Authors Note: Hello! Yes I'm back, but quite disappointed L I hardly got any reviews compared with my last chapter!!! I hope you lot are going to make up for it by reviewing this one???? I'm almost finished this story, I've written loads of chapters that you lot wont see until you review review review!! Anyway, I better thank the nice (but few) people who did review.
Faye: Hiya hunni, thankyou for reviewing my story again!! Btw, have you finished making the mock dress in textiles??? Lol, mine is soooooo bad! I hope the actual one will be better!!! Thanx! xxxxxxx
Mrs Grim: Hey hey!!!!! I'm back, I suppose I'm probably quicker than last time. Or at least I think I am. How are you doing? Btw, I want a favour from you!!! What is the whole cheerleader system like? I'm English and to be honest we don't really have them. I just think of them as dance groups, I don't want all that rara stuff. Sounds annoying to me. Just girls who dance to cheer the team. That will suit me fine!! Thanx xxxxx
Princess Gin-Gin: Fan fic withdrawal huh? I think you should be seeing a doctor. But never fear, NicolaPadfoot is here!!!! Yes yes I'm back from the depths of my room, ready to provide you with more fiction!!!!! Thankyou for reviewing!!!!!!!!!!!!! xxxxxxxxx
Dimantrien: I'm getting the distinct impression that nobody likes cheerleaders. Am I correct? It's okay though. My cheerleaders are made up by me and I don't really know anything about what American cheerleaders are like!!!! Thank you for reviewing my story, hope you like the new chapter! xxxxxxxxxx
Becca Black: Lol, that is sooooo funny. My mum gives me weird as looks when I'm reading funny stories on fan fiction. If I was any normal child she might be worried but I think she knows me too well. I also wanted to ask you, do you know any really good Sirius stories????? Cos it is soooooo doing my head in, I need more of them!!!!!! Thank you for reviewing!!! Xxxxxxx
Weasley-Kid: Thank you for the formal apology about neighbours. I agree, it is really bad. I used to love it but now it's gone down hill. There aren't even any nice boys in it!!!! Joel went ages ago, and Drew died!!!!!! Why on earth do they keep getting rid of the hot men, huh? Anyway, thanx 4 reviewing!!!!! xxxxxxx
19. Breaking Point
The next day was very encouraging for Serena as she watched the trails. Most of the girls were really excellent. She had a hard job narrowing the hopefuls down to only twelve, but in the end she managed to do it. That night she wrote a list of the cheerleaders and pinned it to the Common Room notice board. It read ~
Gryffindor Cheerleading Squad
All of the people who tried out were very good, but I had to narrow you all down to twelve. Don't be disheartened if you didn't get in, as I said before you were all very good, but there where a lot of people trying out and not everyone can make the team. The squad is as follows ~
Serena Riddle 5th year (Captain)
Sardia Hollowtrough 7th year (Vice-Captain)
Lily Evans 5th year
Emelia Roberts 4th year
Reemi Grimmel 5th year
Sarah Dodds 6th year
Hermione Blake 7th year
Annie Dumbledore 6th year
Alaine Redsea 5th year
Andrea Gorthelo 7th year
Nina Grey 6th year
Rhianna Lowbell 7th year
If you made the squad see me a.s.a.p. Thank you to everyone who came to the trials,
Serena Riddle
There was a lot of commotion the next day as those who got into the squad celebrated and those who didn't gave Serena dirty looks.
"That's made you a whole lot more popular!" Lily laughed when she saw a seventh year staring at her menacingly in the common room. Serena had decided to have four practises a week for the team, many thought this was over the top but Serena really didn't care. She hated to admit it but she really did want to prove to Narcissa that she was better than her. Even if it meant that her schoolwork might slip, which was inevitable because as well as the practises, Serena had to make up the routines and help people in her spare time, which was something that she didn't have much of.
A couple of weeks on from Halloween Serena was so huddled up in her work that she hadn't given a thought to her friends or what they were up to. She was sat in the quietest part of the Common Room trying to do her homework late Sunday night when Remus came to her with a concerned look on his face.
"Serena, are you okay? You seem a little bit preoccupied at the moment. You want to talk about it?" Serena sighed into her work, she did not need another distraction, she wasn't finished her work yet.
"Look, Remus, can we talk about this later? This Defence homework is due in tomorrow and I have another twelve inches to write," a piece of parchment dropped on the desk in front of Serena.
"You can copy mine, right now we've got more pressing issues to talk about. Like the fact that I don't think I've seen you for about a week. Like the fact that Alaine says you're not eating enough and Lily told me you fainted the other night. Like the fact that even Sirius has noticed there is something the matter with you," Serena managed to smile slightly. "You need to take a break."
