Chapter Text
Tuesday, 7:35 am - Westminster, London
What makes a superhero? As a child, James could have answered this question very easily and quickly. Superheroes were strong and brave, wore cool costumes, and they always got the girl in the end. But somehow, over the years, that question had become more and more difficult to answer. The girl at the end of the story had become someone whose gender James didn't give a damn about. All that mattered was what your heart said, and if you could protect the people you loved, what was the point of being the one who got a kiss on the last page of the comic?
And just having a cool costume didn't make you a symbol of hope, an anchor that people could cling to and believe that eventually, everything would be okay. It took more than a funny one-liner or the will to throw yourself into life-threatening danger without thinking, James had learned that the hard way. Since something had happened about half a year ago, his life had been completely turned upside down. It all started with a trip to the spider lab in Nottingham, where one of the tiny eight-legged creatures escaped from its terrarium and ultimately decided to settle down on James' shoulder and bite him.
After overcoming the initial panic that he could now die from the venom of an extremely dangerous spider, something happened that was somehow even stranger than if he had developed a weird rash. Almost overnight, his poor eyesight had corrected itself, he had gotten stronger and faster, but all of that was nothing compared to the fact that he was now able to climb walls and shoot spider webs out of his wrists. Something that James had deliberately not given too much thought to, firstly because he had no idea how all of this was even possible and secondly because he didn't want to ask himself any questions to which he ultimately didn't want to know the answer.
His first impulse to tell his parents and friends about it, he had dismissed immediately, because that would kick off a lot of things and James had wanted to spare himself this immense pile of stress, which is why he had kept his newfound powers to himself and instead had done something that wasn't all that unusual at his age. James had thrown himself into an identity crisis and had questioned absolutely everything that had made sense to him before and somehow his whole worldview was shaken.
His life was falling apart and he might have run away from home to calm the panic in his head were it not for that large van crashing onto the pavement while walking the streets of London one night. A mother and her two young children, bathed in the blinding glare of the headlights, had stood rooted to the spot, unable to move, pinned in place by fear of being unable to escape from something inevitable. James hadn't thought much at all. Admittedly, he rarely did, but at that moment his body had just reacted, like some sort of impulse, and he had saved their lives.
It had only been three, maybe four seconds, but they had simply changed everything and suddenly the fog in James' mind had been lifted and he suddenly realized what had to do now. It wasn't about him at all, it was about what he could do with what a quirk of fate had unexpectedly bestowed on him. He now had the power to help others and to do good and James thought of his father, who had often explained to him that it wasn't about whether you should do something, it was about knowing that when you could find a way to make this world better, you must walk it.
Granted, taking on the burden of saving the entire world is quite a lot for an eighteen-year-old teenager, but sometimes it's the little things that end up making a big difference, like when James' mother boiled up some milk and added chocolate and a steaming mug full of cocoa was able to heal wounds for which there was no medicine. Maybe just saving London every once in a while was enough for starters. But living two lives at the same time wasn't as easy as James had hoped, and sometimes even simple things like getting to school on time were a big challenge.
Especially when Mrs. Figg, their neighbour, didn't look to the right or to the left when crossing the street and seemed to hate every aspect of the road traffic regulations, which of course also referred to traffic lights. "Woah, is green your least favourite colour or why won't you wait until the light is not red anymore, huh?" Mrs Figg, no longer surprised when James saved her from an approaching car, clapped him on the shoulder in a reproachful manner with the handle of her pink umbrella and clicked her tongue in an almost disparaging manner.
"Traffic lights, technical nonsense, if you ask me. There used to be no traffic lights back then, and we still survived.", she muttered, tore herself away from him and waddled away, still grumbling. James watched her leave, shaking his head, and then swung from lamppost to lamppost along Bessborough Street, past cafes and then across St. George's Square, where there was an old church whose bell tower he had spent an hour or two at. A few people waved at him, tried to snap a quick picture, and called or hooted his name.
And, you know, the name of a superhero is quite an important matter. It had to be memorable and somehow reflect the hero as a whole, James had learned that much from his comic books and ultimately, sadly not being particularly creative when it came to such things, he'd gone with what was the obvious choice. A spider had bitten him and now he could crawl up walls, what made more sense than naming himself Spider-Man? It was simple, but it worked. This was proven by the countless newspaper articles that were printed about him and the many fan accounts on the internet.
