This is written for the Winter Challenge of The Houses Competition. I combined "Happily Ever After" from the Trope Challenge and "Royalty AU" from the AU Challenge. I hope my definition of HEA is the same as yours. Word count: 6126
A/N: I was very inspired by the plot of Aladdin to write this. At first, my original ideas for a plot were so similar to Aladdin that I was worried, but this new plot just smacked me over the head.
Yeah, I know all of their names don't really fit with the Aladdin-ish culture, but how else are you and I going to know who I am writing? Ginny could be Molly, for all you know. Also, "gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat" is a line from the song One Jump Ahead in the movie Aladdin. I know this doesn't really fit into history . . . let's just pretend it does.
I was super excited to write this! PLEASE review! I might cry tears of joy if you do. Thanks so much to Aya Diefair for beta-ing this! :)
Warnings: child abuse (minor, does not play a big role in the plot)
Notes: minor character deaths (or major deaths, depending on how you look at it), the canon timeline/ages/family trees are all switched up, Ginny is spoiled, Molly is dead, Ginny loves Harry, I'm eviiil mwahah, Ginny marries a Malfoy, Ginny has some offensive opinions about some of the characters, arranged marriages, sort of HEA, slash pairing (one-sided), and there's a pov switch (sorry).
Disclaimer: I am not making any profit by writing this, it is purely to keep myself amused. I do not own Warner Bros. and I am not JK Rowling. And I don't own Disney's Aladdin, and I wouldn't be here if I did. This is just fanfiction, people.
Note (April 5, 2018): The original one-shot has been divided up into a multi-chapter story to better fit the story flow I am hoping to achieve.
A child with blond hair and brown eyes sat in front of his young mother, listening to her tell a story, all of his attention devoted to her words. She was the prettiest lady he'd ever seen. Even her name—Ginevra—was pretty.
"They were the most honest people I had the pleasure of meeting, despite having so little in their life. It was amazing to see all of the great things they'd done without having all the possessions we do," she said softly, her red hair sweeping over her shoulders as she leaned forward and brushed her son's hair out of his eyes.
He gaped at her.
"How?" he asked in his tiny, adorable voice.
"I . . . I don't really know. I don't think I'd still be in this palace if I did, but then I wouldn't have you," she said truthfully.
Her precious child was the only great thing to come from everything that had happened six years ago, when she had been forced to marry a man she did not love. But if he is what she got in return, she did not mind living in a loveless marriage.
"Do you think you'll ever see them again, mother?" her son asked, his brown eyes wide and hopeful.
Ginevra bit her lip as her heart stuttered in her chest.
No, she thought. I won't ever see them again.
"Maybe," she said instead, smiling as the boy's face lit up and he stood up quickly, running up to his mother and hugging her tightly.
She wrapped her arms around him as he tried to climb into her lap. She pulled him up so he could rest his head on her shoulder, and she stroked his hair.
"I'm so happy you're here, mother," he said. He was always telling her that she was beautiful or that her smile was better than a million others.
He was sweet, and Ginevra was thankful. She had been so worried that he'd be like her husband or her brother Ronald.
She didn't know what she did to deserve her little angel, but Ginevra was eternally grateful for her husband, if only because he helped make her tiny miracle. She did care for her husband, yes, but it was very difficult to forgive him for everything he had done.
She held her blond boy closer and couldn't help but think about a woman who once had a child, a baby boy much like her own, and her heart thudded painfully in her chest.
It's not my fault, she thought, believing that she was lying to herself. Maybe she was.
Six Years Ago
Ginevra stared at the gardens below her from the balcony of her bedroom, arms resting on the stone railing. She frowned, her eyebrows furrowed, as she watched her brothers run around the garden. They were acting like children, and they were older than Gin'. She was certainly not a child, at age eighteen and soon to be married.
Well, as soon as she met her suitor, that is.
Gin' was bored with all the men who came to her. She wanted someone exciting, who could make her laugh and sweep her off her feet. She knew it was ridiculous, but she didn't want to ask Fleur—her brother William's wife—about realistic marriage, because she just didn't like the blonde woman.
Her other brothers were all married, but not exactly to respectable women, like Fleur at least was. There was Hermione, Ronald's wife, and she was too annoying to be a lady. Angelina was wedded to George; she was pregnant every ten months and it seemed rather improper to Gin'. Charlie was known for stealing girls' hearts, but then he settled with a tramp by the name of Penelope. Perseus was engaged to marry someone named Luna, who Gin' had met only once and instantly disliked because the woman was simply too odd.
Even Fred had been married to a Miss Katie—before they both fell ill and died when Gin' was ten years old. Ginevra's mother herself was also dead, so there was no point in looking for help there.
That left Ginevra to be the last one to marry, and she had to do it soon. She wanted to get someone witty or intelligent, but her father put his foot down after she rejected her tenth suitor. He was choosing her fiancé now, and Gin' had no say in it.
It was so unfair.
Ginevra turned away from her brothers with a drawn-out sigh, about to go back inside her bedroom to try to find something to occupy herself with, when something glinted in the corner of her vision.
Intrigued, Gin' turned, and found herself staring out at the vast town outside the palace. She'd never been there; her father didn't permit it after the death of her mother. She knew she shouldn't even entertain the idea of going past the walls surrounding the palace, but she couldn't help but imagine.
She bit her lip as she thought about it. With every passing moment, sneaking out of this boring palace might be the most exciting thing she could possibly do to cure her boredom. She knew exactly who to go to. Sometimes having brothers was great.