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infinitesundrop · 3 years

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Read Chapter 3: Tonight on AO3 | FFN

Banner Credit to the Amazing @the-dream-team

Fic Summary: They say time heals. It’s been nine months since Lily lost her mother and sister, but she still feels their absence every day. The only thing getting her through these difficult times has been the masked hero, Spider-Man. With the attacks on the city getting worse each day, and with the growing animosity towards London’s only hope, Lily has no choice but to act. After all, we all have powers of one kind or another, in our own way. (Spider-Man AU)

Chapter Summary: "That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero." -Stan Lee, 2018

Rating: T

Chapter Exclusive Warnings: Destruction of Property (debris), Grief, Homelessness (briefly)

Read from the Beginning on AO3 | FFN

She’d risked her life for him since then. They’d fought in one of his most difficult battles thus far together since then. He’d picked her up and taken her to safety.

But she didn’t know he’d been there. For once, James was jealous that Spider-Man got all the glory.

He wasn’t going to give up that easily. James tore another piece of paper out of his notebook, ignoring the annoyed look the girl at the table next to his had given him because of the noise, and scribbled, ‘Can’t we just talk about this, Lily? Please?’ He folded the note carefully before sliding it back over to her side.

He watched as Lily opened the note and pressed her lips together. Oh no. That wasn’t a promising sign. Still, she reached for her pen to write him back, so maybe not all hope was lost yet.

‘No.’ She’d written a couple lines below it for emphasis.

Once Lily had been told that if counting sheep didn’t work, try imagining you were an ant crawling up your own body.

The problem with that was all she could imagine was scaling up the side of Big Ben with Spider-Man holding onto her with one hand, while the other supported them by a delicate little thread.

The web-shooters.

Lily huffed, rolling onto her side and closing her eyes tightly to block out the lights from the streetlamps below. She had to sleep. She could sort out the web-shooters another night.

Besides, it wasn’t as if she would figure out how they worked in one night. Surely it had taken Spider-Man time to make them. Or maybe he didn’t even make them at all? Maybe he had a guy on the inside? But then, if he had someone or even just more resources than Lily did, it would be nearly impossible for Lily to figure out the shooters, wouldn’t it?

Would theory be enough? And if it were enough, what would she even do once she figured them out? It wasn’t as if Lily had super strength or anything. There was no way an average person could just casually pull off the car door like Spider-Man had that night.

Oh. She was spiraling again.

Taking a shuddering breath, Lily peeled back her blankets and padded over to her desk.

At this rate, she wasn’t going to be getting any sleep anyway. Lily just had to be careful to keep quiet, so she didn’t wake her father.

He hadn’t known. When she stepped inside, the first thing Lily had been greeted with was a bone-crushing hug and murmurs to ‘never do that again’. At first, Lily thought he meant what she did in Piccadilly Circus, but from the jacket hanging halfway off his arm, she realized that he’d gone looking for her.

Which could only mean he hadn’t seen the nightly news coverage.

Lily winced at the memory. She’d put her father through so much worry tonight and that wasn’t even the worst part.

Tomorrow morning would be brutal when he finally saw what she’d really been up to. Even if her face wasn’t included in the story, she knew he would know where she was.

He’d asked her, of course, where she had been. Then when he took a closer look at her, he grabbed her face to look at the dark bruise lining the side of her face from the crash and demanded to know what happened.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him. Not yet.

In an attempt to postpone the inevitable, Lily kept tight-lipped. “I took a ride on the tube. I...someone knocked into me. It was an accident. I’m fine.” She’d hurried off not long after that. If she kept away, perhaps she wouldn’t have to lie to her father more.

Besides, she hadn’t lied, had she? A short Tube ride had been part of her night, and while the bruise wasn’t from being jostled by the stampede, it had happened.

She knew better than to tell him that she had taken part in destroying Piccadilly Circus, driving a stolen taxi into a statue, and escaping the press in Spider-Man’s arms. He’d had enough excitement for one night; she didn’t think he could handle hearing those things too.

She swallowed thickly at the reminder of being held in Spider-Man’s arms, at their conversation while on the clock tower. He’d told her not to try anything like that again, and she’d agreed.

And yet, here she was trying to work out how his web-shooters worked so she could...what, exactly? What was her mission?

Lily ignored the little voice in the back of her head screaming out that she could help Spider-Man. That she could help people just like he did. That, maybe if Spider-Man had help nine months, her mother and sister could have made it home from the bridge that fateful day.

There were still more lives that needed saving. If only she could figure out those web-shooters.

But Lily had other priorities to attend to. She’d seen just how badly her recklessness had affected her father tonight. She’d seen the expression on his face when she came home.

Not to mention the impact it had on Hestia when she’d run into the stampede. No. Lily couldn’t just...use the web-shooters.

Right?

That was a ridiculous thought. No, this was her own curiosity running rampant. She was a biology major - a scientist - and the technology behind the web-shooters had merely piqued her interest.

Of course it intrigued her. Wasn’t everyone in the city wondering how Spider-Man did such amazing things? If they weren’t, they should have been. The webbing gave him the power to hold up bridges, trap villains, and climb buildings as tall as Big Ben. It was so strong that it could bear the weight of two people in midair.

It seemed like a substance so durable would be impossible, but she’d seen it with her own eyes.

She sat down, grabbing one of her textbooks out of a large pile of papers - school research that was probably more important than this - before she began thumbing through the pages.

Where to start, though? None of the chapter subjects- enzyme models, peptides, in vivo sensors - had anything to do with the chemistry behind the substance inside Spider-Man’s web-shooters that made it so fascinating.

With a huff, she closed the book and set it aside. Her discard pile, she thought dryly.

If she couldn’t sort out the chemistry behind the webs themselves, she would simply have to begin with the shooters. Ripping out a few clean pages from her notebook, she decided she’d try to sketch the web-shooters. If she could create a prototype of the casing, she could worry about the webbing later.

She shut her eyes, trying to picture it in her mind. At the time, she’d thought that his web-shooters were built into the suit, but now that she thought it over, she thought it was just as likely that he wore part of it underneath his suit.

Likely to cover up the technology from others. Lily chewed on her cheek. Should she really be doing this? It was late, and she needed sleep…

Counting sheep had proven fruitless. That weird ant trick had only succeeded in reminding Lily of Spider-Man.

And it wasn’t like Lily was going to be doing anything with this information, and she decided that was enough permission to continue going.

Putting pen to paper, Lily sketched out Spider-Man's arm and hand. He’d had a metal mechanism that moved with his wrist movements. The fabric of the suit contorted with whatever inner workings made the web-shooters work. Although she remembered that the suit had a texture, she couldn’t picture the exact pattern she had seen. She scowled, dropping her pen onto the paper.

Yes, she knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but she hadn’t known she wouldn’t have any idea where to start. She felt lost, and completely out of her wits. Lily knew biology, and she knew basic chemistry, but this was beyond what she’d learned. She was only beginning to dabble in bio-engineering because of a required course she was frustrated she had to take.

The lightbulb flickered on, grabbing her bio-engineering textbook.

Fifty pages later, Lily was beginning to lose hope in her idea. This was all fairly new information to her, and sure, she was learning a lot, but it was all too basic. Everything in this textbook would be foundational knowledge as opposed to the clearly advanced information used to make the web-shooters.

Flipping through the book, Lily leaned her head on her hands, feeling herself growing more and more tired. Despite the gnawing desire to know exactly how the webs were made, flipping through a textbook at midnight was one way to put yourself to sleep. In fact, it was even better than counting sheep.

Lily’s eyes fluttered shut, her breathing evening out.

That was until a thump outside jolted her upright in her seat.

Lily scrambled to her feet, the motion causing all the papers on her desk to scatter onto the floor. She ignored them, more interested in who or what had made the noise. It sounded close, and she knew her father was a sound sleeper.

She just hoped none of the tattooed villains were coming for her after she’d helped Spider-Man that night.

Lily crept out into the quiet sitting room. It was dark, but she didn’t want to turn any lights on and alert whoever had made the noise that someone was awake in the flat.

Thump.

There it was again. Her eyes darted from window to window, but Lily saw...absolutely nothing. Part of her wondered whether it was just a neighbor, if she was better off just going to bed.

But she couldn’t do that. Not after the night she’d had.

She unlocked the door slowly, the bolt sliding back with a quiet click. She couldn’t wake her dad. He’d think she was sneaking out, and she thought he had worried enough for one night.

The cool October air had no effect on Lily as she stepped out of her apartment. Too invested in the noise, she glanced around the apartment building’s corridor. Nothing looked out of place or abnormal. The hallway was bathed in a yellow glow from each apartment’s outside light, but all the windows were dark.

Had she imagined the thump? No, it wasn’t possible. She’d heard it more than once. There had to be something . Lily’s eyes scanned up and down the hallway, looking for a possible source of the noise.

Nothing.

She turned her head to look the other way when a flash of red caught her eye. Suspended in midair by nothing but his webs was none other than Spider-Man.

Lily stumbled back in surprise, not expecting to see the masked superhero at her flat again. She supposed he’d been the one making the noise - perhaps trying to get her outside, even. “Wha-what are you doing here?” she stammered, blinking the leftover sleepiness from her eyes as she watched him swing back with his legs. The motion provided him enough momentum to fly forward just a bit so he could land on his feet right beside her.

She could hear the grin in his voice as he said, “Coming to see you again, of course.”

Cheeks reddening, Lily stepped closer to him. Despite their proximity, she hadn’t expected her new acquaintance to slip an arm around her waist. Before she had the chance to say anything, Spiderman tilted his head, and Lily imagined a lopsided sort of smile under that mask.

“Now what are you doing out here? It’s cold out. Can I help you inside?” Spider-Man murmured, and suddenly she was keenly aware of his hand on her back.

Lily wrapped her arms around his waist in response, nodding her head into his chest. He shook with gentle laughter before they lifted off the ground.

Once again, Lily was soaring through the air with Spider-Man. The web-shooters! She tried to get a look, but Spider-Man was watching her this time.

Something in her gut twisted with guilt, and Lily looked away, instead watching where they were going. Her bedroom window.

She reached out - Spider-Man seemed a bit preoccupied keeping the both of them mid-air - and slid the glass pane all the way up. The superhero held Lily while she slipped her feet in first, then landed safely on the floor of her bedroom.

Before he could let go, Lily grabbed his hand. Thankfully, it appeared as if Spider-Man hadn’t had any plans to leave.

He slipped through the window slowly, using her hand as leverage. Once they were both inside her room, the air seemed to shift.

“You can’t keep working on those web-shooters, Lily,” he said, watching her closely as if he was anticipating an argument.

Her eyes widened. How had he known about that? She looked around her room, frowning when she realized he must have seen her rough sketch of them on the floor. Right?

Or maybe it was just him noticing her looking at them when he took her up to her bedroom? But then why was he here?

Was it possible that Spider-Man had seen her interest in the shooters earlier that night and it just clicked?

That was the only explanation.

“No, you don’t understand, it’s just..it’s incredible science…tha-”

“That helps me do very dangerous things,” he finished. “And we both know you like to put yourself in danger too.” The silence that followed his statement felt rather incriminating, and Lily opened her mouth to protest before quickly closing it back. She had no defense to counter with.

However, that didn’t mean the way Spider-Man crossed his arms across his chest all smugly got a free pass. She leaned forward, gently pushing his arms down. “Point taken. Is that all you came here for?”

“No,” he said defensively, looking away and leaning back on her windowsill. Somehow he looked both endearing and infuriating at the same time. For a moment, Lily was reminded of someone, but no name came to mind. She quickly threw the notion away.

“Right,” she said, taking a seat at her desk, giving him a few moments to speak. When he didn’t, she raised one eyebrow at him expectantly. “Just come to hang out?”

“Something like that,” he laughed. The sound filled Lily’s chest with warmth. Her annoyance seemed to melt away.

Spider-Man had a very nice laugh.

Come to think of it, Spider-Man had a very nice, well, everything. If only she could see his face.

She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to him, even without knowing his identity. He was a superhero. He went around saving the city with little thanks. He was funny, and sweet. And he’d seemed to take some sort of interest in her.

Realizing that she’d taken far too long to answer, Lily tilted her head. “Do you come visit people who destroy the city with you often?”

“No,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Only the ones that commit grand theft for me.”

There it was again. That funny feeling in her stomach, but this time it was much more pleasant. “Oh,” she breathed.

Spider-Man let out a soft sort of huff under his mask-laughter- before nodding. “Yeah, oh .”

“I was going to say thank you,” she blurted out, thinking about the events of the night. “I was going to, but you were already gone. So...er, thank you. For tonight.”

Shaking his head quickly, Spider-Man said, “While I don’t want you to do it again, I should be the one thanking you. You saved me tonight.”

She’d saved him. She, Lily Evans, had saved Spider-Man.

Sure, she knew it the moment she crashed the taxi into the statue, which had trapped the villains, but hearing him say it without lecturing her too much made her feel...well, like a hero .

Suddenly, those sketches on the ground felt a whole world more important. She’d have to pick them up the instant he left.

Lily couldn’t give up on the idea simply because Spider-Man and her father didn’t like her putting herself in danger. This was about more than one person’s safety; it was about countless innocent lives. She’d saved people tonight. More than just Spider-Man, too. If the villains had got away, if they’d hurt Spider-Man, who knows where London would be right now?

So lost in thought, she forgot the very person she’d been thinking about was right in front of her until his hand came out and he gently tilted her head up. “Alright, Lily?”

Lily parted her lips, words evading her. She swallowed quickly, before nodding. More than alright, really.

