6:Rocky road.

A couple of days later, in transfiguration class, Mai sat beside Remus. His eyes were glued to McConagall who was demonstrating how to give a small box legs that could carry it. When she'd watched how McConagall used the tip of her wand to touch the places she wanted the legs to appear, and expressed the spell, swinging her wand in an exact pattern, Mai lost interest and was longing to try the spell on her own. While McConagall demonstrated the spell again, someone poked her shoulder and Mai looked to the side meeting Sirius grey eyes. He grinned and pointed to his side at James who leant over his books, his eyes closed and mouth half open, with a pond of drool on his transfiguration book. Mai grinned at Sirius. James had been up late training for the Quidditch match the next week, between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Their captain was drilling the team hard, because they had a good chance at winning the house cup this year, if they only won over Ravenclaw. Mai could see it was taking its toll on him though, and felt a little bad by laughing of him when he was so exhausted. Luckily McConagall seemed to want to win the house cup just as much as the Gryffindors, because she overlooked the fact that James was not only sleeping in her class, but also snoring.

When class was over, Sirius woke James roughly and the young buy yawned loudly and stretched like a cat, before collecting his books and following them out of the classroom. They walked quickly, having the rest of the day off and not a minute to lose. They hurried up on the fifth floor and into one of the unused classrooms which were never visited by anyone. Mai turned and faced her four male friends.

"Okay, um…you all probably know what we should start practicing?" She asked and was surprised at how teacher-like she sounded. Sirius and James glanced at each other, looking as if they had skipped that page of the book. Mai sighed when she realized they hadn't even realized what the first step would be.

"Have you even put any thought into this?" She asked them upset.

"Ah, well…we have been figuring out probable animals…that we could turn into." James suggested, and Peter nodded. Mai glared at them with her green eyes, and turned away from them, hands on her back.

"Holy Three footed chicken, I can't believe you haven't even started. I thought you guys were putting a lot of effort into this?" She asked and glanced at Remus. He was staring wide eyed at her, his scarred face reflecting his amazement and confusion. Sirius and James looked guiltily at her.

"Okay, whatever. I guess it can't be helped. You guys are so used to getting everything served on a silver plate, that when you suddenly have to actually study for something, you slack of and think you'll get it automatically." She said overbearingly and turned back around.

"Sirius, you know the basics right? We went through them when we were copying the book, remember?" She asked Sirius. He nodded.

"Hey, I know the basics as well; I looked through your parchments. Soundless spells, right? You need to manage to transfigure something without voicing the spell out loud?" James asked and grinned. Peter listened intently on what was being said. Mai nodded.

"And that's what we should start practicing. In our transfiguration book it says something about soundless magic, and all you need to do is concentrate on the spell, and the outcome of it at the same time, and direct your thoughts to the object you want to change. It sounds easy, but if I know transfiguration correctly, it won't be." Mai explained and smiled grimly. James, Sirius and Peter nodded.

"This doesn't sound very suspicious though, so I guess we can practice it in the open, as long as we don't mention what we're going to use it for." James said and took on his role as the leader again. Sirius nodded agreeing, as did Peter. Remus still looked skeptical to the whole thing, but Mai knew he didn't really mind, he would probably love having a pack running with him when he was a werewolf.

"Okay, so we begin with the easy stuff right? The first grade stuff, but without using the spell out loud, and then move up the ranks." James continued and grinned.

"This is so awesome. We'll be super humans." He added and punched Sirius' shoulder playfully. Sirius grinned back at his best friend and grinned just as wide. Mai turned to Remus and lowered her voice.

"Guess this'll boost their ego even more, huh?" She asked the werewolf, he seemed displeased at the thought and nodded.

"Probably, but I am grateful though." He murmured and patted her back friendly. Mai smiled brightly and nodded.

The day came when Mai were going to Hogsmeade with Lily, Mary and Alice. They had planned to go to the three broomsticks for a butter beer and some chitchat, but first they walked around in the village, looking at all the crazy stuff at Zonkos, buying some candy and just looking at clothes and other fun stuff. Mai found that she really enjoyed the girls' company, and realized that the conversations circled around completely different themes than with her male friends. Boys were a main attraction though, especially by Alice and Mary. Lily didn't seem to care much about the male gender, and was instead a lot more interested in school work and how everyone around her was doing. Mai soon figured that Lily was probably one of the kindest humans alive.

