Authors Note- I know, it's been a while but I've already explained that I take forever to update my stories. Anyway, I just need to address the pairings of this story- Harry/Volturi kings. Which, yes, means it will be a polygamy story. I mean, I think the Kings will compete for her attention at first, be jealous of the other brother for hording her attention but eventually will just begrudgingly share her.


Warnings- Sassy Harry, Santiago is suave, until suddenly he isn't, Harry's scent is a drug of epic proportions, Santiago is a puppy in denial, Harry deserves a puppy, so I gave her a puppy, the other secretaries are honestly incompetent, Harry is sick of their shit, paperwork, god Harry is a sarcastic twat, she's also a super mommy who wants to cuddle anything that reminds her of Teddy, author is horrible with grammar, be kind.


Chapter Three- Santiago


Long ago, Volterra was one of the many socialist cities of the Roman empire with a population that exceeded ten thousand, a large number for an archaic society. That was a long time ago, before wars had started and were lost. Volterra in the twenty-first century was considered a rather small place with only eleven thousand occupants, only half of the world wide average for most villages.

This had made it easy for Harry to walk to her job at the clock tower once Teddy's baby sitter had shown up. She had decided as the newbie in her new role that she should be at the clock tower a whole three hours early so as to get a feel for the place and the difficulty of her job and quite frankly, she was glad she had taken the initiative.

Harry was sure, so sure, that the other three secretaries were hired solely based on their looks because it sure as hell wasn't for their organizing skills. She was aware the moment she lay eyes on her first vampire here that most of the records held would be on paper, -or parchment or papyrus, she wasn't sure how old those guys were-, she was prepared for the lack of neat, clean, organised electronic copies stored happily on a computer.

What she wasn't prepared for was the boxes upon boxes of mixed papers that held no visible connections, one financial paper from ten years ago sat upon a list of assets from three years ago. There was no sign of employment records- though, perhaps for the best, Harry wasn't sure she wanted to see how quickly an employee was terminated- and she was quite sure that the Volterra vampires hadn't paid taxes since the sixth century.

All in all, despite their front, the facade of the vampires was so thin that anyone who took the time to so much as google them would result in everything falling apart and the police and fraud squad would be on them within minutes and Harry did not do prison. They were lucky that their little business venture had started so long ago and that it was hard to keep track of businesses like it, no doubt it was the only thing keeping them afloat.

Harry was shocked out of her thoughts, almost literally. Her magic gave a small jolt, rising to simmer underneath her skin, waiting to be called upon when it felt the gaze of a predator on it's host. There was no sound to prove it right, no shadow or sight as her back was turned to the door. Nothing but the slight lifting of paper as a gentle and silent breeze floated into the room to show for the vampire now quietly watching her. She felt no malice or cruel intention, nothing but mild curiosity so with little fanfare, she turned.

He stood there with ruby eyes almost half lidded, his head cocked slightly to the side as he took her in the same way she was taking him in; two shadows circling each other behind the puppet masters back. His dark dreadlocks fell to the middle of his back as they were held in place with nothing but a simple leather cord tethered to the base of his neck and to her utmost surprise, a set of plain gold hoops were pierced through his earlobes, something so contrary to what she knew of the sleepless race.

Other than that, this vampire was no different looking than others she had seen with her own eyes, or through others. His brown skin lacked any flaws and while not the traditional pale, it still managed to look chalky, like it was made from moonlight gathered off dark water. Like every vampire he was the embodiment of a steel sword wrapped in silk and like every vampire of Volterra he wore fine materials of varying shades of grey- his own being pewter, so much lighter than those warn by the 'masters' who always wore black.

Harry could only be amused at how easy it was to figure out ranks in this coven. The darker your clothing the higher you were on the food chain.

"And you are?" The vampire spoke, so soft she almost believed he had forgotten what it was like to be human and practically deaf in comparison. His voice was woven with an accent that she didn't even bother trying to deduce, no doubt he belonged to a society that had long been dead or merged with another and it's language lost.