He hummed softly as if he were deep in thought about something before reluctantly tearing his hand away. “It was...I hope I see you again,” he admitted, stepping back towards the open window. “Perhaps under better circumstances, hmm?”

Before Lily could say a word, Spider-Man climbed back through the window, one hand holding onto her windowsill while the other pointed at a nearby building, the webbing shooting out with a quiet whirring noise. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Lily watched her window far longer than was necessary, but eventually, she had to admit to herself that he really was gone.

Again.

Sighing in defeat, she closed her window back, trudged to her desk, and slumped into her chair.

Picking up every fallen article and laying them neatly-and face down-on her desk, Lily tried to push him from her mind. School and work tomorrow would be hard enough given everything that had happened. A sleepless night would only compound the problem.

Try as she might to forget the man in the suit, the effort felt fruitless.

Lily stared at her textbook for a moment, but she wasn’t in the mindset to research anymore. Instead, she looked down at the papers in front of her, grabbing a pen to continue working on her latest sketch.

Biting her lip, Lily tried to recall the finer details of the web-shooters that she had missed in her previous sketches, but all she saw in her mind’s eyes was Spider-Man watching her disapprovingly. She groaned, dropping her head into her elbow. This was infuriating.

No sleep. No progress on the shooters. Something had to give.

Twiddling her pen in her fingers, Lily took a deep breath in. Fresh air. Surely that would help.

Standing to open her window, something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.

He was there. At her window .

Lily scrambled over, pushing it back open and staring at Spider-Man incredulously. “You really missed me that much, huh?” she teased, leaning forward playfully as if challenging him to deny it.

This time, instead of bracing himself against the brownstone of her building, he was hanging upside down from the roof. When he didn’t answer her right away, Lily rolled her eyes, moving to step away. “Get back in here, then. Come on, it’s too cold to be out at this-”

“Can’t stay,” he finally replied evenly. He appeared way too comfortable dangling by a thread. “I just forgot to do one thing before I left.”

“Oh?” Lily asked, now hopping up onto her windowsill to bring herself closer, folding her legs to the side and bracing her back against the window frame. Her green eyes trailed up, finally looking at him head-on. She hadn’t realized how much closer they were in this new position. “And what might that one thing be?”

He looked like he was leaning closer too, and before she could say a word, he stretched out a hand towards her. Reaching out to cup her cheek, his thumb brushed along her skin affectionately. Her breath hitched in her throat. “Are you sure you can’t guess?” he murmured, his voice more gravelly than usual.

“Can I pull your mask up?” she whispered, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.

He nodded his assent, and Lily pushed against the window frame to sit on her feet.

“Careful,” Spider-Man said, his tone full of amusement. “I wouldn’t want to have to save you again.”

Lily laughed despite herself, carefully reaching up to where the mask ended at his neck and slid it down his face to reveal his lips. He did have the most adorable lop-sided grin.

“Excited, are you?” she teased, her face now inches from his.

“Aren’t you?” he asked as their noses - his still covered by his mask - brushed against each other. A moment later, Lily could feel the ghost of his lips against hers as her eyes fluttered shut.

He tilted her head just slightly to kiss her. For a moment, just one moment, she could feel a smile on his lips, but then, it was gone, his lips pressed fully against her own. They were soft and warm, and Lily wished he were on the ground, wanting nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and pull him closer.

At first, the kiss was gentle, but it quickly became more insistent even with the inherent awkwardness that came from kissing someone who was upside down. It didn’t bother her, not in the slightest. Spider-Man was kissing her - her , Lily Evans - and it was as if her brain had disconnected from her body.

Too soon, he pulled away, his breath heavy. Lily giggled, her hands on his cheeks, although she was rather breathless herself. This time, Spider-Man opened his mouth to speak, but Lily cut him off, pressing a bunch of tiny little kisses into his lips before they recaptured hers.

Her hand slid behind his neck of its own accord, as if silently asking for him to come down, come closer. Maybe it would have worked too, if she hadn’t heard her father from the other room. “You should...You should go,” she gasped breathily against his lips. She didn’t want him to, but she could hear her father calling her.

“Lily!”

She began to tear herself away from him unwillingly to turn towards the door, but when she opened her eyes to get one last look at him...

Her desk sat in front of her, and a sketch paper stuck to her cheek. Her desk lamp burned bright, and the sun peeked through her curtains. Lily blinked at the bright lights, looking around in confusion.

Where was Spider-Man?

How was it suddenly so bright out?

Had she dreamt all of that?

Although she would deny it, even to herself, something inside her sunk at the realization. It was only a dream.

Sure, there were boys at school she was interested in, but none of them really seemed to mirror her interest. Or they would send her mixed signals that just left her feeling confused.

But Spider-Man...he was sweet. He hadn’t needed to stay with her until she had calmed down before helping her home. It would have been just as easy for him to drop her off. Instead, he spent time with her and showed her beautiful views of the city.

Now that she thought about it, she was quite sure they’d flirted after the fight too.

“Lily?” She jumped up, pulled from her thoughts as her dad knocked on the door.

Cursing under her breath, Lily piled up all her papers and shoved them inside her chemistry textbook before running to her door and peaking out.

“Yes Dad?” she asked innocently.

Her father, Thomas, had a bemused smile on his face. “Morning, sleepyhead,” he greeted, tilting his head as he took in her slightly disheveled appearance. He was in a chipper mood for all that had transpired last night. Lily thought maybe he was worried about upsetting her. “You’re usually up earlier than this. I was beginning to think I was going to have to fend for myself this morning and have breakfast alone.”

Lily whipped back around, glancing at the clock in her room. She wondered if she’d slept straight through her alarm. It was lucky her father had woken her because she didn’t want to miss her class. She’d be cutting it close as is. “You might have to this morning,” she answered apologetically as she went to gather her things.

“Cereal it is then,” he grumbled slightly before smiling at her. “Have a good day, Lil.”

Shoving her books into her school bag, Lily looked up and shot her father a warm smile. Why wasn’t he more upset about last night? “You too, Dad.”

Lily grabbed her last textbook - the chemistry book she’d used as a pillow the night before and subsequently had a very sore neck from- before going to get dressed.

Usually, she dressed up for school, taking the time to do her hair and put on just a touch of makeup.

It was partly because she wanted people to feel like she made an effort. After everything she had gone through last semester, she still got worried glances from her classmates sometimes. Appearing more put-together had started to ward that off a bit.

There was also the fact that she liked dressing up.

And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, it might have had a little to do with trying to garner the attention of a certain classmate. Besides, if she didn’t see him in classes, she always saw him at work.

Today was different. She was still completely frustrated with James after their disagreement at the Prophet. In fact, she was hoping to evade him altogether. So, instead of her usual styled hair, she threw her red locks into a messy bun, and she forwent makeup completely.

As she slipped out of her bedroom, she paused when she noticed her father lower his spoon and watch her. He had an intensity in his eyes she hadn’t experienced since she first lost her mother.

Lily pursed her lips, glancing over her shoulder at him while grabbing a granola bar for her own breakfast on the go.

“Are you feeling unwell, Lily?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowing together. Before Lily could calm his fears, her father was standing, heading towards the medicine cabinet and pulling out a thermometer. “You were out awfully late last night in the cold and rain. Maybe you should sta-”

“Dad! I’m alright, really. I stayed up late studying since I was out, and I didn’t want to get behind on my work.” At least it was a half-truth. Lily smiled reassuringly, plucking the thermometer out of her father’s hands and placing it back in the cabinet. “I’m okay. You don’t need to worry about me so much.”

With that, Lily went on her toes to kiss her father’s cheek before returning to her room to fetch her school bag. Pulling it over her shoulder, she started to the front door.

Everything felt as if it were happening in slow motion. She’d stepped into the foyer as her father lifted the remote for the telly. Lily knew exactly what he was switching on and knew she had to make it out the front door before her father figured out what really happened last night.

“Spider-Man’s mystery woman: a lover or new sidekick? More at ten!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw her father whip around to look at Lily, but by then she had already slipped out the front door and began barreling down the street.

Oh, she was in trouble when she got home.

Lily made her way down the street at a much faster rate than her usual pace, not wanting her father to come after her. Once she was sure she’d lost him, she slowed, almost to her Tube station by that point.

It seemed so strange that the last time she’d walked this route, she’d been making her way towards the fight in Piccadilly Circus.

She hadn’t met Spider-Man yet.

She hadn’t crashed a taxi into a national landmark.

And she definitely hadn’t had this many people staring at her.

In her hurry, Lily didn’t notice the Londoners pointing and staring at her. She had been too busy trying to run from her father, whom she was sure was very upset with her by this point. Now, a silence fell as people spoke about her in hushed whispers as she passed, making her way down the staircase of the Underground station.

She scanned her Oyster card and began walking towards the platform, trying to ignore the photo of her plastered on every front page at the newsstand. She had to admit that they’d managed to get a good shot.

There she was, hanging tightly onto Spider-Man as they swung away from the scene. She must’ve been in shock at that point because she was still looking at the camera instead of burying her face in Spider-Man’s shoulder. Surprisingly, she didn’t think she looked completely terrified either.

More than anything, there was absolutely no mistaking her for another person. Anyone who knew Lily would automatically know that she’d been the one escaping the attack with Spider-Man.

Her feet led her, leaving her mind busy trying not to pay any attention to all the attention she was receiving. In fact, she’d been so preoccupied with keeping her head down and averting the gaze of onlookers that Lily hadn’t even realized she reached her stop for school until the train was nearly empty.

Lily checked her watch as she rushed off the train. She had some time before class began, but she wanted to get in and settled. If random strangers on the streets had pointed her out, she was worried about what her peers and, more importantly, what her friends would do when they saw her.

She didn’t have to wait long to find out. When Lily arrived at the science building, someone was standing there, arms crossed, as she waited for her.

“Hes…” Lily started as she made her way towards her. From the way Hestia’s eyes narrowed, Lily could tell she was upset about what happened the night before.

The girl shook her head in response. “Don’t,” she replied, frowning. “Lily, you could’ve been killed. What were you thinking ?” Hestia was right. She had a knack for that, really.

She was right last night when she’d told Lily to run and she was now. Lily licked her lips nervously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, racking her brain for something to say. Although Lily opened her lips, no sound came out. She shut her mouth again, suspecting she must look something akin to a goldfish.

“That’s what I thought,” she sighed, her anger deflating like a balloon at Lily’s inability to defend herself. “You weren’t thinking at all, were you?”

Lily swallowed thickly. “No, I was.” She pressed her lips together, looking down for a moment and arranging her items neatly on her desk to buy herself time to figure out how to explain what exactly happened. “I-they-The Prophet wants to arrest Spider-Man!” she finally blurted out, her voice a bit louder than was necessary.

She glanced around the vacant room before looking at Hestia again and lowering her voice. “I was thinking about Spider-Man, alright? I was trying to help him.”

“You what?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Hestia grimaced as she processed what Lily said. “Lily, you do realize that Spider-Man is a superhero , yeah? You...You ran headfirst into danger. You could have died !” Her voice got higher than Lily’d ever heard it as she squeaked out the last word. “And for what? Spider-Man can deal with this. He can.”

But he needed her last night.

Lily just pressed her lips together, lifting her shoulders in an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, looking at her best friend with knitted brows, hoping to convey her sincerity.

And it was true, she was sorry. Lily was sorry for how worried she’d made her. The look on Hestia’s face last night had gutted her, and she was seeing it again now. Lily never wanted to make her best friend hurt the way she was hurting at this moment.

Hestia stayed silent, staring at Lily before nodding weakly. “Just...just don’t do it again, please?” she begged, her voice strained and shaky.

The frog in Lily’s throat must have grown, because she found herself unable to speak. What was she supposed to say? How could she just lie to her best friend directly to her face? Instead, she looked over at her with remorse. “Hes, I can’t promise anything. Last night, I- I saved Spider-Man. I did.”

Hestia stared at her for longer than a comfortable amount of time. It was like she was trying to figure out what to make of Lily. “I know,” she agreed. “We all saw you crash that taxi into the statue. They had it on the news this morning.” Lily blinked back her surprise at that. How?

Hestia bit her lip, shuffling back and forth a bit until she was full-blown pacing. “The footage from the surveillance camera was grainy, but I knew it was you…”

With a sudden stop, Hestia straightened up and looked back at Lily again. “It was brave,” she admitted, “but also very, very stupid, Lily.” She grabbed Lily’s hands in hers and squeezed tightly. “Lily, I know you want to help, but as I said, Spider-Man’s got this. He can take care of himself.”

Maybe he could. Or maybe he would have died last night if she hadn’t been there to help him. Just because he was a superhero who had unnaturally strong webbing didn’t mean he was invincible.

Lily knew there was no arguing with Hestia though. Instead of answering, she squeezed her best friend’s hands back and offered her a weak smile. “Class is going to start soon, Hes. You need to get to yours and it’s almost halfway across campus.”

Hestia didn’t move. She just stared at Lily with her mouth hanging open slightly. “This conversation is not over,” she said, the finality in her voice sharp enough to sting. Lily nodded, trying to keep her expression unreadable.

“I expected nothing less,” she admitted. After a moment of hesitation, she called after Hestia as she approached the classroom door. “Love you…”

Hestia froze for a moment before turning around. If looks could kill. “Yeah, Lil, that’s the whole point. Don’t try anything like that again. Ever.”

Lily watched as Hestia swished back around, her long dark hair flying behind her. And then she was gone.

Great.

The worst part was, Lily couldn’t even be upset with Hestia. If their situations were reversed, she thought maybe she would be worse than Hestia. Her mother and sister’s deaths had been accidents, merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but if she knew any of the people she loved were willingly putting themselves in danger...well, she could see why it bothered Hestia.