When the four girls finally sat down at the Three Broomsticks, the chat was still lively, and Mai soon learned which guys were hot, and which were not.

"Okay, so did you see Edward Stronghold at the Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff match last week? He is so totally handsome. Too bad he's a fifth grader and completely surrounded by girls all the time though." Alice said swooning. Mary nodded eagerly.

"Yeah yeah, he's pretty handsome, but haven't you seen that dazzling fourth grader in Gryffindor with the cute smile and the blonde hair?" She asked, her eyes wide. Alice nodded and leant forwards over the table.

"He's completely adorable. I think his name is Rupert Goldstein, he's pretty bright as well have I heard." She added and grinned. Lily glanced at Mai with an overbearing smile and shook her head almost unnoticeably.

"Oh, and that Sirius Black you always hang around with Mai, he's not half bad to be our age now is he? How is he like?" Mary asked Mai curiously, and Mai almost choked on her butter beer.

"What? You like Sirius?" She asked shocked. The two girls glanced at each other, grinned and then nodded.

"He's really cute, and has that cool way of getting that insanely black hair out of his eyes. Any girl would be crazy not to find him hot." Alice said and smiled.

"Uh…well, he is kind of nice, he can be a jerk too of course, and sometimes he's kind of a bully." Mai said and when she thought about it, Sirius and James were really two bullies, but they were always nice towards her. It didn't make their behavior okay of course, but at least they could be nice if they wanted to.

"So he's kind of a bad boy? That makes him even more handsome." The girls said in unison and made Mai gawk at them in confusion. She really didn't understand that way of thinking. They liked Sirius because he could be mean, that just didn't make sense at all.

When they headed back to Hogwarts, they accidentally bumped into Mais' four friends. Sirius and James and Peter grinned as if it was pure coincidence, but Remus seemed almost guilty. Mai raised an eyebrow at them, before politely introducing them to the girls. Both James and Sirius were on their best behavior, and Mai was glad. The four buys were heading into Hogsemade again because James had "accidentally" forgotten his small bag of money at the Zonko fun store, so they had to turn and "accidentally" bump into Mais' new girlfriends. Mai tried to smile sweetly and said goodbye to her friends. They lingered only for a few seconds before shrugging and walking the opposite way into Hogsmeade. When they were almost out of hearing range, both Alice and Mary squealed. Lily rolled her eyes mildly and kept walking. Mai followed her lead and the two girls tried to ignore the chatting about how adorable and cute Sirius and James were when they scratched their necks innocently, and grinned like fools. Lily even invited Mai to sit with them at dinner, of which Mai happily obliged, thinking that perhaps Lily wanted to talk about something else than boys all the time.

At dinner they chatted about high and low, while Mary and Alice still kept on going about various boys that entered and left the hall. They seemed to know every boy in every grade and what they all were good in and who dated and who were free. Lily and Mai tried not to laugh when the girls almost swooned at a fifth grader smiling at them when he passed by. It was great having someone like Lily to talk to, and as the third grade went to an end, Mai and Lily grew closer together. Mai still kept a close connection to Sirius, James, Remus and Peter though, but they kept on slipping further away. She believed it had to be a boy girl thing, but she didn't want them to not think of her as one of them anymore. When she asked them, they just avoided eyecontact and changed the subject. Perhaps they didn't like her spending so much time with Lily. And when Mai asked Lily about it, she assured her that it was nothing to worry about, and that the boys would realize their mistake.

When summer vacation arrived, Mai had managed to transfigure a cat into a vase wordlessly, and she was proud of her progress. At this rate she might manage to be ready by the fourth grade. When she told the boys about what she had managed, they congratulated her, but didn't show what they could do. And when they entered the Hogwarts express that afternoon, the four boys abandoned and sat in a coupe where only four could fit in. Mai felt terribly lonely, and went to find Lily.

"Hey Lily, um, can I sit with you?" She asked in a whisper, afraid her voice would shake if she spoke normally. Lily looked up and smiled that bright smile of hers and nodded.