And while James wasn't interested in being famous or being adored, it would have been a lie to say that being heralded as a hero was not good for his ego. "Almost there-", James mumbled to himself as he passed the church and glanced back at the clock, which let him know that it was now 7:40 am, meaning he still had plenty of time. But...well, sometimes things don't go according to plan and that's when a very unfortunate petty criminal decided to rob the tiny kiosk at the little park on Lupus Street, which was directly across from the church.
Even before James heard the people who were already out and about that Tuesday morning screaming in panic, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and an unpleasant tingling sensation made his whole body shudder. James didn't know what it was, but it always gave him a timely warning of danger and made him react quickly, so he was grateful for the built-in alarm system. He did a quick backflip on one of the streetlights and turned around. Mr. Burgess, who owned the kiosk, stood shaking and sweating with his hands up and stared at the gun, the barrel of which was inches from his face.
The guy with his unwashed, dirty blond hair that was about chin-length was leaning halfway through the small window into the kiosk and was clearing out the cash register with his free hand. James nonchalantly rappeled down from one of the trees overhanging the kiosk, then cleared his throat politely and tapped the man on the shoulder. "Um sorry to interrupt but...do you know that it's a really stupid tactic to pull off a robbery at this time of the day?", he asked and the man flinched, cried out and whirled around, brandishing the gun wildly.
"What do you want?! Fuck off Spider-Man!", he screeched and James folded his arms across his chest. "Hey, why so rude, huh? Just wanted to give you some nice tips, mate.", he said, and probably to prove something to himself and everyone else, the man raised the gun over his head and fired a shot that gave a bunch of pigeons heart attacks and caused those who had stopped to stare to scatter in panic. "Oh okay, okay. I see, you don't want my tips. That's totally okay buddy, really.", James replied calmly, and two quick web shoots later the criminal was dangling upside down from one of the thick branches in a snuggly cocoon of silvery spider threads.
James always left the rest to the police and whether they wanted his help or not didn't matter to him, because the fact was that they needed him. "Alright Mr. Burgess, see you.", James said, giving the old man a two-finger salute and then swinging away, because he was running late, as the bell tower showed him. Luckily there was currently a building site on Chichester Street, to the rear of the school, and with it a couple of dumpsters that worked perfectly as a makeshift changing room.
"Ugh, next time maybe not a full-body suit..." James pulled the mask off, tousled his hair briefly and dug out of his backpack his glasses, which were now prepped with window glass, but to be honest he would have felt kind of naked without them. Painstakingly peeling off his red-and-blue suit, James hopped back and forth on one leg between the containers and nearly stepped on the tail of Mrs. Norris, the mean janitor's nasty cat. The shaggy four-legged animal hissed at him and James held up his hands defensively.
"It's okay, I'm sorry. Just...go your way. I'm sure Mr. Filch is already looking for you.", he urged and the cat scrutinized him penetratingly with its large lamp-like eyes before striding away, head held high, and jumped over one of the low walls, back onto the school grounds. Taking a deep breath, James quickly slipped into his uniform and, while still tying his tie, dashed two blocks back to the main entrance, where Mr. Filch was standing with a rake and eyed him sourly as he passed him and stumbled up the stairs to the door.
Mr. Filch had been the caretaker at Pimlico Academy for what felt like aeons, and he just hated everything and everyone but his cat. Who was at least as unpleasant a fellow as he was himself. With a quick glance at the watch his father had gifted him for his birthday two years ago, James almost ran into a group of girls who watched him go, giggling when he ran off mumbling a hasty apology. About five minutes before class started, he reached his locker and his two best friends, who were already waiting for him.
"Mate, why are you late again? And don't tell me it's because you took so long to tie your tie because that..." Sirius gestured almost accusingly at the piece of blue and white striped fabric, which hung loosely knotted around his neck. "That doesn't look like you made any effort." James sighed, stretched out his arms in surrender and let Sirius do it, who smirked as he adjusted his tie. Sirius was...well, if there was such a thing as a soul mate, James had definitely found his in the black-haired boy. The moment they met, something clicked and they knew right away that they wanted to be together forever.
It had nothing to do with love or any romantic feelings, although James had to admit that Sirius was pretty damn handsome, but between them, it was a different kind of connection. As if they were always meant to find each other. And for Sirius, James was the first friend he'd ever had, the first person to show him what the word family really meant, and the first person to teach him how to give someone an overwhelming and heartwarming hug. "You're sweating. Did you run?", Peter asked, leaning against his locker with his arms crossed and eyeing James.
"Uh...yeah, I overslept.", he replied shakily and Peter, looking suspicious for a moment, then nodded and left it at that. James had known Peter since they were little. They'd practically grown up together, had countless sleepovers for two, engaged in dozens of snowball fights, and built hundreds of pillow forts. Aside from Sirius, he was the one who arguably knew James best and who would willingly follow him anywhere and trust him blindly. And so did James.
