The Vampire and the Hunter - Harry Styles AU (Part 3)
Part 1
Part 2
Three days. You sighed, staring blankly into space. If only time could go by faster…
“Y/N, are you alright?”
Your best friend and roommate, Jill, gently placed a cup of tea in front of you. You didn’t notice. She called your name again, louder. “Excuse me?” you suddenly realised she had been trying to get your attention for a few minutes.
Jill rolled her eyes and laughed. “Who are you thinking about, huh? I know there’s someone you fancy, you’ve been acting so weird. Who is it?”
You smiled and took a sip of your tea, feeling instantly warmer. “His name is Harry… he’s a few years older than us…” Technically, you weren’t lying. He did mention he’d been turned into a vampire when he was 22, and you and Jill were both 19. “I don’t know him that well, but I’m supposed to go out with him tonight…”
Jill cheered and sat beside you on the sofa, grabbing a pillow and crossing her legs. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?! You have to tell me everything about the date tomorrow! What does Harry do? Is he in college?”
She started firing question after question and you couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know for sure, I think he might be, but he’s not originally from London.” That, at least, was the truth. Harry’s accent didn’t resemble the typical Londoner’s, though you didn’t know where he came from exactly. It was just one of the many things you longed to ask him.
When you’d parted with Harry a few days before you’d agreed to meet that night, not in a park or a cemetery though. You would meet at Westminster and have a walk around the area, one of your favourite bits of the city. You wanted to get to know Harry, you knew basically nothing about him…
and, since you weren’t going hunting, you could actually afford to dress a little less practical and a bit cuter for once. You asked Jill for advice and you eventually ended up wearing dark grey skinny jeans, a tight black shirt and a cute dark red jacket. You never wore too much make up, just the right amount, but this time you ended up carefully applying eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara, creating a smokey eye effect, then you put on some foundation to even the skin tone and finally coral red lipstick. You were ready and tried to ignore Jill’s smooching sounds as you put on your boots and left.
When you reached Westminster you looked around, but didn’t spot Harry. Maybe you were early…
“Hello.”
A deep, husky voice made you turn around. Harry was standing there, holding a single red rose, smiling. Your heartbeat increased at once and you blushed slightly as you gladly accepted the flower, thanking him. “How are you?” you asked, feeling a bit stupid because of the corny question.
“I’m well. What about you?”
Clad in his black, elegant coat, eyes tender and fixated on you, a small smile curling his lips, Harry looked absolutely flawless.
“Me too…”
You might have been a vampire hunter, but you were also a nineteen year old girl who could be very shy at times and right then was one of those occasions. After finding out Harry cared about you as well, after agreeing to meet on a proper date, you didn’t know what to talk about, how to act. Harry wasn’t a regular guy and you still couldn’t believe you’d got yourself in such a mess, attracted by a vampire. Thank goodness your mentors had no idea about it, nor your best friends.
“You look lovely tonight.” Harry whispered, his deep voice giving you goosebumps. He smiled again. “Would you like to go for a walk?”
You nodded and the two of you headed towards Tower Bridge, both of you silent, stealing glances at each other. Harry struck you as the silent type and you didn’t want things to get awkward between you two, you felt like you had to initiate a conversation.
“Harry… I don’t know much about you…”
He nodded, as serious as ever. “What would you like to know?”
You hesitated, before posing one of the questions you were most curious about. “You told me you were 22 when you… were turned. What year was that?”
He kept silent at first, gazing at the night sky, before looking at you again. “It was exactly one century ago, in 1914. World War 1 had just started. So I guess you could say I’m 122 years old, given that was my age when it happened.”
You were taken aback. You weren’t sure of the average vampire age - if there even was such a thing- and Harry becoming a vampire during the War… was there a connection? “Oh…” you didn’t want to ask. What if something painful had happened then? Stupid, whatever happened was painful for sure, his whole life changed! you silently reprimanded yourself.
“Did you think I was older, or younger?”
“Well, I couldn’t really guess your age…” you observed him. He looked his age, but if one didn’t know one could guess Harry was between 20 and 26 years old. “If you don’t mind me asking, where are you from?”
“Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.” So he had a Cheshire accent. You had never been to that part of England. “I’ve travelled a lot, but that’s my home town. It used to be very small, so unlike London, I doubt you have heard of it. Though I don’t know what it’s like now… last time I went there was probably thirty years ago.”
You weren’t even born back then. Feeling a bit weirded out you nodded. “Where have you lived?”
“Lots of countries. Italy, France, Ireland… the US… Singapore… Japan…” he paused, studying the look on your face. “Surprised? When you have so much time you find yourself wanting to explore new places.”
