Complete Summary:

AU. A 1000 years ago, a magical Plague extinguished three quarters of Britain's magical population, including three of the four founders; Godric Gryffindor remained and founded a new world, with a monarchy that would last for years and years to come. Now, Ginny Weasley is the Hollyhead Harpies' star chaser and a simple commoner, but Harry James Potter of Evans and Gryffindor, Prince of Wales, has an eye on her.

A/N: So, hey, guys. I'm going to start by telling you this...This is a very risky story because it is barely a Harry Potter story...and after hearing that, a lot of you will stop reading, but I loved the idea of mixing a good plot with some good magic, and I happen to love AUs that are nothing like canon but still somehow make things fit. That's what I'm trying here.

This is a romance story and, really, there is not much more to it, except that it's a modern tough love that no one is too sure about. I don't want to give too much out, but, if you're a romance lover and, more importantly, a devoted Harry/Ginny shipper...stay along and give the story a try; I think you might really enjoy it :)

14th December 2004

London was decorated by a covered grey sky, a sky that threatened to break down crying but seemed to be too stubborn to show it's real side.

The tea cup shook slightly in the queen's left hand as she watched her only son apparate into the secluded garden area. He had never been someone who gave out his emotions, but she had always been able to read him perfectly, and right now she knew that, underneath that fake smile and that careless expression, he was in the same mood as that sky.

"If you don't stop shaking, you're going to drop the tea," the masculine voice interrupted her thoughts.

She turned around and looked at her husband, sitting behind the wooden desk.

"He's destroyed; he's completely destroyed," her motherly tone hugged her normal voice as she looked back at the window, and found her son walking towards the media. "He's suffering, and the first thing he has to do is talk to them; he can't even come in and let me hug him, and he wouldn't do it anyway; he won't until you learn to stop treating him like a child."

She heard the chair being moved slightly and, a few seconds later, the king was taking the cup from her hand, placing it on the window sill and covering her hands with his own.

"It's the way it is, Lily, he's used to it, just like you and me were...and we all know this whole thing was not meant to last, we all know it just couldn't be," James the Second spoke with his softer tone, one that only his children and wife tended to hear.

Lily turned around to look at him, placing her arms on his chest and leaning against them. "The worst thing is I didn't even like her," she confessed. "Four years, five breakups, three almost-proposals, so much suffering... and none of us even liked her that much. She could've never been queen."

James was going to speak again, but his son's voice reached them and they shared a look before walking towards the front yard, where Harry James, Prince of Wales, was speaking.

"It has been a mutual agreement between Cho and I, and the friendship between us will hopefully remain for years to come. This relationship has ended privately and for private reasons, reasons that do not include the crown or the king and queen."

The twenty-four year old stopped for a second and his emerald eyes found his mum's similar ones. He offered her a small smile.

"The fact stands that the split is most definite and, as I have stated, any further meeting will be an act of friendship. I thank you all for your time and concern. Good afternoon."

And having said that, he gave a final smile and wave and apparated on the spot.

Lily Potter looked at her husband displeased.

"It's your fault that he doesn't stay, you know? Now I'll have to go to his house and it will be his territory... the least you could do is say sorry, don't you think?"

James sighed. "It happened a month ago, Lily, and I only said what was right... He's even come to the same conclusion, obviously."

Lilly shook her head as she started walking inside, the media seemed to be asking them some questions, but they simply gave a small smile and ignored them. "The reason it's ended has nothing to do with your insistence that she's not royal; it has to do with the fact that he knows he and Cho would never work out in the long run; how long have they actually been together in these four years, if you take away trips and, most importantly, the breakups...Merlin, they can barely stand each other!"

James Potter looked down at his wife but didn't say anything; if Voldemort had not dissolved the monarchy when James's father had almost been ready to be king, he would have had a lot of troubles to marry Lily Evans, who was the Princess of Norway, just not magical Norway, since Lily Evans's parents were Muggles, and Lily was the first witch to ever been born in Muggle monarchy.

