She loved it, like nothing before. Her breath got heavier when Pandora got between her legs. Leaving kiss after kiss on her thighs. She was playing with her, not giving her what she really was hoping for. That was a cruel play.
“Oh, god. Can’t you just do it already.” She screamed with obvious impatience. She got nothing in reply, just yet another kiss in that area. She started to hold onto Pandora's back, scratching it so hard that it instantly got burning red. After another minute of hearing Lily beg her to go down, she caved.
Lily felt her tongue making circles still messing with her. Then she felt it inside her, a pleasing feeling after that play. Inside she felt like Pandora was the only one who made her feel like that, only one who will from now on will be able to see this part of her.
Now she couldn't just leave her with nothing in return. Lily began to kiss her fall the way down her chest. Up and down, leaving a couple marks on her skin. Then greased Pandora's upper thighs, slowly drawing circles on them. She felt a shiver going down her supine when she got too close.
After they were done, all that you could hear in the room was them breathing. Moments after they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
~~~
Lily was now spending more and more time with her girlfriend causing her sudden drop of grades and sometimes leaving her friends behind, almost forgetting about them. She was stupid and in love. So in love. All of her notebooks have been filled with poems about Pandora, her eyes, her skin, her lips, her smile, her hair, her hands, her body. Every single one was about her.
She was happy, her friends at first really tried to be supportive of her relationship. It was until she was forgetting about them and spending less and less time with them.
“Lils, you need to set some boundaries. You deserve to spend some time alone or with your colleagues. It’s starting to be unhealthy.” Mary shared her concerns, but Lily just let them slide and continue to do what she was doing.
It was something around month after Pandora and Lily first date. She was still smitten by that girl and it just kept affecting other aspects of her life.
In one class Marlene just snapped. She was done with this situation. “Hey, Lily, do you want to come to the small party me and the girls are planning to do?” She whispered to her. “Sorry, I can’t that day.” “Really, Lily, are you being serious, it’s the same excuse over and over again. I can’t. I got a date. We already got plans. Maybe another time. Not today. Do you even do anything besides being with her? You’re your own person not fucking extention of your girlfriend. Just get a fucking grip and be your own person.”
Lily looked at Marlene, a bit confused at first. “You’re acting a bit crazy, Marls.” Marlene just looked at her in disbelief. Her? crazy? “You need to grow a fucking backbone Evans” They haven’t spoken much since then.
~~~
At this point Lily was spending more time in the library or in Pandora's apartment than her own dorm. She rarely stayed there overnight, not even talking about hanging out with friends after class.
“Can we go to the library?” Pandora asked right after they finished eating dinner at her place. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” Lily agreed even though it was already dark outside.
They put on their warm coats and headed to the library. It was something they both really enjoyed, Lily was reading and going through the shelves. While Pandora was watching her, getting really into the book or just focusing on the topic she was researching at the moment.
They sat down at their usual spot. “So what are we looking for today?” Pandora was curious like always. “I was thinking of something classical. Like Sheakspeare?”
“O, swear not by the moon, th' inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circle orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.” Pandora proudly quotes Romeo and Juliet.
Lily laughed quietly. “I’m impressed, but I was going for Mcbeth. He's a really complicated character. I thought he needed a little analysis.” “Maybe I do need a little analysis as well?” Pandora suggested, while she smirked at her girlfriend. “We will see later, now I have to find Mr. Macbeth.”
They spend the rest of their day there, laughing, talking or just simply existing next to each other. Lily noticed that Pandora has a tendency to read older books about supernatural beings. She finds that really sweet and adorable. After a great time in the public library they had to leave.
While they were walking to the cafe, Lily decided to ask Pandora about something that was on her mind for quite some time. “Do you think it’s bad that we spend so much time together?” Her girlfriend stopped and held her arms together. “I don’t. I mean I really enjoy having you around for as long as I can. Besides, aren't Marlene and Dorcas spending every given moment with each other as well. It’s not that different, they also share a room so it’s easier for them.”
Lily thought it through again and Pandora was right. Their situation was nothing different than her friends, they were the crazy ones not her.
~~~
The other day when she was going to her dorm, Dorcas pulled her off the corridor to one of the empty classrooms. She seemed really worried. “Hey, why did you just do that? Is everything okay?” Lily asked.