Ignoring the unbearable guilt eating at her, Lily pulled her notebook and pencils out of her school bag. More students were filing through the door, but Lily paid them no mind. She was here for bio-organic chemistry. She needed to focus on her studies.

Still, try as she might, Lily knew that people were staring at her . From her normal seat in the middle of the room, she could hear the murmurs as people whispered about her. It almost made her feel like an animal in a zoo.

She half-expected someone to take the empty seat and sit beside her for curiosity’s sake, but as Slughorn entered the classroom, her lab partner’s seat was, as usual, empty.

Today, she was almost glad for it.

After what had happened at the Prophet yesterday, Lily wasn’t very much in the mood to talk to James Potter. Besides, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how he would react to all the news surrounding her and Spider-Man.

Would he assume the worst and think she was doing it for the Prophet? Or would he just be annoyed that she’d ignored his advice to leave well enough alone?

But he didn’t understand. Just like Hestia didn’t. A world without Spider-Man meant a world where more people would’ve gotten hurt last night. It meant a world where more people would’ve died that day on the bridge.

Lily was willing to sacrifice anything to keep him around. The realization surprised her a bit.

It was true. Despite the fallout from last night unraveling around her, nothing else seemed nearly as important. She had to help Spider-Man. If not her, then who?

She was snapped out of her thoughts as the classroom door creaked open. The lecture she hadn’t been listening to halted, and all eyes turned to the back of the class. Think of the devil, and he shall appear, wasn’t that the saying?

Lily watched as James Potter entered the classroom, trying his best to creep into his seat without much notice. It wasn’t effective, really, since Slughorn had stopped talking at his entrance. James didn’t seem to notice everyone was staring at him. He was concentrating on something else.

“Mr. Potter,” Slughorn greeted with feigned cheerfulness. Lily could see or, rather hear , right through that. He was disappointed. Perhaps he expected more out of Dean McGonagall’s charge. “So glad you could finally join us, my boy.”

James slid into the seat next to her with his usual carefree attitude. “Good to finally be here, sir.” Lily looked ahead, not daring to sneak a glance over at her chronically absent lab partner. She wanted him to know she was angry with him.

Yesterday, perhaps she had overreacted a bit when James declined her proposal to work together to save Spider-Man. Fair enough. However, she found it oddly suspicious that he came to class the day after Lily had made the news.

Not to mention, anytime James Potter was involved in her life she didn’t know what to make of him. Sure, he was witty and charming. Sometimes. Other times, he could be plain rude or aggravating. One minute, he was laughing with her and Lily thought they were something like friends. The very next, he was cold and pushed her away.

She was growing tired of it. If he wanted to be cold towards her, Lily would dish it right back.

Slughorn quirked an eyebrow, and Lily could tell he was unimpressed with James’s humor. He took a few more moments to write something on a writing pad, presumably his attendance sheet, before continuing on with his lesson.

This time, instead of allowing herself to become consumed by her thoughts, Lily forced herself to focus on the lecture.

The only problem was that although she was hearing the words, her mind was so preoccupied by the boy sitting beside her, Slughorn’s meticulously crafted lesson plan turned to gibberish in her mind.

Why had he showed up all of a sudden? Was it because he’d seen the news and knew she’d helped Spider-Man? Lily still wasn’t sure why he’d been skipping his classes all year in the first place. Now, here he was, waltzing into class late and joking with Slughorn as if nothing had ever been amiss.

Her jaw clenched as, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small slip of paper being slid across the table to her. She let out a little huff, sliding the paper in front of her a bit aggressively.

‘Are you still mad at me?’

He had to be joking. Lily furrowed her eyebrows, looking back up at him in distaste and crumbling up the paper in her hands to prove her point.

Well, he supposed that answered his question. As Lily crumpled the paper into a ball before rolling it back to his side of the desk, James knew: yes, she was absolutely still angry with him. It felt silly to him after what they had been through since their chat at the Prophet. To him, it seemed like a million years ago.

She’d risked her life for him since then. They’d fought in one of his most difficult battles thus far together since then. He’d picked her up and taken her to safety.

But she didn’t know he’d been there. For once, James was jealous that Spider-Man got all the glory.

He wasn’t going to give up that easily. James tore another piece of paper out of his notebook, ignoring the annoyed look the girl at the table next to his had given him because of the noise, and scribbled, ‘ Can’t we just talk about this, Lily? Please?’ He folded the note carefully before sliding it back over to her side.

He watched as Lily opened the note and pressed her lips together. Oh no. That wasn’t a promising sign. Still, she reached for her pen to write him back, so maybe not all hope was lost yet.

‘ No. ’ She’d written a couple lines below it for emphasis. So maybe she didn’t want to pass notes like someone in secondary school.

James gave a hurried glimpse towards Slughorn, and upon seeing him fully engrossed in the lesson he was giving them on protein synthesis, he slowly scooted his chair closer to Lily’s. “Please,” he whispered, turning his head completely to look at her. What did he care about punishments? He was failing anyway. He was only here to talk to her. “I just want to talk about this.”

So that might have been a big mistake, judging by the way her green eyes flashed. He opened his mouth to speak again but stopped when he saw her jaw clench and her hand flew up into the air.

What was she doing?

“Sir, I’m sorry. Could you repeat that last part? I didn’t quite hear it over my lab partner trying to distract me.” James gaped at her in surprise, and for a moment, he swore he saw something of a smirk playing on Lily’s lips.

“Mr. Potter,” Slughorn said, no longer hiding his annoyance. “No more disturbances, please, or I shall have to ask you to leave. You’ve missed too much class for that.”

James nodded mutely, returning to the paper he’d been passing as notes. The big underlined no stung as he looked at it.

Yesterday, at the Prophet, all he’d been trying to do was keep her safe, keep her away from Spider-Man. Look how well that turned out.

The first thing he saw as Aunt Minnie turned on the telly that morning was Lily’s face, stricken with a mixture of awe and terror as she clung onto him.

Things had gotten out of hand last night. He wanted to blame it on Lily’s own recklessness, and that was partly the reason. But there was also the fact that he couldn’t think properly with her around, especially when she was in danger.

She’d been in danger last night. His actions, perhaps even his own rash decision-making, had put her in harm’s way.

If something would’ve happened to her - of all people, her - he didn’t know what he would do with himself. He’d gone through heartbreaking loss before, but that hadn’t been his fault. James was only a child back then. Now, this was his responsibility. If he couldn’t keep her safe from the villains, Spider-Man, or herself...Well, he wasn’t sure he could handle that.

Part of him wondered if he had lost her already. Here she was getting him in trouble with Slughorn to get out of talking with him.

He wished she could understand what was really going on, but it wasn’t possible. Lily would be in more danger if she knew that he was Spider-Man. As long as he could keep her from doing something dangerous again, it was better this way, even if she stayed angry with him.

Sooner than James would have liked, Professor Slughorn dismissed the class. He jumped a bit in his seat as his classmates gathered their items and began to leave, Lily included.

Scrambling to catch up, he dumped his notes back into his bag before leaping out of his seat. As Lily’s red hair whipped around the corner, James approached the doorway. With his foot just outside the threshold of the classroom, he’d heard, “Mr. Potter, please hang back a moment.”

James closed his eyes, cursing inwardly.

Of all days, why today ? He slinked back into the classroom, turning his head to face the elderly professor.

“James, you do realize that you are failing this course, correct?”

James grimaced. “Yes, sir,” he mumbled. He’d had a conversation - well, more of a lecture - about his slipping grades with his aunt that morning. She’d made him come over to her flat and told him how disappointed she was. “I’m well aware and so is my aunt.”

He bit his lip, deciding he should try to explain the best he could without divulging anything. “I’m working on it, sir. I’m...trying to be better.”

It was a lie, really. All he did anymore was lie to anyone and everyone. Sure, it didn’t seem like such a big thing to lie to people like Slughorn. He was nothing but a teacher to him. Lying to people like Lily and Aunt Minnie was what really hurt. It was a necessary evil, though. It was only to keep them safe.

Slughorn pressed his lips together into a thin line as if he was considering what James had told him. A long silence passed between the two of them, and James wondered what he could possibly be thinking about that was more important than catching up to Lily.

Finally, the old man spoke, raising his head a bit. “I want to suggest tutoring. In fact, I will give you five extra credit points just to go to tutoring.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t want to fail you, my boy. Please take the offer.”

James’ heart sank at that. It was one thing to come to class. If there was an emergency, he could make up some excuse and run out at a moment’s notice. For a tutor to expect him, to make time for him, it would be much more difficult to escape if something happened. “I…” He ruffled his hair nervously at Slughorn’s expression; the old man looked at him expectantly, with worried eyes and furrowed eyebrows. “That’s a very generous offer, sir. I’ll...I’ll try my best to make it happen.”

Slughorn only sighed in response, turning to go behind his desk and pull out a few more pads of paper. He seemed to thrive in organized chaos. Littered all over his desk were books, papers, and, of course, more writing pads. He sorted through the pile he placed on his desk before exclaiming, “Ah-ha!”

He stood tall once more, holding out the yellow pad to James. “Tutor sign-ups. The first column is all available tutors, second is their times. Third is where you should sign up.”

James stared at the list in front of him. It wasn’t very long per-say. Most people didn’t feel comfortable enough with the content to offer tutoring in bio-organic chemistry. But there were tutors available. One name caught his eye in the list: Evans, Lily . Besides her name, written neatly in her loopy scrawl was her times. Every Monday and Wednesday from 5 to 7 pm.

Slughorn beamed, seeing him staring at Lily’s name. “An excellent choice, my boy! Ah, and it’s Tuesday. She’ll be available tomorrow if you can catch her in time.”

James nodded his head, thinking that over. That was...perfect, actually. As long as nothing happened and he didn’t have to cancel.

His stomach twisted at the thought. He could already picture her reaction. If he thought she was angry now, he couldn’t imagine how she would react then.

He needed to speak to her sooner.

First, though, James needed to get Slughorn off his back. As well-intentioned as the old professor may have been, James didn’t have time for this right now.

He nodded his thanks, handing back the paper pad. “Yeah, I actually think I’ll go catch her now.”

Either oblivious to or willfully ignoring James’s rush to get out of the classroom, Slughorn clapped his hands together, a bright smile stretching across his features. “So glad to have you back, Mr. Potter. You’ll be right on track in no time!”

“Er...right,” he agreed as he raced out. “Thanks, Professor!”

James burst through the stairwell doors, running downstairs and through the science building. It earned him “watch out, young man!” from one of the professors on the first floor, something he’d probably regret later when Aunt Minnie caught wind of it, but for now, it didn’t matter one bit.

“Lily!” he called as he pushed through the front doors of the building. He could see her up ahead, her red hair unmistakable in the crowd. “Lily, wait up!” He knew she probably wouldn’t. She was too angry with him to stop and wait, which would possibly make her late to her next class.

Since classes had just let out, the campus was swarming with students. Some strolled along leisurely as they spoke with friends or walked back to their dormitories. Others were rushing to a class. As he hurried to catch up with her, even with her distinctive red hair, he lost her in the crowd.

Unfortunately for him, she was headed to one of the classes they didn’t share. He’d given himself a lighter schedule this semester due to the whole constantly-saving-the-city thing, so he didn’t know where she was going to be. He did, however, know exactly where she would end up.

He’d have to show up at the Daily Prophet. He could coincidentally drop by with some pictures while she was there.

The only problem with that plan was that he was all out of pictures. He’d need to take some more before returning. James knew he couldn’t come back with any old picture, not after what had happened the night before. Journalists and photographers would be scouring the scene, desperate for the best stories and shots after Spider-Man and Lily’s fight with the Carrows.

It was unfortunate that he’d have to go back there, but he was sure photos of the aftermath at Piccadilly Circus were the only thing Rita would even look at today.

With the Underground down at Piccadilly Circus, it would have made the most sense to travel via web, if it weren’t for all the reporters and police that were surely lingering at the scene.

No, that certainly complicated things. Running a hand through his unkempt hair-he hadn’t even bothered to brush it after seeing Lily’s face on the telly-James weighed his options. Taxis would be blocked from entering that section of town. He could walk, but he’d never make it back to the Prophet in time to see Lily, which would defeat the point entirely.

While he supposed he could just take a taxi as far as he could go, it still made more sense to take his webs to the perimeter of the destruction.

Maybe he could get pictures there to show off all that Spider-Man had saved. A part of him wanted to laugh at the thought. Lily was avoiding him because he’d refused to take pictures that painted Spider-Man in a positive light, and yet, here he was doing just that. Irony was cruel like that.

The crowds were thinning now that classes were about to start. James walked a few blocks away from campus, not wanting anyone to see Spider-Man leaving from the same place he went to school. If Lily heard that Spider-Man was seen on campus on the day that James just so happened to come to class, she might figure it out. He knew she was smart enough to connect it.

Once he was far enough away, he ducked into a dark alley. Seeing that it was clear, James stuffed his glasses into his pants pocket then pulled his mask from his bag. Yanking it over his head, James was grateful to have his sight back through the eye covers with his prescription built-in.

Moments later, he emerged and shot his webbing at a nearby building. James grasped the web, swinging off towards Piccadilly Circus.

Once he got close enough to see police barricading the road past the National Gallery, he knew it was much worse than he had thought the night before.

He thought he’d managed to keep the damage just in Piccadilly Circus, but now, he saw buildings crumbled much farther back. It was a wonder that no one had died.