Salazar Slytherin might have died hundreds of years ago, along with three-quarters of the magical population of that time, but his ideals hadn't left the quarter that survived, and Muggle-borns were still criticized by a part of the world.

So, yes, in that aspect, it hadn't been hard for him, and he didn't wish for it to be hard for his son, but Cho Chang had been a model, a model that was always too miserable and egoistic to care about a crown; a model that was just not for his son.

James saw his wife start twisting on the spot and sighed; he would never win a fight against her; she always got the last word, and he loved her too much to not let her have what she wanted.

"It's very... comfy," Molly Weasley spoke as she looked around the small flat in London.

Her daughter laughed as she put her hair up in an untidy bun and then, with a flick of her wand, charmed the objects in the box to order themselves on the wooden shelf.

"You can say you hate it, I don't mind, Mum," Ginny Weasley told her mother as she smiled.

The older woman shook her head. "I don't hate it, of course I don't hate it, I just don't understand why you wouldn't rather come live at The Burrow... you've been in Wales for far too long, and now that they finally let you live in London, you're going to live here?"

Ginny rolled her eyes and proceeded to set up the kitchen cupboards.

"For a start," she said. "There's an Apparating platform in the basement of the building, which means it'll take less energy to Apparate, and it will take me even less time to get to Wales four days a week. And, secondly, well... Mum, I adore The Burrow, just like I adored Wales, but, with you, I've always got you on my case, and in Wales, I always had Gwenog on me... making sure her star-chaser-in-the-making was perfect. Now, I want to have liberty, now I am that star chaser, now I've reached the point I want, I want to enjoy it for as long as I can, alone and with freedom."

Molly simply nodded, knowing that arguing with her daughter would be of no use; she did not know a more stubborn person and she had lost this argument far too many times.

"Have you seen Dean lately?" the matriarch asked casually, but Ginny still, characteristically, rolled her eyes.

"We've exchanged a few owls," the twenty-three year old answered, pausing to look at her mother. "Mum, you know that that's over, it's a mistake of the past."

Molly bit her lip. "But, there's a spark, right? You still talk..."

Ginny shook her head at her mother and frowned. "We were together since I was thirteen, Mum...we were stupid enough to elope and get married in the Muggle way when I was barely twenty and, after two months of living in the same house, I realized I couldn't put up with his artistic perfectionism and he couldn't understand my love for Quiddich and the effort I put into it... We got a divorce and now we greet each other pleasantly from time to time... no more to it."

Molly nodded, but she couldn't help the sigh that came from her lips. A divorce in the Wizarding world was so uncommon... of course, her daughter didn't actually have a Wizarding ceremony, so no bond was made; however, it still hurt. She didn't give it another thought, though; she knew it was a tough subject for Ginny.

"And, is there anyone else?"

A small smile crept onto Ginny's face. "Lee Jordan...you know, the twin's best friend from school and the personal trainer for the Harpies... he's nice and incredibly handsome... a bit self-centred, but I don't know..."

Ginny sat down on the sofa and her mum sat beside her. "I'm at the top, Mum... And, unless there's an accident, I'll be at the top for at least three more years, and then I'll still have two or three more years of playing, maybe in a smaller team, but I'll still play... and then I'll coach or I'll be a sports correspondent, you know I've always thought that we need some proper journalists out there... I'm gonna make my name known. When people say 'Ginny Weasley', I want people to look up. They already do, but I want that to always be there. Men, well they come and go, I really don't care... my career... well, there's no man who could take that from me."

Molly Weasley simply smiled at her and decided to keep quiet. Her daughter may be feisty and have a strong personality, but behind that she'd always been a hopeless romantic, one that would leave everything for the right man, even if she didn't know it yet.

By the time the queen had apparated to the other side of the palace, her son had changed into his duelling outfit and was swinging his wand madly at Mad-eye Moody, the Minister of Warlike affairs. She took a few steps towards the training room, and as she got nearer, all she could see was how heart-broken Harry was.

