Losing Game/// James Potter

Chapter 15

The rest of October passed by pretty uneventfully for Elsie, James, and their friends. Nothing out of the ordinary happened for them; they went to class, quidditch practices were going on, Remus underwent another transition on the full moon, and a few pranks were played here and there. Elsie hadn't responded to Rory's offer yet, but they had been spending more time together and building their friendship back up, much to James' dismay.

Elsie had stayed up all night on the day of October 30th just to finish Remus' book, which meant she could finally ask him about it. She jumped up from her bed after getting a measly hour of sleep, and quickly threw her uniform on. Her tie was left undone hanging from around her neck and she left the two top buttons on her untucked shirt unbuttoned due to her rushing. She threw her hair up in a high ponytail and ran out of her room all the way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, where she sat down across from her scar-faced friend.

"Jeez, Tibbles," Sirius started saying what everyone else at the table was thinking, "You look like a bloody mess."

"Wow, Padfoot," she rolled her eyes while sarcastically speaking, "You sure do know how to flatter a girl." Sirius winked at her while continuing to shove food in his mouth.

"Come here, Els," James chuckled while reaching out to fix the disheveled girl, causing a permanent blush to form on Elsie's face. He buttoned up her shirt, unknowingly grazing his fingers across her bare chest, and did her tie for her while tucking it under the collar of her button up. A shiver ran down her spine as his warm fingertips brushed against the skin on her neck.

"Thank you," she stuttered out, hoping he didn't notice the red that inhabited her cheeks nor the goosebumps that ran down her arms due to her shivering. He nodded in acknowledgement while questioning the girl, "Why do you look like you got no sleep?"

"It's his fault! He had me up all night!" Elsie narrowed her eyes at Remus while pointing at him. James spit out his pumpkin juice that he had just took a sip of at the same time that Peter's jaw dropped. A smirk grew on Sirius' face as he patted a red Remus' back.

"Atta boy! Moony is finally getting some... definitely didn't expect it to be with Tibbles, though," Sirius congratulated Remus at the oblivious girl's sexual innuendo.

"You and Moony shagged?!" James cried out while looking between Elsie and Remus with a shocked look.

Elsie rolled her eyes at the boys and smacked James in the back of the head while exclaiming, "No, you immature gits! I meant his book... I was up all night reading the book he gave me!"

A wave of relief flashed through James. Remus, whose cheeks were finally returning to a normal color, began to flash the girl a smile.

"So, you've finally finished it?" he smirked while asking.

"Yes, now tell me what your note is about!" She screamed at the boy from across the table, "It's been driving me mental!"

"Well, do you have an answer to my question?" He slyly avoided her request. "Forget about the outcome of the book, who do you think should have won? Who should the boy choose? Fidelity or desire?"

Elsie thought about his question for a second before saying her answer, "Desire."

Remus began smirking harder than before, "And why do you say that?"

"Well, sometimes you can't choose who you love. Love isn't supposed to be calculated and matriculated. It's supposed to be messy and sloppy and...," she began explaining, as all her friends around her began tuning into the conversation, "...unpredictable. But, that's the beauty of it. Desire let's you embrace the mess that is life with the person you love most."