Puffing out a sharp gust of air, Harry pinched the bridge of her nose. "The only one capable of doing a secretaries work properly apparently," She muttered to herself, fully aware that his vampire senses would pick it up. Sure enough when her hand fell to unblock her view of him his full bloodless lips were quirked up in a small amused smirk of sorts, compelling her to send him a wicked one of her own.

Harry stuck her hand out and watched as he almost subconsciously drew closer to her until he was naught but two steps away where he abruptly stopped, appearing to be rather surprised at her distance, like she was two miles away instead of right there in front of him, but Harry ignored it in favor of giving a teasing, "This is the part where you shake my hand and we instantly connect over short quips and our shared hate of politics and you spend the rest of the week helping me sorting out this hell hole of paperwork which is glossed over in a forty second montage with ACDC singing along."

That small amused smirk was back again as he shook her hand quickly enough that she didn't have the time to shiver from it's icy feel. "It would take more than a week to sort out the aftermath of years of pretty but vague women littering the offices of the Piazza dei Priorri." He finished with a flourish of perfect Italian, to which Harry could only think, Yu-huh Liar vampire-speed-pants on fire.

"Still, don't put off 'till tomorrow what can be done today and all the rest of that proverbial spiel." Harry murmured thoughtfully as she spared a long glance at the boxes of messed files before deciding that just staring at it was giving her a head ache. "And I can't stay here past my contracted hours, I don't do overtime." She gave him a pointed look, one that was meant to say, 'So use your vampy charms to get some P.Y.T's to actually do their job.'

It apparently didn't convey the right message as he graced- yes, graced- his way to the piles of paper and nonchalantly picked one up for his perusal like the god complexioned child she suspected all vampires were in their very core.

He rifled through the sheets, or perhaps a more graceful word was needed, he leafed, no- that was wrong too. There really was no word for how the vampires moved, not in the English language anyway. Practical was her mother tongue as so was she, in the way she moved and even evident in her magic. It was all coordinated, militant in it's efficiency, in the way she walked and in the way she talked, and in the way her magic made it's way from her core to the world outside her skin. In it's own way it could be considered graceful but nothing like that which came so naturally to the undead.

"Santiago of the Volturi, at your service." The vampire dipped his head regally as he introduced himself, cutting off her line of thought.

Harry gave an incline of the head as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Lupin, Harry Lupin- secretary of the...Volturi?" She finished hesitantly, wondering if it was the correct term to use, knowing that most of their business ventures were done in the name of Volturi but not sure if she was employed by the same farce. It didn't matter to her, so long as she was actually paid.

Santiago nodded, "Is there anything I can do for you, Miss Lupin?" He asked, offering his help much to Harry's delight and paranoia.

.

.

.

Harry blew a piece of dark hair away from her face, the tight hairstyle that had worn it in had quickly come undone four hours in. Carelessly and without much of a thought she tugged on the elastic band that had kept her hair together and let her chaotic curls flow freely down her back, if only to stop the symptoms of the tension headache she could feel make it's way up. Only a split second later did she realize what she had essentially done and in an effort to look casual, did not look up from the finance report she held in her hand.

"Beautiful," Came a breathy sigh closer than she was expecting, causing Harry to snap her head up to watch with eyes of ice as the hulking vampire form of Santiago lumbered his way towards her. Her green eyes widened at the sight, it was so different from what she was expecting. In her mind there had been a dangerous vampire with pitch black eyes, a growling mess waiting to sink his sharp teeth into her neck, ravenous with blood lust.

Instead came a stumbling drunk, all vampire grace gone with an imaginary wind as he stretched out his arm to lightly touch her hair. His nose sniffed at the air, like a child trying to find the source of that double chocolate cookie scent and it was all too reminiscent of her cub she almost wanted to giggle like the super mom that she was. But she was far too perplexed do anything of the sort, her own hand outstretched to set the vampire on fire should he do anything.

Then came a rumbling sound, like a cat being petted by many hands much to it's satisfaction and it was a shock to Harry's system to notice that it was, indeed, coming from Santiago's chest- the vampire she had only met the same morning- as he dropped onto his knees and slumped heavily into her sitting form. Tense and waiting for an attack, it was all Harry could do to watch the mess of a vampire as he acted like a dazed child, mumbling something quietly into her blouse.