James slowed to a stop before he got to the barricade, dropping down into another secluded alleyway. He made quick work to pull his clothes out of his backpack and put them on over his suit, shoving the mask and gloves back into his bag so no one would spot them. Placing his glasses back on his face, James was able to find his camera and press badge much easier.

Emerging from the alley, James fiddled with the camera strap around his neck as he walked towards the barricade. The police officers stationed at the barrier were keeping guard as pedestrians craned their necks to try and catch a glimpse at the destruction up ahead.

Following their sightline, James’s blood turned cold as he realized just how bad the damage was.

While the entire building before him hadn’t been torn down, there was a large chunk missing from the top, and he suspected the floors beneath had been showered in debris.

He swallowed thickly, thanking whatever force might be out there that no civilians had gotten hurt. Something told him that as his foes grew more powerful and gained more advanced weapons, the likelihood of that was decreasing significantly.

How had they even found those laser guns? James knew The Carrows couldn’t have been intelligent enough to craft them themselves. There had to be some sort of middle-man in this all.

But who?

“Press only!” he heard a voice call to the crowd, pushing back the pedestrians ahead of him. James cursed under his breath as the man in front of him stepped on his foot and he jerked back, his camera swinging with his movement and hitting the man square in the back.

“Watch it!” the man cried, whipping around before his anger died on his lips. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t realize you were trying to get in.”

James ducked his head and nodded slightly, lifting his press badge to show to the others at the barricade.

It was like magic. The crowd dispersed a bit to give him some room, and suddenly the destruction ahead was plainly visible. Maybe it was more like a curse.

Very few buildings still stood, most of them crumpled into piles of rubble along the ground. Trying to keep his hands steady, James lifted his camera, aiming it at the top of the half-crumpled building. He swallowed hard, taking another photo to get a long shot of all the damage.

A cry from the stragglers just ahead chilled him to his core. Turning his attention to where it came from, he saw an elderly woman with tears streaking down her cheeks. She pushed through the others, and there was no resistance.

James watched as she gripped the barrier, looking out in devastation. He thought he heard her murmuring over and over again “my home..my shop…”

His chest constricted. This poor woman. She’d lost everything.

Because of him.

The police shared a look between each other before one approached the old lady, talking quietly. She kept shaking her head and sobbing and all James could do was watch as the officer escorted her to his car to help her calm down.

This felt wrong. Taking these photos of all the destruction he’d caused, watching this person who’d lost everything in one night, it felt rotten. He felt like he was exploiting this woman’s tragedy.

In this moment, he was no better than Rita.

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. “What station are you from?”

Clearing his throat of the frog caught in it, James lifted his press badge. “Erm, paper. The Daily Prophet,” he said to the officer.

Police captain, he realized, looking at their badge. So this was the person who put out wanted posters for Spider-Man. His jaw tightened on reflex, doing his best to remain composed.

The officer pursed his lips, and for a moment, James panicked that he hadn’t zipped his backpack completely or that part of the suit was hanging out, but the cop nodded and he was granted access to the scene.

“Follow the tape on the road,” the officer called. James nodded, breathing in a sigh of relief at no longer being by the cop’s side.

His lungs filled with dust from the debris, and he coughed loudly. His Spider-Man mask must have filtered the air last night. Something in the corner of his eye caught James’s attention. A medical mask.

He thanked his spider reflexes, catching it before it touched the ground. “Might need that!” said the police captain, apparently amused by James’s near-miss.

Without a word, James pulled the blue face mask over his mouth and nose before stepping into the destruction.

The desolation only got worse as he moved closer to its epicenter. At the fringe, it had been pieces of buildings, a wall or two grazed by the laser beam. Then, it turned to a handful of buildings completely destroyed. He knew he was getting close when all the buildings were heaps of rubble on the ground.

By the time he got to the Circus, he was out of breath from the walk and trying his best not to cough even with the mask on. The air was thick with the cement particles floating around, and the other press members there were coughing. Many of them were running in to report on the case in front of the camera before hurrying back out into nearby streets.

Although it made him sick to think about people making money off others’ misery, he knew how suspicious it would be if he arrived at the Daily Prophet empty-handed.

Lily would know he’d only come to talk to her right away.

James pulled out his camera, putting his eye to the viewfinder before scanning around. He stopped, frozen, when he saw that the taxi was still exactly where Lily had crashed it: through the Eros statue.

He supposed the roads were too damaged to risk moving the taxi at this point. While news crews and police had driven onto the scene last night, no cars were being allowed anywhere near the center. Just like James, it seemed that the police had surveyed the streets today and found that it was far worse than it looked last night.

He thought he’d been helping. The Carrows were destroying every building at one of the most popular tourist destinations in London, and he couldn’t simply sit aside while they bulldozed the entire city in one fell swoop. Had he not gotten involved, London would be a pile of rubble by this point.

Wouldn’t it?

James was terrified to admit that maybe Spider-Man had caused more trouble than help last night. After all, Amycus’ gun had gone haywire and, James assumed, caused a majority of the damage farther back because of him. Maybe if he’d just gotten his job done quicker, most of this could have been avoided.

Glancing back down the street, James looked at all the crumbled buildings around him. These were peoples’ lives: their jobs, their homes, their sense of security. People like that old woman had lost everything because of him.

And here he was, the cause of all the destruction, taking pictures and posing as if he were a mere bystander.

He swallowed thickly, raising the camera with unsteady hands to snap a couple of photos of the damage, including a shot of the crushed taxi. It was difficult to get clear pictures between all the floating particles and the guilt pulsing through his every nerve, but he managed to get some.

Now he needed to get out of here. He needed to clear his head.

Besides, Lily would be heading to work right about now, and after seeing all the damage he’d left, he was worried about her.

No wonder she’d been so reckless last night. It was utter chaos. She’d just been trying to help in the only way she knew how.

James tucked his camera close to his chest as he maneuvered through the different clusters of media workers, just trying to get back to the barricade as fast as possible.

Instead of looking at the buildings-he couldn’t-his eyes were trained on the ground. Sawdust and concrete led the way.

He hadn’t even noticed how far he’d come until he walked right into the barrier.

There were a few chuckles from some members of the crowd, but mostly concerned faces and hard stares greeted James when he finally looked up. Clearing his throat, he exited through the proper channel.

He tucked his camera back into his bag after he cleared the crowd. Despite the fact that he felt horrible about what had happened, he knew the only thing he could do now was try to help Lily.

If he changed back into the suit and webbed to the Prophet, he could probably catch her before she was pulled away to her duties as an intern, so he did just that.

James emerged from the same alley as before, swinging up onto the rooftops before making his way towards the Daily Prophet’s headquarters. As usual, he heard the murmurs and gasps as people noticed him swinging from building to building. He tried to ignore them, but he found himself wondering what the people of London must be thinking of him after what happened the night before.

But thoughts like that were dangerous. He had to focus. He needed to talk to Lily.

When he arrived at the Prophet, James wasted no time rushing inside. The clock on the wall said it was a quarter past two, and he knew he’d be cutting it close. Lily was always prompt, and she didn’t take long to get started with her responsibilities once she got to work. Usually, she’d chat with him for a moment or two before rushing off to see what Rita needed.

That didn’t seem to be the case today. Once he walked inside, he was immediately greeted by a swarm of Prophet employees gathered by the entrance, and in the middle of them was Lily, looking wide-eyed and overwhelmed.

“Libby,” he heard Rita cry, shoving through the crowd with her notepad and obnoxiously green voice recorder. “Did you really crash the taxi into the statue, or was that all for show? What was Spider-Man like? Do you know who he is?”

Lily spun around at that. James watched as her face grew red at her boss's disinterest in her real name, or, possibly, her blatant disregard for Lily’s safety. James wasn’t sure which upset her more - after all, both were so characteristically Rita - but he could tell she was upset nonetheless. He knew the other reporters crowded around her weren’t helping either.

“Her name’s Lily,” someone from the back called irritably.

James didn’t have to glance around to know it was Mary MacDonald. She was probably the only other person in the room that knew Lily’s name. She was another intern, and he knew that she and Lily got along quite well at work.

James pursed his lips, wondering if he should say anything after what had happened when he told Rita he wouldn’t be taking pictures of Spider-Man. He’d been dismissed for the day, and to make matters worse, it had only made Lily angry with him. But now, Lily looked so desperate, he knew he had to say something.

So, despite the fact that this could definitely get him in trouble, he said, “Do you think you should get to write an article about her when you can’t even remember her name?”

He wasn’t expecting everyone to turn from Lily to look at him. Frowning, he raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you people have better things to do than crowd her? I mean, I dunno... Maybe your jobs?”

A senior reporter looked him over, a small smirk playing on her lips. “What do you think we’re doing? We’re the press, we follow news stories.” She glanced over to Lily, and then back to James. “And your little girlfriend here is the top one right now.”

James scowled at that. “She doesn’t have to talk to you. She doesn’t want to talk to you.” He pushed through the crowd so he could stand next to Lily. “I mean, look at her. Don’t you think she’s been through enough in the past day?”

He’d been worried about Lily last night after the fight, but it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now.

After seeing the destruction in the daylight and seeing Lily’s expression now, the dark bruise along the side of her face, James knew it had been far bigger than he realized. The fact of the matter was that she could’ve died at the fight, and she had to be feeling some way about that.

He needed to help her, even if the only thing he was able to do was get these reporters away from her.

His outburst was met with silence, and slowly, the crowd dispersed. Once everyone had left, James turned to Lily.

While all eyes turned to Lily as James yelled at the reporters, Lily stared back at James with her lips parted slightly in astonishment. If she was being honest with herself, she hadn’t known he cared that much.

Something inside her bubbled up at his words, and she couldn’t quite place it.

What he said, though, hit her like a ton of bricks. Maybe he was right. The past day had been a lot. Was that why he wanted to talk to her?

Feeling the urge to cry rise in her chest, she took in a deep, stuttering breath. No. Not at work. Not now that she was finally being left alone.

James hadn’t moved, just staring back at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read. Concern? Pity? In some ways, Lily almost thought he looked mournful or apologetic. Was this all just because of yesterday?

She licked her lips, not sure what to say, but knowing she had to say something . Do something. Anything.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know,” Lily blurted out, surprising herself with the edge in her voice. She hadn’t meant to come across irritated, but she thought perhaps the events of the past twenty-four hours could explain her tone rather easily.

James hesitated; maybe she had come too strong. “I know I didn’t have to,” he answered, shrugging. “I wanted to. You didn’t deserve that.”

You didn’t deserve that . Here she was being excessively angry at him for something so common sense and he said something so kind to her.

Honestly, just seeing how Hestia had reacted to what had happened last night and their talk this morning kind of shook Lily a bit.

Maybe she hadn’t been thinking clearly when she decided to follow Spider-Man, but she didn’t really regret it. However, Lily’s decisions were just that: her own.

She could have died last night. How could she expect James to make the kind of sacrifices and risks she was taking?

How would she react if she found out he was?

Lily let out a little breath, more of a huff, as she laughed at her own stubbornness. If their situations were reversed, she’d have been even more persistent in their bio-organic chem class than he was. “Yeah,” she said slowly, finally meeting his gaze.

His hazel eyes were wide with what looked like concern. She wanted to kick herself for how she’d acted earlier, trying to push him away.

This wasn’t James sending her mixed signals. Not today. Not yesterday, either. This was about self-preservation, and here she was faulting him for that.

For what felt like the millionth time that day, her face grew heated and her eyes welled up, but she refused to allow tears to fall. Swallowing hard, she shook her head. “Oh, god, James, I’m so sorry ,” she whispered. “Thank you...for...for that. Just now.”

She cleared her throat, trying to act as if the wobble in her voice was merely a scratch. He didn’t look convinced. James shifted his weight from one foot to another, staring down awkwardly as if he didn’t know what to say to that.

“Er...sure,” he agreed before biting his lip. “Listen, I…”

Lily shook her head, reaching forward and grabbing his hands so he would look at her. “No, James. I-really. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking yesterday when I asked you to take photos of Spider-Man with me to clear his name.” Just as suddenly as she took his hands, she dropped them, as if they were burning her skin.

Instead, she occupied herself with rubbing her palms together anxiously. “I wasn’t thinking about how it could get you in trouble with the law-” Before she had arrived at the Prophet, the police had shown up on campus to interrogate her; she’d been lucky she could be honest in that Spider-Man’s identity was entirely a mystery to her. And thankfully, they said not to worry about the damages due to the car as it was clearly in self-defense.

It could have gone another way really easily and Lily could have found herself in even worse trouble than what was surely awaiting her at home with her father.

“-It could have gotten you injured, or worse. And I’m sure your Aunt already has enough on her plate than to worry about your safety,” she plunged on. “Not only that, but if you were me and I were you, I’d be so furious with you right now for ignoring me! And James, I’m...I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have ignored you or gotten you in trouble with Slughorn and-” She groaned, putting her hands up in her hair.

“Lily!” he exclaimed, and she felt his fingers wrap around the sides of her shoulders. She lurched to a stop - when had she even started moving? - and stared up at him. “It’s fine, okay? You already said you were sorry.” A small smile was playing at his lips now. “Honestly, I was just going to ask you if you’d help me with bio-organic chem. Slughorn said I need to find a tutor if I want any hope of passing this semester.”

“A tutor?” Lily asked, blinking up at him owlishly. The gears in her head were turning at that one.

He wasn’t upset with her for the way she’d been acting? He just..accepted her apology? He merely wanted her company because he needed a tutor?

And why did her heart sink at the thought?

