Losing Game/// James Potter

Chapter 42

It was the morning of the Hogsmeade trip and Elsie was up pretty early, mostly because she couldn't sleep. Every time she tried to close her eyes at night, her thoughts sprung them back open. It was almost as if her thoughts had a mind of their own, making her get a mere 4 hours of sleep. But then again, who would be able to sleep when the person you love is about to go on a date with someone else the next day?

She slowly climbed out of bed and quickly got ready for the day. After brushing her teeth and her hair, Elsie walked over to the mirror in her room and began getting dressed. When she was satisfied with her look, she decided to visit James since he was probably going to be flipping out about his date. It may have killed her to see him feel that way about Lily, but he was her best friend first. So, she wanted to make sure he was okay. With that in mind, she walked all the way over to James' dorm room, whispered the password, and passed by the common room to knock on his door.

A sleepy James Potter opened the door wearing nothing but a white t-shirt and a pair of boxers, forcing Elsie to stop her eyes from automatically trailing down his body.

James yawned while scratching his head and fixing his glasses before letting Elsie into his room, closing the door behind her.

She casually slumped down onto his bed and rested against his headboard, as he copied her actions and sat down to the left of her.

"What are you doing here so early?" He tiredly yawned again while his eyes met hers.

"Couldn't really sleep," Elsie shrugged her shoulders before shooting her best friend a genuine smile, "And, I wanted to check in on how you're doing."

James' heart fluttered at the sight of his best friend next to him, still not completely used to his feelings for her. And although he had known her for years, it was almost as if her face was completely foreign to him now. He was noticing so many little details about her that he never had before; like how when her lips tugged upwards she would form two little smile lines just above the ends of them, or how her pupils that are surrounded by the blue seas in her eyes slightly widen every time she smiles. She's so fucking beautiful...

Due to a sudden feeling of needing to have her skin against his, James took her hand and began to caress the side of it with his thumb. Their eyes were solely trained on each other's, letting the blush that crept onto Elsie's cheeks go unnoticed.

"I...erm...I wanted to ask how you're feeling about your date with Lily," Elsie stuttered out, nervous from the way James was intensely looking at her.

James had mentally cursed at himself, completely having forgotten that today was his date with Lily. He immediately stood up from his bed, begrudgingly breaking eye contact with Elsie, and began pacing his room. How could I forget I'm going on a date with Lily Evans, the bloody girl I've been trying to be with since first year?

After looking at the clock on his wall to check the time, Elsie watched as James opened his closet and threw on a pair of khakis. He pulled his white t-shirt off of his body, making Elsie melt at the sight of his toned abs and muscular back. I could never get tired of seeing that...

He stood completely still staring into his closet as his thoughts ran wild. James couldn't stop thinking about how he finally had a date with the one girl he's always wanted to go on one with, but now that it was here he felt like something was wrong. As much as he wanted to go out with her, another part of him wanted nothing more than to stay in bed cuddling with Elsie all day. He once again found himself torn between Lily and Elsie, even though his decision was supposed to already be made.

James was snapped out of his thoughts when a cold hand placed itself on his back, causing him to slight jump in shock.

"Here," Elsie chuckled while reaching into his closet and grabbing a white jumper, her hand still resting on his back, "Wear this one."