Cheer for me!

"Cheer for me!"

Chapter one-The Squad

I picked at my food and pushed it around my plate with my fork. I looked up. Harry and Ron were coming up the aisle between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables talking excitedly. Harry sat down beside me while Ron sat across from me.

"What's up?" I asked, looking from Ron to Harry curiously.

"You'll never guess what we found out!" gushed Ron excitedly.

"What?" I asked.

"Ginny is starting a cheerleading squad for Gryffindor's Quidditch team!"

My bottom jaw dropped.

"What?"

Harry nodded eagerly.

"She's got uniforms already and she's already got members for the squad, but she needs one more."

"When did she start this?" I asked.

"Yesterday," said Ron grinning.

I began thinking.

Hmm...may not be a bad idea to join.

I hadn't realized my eyes had glossed over as I day dreamed about performing in front of Harry. I liked him more than a friend. I felt a smile forming on my face.

"Hermione? Whatcha smiling about?" I heard Ron ask, waving a hand energetically in front of my face.

"Huh? Oh nothing," I said offhandedly.

Harry was eyeing me skeptically, but shrugged and began talking to Ron.

"Would you two mind if I ask Ginny something?" I asked, putting my fork down with a clatter onto my plate.

"No. Go ahead," said Harry.

I stood up and walked down the other end of the table where Ginny was sitting, with fellow Gryffindors Mary Davis, Lisa Adams, Emily Phillips, Laura Vasquez and Gillian Moss, aware of Harry's eyes following my every move.

I sat down between Ginny and Gillian.

"Hi, Hermione," said Ginny brightly.

"Hi, guys," I said, just as brightly to them.

"Nervous about exams?" asked Emily her hazel eyes twinkling.

I shook my head.

"Neh. Listen, I hear you've started a cheerleading squad," I said to Ginny.

She nodded.

"Great. You've got a member." I grinned.

Ginny broke out into a grin also.

"Terrific! That means we have seven members so far!"

I realized that Lisa, Mary, Gillian, Laura and Emily were already members.

"Come with us after breakfast. It's going to be our first practice, plus you need a uniform," said Ginny happily.

We were all in fifth year. Mary had shoulder-length dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Both her parents were working in the Ministry. She's okay in Charms, but extremely creative and friendly. Lisa had long brown hair, which reached the small of her back and brown eyes. Her Dad was an Auror and her mum was a police officer. She's good in Potions and is a wonderful dancer. We found out last semester when there was another Yule Ball. Emily had shoulder-length dark brown hair and green eyes. Her mum stayed at home while her Dad worked in a Muggle bank in London. She's totally friendly, caring, funny and just a sweet person. Laura had long curly black hair and almond shaped eyes, which were behind a pair of glasses. Her Dad was at a school of magic as a teacher and her mum was a doctor. She's the troublemaker of the group just like Fred and George used to be and she's kind, serious and thoughtful. Gillian had shoulder-length reddish-blonde hair and green eyes. Her mum's a nurse and her father was an architect. She's the calm, rational one of the group but extremely funny and easy to get along with. They all were. Three of them had trouble with their classes that I had offered to help them with subjects if I could. Emily was bad in Arithmancy, but yet she was a whiz in Charms, Laura was not too good in Divination. As I no longer took it, Professor Trelawney offered to help her and she seems to be doing better. Gillian was alright in Potions but wanted to study harder, and she had a lovely singing voice. Harry, Ron and I had overheard her in the common room a few weeks ago singing a song which I remembered and liked. It had been Mandy Moore's Everything my heart desires. She sounded beautiful. Naturally, Harry started blushing.

After breakfast, I followed them out of the Great Hall and knew Ron and Harry would be curious. They led me up to the girl's dorm and each went over to their trunks and pulled out their uniform. I grinned.

The skirts were short looking like it reached slightly above the knee. It was maroon with a gold stripe along the hem. The top's were sleeveless and had a V-neck. They too were maroon with a gold letter G on the front, as well as a gold stripe along the hem and neckline. They turned it over to the back and each had their last name embroided right along the shoulder blades in gold stitching. Ginny waved her wand at a spare uniform, which didn't have a last name on it and then my last name appeared on it. She handed me the uniform.

"We practice tonight. Professor Dumbledore gave us permission to use the spare Transfiguration classroom. He actually wanted to join hoping that the uniform would make him look cool," said Ginny giggling. "I said if he wanted to grow certain girl parts to go right a head."

