A/N: Finale time!! You guys have some great opinions and theories and some of you are closer than you think when it comes to predicting everything. But the ending was decided a very long time ago and has never changed; so what will happen was planned to happen a while ago and was not influenced by anything you said.

But honestly, I can barely believe that we have gotten this far – I never thought I'd write this finale. It's all been a crazy and interesting ride. So now, as the story draws to a close, I want you to know that I have loved writing this and I am glad you enjoyed reading it. You probably already know that, but it's still nice to remind you of it every so often.

Special thanks to GrossGirl18 for giving me an idea that sparked a different idea, which makes an appearance in this chapter.

Another special thanks to my friend Niki, because she's excellent about beta-ing when I send her a very sweet little e-mail begging her to do so. Thank you, lovely!

Song to listen to as you read: Drive, by Dawn Landes.

Enjoy, guys.
Xx

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Alice Prewitt

--

Once I'm done with my photo-shoot, I am shivering irrepressibly and Peter's final camera click triggers in me an enormous sigh of relief. Sirius in particular is rather amused by my reaction.

"All right there, Alice?" he asks with a chuckle. "You look like we just freed you from an ice block."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, Sirius, this quasi-swimsuit is not exactly the warmest thing I've ever had to wear for these challenges," I say, gesturing to my overly-exposed body.

"Well, I'd noticed, but it's not that cold in here," he says.

"Let's see you wear this for twenty minutes and then we'll talk," I respond.

"Trust me, love – half the girls in this school would drop dead if I wore that," Sirius says, fluffing his hair and pulling a very handsome, haughty face. Despite my chattering teeth, I can't help but giggle.

"Yes, Sirius, we get it, you're a stud," says Remus with a roll of his eyes.

"Indeed I am, and don't you forget it," he announces. "Thanks for a great shoot, Alice. Cheers!"

"Cheers!" I say back, smiling and attempting to cuddle inwards in a vain attempt for a little warmth. It doesn't really work, but I figure it's better than nothing, and the other classroom is right across the hall anyway. So, still shivering, I make my way out of the Marauder set and approach the door. To my slight dismay, I find the area to be empty – Lily isn't here.

I suppose it doesn't mean much, since she didn't have to watch me shoot, but it would have been nice if she had been there, watching me as I did her, maybe ready with a friendly word afterward. I'm not sure I deserve it, after what happened yesterday, but it's not a sin to hope.

Yesterday, I admitted to my best friend in the world that I was sick of having to live in her shadow. It was not an easy thing to do – not in the least – but it had to be done because Lily had to know how I felt. I dunno what it was that brought it on – the empowerment from knowing I am worth something, the confidence I get when I come to the competition everyday, the very fact that I beat out so many girls to get here – but I felt a sense of urgency that spurred me on.

I have to live honestly to get what I want and honesty was what I gave her. It hurt her, and it hurt us, but I hope that she understands I never intended to bring her down – I merely wanted to give her my perspective, because neither of us is perfect and we have to communicate these things.

But, due to the nature of my confession, Lily freaked and withdrew from me; probably because she thinks I resent her, even though I would wholeheartedly enlighten her otherwise, if she ever comes up to ask me.

I don't resent her. I never have. I would just like a little recognition for being Alice, rather than Lily's friend Alice.

However, because she's Lily and I have now done my bit, I decide while I get dressed that I will not bring this matter up again myself. The atmosphere between us has mutated into something highly unpleasant and uncomfortable, but I apprehend that Lily needs time to let it all sink in. If she wants to bring it up on her own, she can, but my part here is through. I have said what I needed to say.

I slip on my uniform and brush out my wild hair so that it's a little more normal and a little less I-just-got-out-of-a-Marauder-challenge-and-still-look-outrageous. I catch a glimpse of myself in the glass of a portrait on my way down the hall and I look more like myself again, which is both good and bad. For the time being, I shall settle with good, because I have had too much exposure to negativity and I currently don't want any more.

This game was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to be light and easy and frothy and silly. But, like with most things, the innocence we began with evaporated quickly and we are left with something else, something graver than we could have foreseen.

I came into this happy and optimistic with a grumbling Lily Evans by my side; and now, only a couple of weeks later, I am anxious and Lily Evans lingers a few meters from my side.

Is that okay, or do I have a reason to commit Marauder-murder when this thing finally ends?

&

I make my way to the Room of Requirement, unsure of what to make of my swimsuit shoot. Hopefully it is enough to win me the competition – I don't even want to think about losing because at this point, when I've gotten so far, losing is no longer an option. I walk into the corridor and sure enough, the Room opens for me and I go inside to find Lily there, sitting with her schoolbooks and writing something.

She looks up when she sees me and says, "Hey. You're done?"

"Yeah," I say. "Just finished."

"How'd it go?"

Unlike old times, Lily doesn't push her possessions away to give me her full attention – she stops writing and continues to look up at me, but her quill is still in her hand, ready for her when she tires of our conversation.

"Fine," I end up saying, swallowing thickly. "It was freezing cold though."

"I know," says Lily. "The boys, at least, got their robes to keep them warm."

"I never realized it was that cold in the castle."