"How though? I haven't got anything I can take a break from," she said.
"Well, I've been thinking about that. Why don't you cut your practises down to two a week instead of four, and if anybody has a problem tell them to go to the Vice-Captain. That should make it easier for you, I'll help you get your homework done as well, I don't really mind. You always help me catch up after the transformations, I owe you."
Serena looked up at Remus and she did the thing that she had been dying to do since about one and a half weeks before, she cried. Everything that had been bubbling up inside her came out all in one go. No need to say that she attracted some attention, and to her dismay Sirius' was one of the people's attention she caught. It wasn't as bad as she thought though. He came over and gave her a hug.
"You're so silly, you shouldn't have taken so much on," he said as he comforted her. She felt so much safer in his arms, she felt like a child.
"I know," she managed to say through choked sobs, "I'm so sorry, I've ignored you all for two weeks." At this remark Sirius only hugged her tighter. To him she seemed such a strong person and it was heartbreaking to see his friend so fragile and upset.
"Come on, I'll take you to Lily and Alaine. They are better comforters than I am. They'll also be highly relieved that you've come back into the land of the living. I really reckon you should take tomorrow off school, you look exhausted."
"Thanks," Serena said sarcastically
"No problem, I'll tell the teachers where you are tomorrow. If I see you in classes though I will shoot you, got it?"
"Yes Sirius, since when did you become so serious anyway?"
"I've always been Sirius, duh!" (Sorry I just had to do it)
Sirius dropped Serena of at the girls' dormitories, filled Lily and Alaine in and left giving Serena some words of wisdom. 'Stop doing all the work when you can get others to do it for you'. As soon as he left, Lily and Alaine locked Serena into a tight embrace. Of course, Sentimental Lily had started to cry.
"Oh I was so worried about you! I thought there was something really wrong with you, and there might have been if you had kept it up for any longer!" Lily was sobbing worse than Serena had been earlier. Alaine and Serena looked at each other and burst into uncontrollable laughter. "What's so funny?" Lily asked, still crying.
"You!" said Serena; "There's no need to cry! I'm okay now. God, I dread to think what your like at weddings. I bet you have to bring a whole box of tissues with you," Serena smiled at her reassuringly, "Bless your little cotton socks." Serena wiped the tears off Lily's face with the back of her hand. Lily smiled, glad to see that she had her friend back. Alaine, wanting to make sure that Lily wasn't going to cry again, changed the subject.
"So Serena! What's the deal with Sirius then? Have you asked him out yet?" Alaine had a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"No I haven't actually, and I'm not going to. But that does not mean that you can do it for me! If he is interested he will ask me himself, I am a lady I wait for the man." Serena said.
"You aren't romantic or sentimental Serena. That's an excuse! You're just afraid he'll say no," Lily said, "Which he won't."
Serena tutted at this remark and then got on with her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework. She knew she didn't have to hand it in tomorrow because she wouldn't be there but she still had to finish it so she could return Remus' work to him. At last at eleven o'clock Serena had finished her homework. She went downstairs to the Common Room but there was no sign of the boys so she headed to their dormitories. She was just about to enter when she heard serious voices from inside.
"So...do you think we'll be ready to do it by next week?" she heard someone say, she immediately knew it was James' voice.
"Definitely, as long as Peter's fine with the transfiguration part. Have you got your problem with that sorted yet?" asked a bodiless Sirius.
"Yeah, I sorted it out last night."
Serena, not wanting to catch their attention in the wrong way knocked on the door and walked in. All four boys had very innocent looks on their faces. Sirius was the first to speak.
"I thought I told you to get some sleep," he said playfully, Serena smiled at him. He really did care when it came down to it.
"Yeah well, I had to finish my assignment before I went to bed. Thanks for lending me yours Remus," she handed the parchment to him giving him a hug and a grateful smile. "I'll see you all later, I have to go and get some sleep, doctors orders I'm afraid," she said smiling at Sirius before she left, closing the door behind her.
As she wondered down the stairs she became highly thoughtful. What on earth had they been talking about in there? Serena knew she was being stupid, or at least she thought she was. It was probably just some silly prank they were playing on the Slytherins, but she couldn't shake off a sneaky suspicion that they were talking about something else, something more important. She had no time to ponder this though as she climbed into bed, for as soon as her head hit the pillow she was fast asleep, dreaming about a Stag, a Rat, a Wolf and a Black Dog running through a forest of fluffy white clouds.
There is a button down there somewhere that says review, so why don't you do what it says????????????????????????? It would make a really sad girl like me a happy happy bunni! And that cannot be bad, so REVIEW!!!!!!
