**Scarlett’s POV**
I pin the cheer squad notice to the board and step back. I’m still completely surprised that I’m doing this and that McGonagall let me, but in a way I’m sort of excited.
“Cheer squad?” Fred asks, appearing at my shoulder.
“You’re kidding?” George laughs, popping his head over my other shoulder.
“Well, if I can’t play I want to be able to do cheer for you guys,” I tell them.
“Yeah, but Scar,” Fred begins.
“You can do that in the stands,” George finishes.
“But don’t you want a bunch of girls in short skirts jumping around?” I ask. Fred and George exchange a smirk. I grin.
“Exactly,” I chuckle, pushing them away and walking upstairs. I sit down on my bed and pull out a drawing book.
Now to design an outfit.
Three hours later I’m surrounded by ripped up sheets of paper and broken pencils.
“This is sooo irritating,” I groan.
“What is, oh red one?” Carma asks, sitting down on my bed with Alex.
“I’m trying to design a cheerleader’s outfit,” I tell them, “but I can’t get it right!”
“A cheerleader’s outfit?” Alex asks, looking confused, “what for?”
“My cheer squad,” I tell her, “which you’d both better join.”
Carma laughs at me and even Alex cracks a grin.
“Seriously, Scarlett?” Carma asks, “that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Well, I can’t play Quidditch and I have to do something athletic, so I thought why not?” I shrug, “now, are you going to help me or not?”
“Sure,” Carma shrugs, “let’s do this.”
“What kind of thing were you thinking of?” Alex asks, sketching a rough outline of a cheerleader.
“Uhh…”
“Alright, well, that’s a start I suppose,” she chuckles, “how about this?”
She shows me her idea. A knee length skirt with a t-shirt.
“It needs to be something they can move around in,” Lauretta says, walking in and leaning against the wall, “the skirt has to be shorter and pleated.”
“How do you know that?” Alex asks.
“I lived in America for two years with my cousins,” she says, “the older ones did cheerleading.”
“So, you’re, like, an expert?” I ask eagerly. She shrugs.
“It was a long time ago, but I can give you pointers, I guess.”
**Alex’s POV**
I watch as Scarlett begins drawing again, consulting with Lauretta. Carma is quietly sketching a fairy, off in her own world completely.
“How about this?” Scarlett asks, holding up the design. It’s a short, red skirt with a gold hem and a red tank top with a golden lion on the front.
“Make it a one piece,” Lauretta says, erasing one of the lines with her wand, “perfect.”
“SCARLETT!”
I jump as I hear George’s voice from downstairs. I look at Scarlett who tucks something quickly under her pillow and tries to look innocent.
“What did you do?” I ask her.
“Nothing,” she says innocently.
“SCARLETT! GET DOWN HERE NOW!”
“What do you think about the pom-poms?” she asks Lauretta, ignoring George. I sigh and get off the bed, walking downstairs. George is pacing back and forth in front of the entrance to the dormitories.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him. He stops and looks at me.
“Scarlett stole my jumper,” he growls, “again.”
“Is it that big of a deal?” I ask. George’s eyes flash.
“If it was anyone else, no,” he snarls, “but considering it’s her…”
“Alright, hang on,” I say, turning back towards the dormitory. Scarlett is in deep conversation with Lauretta, completely oblivious to George’s rage. I walk over and grab the jumper from under her pillow.
“Alex!” she complains.
“Scar, it’s his jumper,” I point out. She makes a face.
“But it’s so warm!”
I shake my head at her and walk back down stairs.
“Here,” I say, throwing it to George. He catches it and smiles.
“Thanks, Al,” he says, “I know I over-reacted, but…”
“You and Scarlett don’t get on,” I interrupt, “I know. It’s weird. She gets on so well with Fred, but you two are either best friends or at each other’s’ throats.”
George shrugs and pulls the jumper on. The glances behind me and does a double take, his mouth falling open. I turn around and see Scarlett descending the stairs in a cheerleader’s outfit.
“Turns out Lauretta is great with sewing,” she laughs. I stare at the short skirt and sleeveless outfit. Scarlett’s legs look really long and slim in it and George can’t take his eyes off them.
“How do it look?” she asks, turning on the spot to show us all the angles.
“Great,” I say, “the skirt is very short though.”
“I think it’s fine,” Scarlett says, looking down, “what do you think, George?”
“I… Uh… I… It’s really… Yeah…”
“Excellent,” Scarlett grins, “that’s exactly the effect I was hoping for!”
She twirls around and goes back upstairs. George turns to me, his eyes wide.
“What just happened?” he asks.
“I have no idea,” I reply, shaking my head, “no idea.”
“Alright, girls, line up!” Scarlett calls. She and Lauretta are holding cheer squad try-outs. Carma, Sophina and I were bullied by them into trying out. The boys are all hidden in the stands, watching, but I don’t think that Scarlett or Lauretta know.
All in all, there’s about twenty-six girls here from all years. They seem pretty excited about the idea of a cheer squad, especially when they saw the outfit.
“We’re going to test your fitness, flexibility and ability to pick up moves quickly,” Lauretta says, “four laps of the Quidditch pitch! Go!”
I stare at Scarlett in a ‘you-can-not-be-serious’ way. She stares back in a way that assures me she is. Sophina grabs my arm and we start to run. After one lap I’m ready to die. Sophina is wheezing and I think Carma might not have even started running.
“Okay, bring it in!” Scarlett calls before we’ve started out second lap, “that was a good effort from most of you.”
Carma walks over to join us as we’re doubled over, gasping for air.
“Next we’ll test flexibility!”
By the end of the try-outs I feel as if every one of my muscles has been dipped in acid.
“Good job everyone,” Scarlett says, “we’ll notify those who made the squad in the next few days.”
“Please don’t let me have made it,” I mutter to Carma and Sophina as we limp towards the castle, clutching our sides.
“Rough,” Fred says, appearing next to us with the rest of the boys, “they’re almost as bad as Oliver.”
“Don’t let them know that,” I wheeze, “they’ll get worse.”
Fred laughs.
“Who knew cheer leading could be so much fun?” he teases.
YOU ARE READING
Finally Me ~
FanfictionAlex is the youngest in a family of fifteen. To make things worse, she's the only one who isn't a twin... Or a boy. Growing up in the muggle world, Alex didn't even know that magic exsists, but she soon gets caught up in a world of Quidditch, Potion...
