Losing Game/// James Potter

Chapter 52

Four weeks. Twenty eight days. Six hundred and seventy-two hours. Four thousand three hundred and twenty minutes. Two million four hundred and nineteen thousand two hundred seconds. That's how long it has been since Elsie and James have spoken to each other, and James had been counting every second of it...

For almost a whole month, he had been working up the courage to speak to Elsie again. He had been trying to find the right words to say, ones that include more than just simply "I'm sorry."But, how do you apologize for not loving someone at the right time? How do you apologize for loving someone too late?

Every single day during the past four weeks, James had to hold himself back from doing the things he normally did with Elsie. He couldn't hold her hand, he couldn't cuddle with her, he couldn't play with her hair, he couldn't tease her, he couldn't even tell her about his day. It made him sick to his stomach, so much so that the boy barely slept at night anymore. Instead, he sat off to the side listening to how happy he made her, occasionally stealing glances at her every so often. Nothing changed within their friend group, except for the fact that the two best friends suddenly weren't best friends anymore. But for James, it was as if everything had changed...and he hated it.

And luckily for James, a certain someone had noticed this...and that certain someone was determined to change that.

"Oi, where's Prongs?" Sirius questioned his other three best friends on the way to Potions.

Elsie simply shrugged, ignoring the sinking feeling in her chest from whenever anyone brought up her best friend.

"I haven't seen him," Peter chirped out while biting into a piece of toast he had carried out with him from the Great Hall.

Remus raised his eyebrow curiously while looking over at Sirius, "He wasn't at breakfast either."

"Maybe someone should go find him," Peter suggested as all three pairs of eyes fell on Elsie.

Once she realized they were all looking at her, she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, "Don't give me that look, I won't do it."

"Oh come on, Tibbles," Remus pleaded with her, pointing a finger in her face, "You guys haven't spoken in weeks."

"Yeah, listen to Moony," Sirius chimed in with a smirk forming on his face, "Did you forget you're in love with the bloody git?"

"I used to be," Elsie said in a convincing tone, giving Sirius a pointed look, "Not anymore."

"You siriusly don't have any feelings left for him?" the long-haired boy asked, slightly chuckling at his pun.

Elsie rolled her eyes playfully at him while winking, "Siriusly."

He was about to open his mouth to respond when suddenly a body came crashing into his from behind, grabbing onto his shoulder to help him keep his balance.

"Found him," Peter snorted after realizing who the body belonged to.

"Bloody hell, Prongs. Are you trying to kill me?!" Sirius joked as he looked at the panting boy who had knocked into him, "Where have you been?"

"I overslept, didn't want to be late," he breathily answered while taking his place in between Sirius and Peter.

Remus looked at him quizzically and questioned him, "If you overslept then why does it look like you've gotten no sleep?"

At hearing Remus' question, Elsie's head snapped up and looked over at James. They may not have been on talking terms, but she still cared about him. She always would...

James noticed the concern swimming in Elsie's eyes and decided to crack a joke in order to ease the tension, "Can't sleep without a proper round of Padfoot cuddles beforehand, yeah?"