"Overslept? Really? This is the sixth time in two weeks. You're hiding something from us.", Sirius said and took a step back and James' eyes almost bulged in shock and something heavy thudded into his stomach and he felt queasy. "W-What? What makes you think that?", he squeaked, his voice two octaves higher than usual and Sirius wordlessly raised an eyebrow before putting his hands on his hips. "Well, because you're a really bad liar.", he replied and James felt his heart begin to flutter nervously, like a bird about to fly for the first time but it had no idea how to use its wings.
"Bullshit, I would never lie to you guys. And um...hey by the way, how's Regulus doing?" A very clumsy change of subject, most definitely, but when it came to his younger brother, all of Sirius's switches got flipped anyway, so it was the ideal tactic for James to deflect from his very blatant lies. "Don't say you've had another fight.", James continued undeterred and Sirius rolled his eyes. "No, things are going great between us. He's just...the way he is. A mean little gnome who pretends to hate me but actually loves me.", he said with a deep, theatrical sigh and James grinned.
"Somehow you can't be with but also not without each other.", he replied, loosening his tie and opening his locker. To say that Sirius and Regulus were both complicated people would have been an understatement. But James would never have blamed them for that because they couldn't help the fact that their parents were unloving, unempathetic, cruel shitheads who had always denied their children any affection and had crushed them with expectations they could never have met. Not to mention the mental and physical abuse that the two brothers had endured over the years.
James had only met Sirius' father once when he had picked him up from an afternoon of gaming together when Sirius was just twelve. A tall, mute man who seemed almost static, like a gray unmoving rock without any emotions. As if he just didn't care. He had grabbed Sirius by the shoulder very roughly and dragged him to the car and James had felt nothing but pity for Sirius at the sight of him, especially since Orion was such a polar opposite of his own father.
Regarding Sirius's mother, he'd seen her only once through the window of the chic Islington flat in Claremont Square, where the Black family had had their ancestral home for generations. It had only been a fleeting glimpse, but James had immediately gotten goosebumps because although Walburga was beautiful and possessed a natural elegance, her eyes were ice cold, her mouth always set in a thin line as if she were dissatisfied with everything around her, and her entire body and unnaturally perfect posture seemed lifeless and forbidding.
In short, she was a terrifying woman and James admired Sirius and Regulus for sticking around her for so long. By the time he was sixteen, Sirius had finally run away from there after spending many nights with James' family, and almost a year later Regulus had followed him. Euphemia, the blueprint for every mother in existence in James' mind, had gotten the two brothers a flat nearby so they could visit the Potters whenever they wanted. It wasn't always easy between Sirius and Regulus, they liked to argue often, and by now James believed that arguing was as vital to the two of them as breathing.
But they were brothers despite everything and would never let each other down, they could look at each other and immediately knew what the other was thinking and woe to anyone who wronged one brother, he would feel the full rage of the other brother. "So everything as always I would say." Sirius linked his arm with James and the three of them made their way to the classroom. "But enough of that, have you heard that Lucinda supposedly stuffs her push-up bras to get more attention from the boys? Heard she's jealous of Greta's bust size because she's got boobs the size of melons and Lucinda so flat you could use her as a pool table.", Sirius smirked, because if there was one thing that really got him going apart from David Bowie, it was gossip.
Sirius was the unofficial drama queen of Pimlico Academy, always knowing when someone was trying to cover a dirty secret and always having the latest tea on hand. That was also the main reason why Peter had saved him as 'Gosspig Girl' in his phone. Peter, who now reminded them that maybe they should hurry up a bit because if there was one subject not to be late for, it was English. McGonagall was a strict and very stern woman, and a fantastic teacher, but she hated it when you were late or in any way disrupting her classes. And for that matter, Peter, James and Sirius were high on her hit list.
"Shit, I think I forgot to do my homework.", James mumbled and started frantically rummaging around in his backpack while the other two took their seats. "Do you have some sort of death wish? Because Minnie will definitely have your head when she finds out.", Sirius said from a row behind James and the bespectacled boy grimaced. "Yeah thanks for reminding me, mate.", he growled as someone poked his side with a pencil and James looked up in confusion. Lily Evans, the girl with the most incredible green eyes James had ever seen, grinned at him and held something under his nose that he didn't recognize until he took a second look.