Confused but more sure that Santiago wasn't going to hurt her, Harry pressed on his shoulders, attempting to get him off her. The vampire whined but relented and as she looked at his glazed over eyes Harry gasped, "Are you high?!" She hissed, coming closer on habit.

It was odd to think a vampire could be on drugs but this one had his ears pierced so her information on vampires had to be somewhat wrong. He didn't need air but his chest heaved with extra effort as he swallowed lungfuls of oxygen, his mouth open and nostrils flared, yet still he acted as if he were in Nirvana, his body boneless and lips tugged up in a dreamy smile.

"Lavender," He mumbled, "Peppermint, coconut, in your scent is paradiso." Rubbing his cheek against her stomach where his arms rested lazily over her hips, Harry couldn't help but feel like the position was more child like than anything sexual. If anything it reminded her of when Teddy wanted to cuddle and just bask in her scent for a couple hours before running off to play with his train set.

"Motor oil, spices, rain, strawberries, smoke," The vampire listed off an odd assortment of scents as he tried to burrow himself deeper into her prone form, making her slide back into her chair in an effort to prevent herself from being crushed with what she knew the vampire strength to be capable of but he remained gentle, like a puppy seeking affection from a master who had been away at work all day.

Awkwardly but unable to resist such a childish display, Harry ran her fingers lightly through his dreadlocks, surprised at their cold temperature and flexible marble like texture, having never imagined vampire hair to be like it. Fascinated she kept up her touch, awed at the feel of it against her fingertips and only minutely aware of the increased rumbling and vibration against her legs.

Santiago let out a content sigh as she continued her ministrations, much in the same way she would do to her cub. Her hands on pure habit reached to rub soothing circles on his back and despite knowing that vampires did not sleep she fully expected him to start dozing on her, with hands clutched to her blouse before she would scope him up and place him bed, like she did for Teddy.

Obviously he did not sleep, instead his eyes shut half way as he entered a meditative state, relaxed and comfortable despite the cold, solid floors he knelt on to curl into her small form.

They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity to Harry but apparently not long enough for Santiago if his disgruntled whine was anything to go by when she pushed him back to stand and stretch. Her slim wrist watch told her it was time to leave and without thinking too much about it she picked up her handbag, all too ready to just leave her partially organized papers as they were for the next day but was halted but a choked gasp coming from the vampire in the room.

His eyes darted to the handbag hanging on her wrist to the door and back at her. "Where are you going? Why do you flee?" His sense of modern language winding back a century or two. His large hand curled around the lose fabric of her blouse as he brought himself closer to share in her warmth and proximity.

Harry sighed, "Home Santiago. Remember, I don't do overtime."

"Oh," He muttered quietly, he shifted from foot to foot, looking like he had no idea what to do with his large mass. It was then that Harry realized she couldn't distinguish his age, at all. Vampires had an air of agelessness to them but one could always have a range of years for their physical appearance but Santiago could have been all of fifteen years when he stood before her as he was.

Her orbs carefully studied him, her mind racing trying to find a reason as to why he was acting like this, why his suave nature had suddenly disappeared and in it's place was a lost child who wanted to be coddled, and it appeared to want to be coddled by her specifically. Clicking her tongue, Harry figured she would think about it at a different time, when she didn't have a son at home waiting for her with an expensive paid-by-the-minute babysitter.

"Right, good night, Santiago." She carefully pried his hand off her blouse, ignoring the cold expanse of his fingers and turned to walk out the door. Her footwear made soft sounds as she walked, her hands easily twisting the knob of the door to let herself out and was instantly greeted by fresher air as opposed to the stuff she had breathed in, in her office.

She continued her way through the maze like clock tower until finally she was above ground and in the streets of Volterra gazing straight at the fountain in the town square. With an agitated sigh, Harry swiftly turned around to peer into the shadows. "Santiago what are you doing?"