"Sure, Mary and Alice will be here in a second as well, they just had to say goodbye to their boyfriends. To think that the two of them managed to hoist a fifth grader each, it's incredible." Lily said and chuckled. Mai smiled and nodded.

"You look sad Mai, has something happened?" Lily asked concerned when Mai didn't share her laugh. A whistle blew outside, signaling that it was the last chance to board the train.

"I guess, it seems like they don't want to hang around me anymore." Mai answered and stared out the window at their two friends, each hugging a handsome fifth grader.

"Who?" Lily asked confused.

"Sirius, Remus, James…not even Peter. They're acting as if I was a disease." Mai answered gloomily and sniffed. Lily scooted over to her friend and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, it's alright, they just don't understand. Perhaps they think you're exchanging them." Lily said. Mai looked startled up at Lily.

"But I'm not! They're the ones freezing me out." She said upset. Lily hushed her and smiled.

"They don't realize that. Perhaps you should go talk to them and explain how this is making you feel?" She asked calmly. Mai felt terrible, like her skin was creeping up her arms and her insides turning and smoldering.

"I guess you're right. I just don't understand why they haven't said anything. Oh well, I'll probably see you in a bit, keep my seat open, will you?" She asked her red headed friend, and Lily nodded.

"Hey Mai, good luck." Lily called after her when Mai was halfway out of the coupé door. Mai turned and grinned, giving her thumbs up, before running to the coupe she knew her friends sat. When she got there, she tore the door open and their startled faces turned to stare openly at her. Remus' jaw fell open, and James stared with wide brown eyes. Mai panted slightly from the short run, before straightening up and putting up a determined look on her face.

"I don't get you guys." She announced. They glanced at each other, before turning their attention back to her.

"Why are you suddenly freezing me out? I thought I was one of you?" She asked heatedly. Sirius stuck his chin out at her.

"Well you're the one who hang around that Evans girl all the time. If you want to be in, then be in, but it's totally fine. I understand that you'd rather be with the girls." He said coldly and got an agreeing nod from James.

"We're supposed to be your best friends, you don't need another best friend." James added. Mai gaped at him.

"So you're kicking me out because I'm finally starting to get comfortable around here? Because I have other friends than just you?" She asked shocked, completely unaware that they could be so narrow. She turned her gaze on Remus who looked like he wanted to shrink out of sight.

"And you…you just follow their lead, don't you? Do you know who you all remind me of?" She asked angrily.

"Perhaps if you'd try to talk to us…" Remus started, but was cut off by an uncharacteristic snort from Mai.

"I've tried talking to you for the past two months, but you always change the subject. How can I talk to you, when you don't want to talk with me?" She asked frustrated hand threw her hands over her head.

"Well if you had tried to be a little more specific than just sailing your own boat, we might have understood that that's what you were trying to talk about. We're not mind readers Mai." James said defensively.

"Yeah? Well you would still have shut me out because you can't handle me being with other people than just you." Mai snapped back, feeling a little defensive herself.

"We have a secret to keep Mai, we stick together. That's what best friends do." Sirius growled. Mai glared at him.

"Okay. If that means I have to end my friendship with Lily, then I'm out. I thought you would be happy for me that I actually have a girl to talk to about the things you guys absolutely won't talk about. I'm tired of talking about girls and pranks all the time." She said and glared at Sirius with her pale green eyes and he met her with his own thundercloud colored ones.

"Then whatever Mai, see you around…or not." James said dismissively and turned away from her. Sirius looked reluctant, but he as well turned away. Mai glanced at Remus, but he had already turned and stared out the window with a distant look in his eyes. She turned to Peter who was looking from James to Sirius and then up at Mai with a apologizing look before he looked away. Mai felt a boulder roll down her throat and land in her stomach. Tears filled her eyes and her lower lip shivered. She bit it to keep it still, before she turned on her heel and marched with angry steps back to the coupe where she could sit in Lilys calming and soothing presence. She glared at her feet through her blurry eyes and tore the coupe door open and dove inside just before she couldn't keep the tears in anymore. She cried and cried in Lilys arms, while the two other girls patted her back.