For Amber, who gave me the idea. It's all in good humor, kiddos. Don't take me (or this) too seriously and enjoy.

The air of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was alive with excitement. All around the grounds students were chatting animatedly, laughing together, and walking in the direction of the Quidditch pitch that lay on the grounds. It was the day of the first game of the season - Slytherin versus Ravenclaw, a pairing that promised a good game and interesting strategy that Quidditch fans from every house could enjoy. However, it was not the game that caused such a buzz among the Hogwarts students. No it was something else, a new policy that some of the Muggleborns around school had been advocating for for years. It was revolutionary, spectacular, and it would add a whole new dynamic to the game. It was-

"Cheerleaders!" Hermione exclaimed as she, Harry, and Ron made their way down to the Quidditch pitch. "Of all the pointless things that Dumbledore could possibly instill into our education practice, he had to go with cheerleading."

"I don't see any problem with it," Harry commented, which made Ron smirk and Hermione give him a reproachful glare. "No, really, hear me out! Cheerleaders are a big part of sports. In the Muggle world teams have them because it boosts moral, doesn't it? And even the Wizarding world has its own version of it...sort of. I mean, don't you guys remember the mascots at the World Cup a couple years ago?" Hermione nodded slowly and Harry continued on. "Exactly. Now we're just sort of...combining the two. We're getting cheerleaders who are able to do better cheers with the assistance of magic to help bring more spirit into the games."

"You just can't wait to see all those girls out there in their short skirts jumping around like complete and utter morons, Harry, and you know it," Hermione said with a shake of her head. "But I suppose you have a point. We'll see. If the game is better than usual then I'll keep my mouth shut. But I highly doubt it will have any effect."

"Oh come off it, Hermione," Ron said, a usual bounce in his step that was usually absent making its presence known as they approached the pitch. "It's just a bit of fun. Maybe if you joined the Gryffindor squad, you'd get more of a respect for it."

"Absolutely not, Ronald!" replied the girl, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "And join the ranks of Lavender and Parvati? I have more respect for myself than that."

"Oh stop being such a buzz kill," Ron said, shrugging her comment off as he looked around the crowd of students. "I won't who's cheerleading for the other teams..."

"Hopefully not Millicent Bulstrode," Harry said, disturbed by the thought. "I'd pay all the money in the world to keep her out of a cheerleading uniform."

"I'll bet you anything that Quinn's cheerleading today," Ron said, grinning widely. "She was the head of the committee trying to get cheerleading at Hogwarts in the first place."

"Oh please Ron, tell me you have more respect for Quinn than that!" Quinn Fabray was one of the few Slytherins that the Trio could really stand. An intelligent Muggleborn with a wicked sense of humor, she had charmed the three of them the moment she made fun of Malfoy in Defense Against the Dark Arts one day for being too squeamish to touch a Cornish Pixie. Ever since, the four of them had made quite the group around the school. However, Quinn did hold onto some girlier tendencies that Hermione tended to avoid and because of that, the two Muggleborns clashed sometimes. Particularly when it came to the topic of Ron.

"It's not disrespectful to want to see Quinn get what she wants," was Ron's quick reply but any further comment from Hermione was interrupted by him shouting, "Oi! There she is! Quinn! Over here!"

The blond smiled when she saw her trio of friends, bounding over with bright eyes. "Hey guys!" she said. "Check out the new uniform." She put her hands on her hips to accent the curve in her figure and the starstruck look on Ron's face made Hermione's stomach turn. "You like?"

"You look great," Harry answered honestly, years of learned self-restraint making him able to speak normally while his mind went elsewhere. Admittedly, Hermione was right in some aspects. Their skirts were a little short (not that he was complaining) and they probably could have made a little effort to keep their midriffs covered at all times. But Quinn looked great and Harry definitely wasn't going to be the one to go to Dumbledore demanding that something be done to cover the girls up more.

"Thanks," Quinn replied with a blinding smile and she reached out to touch Harry's shoulder, a gesture which made his grin brighten. Hermione simply scoffed. "What about you two, though? You don't think it's a little...well you don't think it's bad do you? Draco's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when I showed him this morning. He said that it was just going to cause unnecessary distractions."

"Yeah, well what does Malfoy know?" Ron said, his voice sounding rather breathy, though Hermione was mumbling something that sounded strangely like, 'He's right for once.' "You look great, Quinn, fantastic, bloody brilliant really..."

Quinn flushed and Hermione looked furious. "You're so sweet," she said and she stepped forward to give him a quick hug and peck on the cheek. "Sorry to cut this short, though, but we're going to run through a few more routines before the game. Have fun and give me feedback afterward, yeah?" And then she was off, just another face in the crowd, though if you were looking hard enough it was easy to recognize the pair of shapely tanned legs that were so uniquely Quinn. Not that Harry had noticed or anything.