At that, Gillian was overcome with giggles. That set the rest of them off and even I had a hard time fighting giggles. Gillian had a contagious laugh.

"The only one I'd like to see wearing bras and about the size of a triple D is Malfoy," said Mary laughing.

"Would his name be Malfina then?" asked Lisa grinning.

We giggled again.

"Oy!" Ginny cried shivering. "Don't give me nightmares."

"So what time do you want to meet in the empty classroom?" I asked.

"'Round sevenish," said Ginny as they finally managed to calm down.

"Great," I said, placing my uniform in my trunk.

We all headed out of the dorm and down to the classes.

Ron nudged me in Potions.

"What did you want to ask Ginny?" he whispered.

"None of your business," I said, playfully.

Ron shook his head and turned his attention back to the potion. Harry leaned close but I replied before he could open his mouth.

"I'm not telling you. You will see shortly," I said, grinning as I kept my eyes on the potion. I was sharing with Harry. Ron was sharing with Neville Longbottom.

"I just hope it has nothing to do with stripping 'cause I'm telling you right now...I'll never be able to look at you in the same way again," said Harry quietly as he grinned.

I turned my head toward him.

"And what way are you looking at me now?" I asked, coyly.

Harry blushed as he kept his eyes on me, not paying attention to his potion, and I let out a gasp.

"Harry! You're adding too much bat wing!" I gasped, clasping a hand over my mouth as I pointed to his potion. His head snapped back just in time to see the potion starting to fill to the brim.

"Duck!" I cried.

Harry, Ron, Neville and I hit the decks just as the potion exploded. We had been making a Ulav Potion, which is used to calm nerves, but too much bat wing will cause it to explode. We shakily slid back onto our seats. Luckily, the potion was shot upward and bits of the light pink potion clung to the ceiling and dripped down onto the table.

"Potter...five points," said Professor Snape.

With a wave of his wand, the mess vanished from the ceiling. We headed out of potions when the bell rang. Emily and Lisa pulled me aside in the hallway.

"Don't forget, practice," Emily whispered, grinning as she winked at Harry, who grinned back.

"Right," I said.

Emily and Lisa headed off down the corridor.

"Practice? What are you practicing for?" asked Ron.

"I'm becoming a streetwalker," I said rolling my eyes.

Ron let out a gasp.

"Relax! It's nothing to worry about. No one's going to get hurt and it's perfectly safe," I said, laughing. "Don't get your drawers in a bunch."

"Too late. I already got a wedgie," Ron muttered.

"Well I'm not pulling it out. You're on your own,"

Harry snorted with laughter.

We went to the rest of our classes.

Around seven that night, I headed to the empty classroom on the second floor. I had changed into the uniform. I pinned two strands back and fastened them with a silver clip. My black Mary Jane shoes were now white pump sneakers and were with white anklets. I entered the classroom. They were all dressed in the uniform. A black boombox was resting on top of a desk. Emily let out a squeal when she saw me.

"Hermione! You're a knockout in that!" gushed Emily happily.

Gillian came over.

"Yeah. You look incredible!" she said, grinning and winking.

"Thanks. What are we doing tonight?" I asked.

"Well, Lisa's got an idea for a routine," Gillian replied.

"Okay. This is going to knock everyone off their feet," Lisa gushed happily. "We're going to be doing a song called 'Mickey' by B*Witched. I came up with a routine to it. Watch. It's pretty simple but yet it's not."

She hit 'Play' on the boombox and music played. She moved her arms up and down in front of her, then moved her right arm out and to the side. When the line "...you take me by the heart when you take me by the hand" came up, she clasped her hands together and also moved them up and down. Then, she ran her hands down her thighs and moved her hip sexily like.

"I thought muggle things like a boombox wouldn't work inside Hogwarts," I whispered to Gillian.

"Professor Dumbledore put a charm on it so it'll work," Gillian whispered back.

Then, Lisa held her palms out at her sides and began thrusting her hips forward, shuffling forward also.

"What do you think so far?" Lisa asked.

"Awesome!" Laura cried.

"Let's try it together," Lisa suggested.

We formed a line and managed to follow her every move.

"Great! Everyone looks really good. You too, Hermione!" said Ginny grinning.

"Thanks," I said, energetically following the last moves to the song.

"Do we perform in front of the school or anything?" I asked, as the song ended and we stopped dancing.

"Yeah, but there is also an International Magical Cheerleading Competition coming up. I bet if we get good, we might be able to go! We could win Hogwarts a huge trophy, plus I heard that the winning squad and school receives five thousand galleons!"

