Miss Witch

"All contestants to the stage," the announcer said again. Lily blushed as she realized she was the contestant they were waiting for. Everyone else was already arranged in a line behind him. She ducked her head and joined them, standing next to a pretty blonde from Beauxbaton. Besides Lily, there were eight other contestants on stage; three from both schools and three that had been home schooled. Although, Lily thought back to her own tutors, home school took on a whole new meaning among the rich.

The announcer gave Lily a patronizing smile as she stepped up on stage. He turned to face his audience. "I am pleased to presents this year's Miss Witch contestants! May the most magical girl win!" His voice echoed in the hall, supplemented by a charm. The crowd burst into applause.

"It is my honor to present this year's illustrious judges. We have Miss Elente, a famous designer from London." A petite brunette stood up, dressed in a classic suit.

"I see at least two girls wearing one of her designs," Remus whispered to James.

"Lily doesn't need to do something that shameless to win," James answered, his voice full of confidence.

Remus laughed and leaned back in his seat.

"Mr. Hignet from New York City!' A slim man raised one hand in the air, nodding his head at the crowd. His blonde hair just brushed the tip of his shoulders and a single dark brown strip permeated it. His suit was all black with a skinny tie.

"And finally, Miss Reynold, also from London." This judge was wearing a flowing, green dress.

The announcer waited for the applause to die down and then began to announce the contestants. Crystal was announced second. She sparkled in a silver gown with a matching bracelet. Lily quickly stopped trying to remember all their names. Only two others really stood out. Emma Alexander, the only one with short hair. Lily immediately liked her because she was different. And Christina Clay. She was classically beautifully, with a heart-shaped face and perfect features. She held herself like she was of royal blood and she was easily the prettiest girl on the stage. "And Lily Evans, from Hogwarts." Lily squeaked. She had been so caught up in looking at the other contestants that she had stopped paying attention to the announcer. Remus and Peter laughed in the audience, thoroughly amused by her expression. James ground his teeth. The other contestants had looked graceful; Lily merely appeared scared.

"A true Miss Witch is beautiful in every aspect, including the way in which she dresses and carries herself. The contestants will have ten minutes in which to select their own clothes from a selection in which will be provided. The judges will then give them all points. The three contestants with the lowest scores will be eliminated from the contest. Good luck!" The contestants began to walk off the stage. Lily hesitated slightly before following them. All of her earlier confidence had disappeared.

Remus turned to face the Marauders next to him. "That girl won't even recognize the designers' names, let alone know which ones to mix and match."

Peter nodded his agreement. "Easy money. Sorry, Sirius."

Sirius ignored them. He was too busy paying attention to his friend who had just burst out of his seat.

"One hundred thousand Euros, Lily. That's what you owe me," James shouted loud enough that everyone in the room could hear him.

Some color finally to Lily's white face. She was turning red with anger. "I'll get you your money, Potter," she mouthed. She walked with a new determined step.

James sat back down in his chair, satisfied. "She'll do fine," he said confidently, running his hand through his hair.

Sirius laughed. "She always does perform better when she's mad. Good job, Prongs."

James just smirked in response.

xXx

In the little side room, Lily was getting even more irriatated. The other girls were running around, picking up shirts with one hand and throwing skirts away with the other. She got shoved out of the way more than once. "Five minutes left," a lady in the corner announced.

Lily gritted her teeth and started looking at the clothes more seriously. This was such a stupid contest. Since when were clothes that important! They should be asking her how she helped others or something along that line. She grabbed three shirts, rejecting two of them because they were pink. The final one she forced over her head, barely pausing to look at it. She was doomed anyways. She spotted skirts in another section of the room and scooped up some heels on her way over there. She realized her mistake when she tried to put the full length skirt on while wearing the heels.

RIIIPPPP

"Two minutes left."

Lily cursed underneath her breath. She didn't have time to find another skirt. She couldn't see anymore laying around. She surveyed the damage. It was a black skirt, classically elegant before she had ripped it. The rip in question was down the seam of the skirt, reaching from the bottom up to knee level. Lily reached down and grabbed the skirt, biting her lip as she ripped it further.

xXx

"Elyssa Silverman." A tall brunette walked out, dressed in a Prada dress.

The judges wrote down their scores, each saying a few words about her selection.