Swallowing back her pride, Lily offered him a meek smile. “I tutor in bio-organic chemistry. But only on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

James nodded softly, one of his hands reaching up to ruffle in his hair. “Yeah. I know. Slughorn and I already discussed it. Maybe we could start tomorrow if you’re not too busy?” At her nod, James grinned before glancing down at his watch. “Speaking of busy, I need to go upload these before today’s deadline. Want to walk with me so we can talk about it?”

Tomorrow. Lily blinked at that. She’d have to prepare her tutoring sheets tonight, but considering the fact that she’d be forbidden from ever stepping foot outside again except for class and sometimes work, that was certainly manageable.

“Yeah,” she agreed, pulling her bag onto her shoulder more so it wouldn’t slip as they walked together. “What pictures did you get?”

Something fluttered in her stomach at the smile he gave her. She felt it too. They were back to being friends-or friend adjacent-whatever they were, again. In her anger, Lily hadn’t realized how much she missed this. Him.

He didn’t always show her his photos before turning them in, but sometimes if they had time to kill, it was nice to just talk. Besides, James was a very talented photographer. Sometimes she didn’t know how he got some of the shots he did.

Once, he had taken an overhead photo of a park from climbing one of the trees in order to get a shot of the maze that had been put up for a festival. To capture such a perfect photo in one hand was impressive.

Another time, he’d gotten a crystal clear image of bikers in action during a marathon weekend. He must have had to run along and somehow keep his camera still at the same time.

As they walked farther into the building, Lily noticed that James wasn’t pulling his camera out of his bag to show her the pictures like he usually did. “I dunno if you should look at them,” he finally said as they walked into the empty photography room.

The place was always quieter than the rest of the building because photographers went out into the city, and today was no different. She watched him curiously as he placed his bag down on his small desk before rooting around in it to find his camera.

Lily frowned at that. It was very unlike James to hide his pictures from her or anyone else. He was a photographer, after all. It was his job to share his pictures, and usually, he wanted her opinion of them before he turned them in. “Why?” she couldn’t help but ask.

He was quiet before, only for a moment, a strange expression crossed his features. “You know what the newspaper wants to see pictures of today,” he muttered.

Oh. Oh . Had he gone to the scene? At Piccadilly Circus?

He had taken pictures of the destruction, and he was aiding these reporters in writing about what she’d gone through last night.

Just like that, all her anger from earlier came rushing back. What happened to her not deserving all the harassment she was getting over last night? Those pictures would only make the questioning worse. Not only that, they were evidence of all the damage done last night.

What ever happened to protecting Spider-Man?

“I want to see them,” she insisted, staring at him with hard eyes.

James pursed his lips, handing his camera over reluctantly. “Fine.”

The first photo that came up on the screen was a police barricade, civilians crowded around it. She knew the area and knew the buildings that were gone now. But that wasn’t what bothered her about it.

In the corner, there was an older woman on her knees, sobbing into her hands.

Lily scowled as her blood boiled with rage. She wanted to throw something, and the camera felt like it might be a good choice.

“You think this should be published?” she snarled, angrier with James now than she’d ever been before. “You think this is newsworthy? These are peoples’ lives , James!” The woman had obviously suffered an unimaginable loss from the night before, not to mention how photos like this made Spider-Man look.

He shook his head quickly, trying to step closer to her to take a look. Lily took a step back, the camera still held tightly in her hands as she began flipping through the rest of the pictures.

“I was never going to publish that,” he murmured quietly.

Lily scowled, looking down at the camera before looking back at him. “Then why did you take a photo of it? Why did you exploit that poor woman’s grief?” She stared at him, her eyebrows furrowed together. When he didn’t respond right away, she turned back to the camera.

She shouldn’t have done it. Lily knew that much. In her anger, she didn’t care. Looking back through the photos, Lily hit the trash bin button, deleting each individual photo one by one. She started with the one of the barricade.

It seemed to take James a moment to process what she was doing, but once he did, he grabbed the camera, tearing it out of her hands. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

Lily’s head snapped up and she reached out to pull the camera back, but James was already stuffing it into his bag to keep it away from her. “What the hell do you think you were doing? You actually trust these people with those pictures?” She gestured around the office. “Rita doesn’t even care to learn her employee’s names and you’re giving her full access to the actual loss felt by half the city?” Lily pursed her lips, looking at him in distaste. “I thought you were better than that.”

Better than them.

She had half the mind to walk out of the building right there. After all, what was holding her back? It wasn’t like her internship paid well. She could find a million other jobs with a better reputation and a decent wage in the city. Especially after all the attention this whole Spider-Man fiasco brought.

The only things she looked forward to at this job were conversations with James and sometimes Mary, but Mary’s internship was ending in a month. And James…

He wasn’t who she thought he was.

Before she could rip the Prophet badge off her oxford shirt, James raised an eyebrow at her, saying, “I am better than that.” She could’ve laughed if she wasn’t so upset, but then, he continued, “I don’t trust them with these photos, Lily. I trust you.”

That wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. She’d been ready to yell at him some more, making a fuss that the entire office would hear, before storming out without ever speaking to him again. Tutoring be damned. If he trusted her, why’d he take those pictures in the first place? That didn’t even make sense .

She hadn’t realized that he was still talking. “...and you’re part of this now. It’s you they’re interested in, Lily. Demand to...to write a piece. About Spider-Man. These pictures can be for your article.”

He was no better than the others. Looking to get a promotion off of her near-death experience. She scoffed, whipping around to turn away from him.

Lily was almost to the door when he blurted out across the empty photography room, “I know Spider-Man!”

She stilled, her hand on the doorknob, her skin covered in gooseflesh. He knew Spider-Man?

“Bullshit,” she spit out, turning to face him. “If you knew him, you wouldn’t have taken all these pictures incriminating him.”

James smiled at her sheepishly. “Well, I might’ve missed the mark on these ones,” he admitted. “Not my best work. I was trying to show how he’d saved everyone. It could’ve been a lot worse.” A pause. “He asked me to take pictures for him, Lily.”

“Oh,” she breathed, some of her anger dissipating. It still didn’t make up for the poorly conceived pictures, but at least he was admitting he was wrong.

Why would Spider-Man even ask for the pictures? Didn’t he care about what she had told him last night? He was wanted by the police. The press was trying to take him down. Lily had gone all that way to warn him.

But then it hit her. In all the chaos, she’d never actually warned him about Rita or the police or anything she’d meant to. Was that why he’d asked James for pictures? Did he not know how dangerous publicity would be for him?

Lily shifted uncomfortably. If he didn’t know, he could be in major danger. Why hadn’t James warned him if he knew the masked hero?

James was lying to her, wasn’t he? She narrowed her eyes at the realization. “Prove it,” she challenged, lifting her chin up in defiance, looking at him skeptically.

His lips turned into a smirk. “Usually throw rocks at people carrying lasers, do you?”

Lily’s mouth hung open at his words. Okay, so he wasn’t lying. He definitely knew Spider-Man.

But there was something about his smirk, about the cadence in his speech... Her breath caught in her throat, staring at James, searching his face.

No. It wasn’t possible. There was no way that James Potter was Spider-Man, right? That would be-well, it would actually explain a lot.

The missed classes, specifically on days when Spider-Man had big fights or the mornings after.

It would explain his reluctance to take photos of Spider-Man and his defense of him.

His weird avoidance of making close friends even made sense now.

Her heart thudded in her chest. James wasn’t avoiding her. He was protecting her.

But that wasn’t possible! James was failing bio-organic chem, the very class he asked her to tutor in. How could someone failing chemistry create such intricate and complex web-shooters?

Unless that was his cover?

Lily rubbed her palm over her face in exasperation. “Right,” she sighed, her fingers sliding from the bridge of her nose, over her eye, to rub up and down on her temples as if she had a headache. “Well,” she continued slowly. “If you’re so close , tell Spider-Man he needs to be careful.”

He looked back at her, raising an eyebrow. She wondered if he knew that she’d figured it out. It didn’t seem possible, but James had to be Spider-Man.

“Why don’t you tell him yourself? I’ll - I’ll set up a meeting. You can write that article about him,” James replied.

Lily nodded dumbly. She was almost certain, but she had to know for sure. Seeing him again, she knew she could figure it out.

She knew James’s mannerisms. She knew what his voice sounded like.

Tonight, without the risk of death by laser gun, she’d be able to focus. She could study Spider-Man.

Besides, if James really was Spider-Man, she needed to make those web-shooters - and soon.

She needed to help him; she couldn’t let him do it alone. Not anymore.

“All right,” Lily agreed, nodding slowly. “Tonight.”

“Tonight.”

#jily #jily*#lily evans #james potter #lily potter #prongs #fnjp #friendly neighborhood james potter #our writing

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infinitesundrop · 3 years

Text

Read Chapter 2: Perks of Being a Civilian on AO3 | FFN

Banner Credit to the Amazing @the-dream-team

Chapter Summary: No one ever said doing the right thing was easy.

Rating: T

Fic Warnings: Grief/Mourning/Survivor’s Guilt, Violence, Referenced Character Death (minor character) | Chapter Exclusive Warnings: Street Harassment, Mass Panic, Gun Violence (lasers), Destruction of Property (building collapse),Violence (hand-to-hand combat), Mentions of Explosives, Premature Acceptance of Death, Car Accident, Self Endangerment

Read from the Beginning on AO3 | FFN

When she finally tore her eyes off the skyline, she found that Spider-Man was staring over at her again. She ducked her head to hide her blush behind the curtain of her hair. “What?” she mumbled.

“Nothing,” he replied, shrugging slowly. “It’s only...what’s your name?”

Her name. Spider-Man wanted to know her name? “Lily,” she said, turning back to face the hero directly and sitting cross-legged with her back resting against the stone railing. Lily tilted her head up to see him, a shy sort of smile on her lips. “My name is Lily Evans.”

“Lily Evans,” Spider-Man repeated, and she had to admit she quite liked how it sounded coming from him. Lily heard him suck in a breath. “You know, Lily, what you did today...it wasn’t smart.”

Clutching her house keys in her hand, the metal bits poking out from in between her fingers, Lily kept her head down as she made her way into the dimly lit London streets. As young as five years old, Lily had been taught never to walk the streets alone, especially at night. Now, with all the attacks on the city, Lily couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing.

If something happened, her father would have no idea where she was. To be completely truthful with herself, Lily wasn’t exactly sure where she was headed either.

The road and sidewalks glistened with the fresh coating of rain from the afternoon, but in the night, the air felt biting and cold. A scuffle behind Lily made her jump, but it was merely her neighbor taking out the trash.

Granted, it wasn’t like Snape was the most savory figure either. They had been something close to friends as kids, having grown up next door to each other. When they hit secondary school, something had changed him. Whether it was his mother’s death or something else, he had gotten into some really shady stuff. One day, she remembered him walking into chemistry and laughing about all the various dark uses the chemicals had if mixed a certain way.

Ever since then, Lily had made a point to stay very far away from the man.

Feeling his sullen eyes on her, she swallowed back the lump in her throat and nodded in his direction, wanting to make it perfectly clear that she saw him.

Of course, he seemed to take that as an invitation to come talk to her. Lily was really not in the mood. Seeing him almost sent her straight back into the house, but there were more important things she needed to do tonight than sit at home because of Snape.

The sooner she returned home and saved her father from the worry he was undoubtedly experiencing, the better.

Picking up her pace would surely send him away, right?

Wrong. The greasy man had quickly caught up to her, reaching out his hand to grab her elbow. As his fingers brushed against Lily’s jacket, she ripped her arm forward and swung around, fist balled in the air. “Don’t ever do that.”

Whatever Snape was expecting, that was not it. He stood there, his mouth opening and closing as if he were a fish out of water. As Lily turned to run off, he cried out, “W-wait, Lily! You looked...lost!”

“Not lost,” she hissed, clutching her keys tighter, backing up away from him, but not daring to turn her back yet. “Don’t touch me. Don’t follow me.”

“It’s just,” he continued as if Lily hadn’t already made it extremely clear she wanted to be left alone, “It’s dangerous at night. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Narrowing her eyes, Lily pulled up her polaroid, snapping a photo. The flash lit up the whole block. It was only the two of them out right now. “Okay, well, you lay another finger on me, this will be your wanted photo. Leave me alone.”

Snape said something, but Lily didn’t catch it as she darted in the opposite direction. She didn’t think about where she was going; she just needed to get away.

Maybe she shouldn’t have come out here tonight.

Lily sucked in a shuddery breath as she reached a crosswalk a far enough distance away. Puffs of condensation filled the air as she took a moment to breathe while the cars drove through the intersection.

As much as she wanted to help Spider-Man, she had to admit her plan was a long shot. She wasn’t even sure if the hero would trust her enough to talk with all that was going on.

Lily pushed those thoughts from her mind, turning to the present.

She was already several blocks away from home, and even if she wanted to turn around, the idea of running into Snape again turned her blood cold. No. She had to see this through.

Taking stock of her surroundings, Lily realized she was no longer in the more residential districts. Passing a few shops that had closed up for the night, Lily wondered if maybe she was being reckless. She had no idea where she was going. While this part of town was familiar, Spider-Man had been spotted all over London.

Who was to say that she would actually find him? London was a massive city, and it was just as likely that Lily would end up somewhere unknown and in danger without anyone by her side, let alone a masked hero.

Where was she going?

She was torn from her thoughts by a loud bang, and Lily whipped around, nearly slipping off the thin piece of sidewalk she was on in between the two sides of the street, to see a gaggle of 30-somethings stumble out of the pub door that had been flung open. Starting to stagger down the street, the group roared with laughter. She placed her hand over her heart to soothe its hammering.

It took a moment for Lily’s breathing to calm down before she turned to continue walking. Her nerves were already frayed from that encounter with Snape.

