Elsie and Snape were still talking together in Hogsmeade for another hour after James and Lily had left, surprisingly enjoying each other's company. She no longer had to worry about her two friends being okay because they had each other. James had Lily, and Lily had James. So, she found herself sitting on a bench with a boy she was starting to uncover the truth about.
"Would you stop laughing at everything I say?" Snape, who sat with his arms crossed against his chest, questioned the girl sitting next to him with a raised eyebrow, "What foolish thing do you find so funny now?"
Elsie was bent over clutching her stomach from laughing so hard at what he had told her. "Your Patronus is a doe," she spluttered through the laughter.
"Obviously," he drawled out, "Did I not just tell you that?"
"Yes, which is why I'm laughing! A dark and monotone boy who only wears black and green has a lighthearted doe patronus!" She exclaimed with a smile on her face.
"Why, yes... I guess it's quite peculiar," Snape cracked a smile while contemplating what she was saying.
"You know," Elsie nudged the boy next to her teasingly, "James' patronus is a stag, maybe you two are meant to be."
Snape's eyes went wide in disgust at what Elsie had just shared with him, "I would rather Avada Kedavra myself." Elsie began laughing, but immediately stopped when she heard a voice call out from behind the two.
"Oi, Snivellus!" James shouted, his hands curled into fists and the 4 Marauders walked towards the bench, "Get away from her!"
Elsie's head snapped towards the incoming boys while shouting back at James, "What are you doing-,"
Elsie was interrupted by Snape standing up from the bench and whipping out his wand, "Don't be foolish, Potter. I wasn't doing anything."
James stormed up to Snape and grabbed him by his collar as Elsie pleaded with the angry boy, "James, stop it!"
James ignored her request and began to pull Snape threateningly closer to him. "Did you touch her? I swear to Merlin if you even laid a finger on her I will punch your slimy face," he seethed through gritted teeth.
Sirius stood behind James with a menacing face and his wand pulled out, as Remus and Peter were apologetically staring at Elsie.
Elsie slithered her way in between the two boys that were angrily glaring at each other, pushing James away with her hand. She looked at Snape, who James was forced to release due to Elsie coming in between them, and sent him a small smile, "You can go, Severus. Thank you for staying with me." Snape nodded his head and sent one last glare towards James before stomping off back towards the castle.
Elsie turned around with disappointment written all over her face as she took turns glaring at each boy in front of her, not daring to say a word.
"Elsie, we're sorry...we should've let you be. We were just scared that he was hurting you," Remus shyly said while scratching his neck, breaking the silent tension. Peter nodded in agreement to what he said. Elsie crossed her arms while refusing to speak to any of them, and stormed off back to the castle, not caring if she was caught for being out after curfew.
Luckily for her, her tall friends with big steps caught up to her and pulled her under the invisibility cloak with them. The group of 5 silently made their way to James' dorm and slipped into the common room, nobody saying a word.
Elsie was faced away from the 4 boys that stood behind her, anger boiling up inside her.
James was the first one to break the newfound silence, "Elsie, I-,"
"Don't, James," she seethed while flipping around to face them. Elsie began pacing the floor, not knowing how to express her anger.
"Whose idea was it to come and find me after I specifically said I could handle myself?" She threateningly pointer her finger at the boys. James looked down at the ground while shuffling his feet and shyly saying, "Mine."
She narrowed her eyes while locking them on James. "You three," she angrily began to say while pointing her finger at Sirius, Remus, and Peter, "Leave. Now."
Not even a second later, the three boys scurried out of the room to avoid the wrath of their female friend. Elsie dragged James into his room and slammed the door behind them.
"Muffliato," James whispered as Elsie's angry expression broke for a second while turning to look at him in confusion. He scratched the back of his neck while explaining himself, "Sorry, Lily's sleeping and I don't want her to wake up when you yell at me."
Elsie's enraged demeanor returned once again as James walked over to sit on the edge of his bed, knowing that there was no stopping his best friend when she was mad.
"How could you, James?!" She shouted while pointing her finger at the boy sitting down in front of her.
She began pacing the room as she continued spewing words at James, who's head was hanging lowly, "Godric, James...I asked you to do one thing for me, just one! I mean, honestly, is it too much for a girl to ask for her best friends to respect her privacy!"
"Elsie, I-,"
"NO," she screamed while stopping in front of James, "This is the second time! Did what I say last time mean anything to you?! I specifically told you that I could handle myself and that I do not need four boys chasing after me trying to save me every time I'm just simply having a conversation with someone!"
James stood up from the bed and placed his hands on her shoulders, towering over the small girl in front of him while trying to get a word in, "Elsie, listen to me... I-,"
"No, James!" She shouted and shrugged his hands off her shoulder, brushing off the fact of how close they were to each other, "I'm not a little girl anymore! I can handle myself and..."
James tuned out what Elsie was saying as he began to think about the angry girl in front of him. Truth is, Elsie is right. James was in the wrong, and he couldn't feel any more guilty about it. He was just trying to look out for her, but completely disregarded her plea for privacy while doing so. James didn't know why he got so mad when seeing her there with him. He just wanted her to be safe and when he got there and saw that she was okay, he got even angrier. Why was she okay talking to someone like him?
James' thoughts turned into chaos. He's never been the possessive type over his friends, so why was he being this way with Elsie? And to make things worse, he couldn't stop thinking about how he blew off a kiss from Lily because he was thinking about his best friend. What the bloody hell is going on with me?
His pent up frustration began to boil as he tuned back into the girl who was still screaming at him.
"And to think, I've always given you the privacy and respect you've asked for! I don't come waltzing into your conversations with Sirius or with Remus or Peter or even Lily! How is it fair that..."