Lisa and Laura let out squeals of delight.

"Terrific! We've got to practice though," Emily said.

"We will. Professor Dumbledore is going to hold a special assembly next Wednesday. That's when we get to show the school what we've done," Ginny said eagerly.

"Are we going to do Mickey?" asked Gillian.

Ginny shook her head.

"No. That song is just to get you warmed up. We're really going to be doing Shakira's Wherever, whenever. Gillian, you're going to be singing,"

"Awesome! That's a great song to do! I've got some ideas for the moves!" Lisa said, excitedly.

"Great! Show us tomorrow. Okay girls, tomorrow, same time, same place," said Ginny.

We all left, talking excitedly as we headed to the girl's dorm.

"Imagine going to the competition," Emily and Gillian gushed happily to me as we followed Lisa, Laura and Mary into our dorms.

"Yeah. I'd love for Harry to come and watch," I said, sighing contently.

Emily lightly grabbed my arm. I looked at her. Her eyes were twinkling.

"Ah. I see you've got a wee crush on Harry...don't you?"

Gillian was grinning.

"It's okay, Hermione. You can tell us. That's how my parents met,"

I grinned.

"Then yes...I do. I've felt like this for quite a while now,"

"So tell him!" Emily cried.

We all pulled off our uniforms and folded them neatly, as we placed them into our trunks and changed into our pajamas. I sighed.

"Em, telling him is like farting. There is a time and place and not to mention...it's embarrassing,"

Gillian giggled.

"Are you telling me you set aside five minutes a day to pass gas? What is it? On a schedule?"

Emily had flopped down onto her bed and I could see her biting her pillow to keep from laughing.

Lavender, Parvati and Luna passed us, eyeing us skeptically as they climbed into their beds.

"Well no...of course not. But I'm not ready to tell Harry yet. I'm worried that I'd lose him as a friend. I'm sure I will be able to tell him soon when I feel it's right," I said, blushing.

"You'd better. Or else you'll pass wind every day on a tight schedule," Gillian giggled. "Just make sure it's not a LBS."

"LBS?" Emily asked, tilting her head.

"Loud but stinky," Gillian said.

I began laughing so hard I was crying.

Emily let out a scream of laughter. I saw her rolling dangerously toward the edge of the bed and sure enough, she rolled right off it. That only made us laugh harder. I was clutching my side. Luna was watching and I saw her shake her head, but she was giggling too.

"Kinda like Malfoy," Gillian choked out. "He's loud, obnoxious and he stinks. Is that just his normal odor or did something crawl up his but and die?"

Emily was still on the floor laughing. I saw her put a hand on the edge of the bed, as she tried to pull herself up, but was then overcome with a giggle fit and it dropped.

I was wiping tears from my cheeks.

"Could it be Flamaldahide?" Luna chimed in.

The rest of the Gryffindors were watching us like we were nuts but most were grinning.

We finally managed to calm down. Emily managed to pull herself up onto the bed again. I laid down.

"Night guys," I said, as the lights were turned out and I stared up at the ceiling grinning in the dark.

"Night, Hermione," Emily said.

"Night," Gillian called.

Pretty soon, we dozed off. I fell asleep dreaming about Harry coming to the competition and winning. I grinned into my pillow.

The next day, we were dressed in our regular Hogwarts uniform. I realized I had done my tie too tight and had to loosen it. I headed down to breakfast.

I met up with Ron and Harry already at the Gryffindor table eating.

"Morning!" I said, brightly.

"Morning, Hermione," said Harry, his face lighting up when he saw me.

"Sleep well?" Ron asked.

I sat down beside Harry. Ron was sitting across from us.

"Yeah, considering the small 'glitch'," I said, as I already felt a grin forming on my face as I remembered last night.

"Glitch?" Ron asked, tilting his head.

I explained about what Gillian had said.

Harry crossed his arms over on top of the table, and buried his face into them. I could hear him snorting with laughter and I could see his sides shaking with each laugh. Ron looked appalled.

"I hope you really don't do that," Ron said slowly.

I grinned.

"Of course not! I'm not that rigorous!"

Ron looked relaxed. We finished our breakfast and went to classes.

Around seven that night, we were all practicing. Lisa showed us the moves to the song, Whenever, wherever by Shakira.

It was pretty good and by the looks of all the girls' faces, this was going to be a knockout routine. Just then, the door opened. We all jumped and stopped. Harry stood with the strangest look on his face.