Remus felt like screaming into his pillow.

He couldn't actually scream, because there was a study group downstairs, and he didn't dare disturb them.

Instead, he let out a muffled groan into his duvet.

Why, why had he agreed to just being friends?

It hurt almost physically, like a parasite worming it's way into his gut and making his stomach bounce up and down. 

Remus did not know what had brought on this sudden wave of heavy emotions, but he had a sneaking suspicion.

Two weeks, it had been, in which time Remus and Ana had grown close again, but not like normal, where they sat on the couch next to each other and read the same book.

It was a distant sort of close, but not at all like when they had barely spoken to each other except for "pass me the salt" and "I need to borrow a quill".

No, this was a more, "I won't talk about it again if you don't" and "wow, we're so close, aren't we..."

Remus didn't want this sort of thing to continue.

But at the same time, he didn't want things to go completely back to normal either.

He wanted to actually be with Ana, as in with with.

And his sudden onslaught of emotions might have been triggered by the memory of Ana's smile wavering and her words of "so, do you want to stay friends?"

He didn't even know if Ana had won the game.

And suddenly, Remus sat up, and an idea came to him.

A wonderfully, simple, idea, that could wreck both of their hearts if it worked, or simply heal them.

He pushed himself out of the four-poster and ran down the staircase to the common room and slid out into the corridor in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Remus ran, faster than he thought he had ever, to a shortcut to the Hufflepuff common room that the Marauders had discovered behind a tapestry of singing frogs.

He pulled it back and ran through the dimly lit tunnelway to a wooden door and pushed it open. Remus stepped carefully out of the portrait hole of Barnabas the Barmy, a wizard who had once tried to train trolls to do the ballet. 

Normally, he spent time chatting with Barnabas about his troll training methods, but this time, Remus ran, fast and hard, until he reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room- a large barrel of vinegar.

He tapped his wand on a pile of barrels placed off to the side, and the largest barrel opened into a room with music playing loudly and people laughing.

Remus ran inside, thinking he must have looked a little crazed, having run so hard and fast.

"WE WON!" Ivy and Sage were bellowing, dancing up and down the room with a Quaffle in their hands.

Remus' heart swelled with happiness- so they had won.

He looked around the room frantically to find Ana's beaming face, but saw nothing. A little desperate, he was about to rush over to James to ask where she was, until a voice called out, "Remus?"

Remus turned around, and in the middle of the room, with her wavy brown locks tossed over her shoulder, and stormy gray eyes staring into his, with an award-winning smile, stood Ana Miracle. 

She was no longer wearing her Quidditch uniform, but a Hufflepuff sweater and light blue jeans. They may have been a simple choice of clothing, but a wave of butterflies crashed into the sides of Remus' stomach.

It's now or never, Remus, he told himself. Be brave.

At the sound of his name, the common room quieted and Marlene hastily turned down the volume of the music, though Remus had no idea why they were treating him like he was a king.

Ana's face was alight with happiness as she dashed towards him.

Remus did not know what he was doing, as he felt his body run towards her too.

Ana tossed her arms around his neck and Remus crashed his lips onto hers.

The common room went even more silent than it already was.

To Remus and Ana, nothing existed more than the other, and both were dimly aware that there were even other people in the room.

Days, really, could have passed.

Months, too.

Maybe even years, until they finally pulled apart, Ana's hands still resting at the base of Remus' neck.

He stared into her eyes, and she stared at his.

It felt like a puzzle piece finally fitting, or porridge being just the right amount of warmth.

But they knew now, no amount of teenage drama could keep their duo apart.

When they finally realized other people were watching, Remus glanced around to see that Lily was standing at the base of the dorm staircase, agape and Alice and Frank were at the Hufflepuff common room door, also looking like gargoyles.

Marlene was grinning approvingly, leaning into Sirius' side, who was smiling as he stared down at the happy couple.

Sage was leaning onto her sister's shoulder for support as silent tears streaked out of her eyes, and Ivy was looking a little misty-eyed herself.

Peter had turned red from holding in his happiness.

James was sobbing loudly, but no one seemed to notice him.

All eyes were on Ana and Remus.

And suddenly, the silence was broken.

In loud whooping cheers, the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and (some) Slytherin crowd began shouting one word- a word that Ana and Remus had hated, but now, it filled them with a warmth they had never known.

"ANAMUS! ANAMUS! ANAMUS!" they chanted, and Ana and Remus broke out into identical grins.

Even as James continued to weep loudly and Lily kept going on and on about how much she and Ana NEEDED to gossip now, Ana whispered something to Remus that she knew only he would be able to hear.

As she leaned slowly into his side, barely, but just enough for him to notice, "I think it's gonna be a good day."

AHHHHHHH IT HAPPENED Y'ALL I DON'T CARE HOW MANY HANDKERCHIEFS I NEED I'M GONNA WEEP LIKE JAMES-

So NOW you guys get it when I said, "oh, their first kiss is gonna be like an ICONIC hp kiss"

and then they have that fight, and you're like, "what iconic hp kiss was THAT?!"

and then you see this chapter and we all scream for anamus, not ice cream :)

RANA FOR LIFE

Love, J.W.