Losing Game/// James Potter

Chapter 44

The next morning, a group of 9 Gryffindors comfortably took up all the spots by the fire place before heading down to breakfast. Frank and Alice shared one armchair, while Sirius and Marlene shared the other. On the big couch, Peter and James were having a conversation as Lily was reading next to them. To the right of Lily sat Remus with Elsie causally placed on his lap to make more room on the couch. The back of her head was resting on the top of his left shoulder and Remus' arms were lightly thrown around her waist, not noticing the sad eyes that were watching the two.

"So, do you want to tell me where you disappeared off to yesterday?" Remus smirked down at her as a blush crept onto her face, "Because from what I've heard you certainly did not go straight back to the castle."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Elsie giggled teasingly, wanting to drag out what Remus was going to ask her.

The scar-faced boy booped Elsie's nose before pointing a finger at her, "You're a bloody liar."

"Fine, fine," the small brunette chuckled, turning her body so that her right ear was leaning against his shoulder and her face was directly looking at him, "I ran into a friend on the way back."

"A friend, hmm?" Remus murmured quietly while knowingly raising an eyebrow at her, "I didn't know friends snogged each other."

Once again, a blush crept onto Elsie's face, but she decided to play it off with a joke and a laugh, "Oh please, Remmy, you should know very well that sometimes friends do kiss each other, especially in this friend group."

Remus let out a genuine chuckle at her statement while nodding in agreement, "Okay, fair point, but that doesn't get you out of telling me about this boy."

Elsie hadn't planned on telling her friends about this boy yet, but looking up at Remus she knew she couldn't hold back. It had been a while since she felt this excited about a boy, and she wanted to be able to share that with someone. After all she's gone through with James, she deserved to be able to tell her friends that she was happy. So, she found herself spilling everything to Remus.

"Godric, he's so wonderful, Remmy," she began telling the boy underneath her as her eyes lit up with excitement, "He's so sweet. The first time we spoke he gave me his sweatshirt so I wouldn't be cold, and then yesterday he told me he had a tea party to go to...with a bloody 5 year old!"

She sighed out in contentment while Remus watched a smile slip onto her face as she continued, "And, he likes to read...I mean Merlin, how much better could he get?!"

Remus was completely speechless as he looked down at the widening smile on Elsie's face. As much as he felt bad for James, he couldn't help but feel so happy for Elsie. This girl bent over backwards for everyone else, made sure the people around her had a smile on her face, and always put everyone else before herself. But now, she finally had something that made her happy. And as a smile found it's way onto his face, Remus thought nobody else deserved to be happy more than her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Elsie giggled out while looking up at Remus' smiling face.

"Nothing," he trailed off, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist, "I've just missed seeing that beautiful smile of yours."

"I love you, Remmy," Elsie whispered into his neck as she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

Remus was about to open his mouth and respond when Marlene called out towards Lily and James, "Oi, lovebirds. How did your date go?"

A face of realization dawned on both James' and Lily's face, remembering that only the Marauder boys knew exactly what had happened. All of their friends looked up at the two sitting on the couch waiting for an answer, but James couldn't bring himself to speak. He glanced over at Elsie, who was curiously staring at him, and found his breath become stuck in his throat. How could he tell everyone how it went without telling them about Elsie?