Dorcas looked at her, took a deep breath and said. “Remember when I told you I felt like I saw Pandora somewhere before. I figured out where.” she looked away for a second and continued. “You remember that I used to have an older sister. And that she went missing a couple years ago.”
Lily was confused about all this, what was so important about this and what Pandora had to do with this. “I remember that, where are you going with this?”
“When I was about 10, my sister brought home her girlfriend. My family loved her from the moment she stepped into our house. She was the perfect girlfriend, the one everyone dreams of. Then she introduced herself. Pandora Rosier ”
“You’re joking right?”
“Oh I wish, I was thinking about this all the time. It’s definitely her and the best thing is that she hasn’t aged a day since that. I’m just worried about you, that girl is a problem. I don’t want to lose another important person in my life. She’s not a normal person. Watch out for yourself Lils” she said that in almost one breath. Trying to end this conversation as fast as possible, but Lily had other plans.
She looked her straight in the eyes and said. “You really are crazy that you think I’ll buy your silly story. There’s no way that my girlfriend was your sister's partner 10 YEARS AGO. It must have been someone similar, or her family member. Not her.” She turned her back and left.
Lily stopped attending most of the classes after that. Pandora was the only person who really understood her, the only person who cared about her. Not her fake friends who tried to guilt her into breaking up with Pandora. Them and their sob stories.
“They are just bad news for you. Not worth your time and energy.” Pandora said to her when she came back to her place after talking with Dorcas. “And that story about her sister, she must be really stupid to think that was me.”
She laid in her arms until they both fell asleep. It was quiet, it was what true love felt like. Not forced understanding, it felt like breathing.
~~~
The emails from university started to flood Lily’s inbox when she woke up. It’s been almost two weeks since she completely cut contact with her roommates, also a week since she had attended any class. Now they were summoning her to the principal office. She hasn’t turned in any papers or written any tests. Which she was supposed to be no matter what otherwise she will fail that class.
“Ms. Evans, we acknowledged your absence in past literature classes. Your papers have been overdue for sometime now. It’s only from the mercy of your professors that you aren’t kicked out. To stay in our school you are required to write all exams till the end of this week and turn in all your past papers. Now go child, you got some work to do.”
She did as they said. Lily has fucked up. She can’t fail, that would just prove to her family they were right all along.
She was speed walking past corridors, not paying attention to anything or anyone. She just had to grab her books from her dorm. Until she ran into Sirius.
“Lils, you’re alive. I can’t believe that. I heard you and the girls are not talking anymore. I think everyone heard about this actually.”
“What would our school be without gossip?” She said ironically.
Sirius just nodded to that. “Also I heard you got a girlfriend, that you’re currently living at? Is everything alright Lils? I mean it’s not really a you thing to just leave your friends.”
“Even you Sirius? I just got into a fight with them. Ever since I started dating Pandora they got crazy. Oh Rosier is bad for you! You changed Lily! What are you doing with your life Lily? I’m just so tired of tha..” she would complain more, but she was rudely interrupted by Crouch Jr.
“Did I hear correctly, Rosier ?” He innocently asked.
That was not a normal interaction, but was there anything normal about everything that Barty Crouch Jr. ever did? No. “Yes, what is your deal Barty?” She replied
“I was just surprised to hear you two talking about my boyfriend.” He said while grinning so widely.
Lily was really confused. “Your? Boyfriend?”
“Evan Rosier, you were just talking about him. Or have I got a really bad hearing problem? But I did hear his surname.”
“No I did say Rosier, but not Evan. I was talking about my girlfriend. Pandora Rosier .” Now Barty was looking at her confused. While Sirius was staying silent in between that conversation.
It took a minute, but something clicked inside Bart’s mind. He looked like understood the whole situation now. “Oh right, he has a twin sister. He once mentioned her, not by her name though. Excuse me, now I need to find him and ask about that.” And he just left.
Sirius was still in shock after what they heard. “WHAT has just happened here?”
“I really don’t know, but I definitely need to get going. Plus I need to talk about this with her. Bay, Siri!”
Her mind was running around this topic for the rest of her walk. What else could Pandora be hiding?
She finally reached her destination, she felt scared to open the door. What if they were there sitting, she really wasn’t in a mood for yet another fight. Lily slowly started opening the door. She heard water in the bathroom which meant that Mary was showering. What luck. Lily grabbed all her books and left the dorm as fast as she could.