"Sectum-" Harry started shouting, but as he was about to pronounce the spell, his wand flew out of his hand and towards the red-headed female standing at the glass door.

Harry turned around to look at her, his face slightly annoyed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Hello, Alastor," Lily spoke politely. "Do you think I could have a moment alone with the prince?"

The man nodded courtly. "Of course, your Majesty." He then turned to Harry again. "I'll be back in two hours or so, practice that right flick..."

Mad-eye walked out of the room and Lily took a step forward and put her arms around her son's body, seconds later, he responded.

"I'm okay," Harry said, pulling back. "I really am fine."

Lilly gave a small comfortable laugh. "You're always ok, you're always fine... but not really, Cho and you have been through a lot, you thought she was the one..."

"I thought I didn't have to keep on looking," Harry interrupted her. "There's a big difference. I... I just turned twenty-four, Liz is twenty-one and she's already pregnant..."

"Hey," Lily tried to soothe him. "Elizabeth is a special case; your sister is probably one of the youngest Queens in the world at this moment. I myself, don't like the idea that she married so young... it's another story, we all know... Federico was being forced to choose and she was in love, but that doesn't mean she's better than you... in a lot of ways, she just had it easier."

Harry sat down. "I just... I don't want to marry a royal, it seems even pathetic at this point, we're a modern society, are we not?"

"Of course we are," Lily told him. "But, Harry, we also rule a lot of people... it took your father and me a lot to make this people believe in us, love us... after what your dad had to do to get rid of Voldemort, it seemed half of Britain would never respect us... but your dad set them straight; he created the best parliament ever seen, he was our saviour, but we all had to make sacrifices, and this monarchy is very old, it has been through so much... to let a commoner in would create a revolt. To let a model like Cho, who had been caught in compromising moments... well, it just hardly seems ok."

"I've already said," Harry repeated. "There's about 6 royal women I can actually marry, I will not choose, it hardly seems fair..."

Lilly caressed his cheek softly. "It is your choice, son. Even if your father must give his blessing, ultimately; it is always your choice."

Harry looked at her for a second, knowing that she was telling him what she always had, that being king was a gift, not an obligation... abdicating would always be an option. But he had always known he would marry for love, and he had thought, once, that that love was Cho, the model, and at another time, Padma, the singer; but most importantly, the reasons to leave those relationships behind had never been about the crown, they had been about him.

"And," Victoria Clarence's voice vibrated through the hall that lead to the locker rooms, "Ladies and more ladies... this is our star chaser, finally out of the initiating training camp and back living in London... this is, the 'Red Flash'!"

Ginny laughed at her and hit her playfully with the bag she was carrying on her left shoulder.

"Also knows as Ginny Weasley!" Coral added, standing at the back of the room.

The girls laughed and headed towards Ginny, congratulating her. She had just finished picking up her last things from the training camp and was now out for sure.

She had always loved Wales, ever since she was sent there to spend a week with her Aunt Muriel in the summer, when she was five. She hated her aunt, but the place had captivated her, specially the fact that from the garden of her aunt's house, you could see the Holyhead Harpies' stadium and she could daydream about flying in it.

That's why she was sad to leave the training camp. In reality she should've been out of there two years ago, and she was out... when she married Dean, but after the split she had begged Gwenog to let her stay there again, in the comfort of knowing she was always with friends and working in the thing she liked more than any other thing.

She then looked around and couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Kayla carrying a diadem with a small bat engraved in it...

"For the Princess of Wales!" she shouted. "The best Chaser ever seen!"

Ginny shook her head and Kayla put the diadem on her head. "Careful, Kayla, no princess here, I'll leave that to darling 'Chang'."

They all laughed. "Not anymore, Gin," Victoria spoke up. "They broke up, definitely; Prince Potter is back on the market."

Ginny laughed and took the diadem of her head. "Either way," she spoke. "Still no princess here, thankfully; although... that part about being the best chaser ever..."