(I'm going to go on and dedicate this chapter to the guy from MCE, u ALWAYS make my day!!)

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"Making wagers with commoners? Why James, you need to watch yourself before you turn into me."

James just ignored his best friend and turned back to look out the window.

"You didn't really make a wager with…them, did you James?" Lady de Lewes asked, slightly hesitant.

"I did, as a matter of fact, My Lady."

"What will everyone say! James, they're commoners!" The Lady said, looking dismayed.

"Yes, but they are also decent people, My Lady, and I would ask you not to judge them without knowing them first." said James in a flat tone.

The Lady Cecelia chose not to say anything else while the men started talking about James' bet and the upcoming tournament.

"Anyhow," Remus started with a slight cough, "what was the bet about?"

"Miss Evans seems to think that one of their riders shall best me in the tournament. I was just setting straight the record."

"Ah, well I wouldn't get too…cocky just yet; the Evans riders have always been some of the best in the past years."

"That may be, Remus, but I have been the best in the all the past years." James replied with a smirk.

"Perhaps, but this year, mate, is the year you lose. Your horses may be good in battles but they haven't had any training for tournaments. While I, on the other hand, have trained near a year and there is no way that I will lose." Sirius ranted glad that the matter of the tournament had come up.

"I'm afraid I'll have to side with Sirius on this one, James, he's had more training in one month than you have for the last six. Seems I'll be betting against you this time." Remus agreed.

"What? And my best friends won't let me win on my birthday? Why, if there was ever a tragedy, this is it!" replied James, laughing along with his friends.

"Tragedy? This? Oh no no no, tragedy is what will happen on your birthday, Your Highness." said Sirius, adding a mock bow to the performance.

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To celebrate the Prince's twentieth birthday, riding tournaments were to be held in the capital followed by a Celebration Ball in the evening. Riders from all around the kingdom had come to London to take part in one of the most prestigious tournaments and were hoping to win. Augustus Attford and Nicholas Dawson had been entering the tournaments on part of the Evans household for a number of years and were highly competent riders, even if they had never been able to win against the Prince. Nicholas had started training in horseback riding and warfare at the Evans household ever since he turned fifteen while Augustus had been training at the Evans' soon after turning ten.

The Evans' relentless training schedule had been paying off lately, with the two riders coming closer and closer to winning in the past couple of years. But they were both on different levels and needed individual attention. Mr Evans alone was not able to provide this and so Augustus was partly trained by Lily, who had herself undergone the rigorous training ever since she was able to walk. Augustus had had doubts about this arrangement but after a while he and Lily got into the rhythm and were just as good as Nicholas, who was trained by Mr Evans.

But all this training would be for nought if they did not perform well at the riding tournaments, which was their best chance to be recruited by the cavalry. For this reason, both the riders were being put through their paces before the tournaments. Augustus more than Nicholas, because of Lily's wager against the Prince. After finishing the training on the eve of the Prince's birthday, Augustus could be heard moaning and complaining to Lily as they headed back from the grounds.

"You know, it is a pity you are a woman," he groaned, "because if you were a man you could train yourself for the tournaments, and then you'd know how rigid your training schedule is."

"Oh stop being so…feminine, besides, the horse is doing most of the work, all you're doing is sitting fatly on it."

"Why you little—, if you weren't a woman and if I had the energy to hit you, you would be lying on the ground right now for that little wisecrack!"

"Yes, but right now you are going to conserve that energy for that tournament tomorrow, because if you lose, you shall regret the day you were born." Lily said, stepping into the role of a trainer. "And do try to keep your limbs attached, because otherwise it would be quite an inconvenience when we get married."

"I BEG your PARDON??" Augustus exploded after a few seconds of stunned silence. "Since when are we getting married?"

"Augustus, do try to keep up with the times!" replied an exhausted Lily, "They have been planning our wedding ever since you moved here and I'm well aware that both our parents have talked to you about it, since you are the 'man' in the 'relationship'."

"How could you possibly know about that?"

"Its like they say, 'the walls have ears'."

"You were eavesdropping!!" he said, stunned that she would do such a thing.

"You can't call it eavesdropping! If anything, I was merely inviting myself to a conversation that seemed, in its entirety, to be about me! It was only fair that I be there." defended Lily.

For a few moments, Augustus didn't quite know how to react but quickly recovered from his shock and decided to take the tactical approach.

"Well…so you know…that the...uh…Celebration Ball is to be…our first…" he choked out, looking almost mortified.

"Outing, yes, I know, and that you are to ask me to dance the last dance with you." She stated matter-of-factly.

For a moment, both of them remained silent, not knowing what to say.

"I think you would make a horrible wife, Lily." Augustus said smugly, having recovered from shock and embarrassment.

"Yes, well, I shall be ten times worse if you lose that tournament tomorrow, just you remember that." Lily replied, taking the mock offence with stateliness.

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(Author's Note: Disclaimer - im sure everybody knows it by now...

The story - In this chapter, i kindda imagine Lily like the girl from 'Imp Of Being Ernest' who sorta has an imaginary relationship with Algernon. Anyways, that's just the weirdness for this chapter, theres no 'Crazy' Lily in this fic.

A VERY VERY big thank u to all my reviewers!! Seriously, i cannot believe the number of reviews i got! But a special mention goes to princecharmprincesswit. I'm sooo glad u asked me that coz i kept on forgetting to clear it up! Neways, no, NOT non magic, it'll come in later on, just can't mention it now or it'll be lyk the DH epilogue. n im sorry about the shortness and the lateness - i tried trying to make it better but its a lost cause, sorry guys!

So, a very big, humungous, gigantic thanx to: DarkRoseDevon, toria-b2, jassyflower, padfootlover12, Party.EnjoyLife.NoRegrets., pippapear, I-want-Jasper, magicXheart, dobbydarling, Stormwing, RosalieBellaPotter, princecharmprincesswit, .o.wolfgirl.o. haha, Kas, u found it lolz! good to know ur still reading! keep on reviewing everybody!! n Enjoy!!)