"Christina Clay!" Christina stepped out, owning the stage the second she stepped foot upon it. Unlike the others, she had mixed and matched two designers. She wore a stunning pink blouse, with a jacket thrown over it. She walked across the stage, entirely comfortable in her outfit and smiling at the crowd.

"Gorgeous!" Miss Reynold said. "You look as though you were born to be in heels and on a stage." The other two judges agreed with her, commenting on her originality.

"It looks like she stepped out of a fashion magazine," Peter murmured. Remus inclined his head in agreement. They watched as girl after girl stepped out on stage, most of them wearing unoriginal outfits such as Elyssa had chosen.

"Lily Evans!"

James sat up in his seat, suddenly attentive. He absentmindedly ran his hand through his hair as he waited.

"What is she wearing!" Remus gasped.

Lily walked out on stage, faking confidence. After several quick attempts and with the help of a pair of scissors she had found, she had managed to make a slit in the skirt. Because of the several failed attempts, the slit extended all the way up her thigh. Her shirt was tight, clinging to her body. The dark green brought out her eyes. She had thrown a jacket over the ensemble. Not a single thing had been made by the same designer.

"I think she ripped it. There is no way that skirt came like that." Peter said.

Remus's mouth dropped open. "That skirt was designed by Mr. Hignet. As in the judge."

Sirius laughed. He crossed and looked up at Lily with an amused expression. "Only Lily would take a design made by one of the judges and change it."

"Hignet is going to be mad." Remus frowned.

Indeed, Hignet was standing up. He surveyed Lily's entire outfit, bringing his hand up to cup his chin. "Absolutely brilliant!" He announced. His mouth curved into a wide smile as he brought his hands together to applaud her choice.

Eyes widened in the audience.

"Amazing, Miss Evans. The contest was to show off your beauty, not the beauty of the designers. I love what you did with my piece. You made it yours. You own it. You were the only person to get the point of the contest. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant."

The other judges were slower to agree. Elente obviously disliked the change. She merely murmured a few words of disapproval before sitting back down.

The announcer stood stunned, not quite comprehending what had just happened. Hignet cast him an expectant look. "We will have a short break while the judges calculate the results. Then we will proceed to the next round," the announcer quickly stammered out. "Congratulations to all of the contestants. I don't know how the judges will manage to pick between such lovely ladies. You are free to socialize until called back upon stage." He stepped off the stage and was quickly joined by an older man. They walked out of the room together, followed by the judges.

"I don't believe it," Peter said stunned. "How could he like that? You could still see the ragged edges of the fabric. She must have ripped it."

Remus looked over Peter's head. "So the conquering lady returns," he said, standing up as Lily walked over to them. He gestured at his chair, obviously wanting her to sit.

Lily offered a weak smile in return and gratefully collapsed into the chair. Remus signaled to an usher for another.

"Interesting selection, Lily," Sirius said. He scooted his chair forward slightly so he could better see her.

James reddened as Lily crossed her legs, revealing most of her thigh. "You-you looked gorgeous, Lils," he stammered out.

"What?" Lily looked up at him. She followed his eyes. "Oh." She uncrossed her legs.

"And you impressed the Hignet at least," Remus pointed out.

Lily smiled. "Hopefully that will be enough."

They all sat in silence for a few moments, realizing the truth of that statement. They all knew her continuing presence in the competition depended on whether or not Hignet could convince Elente to let Lily stay. They watched the replay of the contestants' outfits on a screen.

"Of course you only did good because I helped you," James said. "I'm still waiting on a thank you."

"Wh-wh-what?" Lily stuttered.

"A thank you," James repeated slowly as if he were speaking to a little kid.

Lily's face began turning red. Both of her hands curled up into fists. "You brat!" She stood up and stomped away. "I'm going to go change back into my dress," she called over her shoulder.

"You're welcome," James called back.

Lily muttered something incomprehensible and kept walking.

"You guys can't go a full hour without arguing," Remus complained. He reclaimed his chair next to James and settled into it.

James shrugged his shoulders, not caring. "She really did only win because I gave her confidence."

Remus shook his head, not bothering to answer.

xXx

"The final contest will test the contestants' grace even in the most stressful of situations," the announcer said.