James was so confused with everything going on and he just needed a second to think. He needed everything to be quiet. He couldn't take her screaming anymore, he needed to apologize. He needed Elsie to stop talking. So, in a moment of frustration, James did what he did best: make a confusing situation even more confusing...
"...you get your privacy and I don't get-," Elsie's talking was suddenly cut off when James, for the second time as of this year, smashed his lips onto hers. He placed his hands on her face and brought her lips closer to his, silencing all thoughts that either of them had.
This time it was Elsie who pulled away from the kiss, not knowing what was going on. One second he was listening to her, and then the next one his lips were pressed against hers.
When she pulled her lips away from his, she started stuttering, "James, I..."
Elsie had no clue what to say. She wanted to kiss him more than anything. She wanted to feel his soft lips moving rhythmically with hers. She wanted him, but knew he didn't want her. She knew that he was just frustrated like last time.
However, James' brain shut down completely. He stared into her captivating blue eyes as his hands still were placed on either side of her face, holding her to make eye contact with him. He glanced down at her lips, the lips that had just made all of his frustrations go away. By kissing her, there was no more loud noises, no more distractions, no more frustrating thoughts. And he needed more of it. It was as if he just became addicted, he needed more of Elsie.
As they stared into each others eyes, not daring to look away, the only noise that filled the room was their quickening breaths from the kiss they had just shared. Elsie wanted it to happen again, but James needed it to happen again. He needed to feel her lips against his. He needed everything to stop.
James pushed his face back down towards her and collided their lips once again. This time, there was no stopping them. Elsie threw her hands around his neck, feeling her way up his muscular back until her hands found themselves entangled in his messy curls. James moved his hands from her face down to her waist as he pulled her in closer, destroying all space in between the two.
James' tongue swiped against her bottom lip forcefully, demanding entrance into her mouth. Elsie more than willingly obliged, letting their tongues crazily explore each other. James slid his hands down to the back of her thighs and griped them, lifting her up off the ground as she swung her legs around his waist. He took a few steps backwards until his knees collided with the edge of his bed, their mouths never leaving each other while doing so . He sat down moving his hands to her lower back as she stayed straddling his lap, James stiffening beneath her.
The two were completely lost in each other, as if they were in a whole other galaxy. Nothing else mattered in the moment except for the person pressed up against them. It didn't matter if James was supposed to be with Lily, in that moment it was Elsie and James. Until, something brought them crashing down to earth.
*Knock...Knock*
"James, are you in there?" A feminine voice broke James' and Elsie's lips away from each other.
Although their lips were no longer connected, their eyes never left each other. James, who still had Elsie on his lap, croaked out in the midst of his panting, "Yes... one... erm one second," forgetting that he had put the Muffliato charm on the room before the argument had started.
Elsie got off of his lap, her eyes still locked onto James', as the warmth that she had brought him completely left James. He wanted nothing more than to pull her back onto him and continue what they were doing, until the feminine voice spoke again.
"James, are you okay?" She called out, "It's Lily."
And, that's when the reality of what just had happened set in for James. He jumped up from his bed and immediately began pacing the room anxiously, trying to process exactly what had just happened. What he had started, what he had just let happen.
He frustratingly ran his hands through his hair and fixed his crooked glasses while looking up at Elsie with sad eyes, "Els, I-,"
"It's okay, James. I get it. It was just a heat of the moment thing...again," Elsie breathily cut him off as her heart sunk, not with anger or sadness, but rather disappointment. She should've known better than to fall for that. She should've known better than to listen to the lies that his kisses whispered to her.
Before James got a chance to reply, Elsie walked over to the door and opened it. She was met by a tired-looking Lily standing in front of the door.
"Oh, hey Elsie! I didn't know you were over. I just had a bad dream and wanted someone to talk to, but I can go," Lily warmly smiled, not realizing the emotional storm brewing within Elsie.
"No," Elsie responded with the fakest smile she could muster up, "Its okay, I was just leaving. I'll see you two tomorrow." Without looking back, Elsie swiftly left the room and ran all the way to the Gryffindor tower.
While running back, she let the tears flow down her face as she thought about what just happened. Her mind flooded with James and James and James, and she was sick of it.
Her weak legs carried her all the way into the Gryffindor common room. She fell onto the couch by the fireplace and sobbed into the soft fabric, not caring if anyone heard. Elsie's emotions took over. Visions of a red headed girl and a spectacled boy swarmed her head, and hopelessness swarmed her heart.
"Princess?" A voice called out, walking down the boys' dormitory stairs and towards the crying girl. "What happened?"
Elsie looked up and saw Rory standing over her with concern plastered on his face. He scooped the girl up and sat down next to her, letting Elsie sob in his arms. She snuggled into his body and ignored his question.
"I'll do it," she stated through sniffled tears.
"You'll do what?" Rory softly cooed while running a hand through her hair.
"Friends with benefits... I-I'll do it," she confirmed the boys offer from a few weeks ago. A smile grew on Rory's face while nodding his head in acknowledgement.
"Shhhh, no more tears. Close your eyes for now. Go to sleep, Princess," he whispered while her eyes shut and her problems slipped away from her as one last thought entered her mind...
I need a distraction from James Potter.
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AUTHORS NOTE:
AHHH KISS #2! And, she accepted Rory's offer!!! This wasn't full-blown smut, so I figured a warning didn't need to be posted above this chapter. But I promise you, there will be a warning when smut is included in a part. I hope you guys enjoyed this part;)
Since you guys have been showering me with support, I figured I would do a double update for today:) THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING AMAZING!!!