Written for WolfWinks for the Random Acts of Kindness Competition #6.
Packet of Prompts Challenge: Vampire!AU
Challenges by the Dozen: Level Six [write six fics each in different genres] #1
CP Quotes Challenge: "If you remember nothing, remember I told you to remember."
Harry Potter's next target was just an average small village on a hill. There was nothing unordinary about it, from what he could tell. It was just another destination of his missions.
His goal was to get in, turn some villagers into vampires, and then get out. Simple, is it not?
If only it actually worked out that simply.
It was—of course—nighttime when Harry crept into the village silently, holding his cloak in a way that covered up his eyes from view. His damn bright green eyes reflected the light too much, so the lead vampire had instructed him to cover them with his cloak when sneaking in.
The houses all looked like cardboard cut-outs of each other at night. Harry did a quick "eeny-meenie-miny-moe" and chose one randomly. With a mumbled incantation, he transformed into a bat and swooped upwards through the sky.
Harry flew in a circle around the house before flying closer to one of the windows on the backside of the house. He pried it open slightly and zoomed inside. As soon as he transformed back into a regular vampire, he hovered over the snoring ginger-haired man in bed. But just like always, he sucked up his dwindling conscience and bit the man on the side of the neck.
Get in, check. Bite, check.
Just as Harry transformed back into a bat and started to squirm his way out the window again, he saw a light flick on inside the house at the top of the hill. A girl poked her head out of the window. Harry tried to cower away into the shadows, but it was too late. They had made eye contact.
His first instinct was to fly away as fast as he could to headquarters, where he would be safe. But then he remembered what the lead vampire had advised him to do when a human spotted you in the act. Harry would wait it out for a few minutes, and once the light was out and the girl's head back inside her room again, he would fly in and give her the bite, too.
The girl withdrew her head, and after a few seconds, Harry flew over to her house and window. Just like he always did, he carefully pried open the window, slipped inside, and transformed, when suddenly the girl piped up.
"I knew vampires were real! They all told me it was just my imagination but it wasn't. Now they're wrong," the girl said, grinning. Harry could only stare at her with his jaw dropped.
"You're… You're not afraid of me?"
She giggled. "Of course not. Why would I be? Anyway, my name is Luna Lovegood, and it's nice to meet you. What's your name?"
Harry hesitated for a second. Luna was a stranger. He was a vampire and she was a human. "I'm Harry Potter, and I really should bite you right now." Internally, he slapped himself. Idiot. Why would you say that?
Luna smiled at him and stuck her arm out. "Hi, Harry. I'd rather you wouldn't bite me, though, seeing as I still need to prove that werewolves and unicorns and other magical species are real. Vampires were only the first step."
Harry didn't really know how to respond to that, so he nodded and accepted her handshake. Her hand was exceptionally warm, a big contrast to his own eternally cold hands.
"I've always wanted to see a vampire bite somebody up close," Luna said. "It would make a fantastic article for my father's magazine, The Quibbler."
"I can show what it's like," Harry blurted out before realizing what he had said. It was against the vampire code to bite a human with another human watching. Although, it was even more against the code to befriend a human. I should really just bite her and get out, but I just… I just can't.
Luna's face brightened up immediately, and her face split into a grin. "Can you really? Oh, thank you, Harry!"
"Sure. Just follow me."
Harry had flown Luna down from her house window, but then set her down on the street so they could walk together. He didn't trust himself to carry her safely all the way down the road.
"Are you certain you want to watch?" he asked her for the millionth time.
"Yes, I really am, Harry! How do you choose a person to suck blood out of?" Luna asked.
He scratched his head. "Mostly, it's at random. It's a new village every night. So, how about… that house?" he asked her, pointing at one of the houses on the street. Luna nodded her head emphatically.
The two of them strolled down to the dwelling, and Harry transformed into a bat again. He carried Luna up to one of the windows.
"Feel free to do the honors," he said, gesturing at the window. Luna happily opened up the window, and scooched herself inside.
On the bed was a young boy who looked around the same age as Luna. Harry bit his lip. "... Do you know this kid, Luna? Are you really okay with this?"
Luna took a long look at the kid, and nodded. "Yes. He was one of the ones who bullied me," she whispered, now looking at Harry.
Without another word, Harry lowered his fangs to the exposed neck of the boy. He hesitated for a second, but then sunk his fangs into the skin and bit him.
Luna was silent, but her eyes were wide with wonder.
The two of them were now both sitting on Luna's bed. The sky was just beginning to lighten up.
"Luna… The morning will come soon. I have to go," he said, glancing at her nervously.
She nodded. "It's okay, Harry."
"I might not ever see you again, and… I love you, Luna. It's so wrong, but I love you. I'll miss you."
Luna said nothing at first and just hugged him. "If you remember nothing else, remember I told you to remember," she said, eyes twinkling.
"I love you too, Harry."