Lily had barely been included in the finalist who had passed the first round. Her score had been only 0.5 points higher than Emma Alexander's, one of the three contestants sent home. Hignet had given her a 9.7 while Elente had given her a 1. The second round had been even closer. The contestants had been asked to demonstrate their musical instrument. Most had played stunning pieces on a piano. Christiana had amazed the audience with a piece on the violin. Lily, who had never touched an instrument in her life, had simply sung. Luckily, Hignet had once again decided that she was original and that her song was heartbreaking and had passed her into the next round.

There were now two people left in the Miss Witch contest: Lily, of course, and Christiana Clay.

"The contestants will be left with a room full of children. They will be required to entertain the children for a half hour. The children will then be the judges. They, not our esteemed panel of judges, will decide who made most entertaining playmate." The announcer held his arm out, gesturing for Lily and Christina to exit the stage.

"Auditioning them for motherhood," Sirius murmured in the audience.

Peter snorted. "Seeing which one will make the better bride."

Remus stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth. "GO LILY!" He clapped his hands loudly and shouted again.

The rest of the audience was dead silent.

Lily bit her lip to keep from laughing as she exited the room. She couldn't stop herself from smiling though. She nervously tucked her hair behind one ear, hoping the announcer wouldn't glare at her because of Remus.

"Your friends really care about you, don't they?" Christina asked her. She turned to look at Lily, her blue eyes focusing on her intently. "I heard them cheering for you earlier as well."

"Yeah," Lily smiled. "They can be a little thoughtless sometimes, but they've been really supportive. Well, for the most part," she amended, thinking of how Peter had bet against her.

"I knew them once, a long time ago. Are the four of them still inseparable?" She asked.

Lily nodded her head. "Pretty much."

"It must be nice, having such good friends," Christina said wistfully.

Lily didn't know what to say in response to that. She was saved from having to answer by their arrival at the room with the children. "Good luck," the announcer said as he opened the door.

Christina went through the door first, leaving Lily to follow behind her. "Hi, I'm Christina Clay. Who wants to sing?" Christina asked with a bright smile. She led a group of cheering children over to the piano where she promptly began singing some popular kids' songs.

Great, now what? Lily thought. She looked at the room in front of her. It had the piano on one side, next to a bookcase. On the other side sat a box of toys, most of them toys her mother hadn't been able to afford to buy for her.

"Is she broken?" Lily heard a little boy say.

"Maybe." This voice sounded bored.

Lily turned her head and saw a group of four six-year-old boys staring at her. The one in front was the one who had spoken first. He had a mop of curly black hair and a smug, arrogant expression that made him seem older. "She looks poor. I bet she's useless."

"Useless!" Lily couldn't help herself. "I bet you're the useless one. Can you even do a cartwheel?" When the boy didn't answer Lily smirked. She walked over to an empty section of the room and promptly did a cartwheel, still wearing the same green dress she had started out the competition in.

"Well I can do a somersault," the little boy bragged. He walked over to Lily and demonstrated.

Lily let out a breath. "So not impressive," she said. "I could do that when I was five." She spied something in the box of toys and went over to investigate. She rummaged in the box and emerged with a pogo stick. "Bet you can't do this."

"What is it?" One of the other boys spoke up. He was adorable, with sandy hair and brown eyes.

"A pogo stick," Lily answered, not at all surprised that they didn't know. It didn't seem like a toy that rich boys would use very much. "You jump on it." She bounced a few times, demonstrating what the toy was used for. Then she handed it off to the leader. He managed one bounce before he fell off. The other black-headed kid laughed at him.

"Oh yeah, Devin, let's see you do better," the kid said defiantly, sticking out his chin. His face was blushing red with embarrassment. Lily was suddenly reminded of James whenever he couldn't do something. She suddenly realized what these four boys had reminded her of: they were little Marauders.

Devin took the pogo stick and managed to stay on it for two bounces. The other kids laughed. He handed it off to another one of his friends, encouraging him to try. Lily left them at it as she went rummaging in the toy box again. She ignored the fancy, electronic toys, instead looking for toys she had played with as a child. A jump rope caught her eye. She pulled it out of the pile and looked at the four boys. They had since been joined by three other children, all anxious to try the pogo stick. They were all far too short to hold the other end of the jump rope.

Lily got up and walked across the room, flanked by the four boys. "Hey, Christina, you want to jump rope with us?"

