10:Bittersweet revenge.

"Mai?" A familiar voice called her, "MAI!" the voice suddenly got urgent and warm hands were on her shoulders. Mai opened her eyes to look at Remus, his face was worried. She smiled and sat up. She had been lying on the hard floor for Merlin knows how long and her muscles ached like a maniac. Remus supported her up in standing position. She opened her mouth to thank him, but all sound that escaped her mouth was a squeak. Remus' eyes widened like tinplates.

Another squeak escaped her, and then another.

"What happened to you?" Remus asked. Mai gave him a glare and he looked slightly ashamed.

"Right, sorry. Well, let's take you to McGonagall. This is obviously a jinx or even a hex." Mai nodded and tried to think positive. She sounded like a squeaking mouse, there had to be a way to undo the hex pretty quickly. The two of them walked down to Minerva McGonagalls office. Remus knocked and the long, skinny and drawn lady opened the door. She was dressed in a long black dress with a emerald green jacket on top. As far as Mai knew, McConagall was the only witch she knew that looked like…well, a witch. As far as the myths go anyway.

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the sight of her two, perhaps, most promising students, due to their excellent behavior and grades.

"Ms. Santiago, Mr. Lupin, what brings you her…at this hour?" She asked in her quirky voice and Mai glanced at Remus. He cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm actually not sure, but I think Mai have been jinxed, professor." McGonagall turned to Mai with a quizzical look.

"She can't…speak…professor." Remus added. McGonagalls brows drew down into a dangerous V-shape.

"Come inside then." She said and stepped aside so they could come in.

The transfiguration office was very clean and tidy, as expected by Professor McGonagall. It wasn't dark and dusty like the Potions office, and neither messy and full of strange animals like in the Defence against the dark arts office. The professor showed Remus and Mai a seat each and sat behind her desk, a furrow growing between her eyebrows.

"If it's a mute jinx, it should be quite easy to lift, but with your gifts I should think you can lift a jinx like that, Mr. Lupin. So what is the real problem here?" Minerva asked and leant forwards on her elbows. Remus looked at Mai. Mai opened her mouth to try and speak, and small squeaks and whimpers came from her instead of the sentence she initially had intended.

"Who would jinx a innocent and sweet girl like you?" McGonagall asked surprised and leant back in her chair again. She looked thoughtful.

"Well, I oculd always try to lift the jinx with the counter-jinx for silencio, but I doubt it will work. This could actually be a specially designed hex." Mai squeaked.

"Oh don't worry, I'll try my best to find a counter-hex or jinx to lift it. It shouldn't be a problem. Come back tomorrow night or I'll send someone to fetch you once I get it." She said and almost smiled encouragingly. Remus thanked the professor for both of them and they left her office. Mai looked frustrated up at Remus and he understood, but at least it was Saturday, and no school.

"Oh, that reminds me, we're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Does this mean you won't come along?" He asked. She couldn't help but notice the disappointment in his voice. She smiled and shook her head.

"Um, does that mean no I'm coming along, or no I'm not coming along?" He asked. Mai laughed, which sounded strange as only small squeakes came out of her mouth.

"Oh…I understand…you're not coming along then? Too bad, I was going to buy you some chocolate to make you feel better." Remus glanced sideways at her and grinned. Mai caught the sarcasm and grinned back.

When they got back to the Gryffindor tower, almost everyone had gone to bed, except for (of course) James, Sirius and Peter. They all sprung to their feet when Remus and Mai climbed in through the portrait hole.

"Where have you been?" James asked. Sirius grinned.

"Did you two honky ponky in one of the empty classrooms?" He asked with that infamous crocked grin of his, which supposedly made all girls melt. Remus merely shook his head tiredly and went to sit down in the sofa. Mai followed close behind and squeezed in between Sirius and the huge cozy sofa pillow. While Remus explained Mais' tricky situation she sat thinking of how she could make herself understood while her voice was like that. Sirius and James gave a few "oh's" and "ah's" and Peter just sat with wide eyes and gawked.

"So, this somebody that jinxed Mai is obviously a slytherin." James said. Mai snapped her head towards him and nodded eagerly.

"Oh, of course, you saw who it was." James said.

"Was it your sadexcuseforabrother?" Sirius asked. Mai shook her head. It hadn't been him casting the spell. She was sure of that. She believed he had two other, older slytherins with him. As far as she knew they were both seventh-graders. Suddenly she got an idea. Mai sprung to her feet and ran up to the girls dormitory, fetching a parchment and her magically writing quill, which she had received for Christmas from her aunt. When she got back the four friends stared wide eyed at her, as if she'd gone crazy. She held up the parchment, performing a nonverbal spell so it would float beside her, and the quill scribbled what she wanted to say.