Feeling herself become more grounded within her body, Lily reminded herself that she was on a mission. No backing down. Where would Spider-Man be?

She had to think about this logically. Spider-Man usually showed up around heavily crowded areas. The Bridge, Gringotts, the attack last month by the zoo... they were all bustling areas. That made sense, he wanted to protect the most people possible. Perhaps it would be a quiet night, and Spider-Man would only have to watch over the city. If they were lucky, he could stick to the skies without having to fight a second time today.

She’d heard people talk about that in classes. Some claimed that there were sightings of him on the rooftops even when the city was calm. She’d even heard some of them insisting that Spider-Man lived on the rooftops of London.

Glancing over to make sure the intersection was clear, she hurried the rest of the way across. Halfway through the crosswalk, she was hit with the realization that she was already taking her usual route to school without a second thought. Why hadn’t it occurred to her to go this way before?

Lily supposed when she first left the house, she was too worked up about the whole Spider-Man thing to do much thinking at all. For the first time since April, she'd fought with her father. And how had she handled it? She stormed out on him.

He barely let her go out for a drink at the pub with some friends after dark anymore, let alone go off wandering by herself. Not since her mother and sister...

Still, it wasn’t like she was going to any unknown parts of the city. Lily was only headed to school.

It was nighttime, though. While students did stay late to work on classwork, there wasn't usually much danger there. The worst thing that happened was students getting too drunk at the pub or arguing in the dorms.

Perhaps going to school wasn’t the best idea, but staying at least on the walking part of her commute provided her with the familiarity she needed to keep her from turning back and heading home. Once underground, she’d decide her final destination.

A familiar bright blue and red light signaled her tube station, and Lily continued on her daily commute. She descended to the Underground, scanned her Oyster card, walked down to the platform, and stood with her camera held close to her chest to await her train.

Time passed slowly and all too fast at the same time. What she was about to do was senseless, and once she boarded, it would be much harder to turn back. Lily recognized this but was still worthwhile to her.

Boarding the first car that arrived, she took a seat across from a sleeping man with facial hair. It was only Lily and the dosing passenger in their section. Normally, with so few people on the train, she’d take a seat somewhere farther away, but it was oddly comforting to be near someone else right now.

She felt bad for him. He looked exhausted, like he had come straight off a long shift. Based on his uniform, he was a subway operator. Squinting, she thought she could make out the name ‘Stan’ on his nametag.

Above the entrance, the little timer ticked down until the doors closed. What stop was he waiting for? Lily held onto the upper railing in case the train started moving, stepping forward towards the tired subway worker. She shifted her hands to brace against the seat beside Stan and leaned down to shake the worker gently. “What’s your stop?” she asked.

Stan barely responded, peeking one eye open lazily and muttering, “Piccadilly Circus”.

Of course. One of the most populated places this late would be the middle of the West End. It was always lined with tourists and locals alike.

She nodded her head, looking up at the map to see where she wanted to get off on the line. “That’s where I’m going too,” she decided aloud. “I’ll wake you when we’re there, yeah?”

Stan let out a little ‘hmmph’ in response, shifting his body so his face was squished against the subway seats with his back turned to Lily. The pleasant robotic voice announced the doors were closing, and Lily made it back to her seat right in time. The train lurched forward again mere moments later.

Studying the map above the man’s head, Lily saw she only had two stops until her own. Soon enough, the announcements declared that they had arrived, the doors gliding open. Lily stood, stepping closer to Stan and giving his shoulder another gentle shake.

In return, he grumbled something she couldn’t quite make out then turned in his chair again. It looked like there was no rousing him. Although she wanted to help, the overhead voice called for doors closing. She didn’t want to miss her stop, so she ran off the train quickly. The doors slid shut behind her with an audible click.

Once out of the car, Lily was immediately struck by how empty and quiet the place was. Usually, on a Friday night in London, people crammed onto the platforms, fighting for a place on the next train. Tonight, it was eerily quiet. The only person she saw was a janitor humming to himself as he swept.

She climbed the first set of stairs quickly. If anything, the theatres should be getting out soon, and the Circus would be filled with people going home via the Tube.

When Lily had left home, she had been sure she’d heard the weatherman call for clear skies the rest of the night. As usual, he must have been wrong, because the thunder from above the station was almost deafening the closer to the ground floor she got.

Lily climbed another set of stairs, the roar almost deafening at this point. Reaching the top of another flight of stairs, she thought she saw shadows growing larger and larger on the tiled wall towards the exit. Lily had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. The pit of her stomach dropped with the realization that she was right.

And it wasn’t thunder.

She had been hearing a stampede of footsteps, and they were coming her way.

Turning a corner into a long hallway, all Lily saw was a horde of people flooding in, barreling towards her as if they didn’t even see her coming. The crowd ran straight into her.

Lily gasped as people shoved her aside, trampling on her feet and knocking her against the tile. Her camera crunched loudly with the impact. She braced herself for the rest of the onslaught, making herself as small as possible against the wall.

Screams of terror echoed along the tunnels. Well, at least she’d been right about where to find Spider-Man.

Hopefully, she was.

Filled with purpose again, Lily pushed against the crowd, trying to wedge her way through. She had to find Spider-Man. She had to. This was what she’d come out here for, after all. Camera or not, she had to warn him about the police and the press.

A pair of hands wrapped around one of her wrists in a vice-like grip.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the woman demanded as Lily tried to shake her off. The woman yanked back in return, Lily’s feet sliding along the floor towards her. “Lily!”

Hearing her name, Lily’s head snapped up. A familiar face stood in front of her, trying to tug her back towards the Tube. “Hestia, no, I can’t!”

“What’re you on about?” Hestia’s dark eyebrows furrowed together for a split second before she shook her head. It was as if she already decided that trying to sort out whatever Lily wanted to stick around for was not important. “Lily,” she pleaded desperately. “You have to come with me! Now! You can’t go up there!”

Lily had never seen her friend this way, so frantic and terrified. Hestia Jones was not the sort of person to scare easily‒or at all‒in the time Lily had known her. Whatever waited up there must have been dangerous.

If she turned back now, it would save her father and her friends the heartache and the fear of not knowing if she was all right. Looking into Hestia’s eyes, she almost did turn back.

But she couldn’t. Not with everything at stake. If they took down Spider-Man, who would be here to save all these people? Even if it meant sacrificing her own life, Lily would do everything in her power to help Spider-Man protect the city.

It was the right thing to do.

Everything happened so fast. One moment she was resisting Hestia’s pull, the next the two of them were running along with the chaos. Hestia had loosened her grip on Lily’s wrist, so Lily took the opportunity to slide her hand into Hestia’s instead, giving her friend’s hand a tight squeeze.

The gesture seemed to have alleviated Hestia’s worries as her friend breathed out in relief. It made what Lily had to do next so much worse.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, quickly dropping her hand and disappearing into the crowd.

When Lily turned back, her friend was being pulled along by the undertow of the crowd, her arm outstretched for Lily to grasp like a life preserver. Hestia looked distraught, and Lily was certain if she were any closer she’d see tears on her face.

This had better work.

James webbed from building to building, quickly weaving his way towards the scream. It wasn’t long before he found its inspiration: two masked terrorizers perched on the base of the statue in the middle of Piccadilly Circus.

He felt a sense of familiarity as he stared at the two. It was a man and a woman, but they looked so similar. They were both childlike in stature, but their shoulders sloped inwards, making them appear hunched over. Their faces were partially covered by masks, but the features that showed through were familiar.

He’d seen them before. He just didn’t remember where exactly.

The man had a lopsided sort of leer, and through the holes on the skull mask he was wearing, James spotted beady little eyes. The woman had less distinctive features, but like her counterpart, her skin was pallid, and she bore the same wicked expression as her counterpart.

A building on the other side of the road exploded James he landed atop the flashing billboards in the junction. The rubble scattered across the road, joining the rest of the debris the two had created. Screams echoed through the streets, people in the traffic circle abandoning the cars and buses in favor of an escape through the Tube as the two culprits cackled, taking great pleasure in the mayhem they were causing.

The woman’s wheezy giggle was what made James realize who they were, the noise bringing him back to all the times he’d heard it previously. They called themselves the Carrows: a brother and sister team. They didn’t look dangerous at first glance.

They had been there, though. At the Millenium Bridge collapse. They had been the ones who took down the rest of the bridge with the same weapons they were using now.

Both brother and sister were equipped with some kind of laser, allowing them to bring any structure to the ground with a simple push of a button. The sister, Alecto, shot a theatre close to the Circus, the building wobbling more and more until it crumbled to the ground.

It appeared as if they were searching for something as they decimated each structure, but what, James wasn’t exactly sure. The buildings all around the junction had evacuated; he’d watched them flee via the Tube with the rest of the civilians from the traffic circle, so he didn’t have to worry about saving people from the collapsing buildings.

All James knew was that he needed to stop the Carrows before they moved on, before they found a building full of people to destroy somewhere else.

But, how?

He did wonder if they had any real power without their laser guns. The easiest way to test it would be to simply grab one. It seemed too easy, but sometimes, the easiest strategy was the one overlooked.

So, he did it.

Turning his wrist, James aimed his web-shooter at one of the Carrow’s laser guns. Silky webbing shot out, traveling at lightning speed from James and attaching to the side of one of the guns. He grinned widely under the mask, grabbing hold of the web with his other hand.

He reached to grab the webbing with his other hand and pull, but a sharp tug from the other end of the web made him stumble on the precarious ledge. Another tug sent him flying to the ground.

James grimaced, shooting his webbing towards the building he had been standing on only moments ago. Suddenly, the building began to crumble around him, chunks of concrete and shards of glass raining onto him as he webbed onto a double-decker bus abandoned in the road.

So sometimes the easiest option didn’t work out.

“Good to see you two again,” he said conversationally as he jumped off the top of the bus. Their guns pointed straight at him. “Haven’t seen you two out much lately. I was afraid maybe you got busted.”

That earned him a green beam shot right at him. He probably deserved that after such a terrible joke, honestly. Still, James ducked, sliding out of the way with ease.

“Is that the best you’ve got?” he asked. He needed to find another way to take their guns from them, but at least the Circus was empty. It gave him time. Usually, he’d have to finish things as quickly as possible so that no one died. The lack of innocent civilians to worry about afforded James more time to be thorough. Tonight, the Carrows would be caught.

Still, it was two against one, and he had to keep moving to dodge the onslaught of laser beams coming his way. Usually, his best course of action was to web onto a building, but that wouldn’t be such a good idea when they had the ability to destroy whatever structure he was webbed onto.

As he passed by the Tube station, another beam shot right past him, hitting one of the walls. Too busy trying to come up with a plan, James didn’t even notice the civilian who ran out of the station’s entrance as it crumbled. Instead, he just looked at the Carrows, a smug smirk on his face as he said, “You guys really can’t hit anything that’s not stationary, can you?”

They had their guns pointed right at him, and James knew it was the perfect time to web onto the guns. They were too distracted by the idea of taking him down, both wearing wide grins under their masks.

This was it. This was his chance. All he needed to do was web both the guns and get out of the way without any of the lasers hitting him.

“Say goodbye!” Alecto cackled, but before she could shoot, a small chunk of concrete landed by James’ feet.

“No!” James heard someone cry, another piece of concrete hurled into the middle of the Circus. “Don’t hurt him!”

James glanced around to see who was senseless enough to be out here at a time like this. Why hadn’t they run screaming like everyone else?

And then, he saw her.

Lily.

As his heart leapt into his throat, body freezing mid-fight, his only thought was: Not her. Anyone but her.

He stood, frozen, as Lily ran closer, the obviously broken camera around her neck swinging wildly with her movement. Luckily, it seemed as if she’d also distracted the Carrows with the disruption.

At least, James had thought so until he realized that one of the laser guns was pointed at him and the other at Lily.

“Now!” He heard Alecto cry, and the lasers came shooting towards them.

Knowing he didn’t have much time, James webbed onto Lily and tugged to bring her to his side. He heard her frightened gasp but didn’t have time to reassure her. All he could do was hold onto her and dive out of the way as the building that had been behind them crumbled down.

James grimaced as the two of them roughly slid to the ground. He scrambled up, yanking Lily up with him. In any normal circumstance, James would never manhandle anyone, let alone Lily, the way he was right now. But this wasn’t a normal circumstance.

He needed to find her a way out of here. It wasn’t as if he could leave the Carrows and take Lily to safety. As much as he'd like to, there were other things he had to worry about.

Namely, the fact that the Carrows were shooting at them again.

Without thinking, he tugged Lily across the circle with him, ducking between two piles of rubble. They didn’t get very far before having to dodge the laser beams shooting at them. There was no way they’d be able to cross the junction without stopping to duck for cover every few paces, but their options were slim at the moment.

When he heard the sounds of the guns stop for the moment, he pulled her along, running again to find cover under another pile of debris. While it was safe for the moment, they had to get moving again soon. If they stuck around, the two masked villains would find them again.

He refused to let them be caught and cornered, not with Lily beside him.

She couldn’t be here. Keeping her by his side put a target on her back. As risky as it was to send her out there with all these toppling buildings, James wasn’t sure he had a choice. Yet, looking at the devastation around them, he knew he had to think of something to give her a fighting chance.

Anything.

Despite the fact that he knew he shouldn’t leave the Carrows alone in the Circus - after all, what if another unsuspecting citizen happened upon the scene in his absence? - Lily’s safety was taking precedence at the moment.

“How’d you get here?” he asked suddenly as they dodged the lasers. If it was safe, he’d send her back the way she came.

