Losing Game/// James Potter

Chapter 43

As soon as the cool breeze hit Elsie's face while walking out of the Three Broomsticks, her mind began drifting off into a world of it's own. After seven years of endless pining, James finally got the girl of his dreams, the girl that wasn't Elsie. She wanted to be mad, she wanted to be upset, but she couldn't be. James and Lily were destined to be together, and who was she to try and challenge that? How could she could feel bad about not having someone who was never hers to begin with?

So, Elsie walked away from the pub with an empty feeling eating away at her. With every step taken away from her best friend, another intimate memory of James flashed through her head. It was almost as if her brain was preparing her to let go of them, letting her see them one last time before they were thrown away.

"Gryffindor?" a voice broke through the thoughts of James filling her head, causing Elsie to snap her head up at it.

And just like that, any and all thoughts of James were gone, replaced by the sight of a smiling brunette boy. Elsie let her thoughts escape into the mysterious smile in front of her, craving to know more and more about the boy. A small smile formed on her face as she felt the empty feeling within her body be filled with something other than James.

"So, you're stalking me now?" Elsie chuckled while smirking at the boy she knew as Benjy Fenwick, "Pretty bold move for a Ravenclaw if you ask me."

"Ha, ha. That was so funny I almost forgot to laugh," Benjy sarcastically spoke while playfully rolling his eyes at the girl, causing a chuckle to slip off of Elsie's lips.

She smiled up at him while shuffling her feet in the snow on the ground, "Anyways, what are you actually doing here?"

"I just came to pick up a new book to read," Benjy replied while holding up a book in his hand.

Elsie's eyes lit up at the novel in the boy's hand as she excitedly exclaimed, "You like Jane Austen?!"

Benjy's cheeks tinted pink as his gaze shifted to the floor and he stuttered, "Erm...yeah. I-Is that a bad thing?"

The smiling brunette girl placed a hand on his arm reassuringly while chuckling, "No, not at all! She's actually one of my favorite authors. I mean don't get me wrong, there are so many great authors who've written books that I've read over and over again, like Charles Dickens or George Orwell. But Jane Austen wrote timeless books, ones t-that you can read whenever and wherever and still feel as if you're reading them for the first time. They're so..."

The small girl cut herself off as she realized what she was doing, "I'm sorry...erm...I ramble sometimes. I know it's embarrassing and-,"

Her sentence was cut off when Benjy brought his hand up to her face and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, sending her a warm smile while locking eyes with her, "Don't stop, I think it's rather adorable."

Elsie's cheeks heated red as a small smile formed on her face. She broke her gaze from the boy for just a second before turning and reaching into her bag, pulling out a book and handing it to Benjy.

"Well, if that's the case then here," she continued blushing as his fingers grazed hers while taking the book from her hand, "It's not Jane Austen, but it's a bloody brilliant book. My friend Remus suggested it to me."

"The Lord of the Flies," Benjy lifted the book up to his face to read the title, curiously raising an eyebrow at it, "Merlin, what is it with people and placing the word Lord before an odd name?"

"What?" Elsie asked with confusion written all over her face.

"First, there's this 'Lord Voldemort' guy and now there's a 'Lord of the Flies'. I mean honestly, can't people come up with better names," the brunette boy chuckled out in explanation, making Elsie laugh as well.