"So there were three of them, and Marcellus was there, but he didn't curse you?" James asked. Mai nodded.

"This calls for a revenge hex." Sirius said seriously.

"Yeah." Peter chirped.

"This means war." James added and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger. Mai scribbled something on her parchment again.

Remus eyes widened in wonder, while Sirius and James (the born troublemakers) grinned viciously, completely agreeing with her sense of justice. Peter nodded agreeing and could barely sit still from the excitement. They used some time to plan out their revenge, before they all started yawning and barely fell asleep on the couch. They bid goodnight and the boys and the girl parted up to their respectable dormitories. Mai could barely sleep, even considering how exhausted she felt. The plan was foolproof, not even Peter Pettigrew could screw it up. They were bound to succeed.

The next morning at breakfast the five friends, perhaps with the exception of the slightly skeptic Remus Lupin, were eager to get started with the revenge-plan. It was all too easy really. After learning nonverbal magic, easy hexes and jinxes would be no game at all. And they could do them to the ones responsible for Mais' unfortunate situation without the seventh-graders and Marcellus knowing who had cast them.

After eating and grinning like fools, they set out on their secret mission. Mai had her parchment and her quill with her constantly, but they all knew what to do, so she didn't really have any need for it.

The first victim was one of the seventh-graders. A tall lanky boy with brown hair and a smug look, even though he looked like a horse. That one was James'. And James, with his excellent repertoire in hexes, cast a hex the seventh-grader soon would forget while in the bathroom. James went in after him and sat in the toilet booth next to the target. He pointed his wand at where he suspected his stomach was, and without uttering the spell out loud, he suddenly heard a lot of loud vomiting sounds from the other side. James grinned pleased when he came out from the bathroom, struggling to not break down laughing. Sirius, Mai and Peter stood just around the corner waiting for him.

"I don't think he'll bother you again Mai, vomiting slugs is something you don't forget so easily." He said and doubled over laughing. Sirius grinned and patted his friends back. Mai felt a surge of happiness. Her friends stood up for her, it was the best feeling in the world.

Their next target wasn't that easy to find. The last seventh-grader hadn't left the Slytherin common-room that day, and when he finally did it was in a larger group of other seventh-graders. James, Mai, Sirius and Peter followed them at a safe distance. The group of slytherins was headed for the lake. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so it wasn't so strange that they wanted to be outside. The marauders, lacking Remus, sat down under a tree nearby and talked loosely about quidditch while keeping a close eye on their target. After about half an hour, Remus came down from the castle as well, carrying a book under his arm and a parchment under the other. He sat down beside his friends.

"Any luck yet?" He asked with his eyes glued to a page in the book. James told him about his attainment. Remus actually looked impressed up from his book.

"And who are you trying to backfire on now?" He asked and glanced briefly over at the Slytherin-group. Sirius described the one they were targeting. Remus nodded.

"I'll get this one." He murmured. Sirius wanted to protest, it had been his turn and now Remus was ruining his great plan, but Remus seemed eager to do it. Mai scribbled on her parchment.

You can't do it while we're sitting this close to them.

Remus ignored her and pointed his wand at the target in secret and murmured a few words. Mai watched as the Slytherin snake got alert, and turned his head towards Mai with a stare that could have frozen hell over. He rose slowly and started walking towards her. His friends stared after him as if he'd grown donkey ears and was dancing Lollabalula with Professor Flitwick. He was a handsome young man really, with black wavy hair, pale skin and intense blue eyes. If he hadn't been such an evil creature Mai would have found him exceptionally attractive. He stopped in front of her and bowed deep.

"I am truly sorry for what we did to you fair lady, and I promise it will never happen again. I will give you a fair chance at getting back at me. Order me to do whatever you wish, and I will do your bidding." He said, his voice smooth. Mai gawked at him, but she felt her anger bubble up inside her when she remembered what he had done to her. She scribbled furiously on the parchment. He read the words with his brilliantly blue eyes and nodded.

"As you wish." He said, and walked down to the lake. Without stopping, he jumped right into the icecold water and ducked under. Mai gasped and sprung to her feet. Remus jumped up as well.

"What did you ask him to do?" He asked panicked. Mai shoved him the parchment. It read:

Go visit the giant squid, so I can stop looking at you.

"Mai, he was under my spell. He'll do just as you told him, and only when he has achieved that will the spell be broken." Remus said panicking. Mais' eyes widened in shock and she ran down to the edge of the lake. There was no sign of the young man. His friends were also standing there looking after him now, calling his name. Mai turned to Remus in frenzy.