“I was in the Tube,” she said, panting as she tried to catch her breath while they ran through the junction. Well, that was unfortunate since the station’s entrance had been decimated into a pile of rubble. He’d have to think of some other way to get her out of here. For starters, they needed to get away from the Carrows.

“T-there was a stampede,” James heard her say, and it seemed like she was just rambling to keep from panicking. He only hoped she wasn’t too focused on her words to prevent herself from stumbling. “Everyone was running towards the train, but I-you needed help. You’re fighting for the city on your own. It looked like you were in danger, and I-” She was talking so quickly James wasn’t sure she’d have any air left in her lungs, and he’d never seen those green eyes as wide as they were in that moment. “I had to do something!”

James froze, staring at her momentarily. Had she really gone towards the danger when everyone else fled? It was dangerous to dwell on her blatant lack of respect for her own life right now. “I need to get you out of here somehow,” he muttered more to himself than to her as he looked around the junction.

She had to get out of here. The Carrows were going to destroy every building in range, and Lily couldn’t be there when they did. The Tube couldn’t be her escape route. There had to be another way out.

That was when he noticed dim light coming from behind them, casting their shadows on the pavement in front of them. There was a car - an abandoned but still running car - behind them.

A blast from a few feet away reminded him that the Carrows were still shooting at them, and Lily was looking rather worn from being dragged around Piccadilly Circus. Having her drive off in the car would be the easiest getaway, but with all the lasers shooting off at random, James thought better of it. If the Carrows hit that car with Lily in it, she’d be done for.

He needed to find a way to make it safer for her.

“Stay,” James commanded, leaving her behind a tall pile of crumbled concrete. She was huddled underneath the rubble, peeking out from behind as if keeping watch, but he saw her mutely nod her head. At the very least, he was certain that she wasn’t going to move from that spot, so he swung up onto a building, trailing along his webbing.

“Aww, no more puns? What? Not as confrontational when your little girlfriend’s around?” Alecto cooed.

Gritting his teeth, James tried to work faster, jumping around from building to ground to building and back, sticking his web to every surface he reached. Each time he landed, he glanced towards the wreckage where Lily was hiding. Thankfully, the two didn’t seem too interested in her. At least, not when they realized what James was up to.

“A spider web,” Amycus said, looking at his sister with a raised eyebrow. “How quaint.”

James heard Alecto’s wheezy giggle again before she cried, “Let’s see how well these webs work to protect your beloved from our lasers.”

Seeing their distraction as his opportunity to get Lily to safety, James dropped back down to the ground, racing back to Lily. They didn’t have much time.

He grabbed her hand tightly, tugging her backwards to the awaiting car, her escape. “Get in. Drive away. Just...just stay in the car until you’re safe, okay?” He had to know she was going to be okay, that she’d be safe one way or another. Sure, this wasn’t how he wanted this to go, but this was the best option he had.

He watched as she got into the driver’s seat, her hands shaking as she clutched the wheel. “But what about you? You can’t get hurt. We need you. London needs you.” The panic in her voice made James almost want to stay with her. He could climb into the car with her or, better yet, take her back home by webbing building to building. It would be so easy to leave with her and not deal with any of this right now.

But as she said, London needed him.

He just nodded his head to her. “I know. I’ll be all right. All in a day’s work of being Spider-Man, yeah?” He knew she was trying to hide it, but he saw the corners of her lips twitch up at that. “You need to go.”

When she gave him a shaky nod in return, James gave himself one final moment to look at her before turning on his heel and webbing back into the fight.

“Miss me?” he called as he swung back.

Upon seeing Amycus wound tightly in his barricade, much like a bug trapped in a real spider’s web, James broke out into a stupid grin. Maybe this wouldn’t be so difficult after all.

Alecto’s eyes narrowed and she lined up her laser not at James, who was still behind the indestructible webbing, but at a building holding it up. It wobbled precariously, like the others had done earlier, and then crashed to the ground, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. With it, fell a section of webbing. While it wasn’t enough to tear down the whole web, it was enough to surpass his barrier he’d set up.

“Are you mad?!” Amycus cried from inside his web cocoon. “You’re going to crush-” Without concern for the rest of his sentence, or apparently the well-being of her brother, Alecto shot at the other building. As the building toppled, tearing the remainder of the web down with it, James knew it was time to move.

He wanted this over with. The Carrows might’ve gotten away on the bridge, but he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

One down. Amycus’s laser gun was laying on the ground, but it looked damaged. There was a flashing red light on the side, and a blue and green glow peeked through the cracks along the barrel of the gun. James didn’t want to risk picking it up only for it to backfire on him. Besides, James only played offense in football. He'd stick to the defensive; he preferred his webs anyway.

One more to go.

Alecto Carrow seemed to be more competent than her counterpart given that she hadn’t gotten trapped in the web, and her actions were always a bit more calculated. Despite her intelligence, without her brother, the fight was now one-on-one, and James had the upper hand.

He landed in front of Alecto as she scurried back to her safety atop the base of the statue. It was a good vantage point for her since she’d be shooting down at him. He still wasn’t quite sure how to take down Alecto, but if the web had taught him anything, they were easily distracted.

Lily was tucked away in that cab and on her way to somewhere safe. Amycus was a bit preoccupied at the moment. A lazy smirk slid across his features, looking at the Carrow while stretching his arms behind his back languidly as if he were bored.

“What did you call my web again?” he asked somewhat tauntingly. Until he figured out how to take her down physically, this was his best course of action. “Quaint, was it? Seems like a good place for your brother to hang out. Bit of a sticky situation, really. Care to join him?”

Alecto swiftly pointed her laser at James, firing without a moment’s hesitation. As he’d assumed, Alecto thought he wasn’t paying close enough attention.

Except he was.

James shot back, his webbing threading around the barrel of a gun. He grabbed onto the silky web with his other hand, tearing the gun out of Alecto’s hands. He heard her rabid shriek as she hurled herself at him, landing on his back with a violent thud.

James tried to throw her off, but she clung to him desperately, kicking and screaming for her weapon. Right when he thought he’d lost her, she started digging her long, sharp nails into his shoulders as she clawed for her gun back.

He knew he had to get her off—the pain made sure of that much—but he needed to figure out what to do with this gun too. It wasn’t as if throwing it far enough away would actually help, even it was far enough to keep out of the Carrows’ clutches. Not if it gave anyone the power to decimate the entire city. The webbing blocked anything firing from it for now, but he knew the web weakened as its chemical composition deteriorated from the elements. Far faster than James liked to admit, it became no more than glorified silly string.

He needed to act fast.

With a fierce elbow to her gut, Alecto’s grip on James’s back weakened slightly. As he began to deliver the final blow, the circle was illuminated in a green-blue light, and a feverish laugh filled the streets. James’s blood turned cold.

Amycus had escaped. In his hands was the damaged laser gun, sparking and shooting in random directions.

Alecto hopped off James’s back and ran towards her brother. Apparently, she had bigger fish to fry than fighting for her gun. With that weapon in both of their hands, ready to explode at any moment, they would be nearly unstoppable.

Not on his watch. James whipped a web around Alecto’s ankle, gripping the web and yanking her into the air. With his other hand, he webbed her to a nearby billboard. There. Even if she did get free...good luck coming down from there.

With Alecto taken care of, Amycus grew even more violent. He began firing his gun in every direction. Sometimes it went off and other times, nothing happened. The sparking was getting worse with every misfire.

Luckily, it was compromised enough that none of the shots directed at James actually hit him. The shaking of the gun from the sparks made Amycus’s aim haphazard at best. Simply blocking the lasers from coming too close was working for now.

That gun was going to be a problem. James wasn’t sure he was even equipped to deal with the aftermath if it did explode.

Amycus’s aim was getting worse, barely able to hold onto the weapon anymore. Maybe this was James’s chance. The second Amycus let go of that weapon, he could get close enough to finally put an end to all this.

Just as James thought this all would be over, Amycus had climbed back onto the statue, attempting to maneuver the gun to point in James’ direction, using the statue as a base to keep his grip on the device as it jerked about. His target line was so much better with the statue stabilizing the gun.

The Carrow was done playing bulldozer on the city. His target was set on Spider-Man.

James knew this wouldn’t be good. His options were: get shot, grab the gun and have it blow up, or, possibly, both. None of it sounded very promising. Sure, he’d been in scary situations in the past, but he’d never dealt with an unstable weapon with this kind of power in the hands of someone like Amycus.

There was a real possibility that he’d die here. That fact hit him so hard that it was almost as if one of those buildings had crushed him.

He could die right now.

There were so many things he hadn’t done, things he hadn’t said.

He had regrets, sure. He wished he’d stayed as close to Remus Lupin as they had been before he became Spider-Man, but he’d decided months ago to keep Remus out of this for his own protection.

Now, he regretted not telling Sirius how much he appreciated all his help with this Spider-Man stuff, even if he hadn’t wanted Sirius to know at first either. James wished he’d told him how he was the best friend he could’ve ever asked for, the brother he’d always wanted.

More than that, he wished he hadn’t fought with Lily at the Prophet. She didn’t know he’d seen her again tonight. Unless she found out he was Spider-Man, her last memory of him would be of their fight. He wished he’d told her how he felt.

James swallowed thickly as his mind wandered to Aunt Minnie. More than anything, he wished he could give her a proper goodbye. He knew how devastated she’d been when James’ mum had died without saying goodbye. Minnie would be crushed again, and she’d be downright furious with him for being Spider-Man.

But he couldn’t think about any of that right now. Not when Amycus Carrow was prepared to end this at any moment, his finger on the trigger.

Like Lily had said, London needed him. He needed to be there to save the people of the city. He needed to save London because that was where Remus Lupin lived. Where Sirius lived. Lily. Aunt Minnie.

He had to save them. Even if saving them meant losing himself.

Resigning himself to the fact that things were probably about to get very, very messy, he raised his hand, shaking slightly as he moved, to shoot at the gun before Amycus shot at him.

Amycus’s eyes lit up with a devilish delight in what he was about to do.

A screech from the distance caused both parties to pause for a moment. When James looked to where the noise was coming from, two bright lights from some sort of car blinded him. As he blinked away the lights, he’d seen enough to know what had happened.

The taxi careened past him, slamming into the statue in the middle of the junction. The heavy bronze figure swayed for a moment before toppling to the ground with a deafening clash, its motion bringing Amycus down with it.

The gun soared through the air, alight like a meteor. He hoped this worked.

James used both web-shooters to catch the gun, twirling it with one web, and wrapping it like a bandage with the other. Fully covered now, James webbed it to hang from a pile of rubble well lit by the street lamps, somewhere the authorities would easily find it.

He heard their sirens now, coming from a distance. Figured that as soon as things finished up, the cops arrived.

Amycus was out. The statue must have knocked him unconscious. He might’ve checked to see if the Carrow was still breathing if it weren’t for his unexpected hero. As James approached the black taxi, his heart pounded in his chest.

Lily. It had to be Lily. No one else disregarded their own safety enough to do something so stupidly brave except her.

The car was crushed in at the front, the wheels bent at a strange angle and steam billowing out of the grill. He couldn’t see her through the windows since the whole cab was filled with the deployed airbags.

Please be okay.

When he looked inside, ripping off the door of the crushed cab, Lily was heaving, and tears were rolling down her cheeks. She had a bruise purpling along the side of her cheek but otherwise appeared okay. As he opened his mouth to ask if she was, Lily cut him off.

“I-I stayed in the car,” she gasped, looking at him, her green eyes wide.

James swallowed his initial response as she stumbled out of the destroyed taxi, and he reached out, grabbing her hands to steady her. “Be careful,” he murmured, worried her injuries might be worse than what was visibly apparent. He’d gotten too used to the luxury that was self-healing. Lily, on the other hand…

She looked relatively okay though. She wasn’t too pale - well, not any paler than she normally was - and she appeared to know what was going on at the very least. Still… “I think you should let me take you to the hospital.”

“Take me home,” she said, rubbing at the bruise on her cheek. It was swollen a bit, and she had this look of exhaustion on her face that made James’s stomach flip. Maybe she was more hurt than he thought.

James shook his head slowly. If something happened to her, it’d be his fault. “Err...No. I think you need to go, really,” he insisted. “You need to get checked out at the hospital.”

Lily scowled at the suggestion this time, and it was a welcome sight. That was the Lily he knew, the one that crashed cars into famous landmarks. “Look, Spider-Man. If you won’t take me home, I’ve already committed grand theft once today. I can do it again and get home by myself, but I’m bruised and tired and I really don’t care to deal with the traffic this fight has no doubt caused. So, I’ll ask you again. Take me home.”

“That wasn’t a question - more of an order, really. You sure you didn’t hit your head too hard?” She was fine; that, he was sure of now. She was talking normally, didn’t seem too confused about where she was or what she was doing, and though her walk hadn’t been all that steady when getting out of the car, he knew she’d been shaken up. She seemed stable now.

Besides, she’d told him off, so that was an encouraging sign.

James watched with a bemused smirk as Lily narrowed her eyes and then swished around, apparently giving up on travel by web. Her walk was definitely more steady again, which, James supposed, was good. Still, he couldn’t let her drive home. Not when she’d already been through so much that night. Not with that big bruise forming on her cheek. Not with her complete disrespect for her own safety.

Lily had already spotted another taxi and was marching towards it purposefully. James, not wanting her to go off by herself and get in more trouble tonight, ran to catch up with her, leaning on her cab of choice when they got close enough. “So, tell me,” he said conversationally, “do you commit grand theft often? Should I be worried about you?”

That broke through her wall she was building up. He wished he could say the way her eyes lit up, her nose wrinkling slightly at his words, didn’t make him feel anything, but he’d felt this way since he first met her. It didn’t seem like the sort of thing that’d change anytime soon.