The game, as it were, was amazing. There were several close calls when it came to injuries (a lot of people seemed to be distracted when nearing the Slytherin cheerleaders, though that was probably because Pansy and Quinn had shamelessly taken on some suggestive moves and passed them on to the other girls) and a lot of poorly hit Bludgers but overall, the players were very good with keeping on task. Especially Malfoy, who seemed determined to look anywhere but where the cheerleaders were and ended up catching the Snitch in twenty minutes flat, ending the game 180 to 10. Overall, it was all very well-played and though Harry would have loved to see Ravenclaw win, he wasn't going to complain. Especially not as he watched the Slytherin cheerleaders do one final routine to celebrate their win. No - he wasn't complaining at all.

At least he could tell someone more about the game than Ron or Hermione. Ron had kept his eyes glued to Quinn the entire game, practically salivating as he watched their friend lead the squad with a bright smile on her face and Hermione had, in turn, kept her own glaring eyes glued to Ron. If either one of them caught any point in the game other than the routines, Harry would give his Firebolt to Malfoy for Christmas.

It probably didn't help any that Quinn seemed to run straight into Ron's arms for a celebratory hug, squealing and nearly jumping on him in excitement, cheeks still flushed. "We did it!" she said, looking up at her friend. "We won!"

"Yeah you did," Ron replied, looking extremely pleased to have the blond in his arms. "You guys looked great out there, too..."

"Yes, it was a very good game," Hermione said pointedly, arms crossed over her chest. "Malfoy is quite the seeker."

Quinn's head snapped in Hermione's direction. "Draco? I know, right?" she said, her voice on the verge of swooning. Ron looked annoyed for a second until Quinn slid an arm around his waist after pulling back from their hug. "He's a natural talent; I've been telling him that for ages but he still practices more than anyone else in the world. I'm really happy it paid off for him."

"He made some good plays," Harry agreed, and as if on cue, Malfoy took that moment to appear, the satisfied smirk on his face falling into one of pure disdain when he noticed Ron and Quinn.

"Be careful there, Fabray," the blond commented. "You don't want to catch anything now do you?"

Quinn tilted her head to the side and leaned into Ron. "Catch anything? From Ronnie here?" She smiled. "Come on, Draco, play nicely."

If anyone looked more furious than Hermione, it was probably Malfoy. "Obviously you tired yourself out doing all that cheering and aren't thinking clearly," he responded. "Now come on, let's head back to the common room. Blaise apparently has managed to sneak in some Firewhiskey."

Honestly, it went to show how furious Hermione was about the arm Ron put around Quinn's shoulder that she didn't immediately turn and tell Dumbledore what Draco had just said. "I'll be there in a second, Draco," Quinn said. "I'm going to chat with Ron, Harry, and Hermione a bit before heading up. If that's okay with you."

"I'd rather not leave you alone with them," Draco said, eyes narrowing into a glare as he met Ron's eye. "They might try to...trip you up before we have to play Gryffindor."

"Nonsense," Quinn said, waving him off, but then Hermione cut in with an insistent look in her eye.

"No, Quinn, don't put off your celebrating on our behalf. Go, have fun. We'll catch up later."

Quinn stared at her uncertainly. "Are you sure? I mean-"

"No. Go. With your house. We'll have all the time in the world before the next match to catch up."

"Hermione-" Ron said, beginning to protest but he stopped when Quinn pulled away from him.

"I can take a hint," she said, her voice steady. "I'll see you guys later. Maybe when Hermione has learned to control her jealousy."

And with that, she grabbed Draco by the hand and walked off with him but not before the trio could see how their nemesis's eyes lit up when Quinn touched him. Harry shook his head - honestly, Quinn was pretty but she wasn't his type. And thank god for that. If he ever had Ron glaring jealously at him the way he was at Malfoy then and there, he might actually have to go and Avada Kedavra himself. It was only when Hermione said, "You know, maybe I should give cheerleading a chance," that Ron stopped staring after the two blonds and turned back to face her.

"Really? You're going to try it out?" Harry tried hard not to laugh at the hungry look in his friend's eye.

"I said maybe, Ronald. There is still a matter of self-respect in question..."

"If it helps you decide," Ron said as the trio began to make their way back toward the castle, "I think you'd look good in a cheerleading uniform." He flushed. "You know. Just...objectively speaking."

Hermione flushed a light pink. "Thanks, Ron."

Harry, though, just wrinkled his nose in slight distaste at the idea of Hermione in anything that might suggest she was a girl. The idea of Ginny, though...

Well, that was a different story entirely, now wasn't it?