"It's winter," Lily points out. "It's draftier now than it normally is."

"I suppose." I sigh, lying back on my bed, my eyes remaining on that red-haired girl nearby. "So…how do you think you did?"

Lily shrugs. "It could go either way."

"You did a lot of different poses," I note.

"I wasn't sure what to do, so I did whatever I was thinking of," says Lily.

"You probably did well," I say.

"We'll see tomorrow." Lily makes sure to drain her tone of any inflection or emotion when she says these three words.

From the position of her body and the way her eyes are lingering back on the parchment she was writing on, I think it's safe to assume our dialogue is officially over for the evening. Frankly, I'm dying to ask her why she fled my photo-shoot this afternoon, but I know it's a touchy question to bring up and I could potentially screw things up even more, which we don't really need right now. So I keep my mouth shut and pull out my own schoolbag, taking out a couple of books and getting started on a bit of reading for Potions.

I figure, if I'm being ignored, I might as well get something out of it and get something done. I'll talk to Lily in the morning, when she's more likely to be in a better mood.

And with this, I focus in on my work and tune out my mini-world for what will probably be the rest of the evening.

&

Throughout the entirety of the next morning, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary occurs between Lily and I. It doesn't feel like the day of the big Top Model finale in the least. I get up, get dressed, eat breakfast and go to class, as always. I wake Lily up and drag her along with me, also as always.

We don't talk much, but what little we do say is very civilized and therefore very empty. Top Model doesn't come up and I'm glad it doesn't. What would she want me to say if we talked about it? The only things that end up passing between us are comments on how bloody cold it is, how much bloody homework we have, and how bloody tired we are. Not very exciting.

No. Actually, come to think of it, I think it's quite pathetic.

Lily and I are best friends and we have been since first year. We met because on the first night, when we were in the Great Hall, Lily tripped and fell in the middle of the crowd and I was the only one who offered her a hand up. We got talking because a few people (James included) thought her fall was terribly funny and I was the one she chose to vent to, since I was right there. I thought her fuming was amusing and when we got sorted into the same house, we sort of stuck together.

That's how it's been from that point on. We've stuck together when life gets tough for one of us and now that it's tough for both of us, it makes no sense to abandon each other and bumble along alone.

I've given Lily time and she's wasted it. Now it's time for me to start moving in on her, squeezing the truth out of her since she doesn't care to tell me herself.

I get my chance on our way into the castle after a particularly repulsive, muddy, sweaty, dirty period of Herbology. As we troop up the front steps with the rest of our class, I tell Lily, "You know, this is probably the least attractive I've ever felt in my life."

"For me, it isn't the worst, but it's definitely up on the list," agrees Lily.

"When have you felt any shoddier?" I ask, genuinely curious.

Lily mulls this one over. "I think…probably last summer, the time we went to the amusement park and Petunia threw up on my shoes."

"Oh yeah, that was bad," I say, remembering this particular incident. "But eurgh. I smell like dung and Venomous Tentacula droppings."

"Aren't they the same thing?" asks Lily.

"No," I say. "Dung is mild compared to Venomous Tentacula droppings."

Lily considers and then accepts my logic. "Makes sense," she says.

"Yeah." I sigh, marching up the stairs to the first floor. This school has far too many stairs, in my opinion, a fact made even more woeful when I feel like my legs are made out of jelly. Lily and I troop in silence to the Room, where we retreat to the bathroom to wash our faces. Thanks to the magic in there, two sinks magically appear for us to use and we wash, the running water the only sound we hear. I figure now is the time to make my move.

"Hey Lily?" My voice is tentative.

"Yeah?" Hers isn't. In fact, Lily is very rarely tentative. She enjoys crashing in head-first too much.

I pause. "Are you still mad at me?"

This time, Lily pauses; but only for a few seconds. She goes back to washing her face, choosing to avoid my eyes.

"I…don't know," she says carefully. "I mean, you can't blame me for freaking out a little. It's a lot to take in."

"You haven't talked to me since then," I say.

"Yes I have," she argues.

"Not really."

Lily subsides. "I know," she admits.

"Look, Lils, I wasn't trying to mess things up between us," I tell her genuinely. "I just…I freaked out a little too. You took me by surprise. I had to tell you how I felt."

Only now does Lily turn her head to look at me, her expression extraordinarily vulnerable. "Alice…" she says softly, "do I honestly hold you down that much?"

Her words and the tone she uses chill me. They part the air like a pariah parts the crowd, leaving me silent and fragile as well. I take a few moments to formulate an eloquent answer.

"You probably don't," I finally say. "But sometimes, it feels that way."

"Do you hate me for it?" This is a rare mood – Lily doesn't often fall victim to these bouts of insecurity because she's too busy convincing everyone else she's right. Of course, she has good reason to fall into it now, but it still astonishes me and I decide to tell her so.

"Of course I don't," I say, my eyes on my sink. "It's more…I mean…traditionally, you are the strong one, the sparkly one that everyone sees, while I stand near you and watch from over your shoulder. We didn't intend to make it happen that way; it came out that way on its own. But now, in this competition, I've come up to the forefront. I've been able to grow as my own person. Now, I'm the one holding you together rather than the other way around, when I fell back on you. It's strange, and definitely surprising to me, but I like it. I like feeling responsible and important. I suppose…I didn't want that feeling to go away."