You couldn’t even imagine living in so many different countries, having all the time in the world. “I’ve only travelled a bit around Europe, but… I think it would be lovely to be able to go everywhere…”
Harry stopped walking, leaning against the railing of Tower Bridge. He stared at the Thames, silent. In the moonlight he looked breathtaking and you couldn’t take your eyes off him, so many questions running through your mind. You wanted to know more about him, but you didn’t know how to ask personal questions without possibly hurting him. And you were scared of finding out something bad, something painful.
You got closer and decided to settle for something simple. “When did you come back to London?”
“Ten years ago. Before that, I’d only been in London a couple of times, but I’d never lived here. I like it very much.” He smiled and glanced at you. “Where are you from?”
“Canterbury.” you replied in a whisper. You were still trying to come to terms with your attraction to Harry and everything he was telling you. “It’s only a couple of hours by train, my family lives there. I moved here last year for college, and…” you bit your lip. Shortly after moving to London you’d found out about vampires, about your destiny as a hunter, about all the Supernatural things. It had been a rough year.
“Canterbury is a lovely town.” A gentle breeze was blowing, messing your hair a bit, and Harry delicately tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. Contrary to any possible expectation concerning vampires, he had the softest touch, he was very graceful. “I’ve been there a few times. I love the Cathedral.”
You looked at him, perplexed. “You… can go inside?”
Harry smiled and shook his head. “I can’t. But I visited once, when I was still human. I vividly remember it, everything inside was stunning.”
Your mentors had taught you the basics at first and kept teaching you more and more, there was still much you needed to learn, but what you knew for sure about vampires was: they avoided going outside during the day, they wouldn’t go unless it was cloudy or rainy and when they did they were weaker, slower. They could only be killed by beheading them, burning them to the core or piercing their heart with a wooden stake. They couldn’t go inside churches, get near crosses or holy water… you supposed even if Harry belonged to a specific, “kinder” race, it made no difference and gave him no privileges in that sense.
“It hasn’t been easy for you.” Harry suddenly said, looking at the horizon, again. “Maybe I shouldn’t have revealed myself, but that night… I had to help you.”
“I am glad you did.” you assured him, taking his hand, gently squeezing it. “I know almost nothing about you and you barely know anything about me… but…” you didn’t want to admit it. You didn’t want to give in and say it out loud. If you did, you wouldn’t be able to take it back and everything would feel even more real.
You let go of Harry’s hand and sighed. “I must be out of my mind. I don’t even know your full name.”
“Harold Edward Styles.” he immediately told you, smiling slightly. “I know it’s a bit old fashioned, but I was born in 1892, after all.”
“It’s a lovely name.” Harry could probably have given you any other name and you’d still believe that, since you fancied him so much. “I… sorry, this is very personal, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to… do you still have any relatives left?”
Harry shook his head. “Not that I know of. Because of the War… well, I had an older brother, but he passed away then. I also had an older sister…” his gaze became distant, but only for a moment. “She also passed away. She had only been married for a short time when she died, she was very young. Of course, my parents, my uncles and aunts, everybody passed away in time.”
You had no idea how to reply. It was only natural that Harry’s closest family members would have passed away decades before, but it was still sad. You’d hoped that maybe, just maybe, he still had distant relatives left, but even so… he couldn’t exactly tell them who he was, could he?
“Do you have a big family?” Harry asked you, changing topic.
You two chatted for a while, you told him about your parents and that you had a younger sister who still lived with them in Canterbury. You walked and walked, the conversation got more relaxed and you both had the opportunity to learn more about each other.
~~~~
“I had fun with you, Harry…”
This time you hadn’t really minded about him walking home with you, mostly because you didn’t want to part from him. It was only midnight, not exactly late for Harry, but you had to get up early in the morning. Still, it was hard to say goodbye.
“I had fun, too. Y/N…” he gingerly leaned closer, then stepped back. “Sorry.”
You had believed, for one wild second, that he would kiss you, sweep you off your feet. But when Harry hesitated you were reminded, for the nth time, that you two couldn’t afford the luxury of giving in to your feelings, ignoring any rational behaviour.
Harry was a vampire, he couldn’t enter your place unless you invited him first. You always felt safe at home because of that, you knew no vampires could get in. But… “I won’t ask you to come in, not this time.” you whispered, getting closer to him. “I think nothing bad will happen if we just…” you didn’t finish your sentence. Both you and Harry moved at the same time and pressed your lips together.
The kiss was nothing like anything you’d experienced before. It was sweet and gentle at first, then it gradually started becoming passionate and needy. You only pulled away because you needed to breathe and when you did you noticed Harry’s green eyes had got a bit darker. “Are you okay?”
“Yes…”
Harry pulled you against him and kissed you again. His lips were soft, his tongue warm, his scent enticing. You could feel the temperature rise as you two exchanged kisses, your body heating up, your mind going blank.
You weren’t able to part for a very long time.