TW AND CW: mild swearing

Ana did not feel like apologizing.

She knew she would have to, for saying something as horrible as that about James and Sirius, but she didn't want to even think about saying it.

You know when you did something wrong, Ana thought to herself soothingly. You admit whenever you've done something bad. Go admit it know. Stop being a wuss.

"Remus?" she squeaked timidly.

Ana thought he had stopped breathing. Remus didn't even turn around from his position, where he was standing, staring out the window.

"Yes?" he mumbled back.

"I'm sorry for what I said about James and Sirius," Ana muttered, starting to scratch the back of her neck, a nervous habit. "It was stupid and I know the mean a lot to you. I'm sorry."

Remus' entire body seemed to light up- not exactly with happiness, but with curiosity. "Why are you apologizing?"

Ana raised an eyebrow. "Because it's the right thing to do...? Do you not want my apology? I can take it back, if you'd like," she joked nervously.

"No, no," Remus said, correcting himself. "I meant to ask why you were apologizing for something you hadn't even done."

"But I said- er- some pretty harsh things about James and Sirius," Ana said, now even more confused. "They mean a lot to you, and I shouldn't have said something like that."

"You were just stating a fact," said Remus quietly. "James and Sirius know they have to work on being better people. From what James has been telling me, he thinks he's getting a lot better at being kinder to Lily. And Sirius is less of a jerk lately. They know they're stupid, no one can deny that. But I was the real culprit here. I openly insulted your friend, Ana. Aren't you mad?"

"Would you like me to be?" asked Ana with a scoff. "You sound so surprised. I get it. You believed that Amos isn't a good person, and you can go ahead and believe that. You don't have to share that opinion with the neighbors, though. I think they may have heard us."

A smile flickered onto Remus' face, but it disappeared just as quick. "You were right. I was being a hypocrite. I assumed something about-" Remus cringed and clenched his jaw, preparing to say his name. "-Amos that I shouldn't have, when I knew nothing about him."

Neither Ana nor Remus said anything for a couple of seconds.

"Remus?" 

"Yes?"

"We haven't had many best friend bonding activities lately, have we?"

"What do you mean?"

"Reading, Remus," said Ana, reaching into her backpack for a book. "Come on, sit down."

Remus said down next to her on the bed and crossed his legs. "Which book?"

"One of my favorites," said Ana excitedly. "It's a book of fairy tales."

"Fairy tales?" asked Remus a bit amusedly. "Aren't we a bit old for fairy tales?"

"You are never too old for a fairy tale," said Ana, placing the old-looking book (A Collection of Classic Fairy Tales) between them, with one side of the book on each of their laps.

Just like they always did.

"If we are going to read fairy tales," said Remus. "Can we flip to the Cinderella one?"

"Cinderella is by far my favorite fairy tale," agreed Ana. "Or Goldilocks. And you know Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, and Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk were best friends."

A/n: *me, having read The Land of Stories* um... SURE *nervous sweating*

NAH BUT IT'S A GOOD BOOK SERIES GO READ IT

"You're lying if you think Goldie and Jack didn't end up married," said Remus excitedly.

"You're such a hopeless romantic," snorted Ana. "And I am too. YES. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN ADORABLE TOGETHER."

"You sound like Darth Vader," laughed Remus. "And Goldie was a badass queen who could simply slay all day."

A/n: not remus turning into a gen z kid here 😭

Ana giggled uncontrollably. "She would hunt down Little Miss Muffet's spiders and kill them for her."

"And Muffet would make her curds and whey as a return gift!" snorted Remus. He stopped laughing for a second and laid back, his hands tucked behind his head. "Godric, we should write a book."

"About what?" said Ana, still dying of laughter. "Goldilocks killing spiders?"

"Hey," shrugged Remus. "We could be onto something here."

"Are you two asleep yet?" called out Mrs Lupin's muffled voice from her bedroom.

Ana and Remus tried to stay quiet and not burst out into laughter.

"Goodness," they heard her mumble. "I love those two, but I need sleep."

Ana and Remus exchanged a glance, and Ana had to cover Remus' mouth before he started shrieking with laughter.

"Cinderella, then?" Ana whispered, once Mrs Lupin started snoring. 

"Cinderella," said Remus with a grin. "Definitely Cinderella."

Hey y'all! So I mentioned a book earlier, The Land of Stories!

It is a wonderful book series by the author Chris Colfer. Some of this chapter (the fairy tale part) was inspired by his book The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.

The Land of Stories is a 6-book series, and I'll give you a summary of the first book (The Wishing Spell). 

The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell is a fantasy book where twins Alex and Conner Bailey fall through a book of fairytales and they end up in a strange world- another dimension! Alex and Conner try to understand where they are, and finally they realize- they are in the fairy tale world, and the only way to get out? To find the items of the fabled Wishing Spell, and wish to go back home. But they are not the only ones hunting for the Wishing Spell- they are in a raring race with the one and only Evil Queen. Join Alex and Conner Bailey through a fast-paced and exciting story where they learn that not everything is as it seems.

I seriously reccomend this book, as it is one of my absolute FAVORITES!

The books in order are:

1. The Wishing Spell


2. The Enchantress Returns


3. A Grimm Warning


4. Beyond The Kingdoms


5. An Author's Odyssey


6. Worlds Collide

EXTRAS: 

1. Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive (A Graphic Novel)


2. Adventures From The Land of Stories (Queen Red Riding Hood's Guide to Royalty and The Mother Goose Diaries)


3. A Treasury of Classic Fairy Tales

I seriously reccomend all of Chris Colfer's stories, they are wonderful, fast-paced, immersive, and hilarious!

Thank you all once again for reading :)

Love, Jui Weasley