I do realize that I'm talking more to myself than I'm talking to her, but she needs to know this. Almost wondrously, I confess, "I think…I think that I just want to be better than you at something for once. So I know I can do it."

Only at this point do I manage to look at Lily, who has lost all interest in her sink and is staring at me, her face totally indecipherable. I purse my lips, feeling warm and embarrassed that I said anything, and I keep my eyes on her shoes. It's easier than catching those emerald eyes of hers.

We are silent for a few more moments, the water again being the only sound we hear, and I feel like there's this enormous space between us two. We're close, but these days, I don't know what's happening to us. Things I never would have foreseen are coming up and driving us apart. At this moment especially, I am terrified that I might lose my best friend.

Lily swallows, so thickly that I can hear her, and then she says, "Well…we'll see how it goes today. One of us is going to win."

I nod, still refusing to look at her. "Yeah. We'll see."

"But you do know that you're my best friend in the world, don't you?" asks Lily.

My eyes go to her knees. "And you're my best friend in the world. That's how it works," I say.

"I love you," Lily murmurs, almost like it's a peace offering.

I turn off my sink and Lily's face fills my line of vision. She's has been beautiful for as long as I've known her, even when she's worried or nervous or arguing with me. She's beautiful at present too and I can tell she means what she's saying.

A small smile pulls at the corners of my mouth and I take the small steps required to come towards her. She looks almost curiously at me and I hug her snugly, pulling her into me and feeling her relax in my arms. Again, I'm the one in control and it feels good to do something for Lily instead of the other way around. I stroke her hair and she buries her face into my shoulder, her warm breathing seeping into my skin.

"I love you too," I tell her. "This competition isn't going to change that. Ever."

"I've been stupid," she says. "I let everything go to my head. I treated you horribly, especially today and yesterday."

"At the very least, you did have a good cause," I remind her. "Finally fixing things with James Potter? That's something to applaud you for."

Lily giggles weakly. "I've been awful though," she admits, gripping me tighter. "I was a bitch to James, I messed things up for you, I made a huge fuss for no reason, I almost ratted out Alicia… this game has turned me into a maniac. I want to do something about it, you know? Alicia's gone, you're too kind to me anyway – figuring out my situation with James is probably the only way I can make amends for anything I've done in the past few weeks alone."

"Lils, you aren't perfect and neither am I," I say. "We make mistakes. It's okay."

"It isn't okay," she insists.

"Okay, so maybe it isn't constantly okay," I amend, "but it's not worth you freaking out over it. You're doing the best you can. Alicia knew that. The Marauders know that. James knows that. Why do you think you're here at the top with me?"

"You're right," says Lily, resurfacing and wiping her eyes against her sleeve, brushing her hair out of her face. "You're the one who's always right. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Luckily for you, you don't have to find out," I say, smiling slightly, tucking a stray red curl behind her ear. "Can we put this behind us, then, and go into the elimination inseparable as ever?"

Lily smiles as well, gorgeous as ever, even if her face is pink and her eyes are rimmed with red. "Yes, that sounds good," she says.

I give her hair a final stroke and dry my face with a towel I find behind the door. A quick glance in the mirror shows that I am clean and presentable once more. "Ready to go?" I ask Lily.

"In a minute," she says, turning her sink back on and looking critically at her appearance. "Damn, I look awful when I cry," she remarks. "I should remember that next time."

I can't help but chuckle at this, giving her a little kick in the bum.

"You're something else, Lil," I say. "Hurry up. I'm hungry and we're losing our lunch hour here."

"Blimey! Pushy-much, are we?" Lily wipes her face on the towel I used. "Hey, do I still look pink?"

She does, but I say, "Not really. C'mon."

And we leave the dormitory together, linked practically at the hip, as if nothing tried to divide us at all.

&

The remainder of the afternoon passes with far more ease than the morning did. Lily is known for being able to bounce back pretty fast when she's in the mood to, and as we peruse through our classes, it seems that this is one of those times when she wants to change.

I can see it in her, as she greets her various friends – she is muted ever so slightly, making sure that she gives me plenty of attention and opening up her conversations so I can join them if I want to. I appreciate what she's doing for me, but today, I decide I'll take it easy and let her do what she wants. This is different for me and I want to take baby steps to start out.

By the time classes end, I am feeling so good. Instead of sporting that sensation of being weak and fragile and uncertain, I feel like we've come out stronger because of this; that Lily and I understand each other even better than we did before. I am full of happiness and spirit, knowing that I don't have to be in this alone.

Maybe we both want this prize, but we know that we'll be supportive of each other no matter what happens. She matters way too much for me to endanger what we have together.

This is the attitude I take with me as the two of us go to the Room to wait for the Marauders. I can tell Lily's nervous – her hands get clammy when she's anxious and touching her now makes me feel like I'm touching wet prunes – and I know I'm nervous too, but I also know apprehension won't do anything except stress us out. I do my very best to stay calm, cool, composed as I never am; because that's the right thing to do.

"Lils, stop shaking," I say.