Christina looked at the kids in front of her. She had been reading them a story, but had increasingly been losing their attention. They all had wondered what could keep Michael and the other three so entertained. "Sure," she smiled. "Sounds like fun. I used to be quite good at it when I was a kid, but I'm afraid I haven't tried since I was little."

"That's okay. It's like riding a bike, you never forget how," Lily answered. She tossed one end of the rope to Christina. They were soon singing chants and teaching the kids how to jump rope. Lily got so absorbed in it that she lost track of time. It was a complete surprise when the announcer walked back into the room. "Time to go," he said.

The kids groaned. "Do we have to?" Michael asked. "We're having fun."

"I'm afraid you have to," the announcer told him.

Michael groaned. "Fine. But we're going to play again sometime. I will beat you at this," he told Lily.

Lily laughed as the six-year-old challenged her. "I wouldn't expect anything less." She and Christina gathered up the kids, leading them up to the now familiar stage. The twenty-one kids looked tiny up in front of the audience.

"So after half an hour of playtime, it is time for our twenty-one judges to choose the future Miss Witch!" the announcer said. He turned expectantly to the children behind him.

The children looked from Christina to Lily, obviously not knowing who to choose. Michael pushed his way to the front. "We're not going to choose!" he said, planting his feet. "And you can't make us! We had fun with both of them." He crossed his arms and glared at the announcer, almost daring him to say something.

The announcer just stood there, obviously not knowing what to do with the six-year-old who was still glaring at him. The older man from earlier rushed onto the stage and whispered into the announcer's ear. The announcer asked a question and the older man shook his head before walking off the stage. "Well ladies and gentlemen, in the event of a tie the contest become a matter of points. I am pleased to announce that this year's Miss Witch is Christina Clay!"

The applause from the audience was deafening. Christina smiled modestly as she was crowned.

The announcer waited for the noise to die down before speaking again. "Never before has there been a tie in the final round. As a result, this year we are giving out a special prize. Miss Evans will be named Runner Up and given ten thousand Euros as a prize."

The applause for Lily was even louder than it had been for Christina. Lily herself was speechless. Christina turned to her, a smile upon her lips. "Congratulations, Lily. It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Lily answered, too stunned to answer her properly. Christina was swarmed by photographers before she could say anything else to Lily. Lily stumbled off the stage to find the Marauders.

"Congratulations, Lily!" Sirius exclaimed. He swept her up in a hug and she reached them. "You did amazing."

"And they invented a whole next award just for you. Pretty impressive," Remus said.

"You should have won," James said. "But I guess second place isn't too embarrassing." He stuck his hands in his pockets.

Remus punched him. "Just say congratulations, you idiot."

"Congratulations," James recited dutifully.

"Well, we are sorry to abandon you, but we have a party in your honor to throw," Peter said with a smile. "James, distract her for a half hour and then bring her to the pub." On that note, the other three Marauders took off, leaving the two of them alone.

"Want to walk outside?" Lily asked. "I'm getting kind of cramped in here."

James nodded, offering her his hand. He guided her through the mansion and out to a pretty little garden. They walked in silence for a few moments, admiring the flowers. "You really did do an amazing job," James said after a while.

"Thank you," Lily said. She blushed a little. "I still can't believe I finished second. I was sure I was going to lose after I ripped that skirt by accident."

"So it was an accident!" James crowed. "You did look pretty silly up there." He laughed, remembering how Hignet had raved about her originality. "And it was obvious that you had no idea how to play an instrument. You sounded pretty good singing, though. Did you ever take lessons?"

"No," Lily answered. "It's just something we did in my family. We all liked to sing."

They walked further down the path before Lily stopped. She turned to face James. "James, I didn't win the full hundred thousand."

"Tell you what," James said. He took a step closer to her. Their bodies were mere inches apart. "Tomorrow is Christmas." He raised one hand, resting it lightly on her cheek. "If you spend the day with me, I'll consider your debt paid in full." He leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss. Lily stiffened in surprise, before relaxing into the kiss. After several seconds he released her and stepped back. He looked at her and smiled before turning around and walking back the way they had come. "Come on, we had better get to that party before they drink all the alcohol."

Lily didn't know what to think. She traced her lips with one finger.

"Coming."

A/N

Heehee. Love you guys! Especially the reviews : )