"You have to break the curse Remus." She said.

"I can't, there's no counter-hex." He said apologetically.

"He'll die, I never intended this." Her heart was racing like a jet and indecision only put the target at more and more risk. She pulled off her sweater, scarf and shoes and without second thought dived into the freezing water.

It was a terrible fifty seconds in the water. The cold made her skin prickle and numb and she couldn't see much as the water was dark and murky. She pulled out her wand and lit it, sending a ball of light down in the water. It was a spell they had just learnt and she had learnt to perform it nonverbally just a few days after. Far below the surface she could see the silhouette of the Slytherin she didn't even know the name of. The one she had asked to drown himself for her. He was motionless. She kicked with her legs and shot downwards. Luckily she was a good swimmer from swimming in the lake behind the family house as a child. It took the longest time to reach him, and she grabbed his arm and pulled, but he didn't budge. She narrowed her eyes and held her wand out, trying to see what was holding him back. Her eyes widened. A grey, thick something was wrapped around his leg. She sent another light downwards, to see what it was. A startled sound escaped her and airbubbles circled to the surface. Without hesitating, she sent a severing charm at the grey substance and it let go. Mai kicked off in the water and this time the slytherin rose to the surface with her. She paddled for her life with her feet. The need to breathe was getting threateningly close.

She pushed the slytherin upwards and he shot to the surface. She saw him break the surface, and hands dragging him out of the water. Desperately she paddled, but her lungs were so painfully empty with oxygen, that without thinking, she opened her mouth and dragged ice cold water down into her lungs, just to fill them with something. The pain was unbearable, and she panicked. Her eyes were glued to the surface, but it seemed so far out of reach. Her arm stretched upwards, but it didn't reach the light. And then she started sinking. Her feet had stopped paddling. Her arms had stopped trashing. Her heart slowed its rhythm. It was so cold.

Just before her eyes closed, fingers closed around her wrist and dragged her up.

When the air filled her lungs again, it was painful, but still a great relief. She lay on her back on the grass beside the lake, with both slytherins and Gryffindors surrounding her. The sky was surprisingly blue, and the faces surprisingly worried. Even the slytherins.

"Are you alright, Mai?" Remus asked. Beside the light, brownhaired boy with all the scars sat Sirius. He looked more handsome than ever, with his long black hair in wet tangles, framing than suntanned face with the thundercloud eyes.

Mai nodded and looked up at Remus. His face looked drawn. His strange dark eyes were filled with worry and relief.

"We should get you to Madam Pomfrey, can you walk?" Sirius asked. Mai nodded again and Remus and Sirius dragged her to her feet. The slytherins were starting to draw back to what they were previously doing now. Mai was grateful. James came over to her and dragged her sweater over her head and Peter wrapped the scarf around her neck.

"That was really…brave of you Mai." Peter commented. Mai smiled at him, and allowed Sirius and Remus to support her up to the castle, with James and Peter trailing behind. Even though Sirius was just as wet as Mai, he didn't shiver as violently as she did while they were walking and Remus threw her worried glances all the way to Madam Pomfrey.

Madam Pomfrey immediately pushed Mai behind a partition wall and demanded her to change into a hospital gown. Mai gladly shed the wet clothes, and dried off with the towel Pomfrey had barely just thrown after her.

All the boys were still there when she was done and Madam Pomfrey showed Mai a bed she could sleep in until she was sure she hadn't suffered any damage from her trip under water. Obviously one of her dear friends had told the nurse about what had happened while she was changing. Mai snuggled under the covers and smiled up at her four boys.

"Are you feeling better?" James asked. Mai nodded, but looked around for a parchment and a quill. Peter realized what she was looking for and gave her, her own parchment and magical quill which she had left by the tree. She wrote two simple words.

Thank you.

They all smiled at her.

"Soo, about the revenge on Marcellus?" Sirius leant closer and lowered his voice so Madam Pomfrey wouldn't hear him. Mai shook her head.

No more, I don't want anyone else to get hurt.

"But, it was your great plan." James protested. Mai sent him a strict stare.

I changed my mind; no one was supposed to get hurt. How is he, the slytherin?

Mai was ashamed that she had all, but forgotten the one she had sent to visit the giant squid. She shivered involuntarily at the thought.

"He's alright, doesn't remember a thing. He wants to thank you though." Remus said and nodded towards one of the other occupied beds in the room. Mai looked at where he was hinting and she saw the handsome slytherin in a deep sleep. She shook her head.

He shouldn't be thanking me.

No one said anything else, but they all looked a little ashamed. After a short while, Mai fell asleep.