"I'm not shaking," says Lily.

"You are shaking – I can see it," I say. "Relax."

Lily takes a couple of somewhat-deep breaths. "I'm relaxed," she says.

"Keep it that way." I take a couple of breaths for myself, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. Somehow, even then, I can't make my heart stop beating quite so fast. I think I'll be in better health once this judging is over.

Lily and I stand around and chat idly for several minutes as we wait for the Marauders; but pretty soon, conversation dies out and we wait in silence. It's not because we're awkward or anything – we simply don't have anything more to say.

The Marauders end up arriving about fifteen full minutes after they told us to meet them there. When they come stumbling down the corridor at long last, Lily and I breathe sighs of relief and face them with our hands on our hips, supremely irritated.

"There you are," says Lily. "We've been waiting for you."

"Sorry, sorry," says Sirius. "We had a few…issues with the surprise we had lined up for you today."

"It wasn't our fault this time!" James insists. "We arranged everything yesterday and then they failed to be punctual today. We're so sorry, ladies."

Alice and I raise our eyebrows, but Remus interjects, "This time, they're telling the truth. It really wasn't our fault."

"And when Moony vouches for us, you know he's for real," finishes Peter. "Again, sorry about this."

"All I can say is that I hope the surprise is good," I say. "What is it?"

James and Sirius exchange grins. "You'll see," says James. "C'mon, then. Are you two ready for the final judging of the competition?"

"Damn straight," I say.

Sirius stares. "Hold on a second. Did I just hear Alice Prewitt saying damn straight?" he asks.

Lily chuckles and I smirk. "Yes, you did hear me correctly," I say.

Sirius pulls on a very silly grin. "Aww! Our little Alice is growing up," he coos. "Isn't that adorable, Jamie?"

"Very adorable," James agrees, laughing at his friend rather than at me.

Sirius puts his hand out in the air, clearly waiting for a high-five. "Up here, little lady!" he chirps.

I oblige and give him a high-five, to which he beams at the group, utterly pleased with himself.

"Isn't this great?" he asks. "Alice said damn straight."

"I think you're just looking for an excuse to say that a few hundred times," hypothesizes Remus.

Sirius pouts. "Am not."

"Does it matter?" asks Peter. "Let's take these girls to judging. The surprise doesn't exactly have all the time in the world, remember?"

"Right, right," says James, jumping back into business. "We ought to get going." He looks to me and Lily. "Ready, girlies?"

It's kind of hard to miss that he's focusing on me rather than Lily for very obvious reasons, but I pray to whoever's listening up there that this won't go wrong and I follow along with James, Lily at my side. We six walk down the corridor, but Peter surprises us by taking a different turn and going into the direction of the Entrance Hall. I am utterly confused by this.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Remember where we did the Marauder endorsement commercial?" asks Remus.

"Yeah," I say.

"Well, we figured this finale deserved something a bit bigger than some musty old classroom," says Sirius. "We want to crown our winner with style."

"Do you already know who it is?" asks Lily.

"Yes," says Sirius, quite importantly. "But I'm under a Marauder contract not to spill. If I break the contract, my fellow Marauders are allowed to dunk my head in a toilet for five entire minutes every morning for two weeks."

"Wow," says Lily. It's obvious she's not impressed. "You would actually let them do that if you let something slip?"

"Of course," says Sirius. "I gave my word, Lily. Bad things happen when you don't keep your word."

"I don't think I want to know who came up with that punishment," I remark.

"Actually, I did," says Sirius, grinning. "That's why I really don't want to screw things up."

Lily and I roll our eyes. Figures.

We take a turn into the Potions wing, which is as unfriendly as it ever is. Like the first time we were here, the boys take us through a wild labyrinth of passages that seemingly lead to nowhere a normal person would voluntarily go. The temperature drops steadily with every step we take and I find myself shivering.

Thankfully though, as I'm about to start throwing a bit of a fuss about these conditions, James points at a door at the end of the corridor and says we're in there.

"Your surprise is in there as well," says Sirius. "We made sure it was."

"Now you have me curious," admits Lily.

"That was the whole point, dearest," says Sirius serenely. "Well, what are you waiting for? Open up. Take a look at what we have arranged for you two."

Alice and I exchange looks. It's now or never. With a resolute breath, we take hold of the handle together and allow the door to stand ajar, giving us a look inside.

However, before we can register anything at all, a small black blur attacks us both at top speed and nearly knocks us to the ground. I actually do fall down, simply because the shock is so great.

"Alice! Lily! Oh my goodness, I just knew it would be you two!" a very familiar voice squeals.

"A-Alicia?" I ask, blinking and trying to force my eyes into focusing again. "Alicia, is that you?"

"Yes, it is!" chirps Alicia.

"Well, Alicia, your knee is currently in my gut and I don't appreciate it," I hear Lily grumble from beside me.

"Sorry," says Alicia apologetically, releasing the pressure from our bodies and helping us to our feet. "I got a little excited, that's all."

"A little?" Lily asks skeptically, brushing her hair out of her face.

I take a moment to rub my eyes and yes, sure enough, Alicia is in front of me, back to her happy-peppy glory. But she's not the only one inside the room – I can see other girls who are coming over here, smiling to each other and at us.