She was on her way to the exit of the university, but she heard someone call her name from behind. When she turned around it was Barty. Almost running out of breath. He was probably running to catch her in time.
When he stopped, he took some desperate breaths and said. “Good thing I caught you. I wasn’t going to ask with Black next to us, but I never met someone who I could talk about this with.” Lily looked at him as if he was someone crazy. “So tell me how you took the fact that they are vampires?”
“Barty what?”
“Don’t tell me you don’t know, oh god did I ruin the surprise. Well sorry I was just joking around, you know me.” She doesn’t. “Well if you ever need to talk, you got my number, just in case.” He smiled awkwardly and left her to be.
That was weird, but not normal Barty weird that he was about everyone. This was really weird.
First thing she did when getting back to Pandoras was ask her about said brother. “Panda you home?”
“Of course sweetheart.” She heard a response.
“Do you by any chance have a brother you never mentioned?” There was no need to act around the topic. “Why would you think that?”
“My colleague came up to me and said he’s dating your brother. Is that true?” Pandora was trying to avoid eye contact. “I can’t tell you it’s not. I have a twin brother, but we don’t talk much. Let’s just leave this topic please.”
Lily was about to say something, but Pandora shut her up with an intense kiss. They separate to take a single breath and Pandora continues kissing Lily. Going down her neck. Stop in right above her collarbone. Lily was making pleased sounds, that were signs for Pandora that she wanted more. Giving her hickeys like never, biting so hard that Lily was able to feel her teeth going through her skin.
Are hickeys supposed to feel this way? She wasn’t really sure. Never in her life she experienced feeling like this one. She felt warm going down her throat. Almost like liquid was flowing down it. Pandora was still “kissing” the same spot. Lily was sure that this hickey was going to stay there for some time.
After Pandora went further down Lily touched her neck. She still felt that warmth. When she looked at her hand she noticed maroon stains on her fingers. It was blood, her blood. Lots of it. She felt a sudden energy drop.
“Pandora, what is this?”
“Oh, nothing to worry about darling. You’re just sleeping and imagining things. Now rest.” She put her down under covers and left the room. Lily was now laying alone, obviously bleeding out. But her eyelids felt so heavy that she caved in and closed them.
Next thing she remembered was waking up, alone and I’m cold sweat. She touched her neck and felt dried blood on it. Along with bite marks that are gonna leave a scar. Pandora wasn’t home. Lily decided to search through her apartment, maybe Barty wasn’t kidding. Or she’s just going crazy from loss of blood.
She got up from bed and headed to the kitchen. On the table saw a dish waiting for her. How long has she been asleep or unconscious? It’s really hard to tell. Pandora wasn’t there as well. It’s like she disappeared.
Lily sat down at the table. She wasn’t hungry so she just kept staring at a full plate of food. It might have been just a minute or hours when she heard the crack of the key in the doors. Pandora entered the room soaking wet. It was raining hard and it was pretty dark outside.
“I see you’re finally awake darling. Why aren’t you eating? I made this especially for you.” She asked innocently, like there was nothing wrong with blood on her and a bite mark on her neck.
Lily tried to back off the room, acting as normal as she could, but sady her back reached the wall. There was no escape. “I’m not really hungry. I think I have to go, lots of school work. You know.” She awkwardly smiled and tried to leave the kitchen.
She wasn’t allowed to, Pandora caught her by her wrists and put up the wall. If she wasn’t in life danger, Lily would think it was really hot move.
“Pandora, stop it!”
She gave her sad eyes, not really aproparite in this situation. “Why are you trying to go back there? They are crazy, you said that yourself.”
Lily couldn’t say a word. “I see, he just destroyed my lovely surprise for you.” Then she opened her mouth revealing white shining fangs. “What? Are you scared? It’s true love, darling. You and me we are ment to be.” As she was saying that her lips were getting closer and closer to where she was sucking her blood earlier.
Lily kicked her in the stomach, trying to protect herself. “I should have known it was strange, you were only coming out at night.” It was wrong, wrong, wrong. “I used to think I was smart, but you make me look so naive.” Dorcas was right, she was the crazy one.
“I’m not the one who moved in with a person they hardly knew for a month.” She said, still laying on the floor.
She was trying not to think about it. Runaway from here as soon as she could. Where was her phone? She rushed into the bedroom and collected her clothes. Pandora leaned on the doorframe blocking her entrance.
