WARNING: I wasn't sure if I should put a TW and CW, but there are some slight mature jokes in this chapter. They aren't TOO big, though.

Ana flipped a page of her book idly.

"Er- Ana?" 

She looked up.

"Oh, hi Remus," she said with a smile. "Here, come sit down. I'm reading Fantastic Beasts. You wanna join me?"

Remus nodded eagerly and sat down onto the beanbag on the library floor.

Ana placed the book on both their laps and they started reading together.

"Aw..." said a voice from near them. "The two nerds become one in a LIBRARY."

Ana gritted her teeth but didn't look up from the book.

"Shut up, Avery," she muttered under her breath.

"At least one of them looks good," sneered Mulciber from the other side of Avery. "That Lupin has those horrid scars on his face."

Remus said nothing, but clutched the book onto his lap tighter.

Ana looked up.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"Ana, sit down," muttered Remus, squeezing her hand tightly. "Just- ignore them."

"No, no, Lupin," Avery said, holding out a hand. "What does she wanna say?"

"That not all Hufflepuffs think murder is a bad thing," said Ana coldly.

Mulciber sneered. "And?"

"That no one- NO ONE- is allowed to call my best friend ugly," growled Ana.

Remus' hand was still clutched onto hers to stop Ana from pulling out her wand and actually murdering them all.

"Filthy mud-blood," snickered Evan Rosier.

Remus gasped.

Ana stumbled back a little. "YOU LITTLE-"

"QUIET!" shrieked Madam Pince.

"You know what, Remus?" said Ana, lifting her head up. "We're too good for these rats. Let's go."

She gathered up her books, and, still holding Remus' hand reassuringly, stalked out of the library.

"They'll come for you, first, you know," growled Avery behind them. "You'll be the first to go, the lot of the mudbloods and halfbloods."

Ana tried to keep walking off, but Remus stayed bolted. "What?" he asked.

"What?" Avery mimicked, and walked off with his cronies.

Ana gritted her teeth. "I swear, if they do anything to us ever again, I will-"

Remus cleared his throat.

"Right," said Ana. "Oh, er..." She looked down at their entangled hands.

Remus quickly let go of her hand, trying to ignore the blush that was creeping up on his face.

Ana turned away and her face flushed to a bright red.

"Er..." said Remus, trying to strike up a conversation again. "Do you wanna do our homework together?"

Ana grinned, and the awkward silence left just as fast as it had came. "Yeah, 'course. You wanna come with me to the Hufflepuff common room?"

Remus grinned. "I've never been there. I'll come, yeah."

"'Right," said Ana. "You have all your stuff?"

Remus nodded.

"Let's go."

They walked off through the corridors.

Ana turned in the directions of the kitchens.

"The common room is in the kitchens?" asked Remus uncertainly.

"No, silly," tutted Ana. "It's NEXT to the kitchens. It's behind the vinegar barrels."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Your entire common room is hidden behind 20 buckets of vinegar?"

"It's smarter than it sounds," Ana retorted. "Watch."

She walked up to the barrels of vinegar and started tapping on a couple of them in a rhythmic pattern.

The barrels rolled to the side, and Ana gestured for Remus to follow her.

Remus ran to catch up with Ana. "Still not very impressive."

Ana pressed a finger to her lips. "They host homework club here," she whispered. "Very serious about it. Almost murdered me for breathing for loudly once."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "They wouldn't like me... especially when they find out I'm not a Hufflepuff."

Ana grinned. "Let's go to my dorm, hurry."

Remus tapped a finger on her shoulder. "Won't the staircase turn into a slide when I step on it?"

Ana shook her head. "The staircase doesn't do anything except enjoys making jokes that no one feels comfortable saying except Helga Hufflepuff, apparently."

Remus' eyes widened. "I'm more concerned that the staircases talk."

"Everything talks in here," grumbled Ana. "I once met a talking sofa. They had to move her because she was being deliberately annoying. Who wants someone to talk about the process of how poo is made? I mean, I love being gross to Marlene, but saying that in the middle of a couple's memorable moment."

"The sofa actually did that?"

"Actually."

"Oi, stop talking!" shrieked someone in the middle of the common room. "We are preparing for a very big test!"

"Alright, alright!" Ana yelled back. "We're shutting up! Geez..."

She gestured for Remus to follow her to her dorm.

Ana swung open the door and Remus followed her in.

"Hi Ivy, hi Sage," she said to two twin girls who sat on the carpet in the spacious girl's dorm. It was painted a bright yellow with plants lining every edge. 

"Hey, An!" they said in unison.

"Who's that?" added the twin on the left.

"I'm Remus Lupin," said Remus with a warm smile. The edge of his eyes crinkled slightly.

"Aren't you a Gryffindor?" asked the same one.

"Stop pestering him, Ivy," tutted Ana, folding her robes and placing them into her trunk.

"I'm not pestering him," retorted Ivy in a distinct Glaswegian accent. "I'm just wondering why a Gryffindor boy is in a Hufflepuff girl's dormitory."

"We're doing our homework together," said Ana.

"Are you really?" questioned the other one, who Remus assumed was Sage.

Ana blushed. "Sage!"

"I trust you, just don't shut any curtains..."

Ana glared daggers at Sage and Ivy. "He's my best friend, you idiots!"

"And Mike used to be just my best friend too," piped up Ivy with a grin.

"That's it, get out," sighed Ana. "We're going to be studying. Neither of you have any work."

"You can't just kick your dorm mates out!" said Sage. They both had curly brown hair and stormy grey eyes. Their tanned skin was covered in freckles.

"Technically, I can," smirked Ana.

Sage and Ivy glared at Ana and strode out of the room. 

Remus turned to Ana nervously. "They don't hold grudges, do they? The Gryffindor common room's been through enough pranks already."

Ana scoffed. "No, they'll just end up setting a dungbomb loose in our dorm. It'll be fine. Come on, let's get out our stuff."

They sat down together on Ana's four-poster bed and started working, occasionally asking each other questions about the homework.

"Hey, Ana?" asked Remus suddenly.

"Hmm?" she asked, scribbling something onto her parchment, loose brown waves dangling on the side of her face. Her light brown hair framed her bright and eager eyes as she turned to look up at Remus.

Remus blinked. "Oh- right- er... Gryffindor was having this Christmas party tomorrow. You wanna come?"

Ana grinned. "Yeah, sure. Hopefully Sirius and James won't be planning some stupid trick."

Remus grinned back. "Fingers crossed."

Thanks for reading everyone! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! If any of you guys have any suggestions for another book or a chapter or anything, really, you can post on my wall or owl me. Thanks! Love y'all :)

- Jui Weasley