And that's when it dawns on me: The big surprise was that the final judging would be done in front of all the other eliminated girls that we bonded with.

I smile as I give Alicia a proper hug, asking her how she is – this is actually quite thoughtful of the Marauders.

Clearly, Lily is thinking the same thing, because she says to the Marauders, "You know, this is quite nice of you guys. Thanks."

"Hey, no problem," says Peter, grinning.

"Was it Remus's idea?" I ask.

"Peter's," Remus corrects, giving his friend a little hug. "All I had to do was track the girls down. Unfortunately, some of them weren't available to attend this afternoon."

"Well, we had to do something special for the finale, didn't we?" Sirius smirks. "I was thinking an honorary judging in swimsuits, but Moony shot me down. Can you imagine that?"

"Impossible, Sirius," says Alicia with a chuckle. She's clearly sorted a few things out since we last saw her, because she is perfectly comfortable around the Marauders once more. Even Sirius. "Now come here, girls – we've all been waiting for you!"

Lily and I enter into the large room and we see that some of the eliminated girls are here – Hannah, Verity, Sydney and Sadie. They are delighted to see us and to be honest, I'm delighted to see them too.

"Hey!" I say, giving Hannah a hug first, since she's the closest one to me. "How are you?"

"Fine," says Hannah, her sweet oval face practically glowing from the inside out. "And how are you, Alice? You're in the top two, after all."

"A little overwhelmed," I admit.

Hannah laughs. "I can understand that."

I look somewhat quizzically at her, with her cosmic happiness. The way I remember it, Hannah was a very quiet, weepy little thing that had an issue with self-confidence. Now, she isn't like that at all. I decide to ask her, "Hannah, you seem…different since you left the competition."

Hannah smiles a smile I would attribute more with Alicia. "Really?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say. "What did you do?"

She blushes a pink that's a little more familiar to me, twirling her blonde hair around her finger. She gives me a shyer smile and confesses, "Well…after I left the competition, I got to talking with Sydney and Sydney convinced me to do the impossible."

"What?" I ask.

"I finally asked Peter out!" Hannah bursts out joyfully. "I asked him out a few days ago and he said yes! We're going out again tomorrow night!"

"Oh my goodness, congratulations!" I cry, giving Hannah another hug. "Well done, Hannah!"

"Let me tell you, Alice, but it's the greatest feeling in the world," she says. "I'd been watching from afar for so long…and then I just let it out and he admitted he'd had his eye on me too. I owe Sydney my whole life for making me see reason."

Seeing Hannah so happy, now that she's going out with the guy she loves, gives me a pang that I hadn't anticipated. It socks me in the gut, hits me really, really hard, as I realize that I am still in the same position that Hannah used to be in – loving someone from afar without telling them.

But the difference is that after she was unsuccessful in something, Hannah went and did what I'm too afraid to do; and I envy her this. Maybe I ought to talk to Sydney as well.

Still, I push this thought a little farther back in my head and congratulate Hannah again before saying hello to Verity and Sadie, since Sydney is busy talking to Lily and Alicia. Verity is smiling and much more verbal than she was in the competition – she isn't a motor-mouth or anything, but she definitely adds more to the conversation than she ever has.

I rather like this. Verity is a good conversationalist – she's got an intriguing outlook on life and is a terrific listener – and with lovely Sadie adding her bits and pieces, I have a lot of fun talking to them.

Since we are, in fact, teenage girls that enjoy socializing, the Marauders are forced into giving us several minutes to talk and catch up a little, swapping stories about the competition and what happened outside of it. But, when ten or fifteen minutes pass and we are as chatty as we were upon first entering, they finally lose their patience.

"All right, all right, bring it in now, ladies," James calls out. "We have a judging to do. You can talk later."

"Merlin, you sound so much like McGonagall there," says Lily, just to annoy him. "Well done."

James ignores her, not shooting her the sarcastic look he would have shot anyone else. We all exchange smiles and I quickly whisper into Sydney's ear a watered down version of what happened between Lily and James since she's been gone. Admittedly, it's been quite a lot.

"So," says James. "We are down to the top two in the competition and we're going to crown our winner today. Can you lot please settle down so we can get everything started?"

Alicia, Hannah, Verity, Sydney and Sadie – our foreigners of the evening – settle in as a group on one side, obediently going silent to get the tension and spirited edge back into the room. Lily and I look at each other, determined and remembering how tense we were, and we hold hands, letting each other know that we're in this together.

"Right then," says James, taking his seat next to the Marauders at their big, long desk. "Let's begin with Lily, shall we?"

Lily shrugs and steps forward, facing the Marauders with her back straight, her green eyes clear and trained straight ahead. She looks calm but attentive, neither quality one she could maintain when she first came to the competition. She's so striking when she's like this.

"We spent a long time going through your pictures, Lily," says Peter. "The thing about you is that although we've managed it before, you're a difficult girl to pin down in one frame. The beauty of your shoot was the little things in between, when you shifted slightly and I couldn't get it. We decided early on we didn't want these pictures to move – we wanted to see you when you were frozen in one frame – but that doesn't work for you. It created quite a challenge for us when we picked your best shot."