A large dark shadow stepped forward and much to Harry's surprise, his eyes no longer looked glazed over in a drug induced stupor but still there remained an oddly juvenile gleam to them as he moved to stand beside her, not making a sound and therefore not answering her question. In a bid to ignore him she decided to just make her way home, knowing with her famous Potter instinct that he didn't mean to harm her. Rather he diligently followed her closely, his hand occasionally brushing her blouse and sending her shy glances when it did, like he was afraid of her leaving him in the dark streets for making sure she was still there.

Like her personal guard he kept close all the way to her front door and although wary about having a vampire knowing where she and her cub resided, she knew Santiago just wasn't in the right frame of mind to hurt anyone. At least, that's what she thought until her door swung open and she was greeted enthusiastically by the Italian babysitter and was instantly being pulled back into a hard chest. There was no rumbling, no growling, nothing but suddenly pitch black eyes boring into a frightened woman.

"Mrs. Demicas, why don't you go home. Thank you for taking care of Teddy for me, I'm sure he played nice." Harry said, trying to calm everyone down with a soothing tone of voice that must have marginally worked as she felt Santiago slump slightly over her in what felt like an attempt to curl over her and hide her from others gazes.

The pale woman gave a hesitant smile, "Yes, dear." In no time at all she had all her belongings in hand and was practically running out the door, much to the satisfaction of one vampire and annoyance of one witch.

Harry turned to the vampire with a frown, "If she quits her job, I'm blaming you."

Her sentence was barely finished before she was assaulted by a dark blur of adorableness. "Mama!" It squealed as it latched it's arms around her waist and buried it's face into her front, the image so much like the picture she had lived just a half hour ago, that is until her son stiffened.

"Something wrong, Teddy bear?" She asked her son as he he rubbed himself along her stomach.

His button nose scrunched up in feint disgust. "It's wrong," He whispered. "You smell wrong. You're covered in caramel." She had an idea as to why, clearly her little half wolf had picked up the scent of vampire that had been rubbed all over her and with that though came an odd huff of a laugh.

Santiago, much to Harry's sense of paranoia, was looking somewhat like himself now, despite the hand that was still latched onto her and she wondered if Teddy would smell different from any other human boy. Santiago swooped down on her now glaring cub who looked like he wanted the vampire to spontaneously combust into ash he could vacuum up with happy vigor.

The vampire large hand dwarfed Teddy's small head as he gave it a happy pat before looking up at her as if wanting her approval of his methods. "He smells like you," He mumbled but then blinked, apparently surprised by his own words, "And looks like you too, your son?"

Harry had to smile at the dark hair and bright green eyes Teddy had decided on using before answering, "Yes, Santiago this is Edward but he prefers to be called Teddy." She ruffled her cubs curls with a fond smile, "And he is such a polite boy." She tacked on, only now noticing his less than stellar expression. As soon as the words came out Teddy's glare morphed into a welcoming smile.

"Nice to meet you!" He chirped, "Thanks for walking Mama home, it's so late, you must be so tired." Translation- Leave my Mama alone, pesky mosquito.

"It has been a long day, Santiago. Why don't you head home to sleep." Or whatever it is that you vampires do while we mortals dream.

There was a hesitance to him again, like an internal battle as he looked torn between doing the obviously right thing and leaving and curling himself around her again. For her sake, she hoped he would do the sensible thing and to her relief he nodded, rose to his full height and bid her good night, walking out of her home but not without sending them three glances over his shoulder, like he was hoping she would call him back, but she didn't.

Wards were immediately placed all over her home, something Teddy loudly voiced his approval of.


Notes-

Santiago- Real vampire of the lower guard in the Volturi and to my amusement in the movie version of Twilight, Santiago wears earrings. Seriously.

Secretaries of the Volturi- they're hired on their looks and their want of immortality, then they're killed for being incompetent- one for misspelling Carlisle's name. Not very efficient, Aro. Try looking at a resume, babe.

Vampire scents- To the shape shifters of La Push, apparently the vamps smell like sickly sweet caramel. I figure, why not?