Summary: Steve Rogers has worked hard to keep his relationship with Harry apart from the Avengers in order to maintain a small bout of normalcy…until Harry admits that she was more than just a down to earth university student. Fem!Royal!Harry. HPSR.

Chapter 1

We need to talk

Steve Rogers may theoretically be pushing 90 while being so out of sync with the social norms of the 21th century that it wasn't even funny anymore, he wasn't ignorant enough to not know the universal implications of the words "We need to talk". He had seen way too much TV shows, read too many romance novels to even hope to be able to approach this in a mature and level-headed way.

"Oh god," Steve said faintly as he read out loud the text message that Harry had just sent, "She's going to break up with me."

Clint, who incidentally also happened to be the only member of the Avengers who was aware of Harry's existence, rolled his eyes.

"She's not going to break up with you," he drawled as he took a sip of his drink, "She probably has some important news. Besides, has she given you any indications that the relationship wasn't working anymore?"

Steve started at that and calmed himself down enough for him to think. Truth be told, he really can't think of a single reason why Harry would be unsatisfied with their relationship. Call him naïve or optimistic, but Steve thought he and Harry's relationship were what fairy tales were made off. Harry was sweet, down-to-earth and wonderful with children – not a surprise since she was studying to become a kindergarten teacher. He had met her one October morning when he had accidently poured his entire cup of coffee on her new blouse. She hadn't yelled at him for that and that was what made him ask her out right there and then. She had agreed surprisingly and they had been going steady for a year already.

Harry was one of the rare persons in this city that didn't know who Steve was. And when she did find out about the Avengers, she just rolled her eyes and didn't insist on meeting them. Steve was glad because he was already new to this thing and didn't want any other elements to potentially complicate matters. Harry was his safe haven; his little grain of normalcy that his therapist insisted him to have in order to remain sane. And all that together, there was no wonder he fell so hard.

"See?" Clint sounded triumphant, smiling at Steve, "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah," Steve mumbled and tried to do just that.

After making an excuse to the rest of the Avengers, Steve made his way towards the red-bricked apartment building Harry lived in. It wasn't a dump, nor was it overly fancy and Steve was perfectly fine with that.

"Hey," Harry greeted him at the door and give him a small kiss on the lips. Steve momentarily closed his eyes, enjoying her closeness and the knowledge that maybe she really wasn't about to break up with him.

"Hey," he said back, soft and sweet, familiar and oddly domestic.

She led him inside; Steve putting his light jacket on the coat rack as he passed. It wasn't exactly summer yet so the jacket was still a necessity if Steve didn't want to seem out of place. Harry, Steve noticed, was simply wearing a pair of jeans and one of the t-shirts she had stolen from him a couple of days ago. It was a good look on her and Steve felt himself grow steadily aroused at the sight. Instead of indulging his desires however, he firmly told himself that he needed to stay focused because whatever Harry wanted to tell him was making her nervous.

They took seats in the living room, Steve in front of Harry instead of next to her. It would make the conversation much easier that way.

"So," Harry started, playing with the hem of her shirt like every time she didn't know how to start, "Before I start, I want to put emphasis on the fact that the only reason I didn't tell you before was because I never thought it would matter. And now as it turned out, things changed and I knew I can't keep it away from you if I wanted this relationship to go further."

"And do you?" Steve asked, heart in his throat. He knew that he was already too far gone and a break-up would literally destroy him.

Harry just rolled her eyes.

"Of course I do," she replied, "That's why I'm telling you. Ok, now shush, I need to concentrate."

Steve obediently shut up and waited for her to start. He didn't have to wait long before she said.

"You know how I never talked about my parents…"

"Yeah?" he encouraged. It was true, whenever Steve would try to bring up her family situation, Harry would shut down. He had learnt then to keep his mouth shut. A little curiosity wasn't worth destroying their relationship.

"My parents are pretty important people," Harry continued, eyes downcast, "They sent me away because there were rumors that assassins have been sent after them. Since I was only the second daughter and not my father's heir, it was preferable if I was hidden just in case the heir, my brother, got killed."

"Oh," Steve relaxed, already have a feeling where this was going, "Hey don't worry; I won't think of you any other way just because of who your family is."

"The thing is," Harry continued, ignoring his words, "My brother wasn't killed and the assassins captured. However, Alfred, my brother, decided that being the heir wasn't his cup of tea anymore and has given up his position. As the second child, it is my duty to take up where he had left off."

"Are you leaving then?" Steve asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice, "Is that why-"

"Oh god no!" Harry immediately said, eyes wide, "There will be some changes; I will move to another house but I will not be leaving the city for a while. But that's not why I'm telling you. The thing is…" she paused, took a deep breath before continuing: "The thing is, my father's the king of a small European country and with my brother's decision to abdicate, the position of Crown prince or princess in this case has fallen upon me."

Steve blinked. Ok, so maybe this is a little bit more than he had expected.

"Oh and," Harry continued, wincing a little, "They somehow found out that we're involved and want you to accompany me to the ball they will be throwing in my honor, in a week's time."

Steve suddenly felt extremely light headed.

TBC.