"At the beginning, you were jumpy," adds Remus. "It took some time for you to warm up to the camera. You're still not comfortable with being looked at for long periods of time."

"Of course I'm not," Lily can't help but say. "You have me under a spotlight. I wasn't wearing many clothes."

"Well, that's how the world works," notes James. "Maybe you're wearing more clothes, but you're always under a spotlight. We just make it more obvious when we put you under one."

"That doesn't make it right," argues Lily.

"No," says James. "And that what makes it fair. We're testing you here. Let's see how well you did – Wormtail did the final selections himself and I don't know what he picked."

At this, Sirius extracts Lily's picture out of a folder and blows it up for the room of people to see. I turn my head to look as well. The picture Peter has chosen is an unusual one, because Lily looks caught, like the moment has been stolen from her without her knowing it. She is turned to her right, her eyes upward, her one hand rumpling her hair and her other planted on her hip.

She appears to be thinking something deep, staring off into space like that; but there's a sexuality to the picture too, with the way her body is angled a little away from the camera. The swimsuit, tiny as it is, clings to her and somehow extenuates how pretty and dainty her frame is, despite the strength and taut tension clearly visible in her muscles.

I have to admit, it's an amazing shot. Completely by accident, it seems. I look to the girls – who are intrigued – and then to the Marauders, to see how they are reacting. From here, they're pretty impressed.

"Wow," says Peter at last. "I took a damn sexy photo of you, Lily."

There are chuckles at this. Smiling, Peter continues, "I actually remember taking this one. You were half posing and half thinking about what to do next and I took it on a whim. I'm glad I did. It struck me more than your other ones had, although they were good as well. I dunno…it's simple and subtle, but powerful at the same time."

"I like that she's not trying to be sexy, but she is anyway," remarks Sirius. "And damn, that red hair looks good there."

"There's more to this picture than the physical aspect of the swimsuit," concedes Remus. "That's wonderful. You know, I'm more caught by your eyes there than anything else."

"To each his own…" mutters Sirius suggestively, making Remus give him a kick under the table.

"This is really good, Lily," says James. "Well done."

Well done? That's it? That's all he has to say to this picture of this girl that he's in love with? I'm kind of indignant on Lily's behalf, honestly. James has been so weird and distant from her lately; like he's given up on her and he's let her go, as she always predicted he would. I don't like that. I don't like seeing that spark, that light in them both go away now that they aren't speaking on normal terms anymore.

I can see Lily's upset about this to some degree in the lukewarm way with which she thanks the Marauders and come back to me. I know it's wrong, but I'm glad she's upset – it means she's feeling something. It means this is getting to her. It means she cares. That's always a good thing.

"Alice," calls James, totally shattering my reverie and bringing me back down to Earth. "Alice, it's your turn."

"All right," I say, blinking a couple of times and stepping forward, like Lily had. "Lay it on me."

"Alice, you're so contemporary now," marvels Sirius. "When did this all come about? I don't remember hearing you say such things before."

"Get your head out of your arse and figure it out, Sirius," I tease.

Sirius stares at me. "Are you sure you're Alice and not Lily on Polyjuice Potion?" he inquires.

"I'm right here, you idiot," Lily points out.

"You never know these days!" Sirius insists indignantly.

"All right, all right," says James, rolling his eyes affectionately at his friend. "Settle down. Let's focus on Alice's picture here, shall we?"

"Right," says Peter, enthusiastic now that he can talk about the picture experience. "You know, Alice, you're probably the most interesting person I've had to shoot in this competition – you or Verity over there."

At this, Verity goes flaming pink but keeps her mouth shut. I smile at her.

"You're both quiet," Peter continues. "You start to blossom only when we look directly at you. With Verity, she turned out to be very sweet and very pretty. With you, though, you turn into something much stronger and fiercer than we would've pinned you down for. It was actually very cool. Sirius, show her the picture and you'll all see what I'm talking about."

Sirius obliges, extracting my picture from the folder that held Lily's, and he blows it up enormously so we can see it properly. After all the compliments Peter gave me, I am curious to see what I actually look like; and I find myself shocked when the picture comes up.

I…I don't know what to say.

I look amazing.

It's somewhat of a close-up, capturing me from the torso up, and my hands on either side of my head, kind of rumpling it but not really. My eyes are straight on the camera and my face is somehow both powerfully tense and relaxed at the mouth. It's a very straightforward shot, but it's focused and unusual to me – nothing at all like Lily's picture.

I'm astonished that this is me. This can't be me. This girl…Peter's right, she's someone else. I thought I did all right at the photo-shoot, but I hadn't dreamed I'd turn out something like that.

"You see what I mean?" says Peter. "This is pretty epic, Alice. Close-ups are hard and you make it look easy."

"There's a lot going on in your face," notes Remus. "You're so emotive. What were you thinking, Alice?"

"To be honest, I have no clue," I confess.

"I think the swimsuit works for the picture," says Sirius. "In your face, like Moony mentioned, it's like you've opened up and revealed yourself – and with the swimsuit, you did the same thing. It's an incredibly exposed picture."