“Oh, be very worried,” she teased, leaning against the taxi as well. “Planning to be an accessory to my crimes, Spider-Man?”

“Sorry,” he sighed, crossing his arms as he smirked underneath his mask. He knew they needed to get out of there soon since the sirens from earlier sounded far too close for comfort, but he was having too much fun teasing Lily. “No can do. That sort of thing is bad for my image.”

“Ah, yes. Your image, which as we all know is already so good.” Lily let out a soft little laugh, more of a breath than anything, and looked down at the ground. Her smile faded rather quickly, and he knew she was thinking about the paper. As she pushed off the car and examined the wreckage they’d left behind—piles of rubble in and around the streets, the statue toppled, a destroyed cab—her eyebrows knitted together in worry.

It probably wasn’t the best thing to mention his image to her. She’d want to go and fix it, and he’d seen how reckless she could be. Reckless enough to save his life.

And she didn’t even know she knew him. He was glad that in all the chaos, he’d remembered to lower his voice a bit so it wasn’t as easily recognizable for Lily.. If she had known, James knew she’d want to help more. He could only save her from herself so many times.

Thinking back on the events of the day and watching her with that worried look on her face, he wanted to reach out and tell her it’d be okay. They were just buildings. Sure, his reputation might suffer, but he didn’t care about that. No one had died today, and that was the biggest relief, especially with Lily being involved. He didn’t even want to think about something happening to her on his watch. Of all people, hadn’t she suffered enough from his failures as Spider-Man?

He’d wanted to tell her he was sorry for all that had happened tonight. He wanted to apologize for what had happened at work too, despite the mask. He wanted to plead for her to put herself first for once, to stop being so reckless, but the authorities were rounding the corner now, red and blue lights flashing against the facades of the remaining buildings.

James took a deep breath instead. They had to get out of here. “Let’s go,” he said suddenly, offering her a hand.

Lily looked down at it as if it were a foreign concept to her. “What?”

“I’ll take you home,” he said, trying not to sound too impatient, but he needed to dodge the cops. She knew that. He took her moment of hesitation to shoot a web at an intact building, getting ready to leave whenever she was ready. “You’re far too reckless to get home safely by yourself.”

“Right.” She looked nervously over her shoulder before taking his hand. “What if I slow you down, though?”

As she said this, the tires of the police cars and ambulances squealed as they screeched to a stop. Behind them, a few dozen media vans, including Daily Prophet 24/7 coverage. Their time for questions was over.

Reporters scrambled out of their vehicles. They had to leave, now, while James still had a clear view of his escape route. He wrapped his arms around Lily, tucking her in close to his side. “Hold onto me,” he murmured, kicking off the ground and swinging onto the top of the building his web was on.

As they flew through the air, the flashes of reporters’ cameras filled his vision. Looked like the Prophet got their picture after all.

The city was absolutely breathtaking at nighttime. From within the dark, the soft glow of the streetlamps and the lights inside the different apartments was a warm and welcome sight. At a distance, they almost looked like fireflies.

High above the ground, the people and the cars all looked so small. It was as if all the problems of the world were the same size. Up there, it felt like you were untouchable, undefeatable.

Of course, Lily didn’t know this because her face was smushed against Spider-Man’s chest as they fled the scene. She felt the wind whipping around them, stray pieces of hair tickling her cheeks, but she was not going to look around. Her arms wrapped around his torso tightly, and her fingers clung around the fabric of his suit as if it was the only thing able to save her if she fell.

Most certainly not the webs the superhero was soaring through the sky with.

From above her, she thought she heard Spider-Man chuckle. Lily furrowed her brows but figured she must be hearing things. What was so funny at a time like this?

Then she felt his laugh, his chest shaking with every little chortle. Terrified to look down, Lily moved her head up the slightest bit to peek at the man above her.

Problem was, it was really hard to read his facial expression with the mask situation. From the way his head was angled, it looked like he was laughing at her, watching her. “What’s so funny?” she asked, burrowing her face back into his side.

“Oh, nothing,” he murmured back to her, the two of them dipping down as he webbed onto another building. “I just think it’s funny that you were so...so reckless and brave earlier with everything you did, but you’re frightened of heights. You can run into a stampede. You can crash a car into a statue-a national landmark, mind you. But heights, that’s what does you in.” There was a beat as he thought this over before Lily heard his laugh again. “Honestly, this is probably the safest thing you’ve done tonight.”

But it didn’t feel like the safest thing, not to Lily. She felt like she was moving through the city at a very fast pace, very high off the ground while being held up by a couple of little strings. That felt like a very unsafe thing to do. She was sure her father would agree, but he wouldn’t have approved of anything she’d done tonight.

Besides, he’d done this tons of times. At this point, it must’ve been as natural as breathing for him. “I’d bet you were scared the first time you did this,” she replied somewhat bitterly.

“Sure,” Spider-Man said in return. “I couldn’t close my eyes though. Something tells me that wouldn’t have worked out for me too well.”

A smile tugged at Lily’s lips, but she didn’t dare look up. “Perks of being a civilian, yeah?”

“I suppose,” he sighed, and Lily felt him hold her a little closer. She tried to ignore the blush creeping up her neck when, suddenly, he jerked to a stop. She opened her eyes to see what had happened only to find they were hanging on the side of Big Ben. Lily gasped, tightening her grip on his suit for dear life.

“Spider-Man,” she cried, her eyes trailing down the clock tower to the streets below of their own volition. The buses and cars directly below them looked so minuscule. She felt like she was going to be sick, her skin turning clammy and her stomach churning at the sight. Her heart was beating so hard against her chest she was positive Spider-Man felt it.

“Relax,” he insisted, shifting to place her feet on a close-by ledge. “Li-Let’s breathe, okay?” He tugged her closer, shuffling so she was closer against the tower and more securely on the ledge. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

Lily did as he said, breathing in, but it came in as a shudder. Spider-Man nodded encouragingly and she thought she heard him say something like, “good, keep going,” but she wasn’t really paying attention to his words. He was holding onto her with one arm wrapped around her in something of a hug, and Lily was very aware of his hand on her back. His other hand was gripping onto his suspended web, only his toes touching the ledge she stood upon.

She tightened her hold on him, not able to think clearly when she was terrified that now he would fall. It didn’t seem to phase him in the slightest, his head tilted upwards into the open air, looking at something high above them.

Her breath must have evened out with her distraction because Spider-Man looked to her suddenly and nodded his head in approval. “Good. See, you’re alright.” Lily only nodded slowly. “Hey, I don’t want you to be scared, but I think you’d think the city is really pretty right now. Can I take you up a little higher-”

“Are you joking?” Lily snapped, looking at Spider-Man with disdain. “I’m terrified, and you want to go up higher?”

He seemed amused by her outburst. “Are you done?” Lily opened her mouth to speak again, but he cut her off. “As I was saying, can I take you up a little higher where there’s a railing and a real floor? You can calm down before I take you home. Does that sound okay?”

That didn’t sound too bad, Lily had to admit. When she nodded her agreement, Spider-Man scooped her up and began scaling the side of the building. From over his shoulder, she saw tourists pointing them out amongst themselves from the London Eye.

As far up as they were when he first took her to the tower, Lily didn’t realize how much farther up there was to go until she was carried up to the top. The white light from the clock cast their shadows on the city below.

Soon, they reached a railing, and Spider-Man pulled them over it. Finally on solid ground, Lily let out a deep breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.

“Better now?” he asked, and she nodded quickly. She’d never been so happy to have her feet on the floor, even if the floor was much higher up than she preferred. As she glanced out over the city, she had to admit that it was rather pretty. The river Thames looked like glass from so far up, its surface calm and dark other than reflections from the surrounding lights and the moon in the distance. Across from them, the London Eye ticked along at a slow, leisurely pace.

“Yeah,” she breathed, unable to take her eyes off the city. It seemed so strange that the city felt so calm and quiet in one place, and yet, in another, it was filled with destruction.

When she finally tore her eyes off the skyline, she found that Spider-Man was staring over at her again. She ducked her head to hide her blush behind the curtain of her hair. “What?” she mumbled.

“Nothing,” he replied, shrugging slowly. “It’s only...what’s your name?”

Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. Did Spider-Man call her dumb? Even though she had just sat down, she scrambled back to her feet so she was on his level, looking into his eyes-well, eye markings. “What I did today was I saved your life.”

“And you could’ve lost yours,” he shot back, crossing his arms against his chest.

“So could you!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms out. “You know what you do for a living right? You’re at least a little self-aware? Spider-Man, your job is putting your life at risk. I don’t think you’re in a place to lecture me about safety.”

She crossed her arms too, looking him over. He was tall, but his voice sounded young. While it was hard to tell if he was younger or older than her, he seemed like he was at least around her age range. What was a university-age kid doing sacrificing his life for the city? Lily’d had enough lectures this evening for the both of them. If he wanted to lecture her, fine. Two could play that game.

Spider-Man began shaking his head. “You don’t get it. I didn’t choose this. This was put on me, and like you said, London needs me. But you...you need to stay safe. Surely you have people that worry about you. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for them.”

Guilt washed over her like a tidal wave. Her father would be so furious when she got home. Surely by now, the news had aired. She knew the reporters had gotten a photo of her. She didn’t know if her face was visible, but with her luck, everyone would know she had met Spider-Man by tomorrow morning.

But Spider-Man was wrong. No matter what her father said, Spider-Man saved people. And no matter how angry her dad was, Lily knew she did the right thing. She set out to help Spider-Man and she did.

He was alive because of her. He’d go home to the people who cared about him tonight because of her.

For all she knew, the whole city was alive because of her. What would have happened if the two masked villains had gotten away? What if that sparking laser gun had exploded like it looked like it was going to?

Because Lily risked her life, so many more were safe. She refused to apologize for that, no matter what anyone else said. Even if that person was Spider-Man.

Besides, she was fine.

He did raise a good point, though. Her father was probably worried sick waiting for her to come home.

Lily felt Spider-Man’s gaze through his mask, and she was vaguely reminded of an ant under a microscope. He must have been waiting for her to respond, but she was so caught up in her thoughts she hadn’t noticed.

What did she even say to that? Did Spider-Man not want to be Spider-Man? If she could, Lily would trade places with him, take the weight off his shoulders. “I’m sorry,” Lily murmured, taking advantage of the fact that Spider-Man probably thought she was talking about risking her life. She wasn’t, but at least her words placated him. She wasn’t sorry for what she did.

She was sorry that he had to carry this burden for the city, sorry he had to be responsible for keeping people who didn’t appreciate him safe.

“It’s fine,” he mumbled in return, and Lily watched as he paced for a moment before he stared back at her. “Look, it’s not… I’m grateful that you saved my life and all.”

“Then-” Lily started, but Spider-Man cut her off, looking down at her in a way that she practically felt the intensity through the air.

“But I don’t want you to go risking yours for something like that again.”

Lily nodded slowly in return, even if she didn’t mean it. Something like that. They weren’t talking about saving a couple of buildings or a famous landmark. She’d saved his life. It was worth the risk. If she had to do it again, she would. But Spider-Man needn’t know that.

“Anyway,” she heard him sigh as he stepped closer to the ledge again. “I’d better get you home. Where might that be, Lily?”

She knew she needed to get home before her father went out and started looking for her himself. She’d be surprised if he hadn’t already. Lily murmured her address, joining him at the edge and grabbing his outstretched hand.

This time, she didn’t close her eyes. Whether she had grown used to the sensation or if she’d grown numb, Lily wasn’t sure. Granted, she was keeping her eyes on what was in front of her, deliberately ignoring the ground below them.

Instead, she watched as Spider-Man webbed from building to building. Every time a bit of web was released, he pressed this mechanism built into his suit. As she first noticed it, she had to blink a few times to be sure of what she was seeing.

All this time, Lily had thought Spider-Man had special supernatural abilities, and the webs were only one of them. Although she didn’t understand how Spider-Man would be able to shoot webs from his skin, she’d just assumed he was some type of mutant.

But those web-shooters were man-made. He must have engineered them somehow. Or maybe he’d commissioned someone to or something. Either way, they looked complicated.

Spider-Man must have been really intelligent to figure something like that out, but engineered web-shooters meant he was really just a regular guy.

She did wonder who was truly behind the mask. Not because of any desire to expose his identity to the world, and certainly not to turn him over to the cops. No, Lily was simply fascinated by the mystery.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that this man had sort of saved her life tonight too.

She had so many questions for him, but she was afraid that if she asked, he wouldn’t tell her. Or worse, he’d get upset and think she was trying to discover who he was. So instead, Lily kept quiet the entire way home, watching Spider-Man use his web-shooters.

How did they work? What substance inside that tiny mechanism created those near-indestructible webs? They were strong enough to resist lasers. They pulled both his and her body weight through the sky. Forget their weight, that day at the bridge, Lily watched on the telly as Spider-Man stopped a bus from falling into the river.

And it all started with those little web-shooters.

Far too interested in the web-shooters, she hadn’t realized that Spider-Man had gotten her back home until her feet were placed firmly on the ground. She glanced around, realizing that most of the lights in the building were dark now as people had gone to sleep for the night. Her own home was still lit brightly, and she was sure her father was waiting for her.

Lily turned around to thank Spider-Man for bringing her home, but by the time she did so, he’d already disappeared into the darkness.

She sucked in a deep breath, reaching out for the front door’s handle and turning it until she heard the click. “Dad?” she called, stepping inside. “I’m home…”

#jily #jily*#lily evans #james potter #lily potter #prongs #fnjp #our writing

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