“I’ve made some really big mistakes, but you made the worst one look fine. Why didn’t you kill me earlier, it would have been easier.” She yelled into her face, oh that pretty face.
“You were the one agreeing with me.”
“ And every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news. You called them crazy, God, I hate the way I called them crazy too. You're so convincing. How do you lie without flinching?”
They were just staring at each other in silence. Lily was trying not to panic, not to make any sudden movements. When she got slightly closer to Pandora she showed her right into the door frame and left the apartment running.
She was barely dressed for the weather. Just white shirt and some loose pj pants. Her wet hair was sticking to her face. She had nowhere to go, without a phone she had no one to call. She wasn’t running but walking away.
After her came Pandora. Trying to hold her back. For a minute Lily was thinking they could still be real.
“You said you love me, where is that love now?” She said to her, still trying to guilt her into staying. But her shining teeth were just a reminder of how she almost died today.
Lily touched her neck as a reminder of what was real and what wasn’t. “You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard? You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart.”
“I never chose to be what I am.” Pandora said desperately. “You could have told me, you never should have taken advantage of me. Of what I was feeling. You were just sinking your teeth into me, trying to eat me alive.”
“You wouldn’t understand.” She spits out.
Lily shook off her grip and just stared at her. Disappointed. “I tried you help you out, now I know that I can't 'Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand. Fuck you. FUCK YOU. and your gorgeous face. You wouldn’t even care if I died there today.”
Pandora didn’t respond to that, just walked away with her head high up. As if nothing happened. As if they never were a thing. “GO TO HELL ROSIER.” Lily yelled after her.
~~~
She was wet, lost and had no friends to turn to. With no phone she couldn’t even call anyone. She sat at the corner of the street and cried.
She felt so stupid, how could she get played like that. Six months into that relationship just to almost die. She lost her friends, her degree and her life. Lily wasn’t the same, Pandora changed her. She looked at her reflection in the nearby puddle. The person looking at her wasn’t the same Lily Evans. This one was a mess and a failure.
Stupid stupid stupid
Lily couldn’t even tell what time it was when she finally got to the campus. Without buses it’s way more difficult. She was scared to knock on the doors. It wasn’t her dorm by Bartys. Lily still wasn’t ready to confront her roommates. In this situation she somehow knew Barty would be the only one to understand her.
She knocked, waited and the doors opened. “Evans? You look like a mess.” That was the first thing she heard, well at least he was honest. “Come in.” Barty gestured and gave her towel and spare shirt. “So I assume you now know.”
Lily started to cry, thinking about it again was hurting her. Batty wasn’t sure what to do in this situation, so he awkwardly tried to wrap his arms around her. “Did Evan tell you that at the beginning?” She asked through the tears.
“At the time when I asked him to be my boyfriend.” Barty replied. “And you accepted that?”
He smiled a little thinking about that. “Yes, but only when he explained it to me.” “Great to that means only Pandora is a bitch who was trying to kill me.”
“Wait? Kill you?” Barty almost jumped when he heard that. “Yea, yesterday when I came back she started to kiss me, but then she bit harder and harder. Until I lost consciousness.”
That was way unexpected for Barty since he and Evan had set boundaries for that kind of thing. “Oh, Lils come here. Let me see that bite, we have to take a look at that bite.” She holds her hair up to make the bite visible. “You’re still bleeding, wait for me here, I need to grab a couple things for the kitchen.”
That’s how they spent their night. Barty tried to comfort Lily as much as he could. Help her to accept what kind of influence Pandora had on her and how to fix it. She fell asleep on Bartys bed, while he was still next to her tightly holding her, trying to protect her from getting hurt again.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you. Thank you Barty. Without your help I would be still lost.” She felt the tears back again on her cheeks, but that was okay.
He leaned on the doorframe and smiled lightly. “You just owe me one. So don’t be surprised with me calling you in the middle of the night, needing help hiding a body.” They both laughed. “I’m always ready for that.”
Lily still had a long way before getting to her dorm room. That gave her time to think.
Was she trying to forget the past six months, she knew it was wrong, she was stupid and believed a liar. Lily wasn’t sure if she’ll ever love after that. Pandora was so pure so lovely, a perfect lover. Too perfect as she found out. Another tear dropped from her eye .
With still a bloody shirt and quite more clothing than before she looked at dorm room number 13 and knocked.