"You know, that's probably the most sensitive thing you've ever said during judging," marvels Remus. "Nice job, Pads."

"Thanks!" Sirius beams and gives Remus a hug.

"I agree with the other Marauders, this is a fabulous shot," says James. "Unlike with Lily, the lack of movement in pictures works for you. She needs to be in motion all the time and can't stay still; whereas you like to stay still and you seem nervous and fidgety in motion. You've got it in you, Alice, your still shots tell us that – now all you have to do is use this tough-but-sensitive girl in regular, everyday life and you'll go places."

I smile at the boys and bizarrely, I almost want to cry. This picture is absolutely phenomenal and it's mine – and the legendary Marauders can see something in me that clearly, I can't see on my own.

They like me. They think I'm epic. No one's ever told me that before, except for Lily, who doesn't count because she's my best friend. It's almost too much to take in at one time; but I force myself to hold composure and stand by my friend again, clutching her hand and letting it keep me feeling all right, even though I feel like I'm going to collapse like a stack of bricks.

"So," says Remus. "I suppose that's it, since you two are the only ones in at the moment."

"Okay," says Sirius. "Well, with judging today, we are going to have…five guest judges helping us with our final decision, despite the fact that we already kind of know who we're going to pick. We'll call you back in when we've made the final decision, all right?"

My heart leaps up into my throat, making it impossible for me to say a thing. I stick with nodding and I notice that Lily does too.

"Right," says James. "Off you go, ladies." He makes a shooing gesture at the two of us.

Glancing at each other one more time, extreme anxiety in our eyes, Lily and I turn around and leave the room together. We are still holding hands as we go.

&

To be quite honest, I don't know how we survive out there on our own, Lily and me, waiting for the boys to call us back in. Sirius's Silencing Charm is not as good as it usually is and we can hear the rise and fall of voices inside there. Sometimes, it gets really loud as they argue a point back and forth. The boys and the girls are yelling at each other, although I can't distinguish who it actually is. Lily and I choose not to say anything, because I know for me personally, I might throw up with apprehension if I try to open my mouth.

According to Lily's watch, it takes the group literally fifteen minutes to come to a decision, in which time my insides have practically melted into goop. Then, at long, long last, Alicia opens the chamber door and tells us that they're done. Her expression is indecipherable as she lets us in.

I walk forward with shaky legs and wobbling knees. The Marauders are sitting at the desk and James is standing there, as ever, with his solemn face and salient hazel eyes. The five girls stand in a line on the side, their faces turned to us and only us. Lily and I take our places in front of James and this time, Lily is the one to grab my head instead of the other way around.

"So," says James, very softly, "we have come down to the final two girls in the competition. Today, we are going to have a winner. Let me start this off by wholeheartedly saying congratulations to you both; because both of you have definitely come extremely far over the course of the past few weeks. We are thrilled to know we were the ones to orchestrate it. Well done on that front.

"With that in mind, then, you can see what I mean when I say that it's been really hard to choose a winner," he goes on. "As you might have heard despite the Silencing Charm put on the door, you two are very evenly matched. Lily, you've always been our little fireball; while Alice, you've always been our sweetheart. So the question we had to answer was what evens out what?"

James looks from Lily to me to Lily again and I swear, the look on his face is pained, heartbreakingly poignant, for the smallest second before he moves on.

"It's been a long, bumpy road from the beginning to this point," says James, "and the game turned out much differently than any of us imagined, I am sure. But we have reached a decision."

My stomach turns and James glances at his Marauders, who give him approving nods, gently urging him to finish the deed. He turns back to face the two of us, clutching each other and waiting. Lily is holding my hand so tight, I think I'm losing circulation to my fingers. It doesn't help that we're both sweating like donkeys in a heat bath.

He clears his throat. Bile rises in mine. Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes…

"After all we've put you through, Hogwarts' Next Top Model – who gets a date with the Marauder of her choice as her prize – is…" James pauses dramatically, listening to the sound of us holding our breaths, and then he says one more word:

"Alice."

Nobody moves, reacts, anything. I blink a couple of times. Wait, did he…did he just…?

He looks expectantly, right in my direction. "Alice," he repeats.

Every muscle in me tenses. I feel eyes on me. This isn't a dream. He really said my name after the phrase "Hogwarts' Next Top Model is." But that means…

"Alice?" James is uncertain now. "Alice, did you just hear me?"

Somehow, I manage to find my voice box. "Am I…?"

"Yeah," says James. He's kind of worried.

And then it all makes sense. It socks me in the gut and squeezes my heart and before I know it, I'm on the ground and my face is in my hands and I'm close to tears.

"Merlin, I have to be dreaming, someone turn on the alarm already," I wail. "I'm…I'm…I'm…"

I feel a warm, comforting hand on my shoulder and I look up to see Lily there, her hand outstretched to me. She's smiling.

"Alice, darling, you're Hogwarts' Next Top Model," she says. "C'mere, you crazy thing, and give me a hug."

I give her my hand, but I am a frozen block of ice as Lily gives me a tight hug. When she lets me go, I see James, smirking slightly, coming to give me a hug as well. That cues the rest of the girls to come over and congratulate me, giving me hugs and patting me, but I am so far removed from the whole thing. I'm floating somewhere else, watching it happen underneath me; and I dunno, it's the weirdest feeling in the world. I'm just numb.

I am Hogwarts' Next Top Model. I won the Marauder's game. I beat out nine other girls to get here, including my best friend. I'm here. I'm going to be allowed to go out with Remus. It's really happening, right now, but I can't wrap my head around it. I really can't.

From somewhere outside the din of bodies surrounding me, I hear James say, "Congratulations, Alice. Do you know who you want to go out with?"

The pressure from around me eases up and I can see the Marauders properly, grinning away at me. I'm sure this is quite amusing for them, but for me, it's surreal. Even now, I'm still not sure if I'm dreaming or not.

"Remus," I say faintly. "I want to go out with Remus."

Remus goes very slightly pink and blushes. "Done," he says simply.

"Hey, way to go, Moony!" remarks Sirius. "You have something other than homework and tests to put on your calendar! You must be excited."

Remus rolls his eyes. "Jealousy is not very becoming on you, Sirius," he tells his friend. "Let it go."

Sirius pouts, but otherwise, the boys are very relaxed about the whole thing, excited and smiling. The girls are talking amongst themselves, and seem to want to talk to the Marauders, but they are coming forward to Lily and I. Peter and Sirius give me hugs, congratulating me as James had, and when Remus hugs me, he asks me if next weekend is good, since it's a Hogsmeade day. I say it's fine. I think that by next weekend, things will have sunk in a little more and I will be more coherent.

Once I'm hugged and taken care of, Lily has to be hugged and congratulated as well, since she was runner up. She hugs Peter and Remus, and even gives Sirius a grudging, ginger little hug, since he throws his arms out and envelopes them around her before she can protest. She's not as obnoxious about it as she could have been though – after all of us being together so long, she can't deny that the boys have grown on her. Even Sirius.

Goodwill seems to seep out of everyone's pores as they move around, talking and laughing, a group of eleven teenagers happily interacting with one another. Hannah is standing with Peter, Verity and Sydney, the four of them talking, Peter's arm around Hannah's waist. Sadie and Alicia are talking and laughing with Remus and Sirius, Sirius's eyes lingering on Sadie longer than is perhaps appropriate. Life is moving along as it always does, but there's one more thing that has yet to be done.

James, who had joined Alicia's conversation, disengages from there and walks towards Lily, who was about to join Alicia's conversation. I watch him catch her attention and stop her, his hand lingering near hers but not actually touching it.

He congratulates her and she thanks him, their eyes guarded and excruciatingly hesitant. They loiter there, knowing it's not right to walk away yet but not brave enough to make a move, until he awkwardly puts his hand out to shake. Carefully, she shakes it and they let go too quickly, barely meeting the other's eye.

I half expect Lily to suck it up and give him a hug, or James to break down and give her a hug, but neither of them do and they leave, James going to Alicia and Lily coming to me. Her cheeks are pink and I can tell she's not about to discuss this.

"Congratulations, Alice," she says. "You won."

"Thanks," I say. "I…am having a considerable amount of trouble accepting the fact, though. It's too unreal."

Lily smiles. "No way," she says. "You deserve it. They gave it to you because you came here as my best friend and ended your time being way sexier than me."

I shake my head. "Maybe," I say. "Maybe not. I dunno."

Lily puts her hand on my shoulder again. "You did good," she says genuinely.

"It'll take a couple of days for that to sink in," I respond.

"Take your time," she says.

Something vastly and cavernously sweet swells in my chest at the sight of my best friend Lily, standing there, smiling and gorgeous and there as she always is. I collapse on her in a hug of my own and I tell her, "Thank you, Lils."

"You're welcome," she says, hugging me back.

Here, being hugged by Lily, smelling the sweet smell that's so uniquely hers, knowing that victory has been mine, I feel a completeness I've never known before. For once, everything has gone right, against all the odds. I have a date with a wonderful boy in a week and I won a mad game I played on a whim. I met so many amazing new people that I would never have talked to otherwise. It's all been such a strange, surprising ride and I'm both happy I got something out of it and sad that it has to end.

The moment feels perfect as Lily releases me and we go together to talk to Remus, Sirius, Alicia and Sadie: The competition is over, but we're all still here. I'm still here. And that, that is more than enough for me.

--

A/N: Haha, no, don't worry, I'm not going to leave you here (particularly with the Lily/James bit) – there's still an epilogue to go, which wraps everything up nice and pretty.

But…well…that was the main body of the story we just finished up there! Alice was our winner, which will make some people happy, but slightly disappoint others – which is fine. I got to bring back the other girls and let you know how they are doing to make it a nice, feel-good ending.

It's so funny to go back to my original list of girls now, the one I put into the second chapter of this tale. At first, that list was daunting – a whole set of girls I had to establish on my own because they were OC's. But now, it feels familiar, since I know them all so well.

So…there's that. I hope you guys liked that (it took forever to write/fix) and please review on your way out.

Epilogue will be posted soon (I bet you already have good predictions about the content) and I'll give my epic good-bye speech properly then. Cheers, guys!