"Oh wow Lily you're a lifesaver, I owe you one.", James said, grabbing the densely written sheets of paper. "Oh by now you owe me so many favours that I could easily make you my personal servant for life.", she replied smugly and James looked embarrassed at the homework she had kindly lent him. It wasn't as if he'd forgotten to do them on purpose, but helping old ladies across the street and stopping regular jewellery store robberies left little time for long discussions about what made a good life. A question raised in Matt Haig's 'The Midnight Library'.
James liked the book, but he didn't like it enough for it to be worth allowing an armoured truck to be hijacked by members of the Russian mafia. So Lily Evans had saved his ass once again and just a few years ago James would have been delighted at the prospect of having to serve her forever. The moment he first laid eyes on Lily, with her emerald eyes and red hair, he had decided that one day he would marry her, even though she had hated him from the beginning. But eventually, her dislike for him had turned into something akin to tolerance and James had understood that he had never really been in love with her, just intoxicated by the idea of being with her.
And Lily really was great, fantastic even, but ultimately she wasn't the one who had made his heart burn. At least that had been his mother's most flowery metaphor when she had questioned how real his crush really was. And as always, Effie had been right, but that was okay because by now James had come to realize that he and Lily were far better off as friends than they ever could have been as a couple. Lily Evans was a force of nature and anyone who doubted that, she would mercilessly convince them otherwise.
She could be creepy when she was angry or disappointed, but like everyone, she had a vulnerable side that she hated to show. Her sister in particular was a sore point. James had never met her, he only knew her name and that she went to a different school and that she and Lily weren't getting along very well at the moment. It was apparently because her sister was jealous for some stupid reason and James would never understand how anyone could dislike Lily because she was loyal and helpful and stubborn and extremely smart. She was almost perfect and yet James had understood by the time he was fifteen that she wasn't the one for him after all.
Maybe because he didn't want what was already perfect. At least that was his father's guess. Monty had provided the thought that maybe James was looking for someone to challenge him in more ways than one, someone he really needed to fight for, break down the walls of and conquer the heart of, not with compliments or gifts, but by making himself the one person who completed the other. It sounded cheesy, no doubt, but James was an optimist and a romantic, and he loved a challenge.
"Alright, now please stop the babbling and prick up your ears, we'll get started." McGonagall, dressed in green as usual and proudly displaying her Scottish origins, entered the room and walked briskly to the teacher's desk and James scribbled the last few sentences in his notebook before handing Lily her homework back. But, as it turned out, the effort had been practically in vain, because McGonagall didn't even call him up once, but merely admonished Sirius to please stop throwing small paper balls at Peter to see how many of them would get stuck in his mousy blonde hair.
It was a relief that the first lesson on that Tuesday morning flowed along so smoothly, and while James knew he would probably regret it later, he didn't really pay much attention to McGonagall. When the exams came around, he would cram enough and beg Emmeline Vance to beat into him the last bit of knowledge that every year refused to stick in his brain. But not today and when the redeeming bell finally rang, James put his stuff in his backpack and ran out into the hallway with Lily, Sirius and Peter, where Mary and Marlene were already waiting for them.
Appearance-wise, Mary and Marlene couldn't have been more different, but it still seemed like they were joined at the hip, always together, always silently judging the others. Marlene, pale as death and with a light blonde, shaggy wolf cut, was punk personified, which was helped by the fact that Vivienne Westwood had once liked one of her Instagram pics and she was...well scary wasn't the right word, but the younger students were always watching her with a mixture of reverence and fear and no one could have denied her that it didn't look bloody powerful when she swept through the school corridors in her black, sturdy boots, which weren't actually part of the school uniform.
Mary, on the other hand, was like what the poets might describe as an afternoon come alive in a summer meadow. Her laughter was contagious, her eyes sparkled and she was a joy to be around. A social butterfly as Sirius liked to say because she got along with almost everyone and the teachers loved her. Not because she was always the best student, but because she knew how to use her charm. Something James envied her for because no matter how many times he told Minnie that he thought her green tartans were absolutely gorgeous, she always responded with a sharply raised eyebrow.
"Well, seems like a certain someone was scared McGonagall would eat him for breakfast, huh?", Mary quipped, putting an arm around Lily's shoulders as she came to stand next to her. "Oi that's a real danger if you forget your homework with her and shouldn't be underestimated.", James justified himself and Marlene snorted in amusement. "But you already know that she only keeps an eye on you because you and the other two blockheads screw up so often." "We don't screw up, we rebel against the system, McKinnon. I thought that would be to your liking.", Sirius countered and Marlene laughed and shook her head.
"Oh, so blowing up the toilets is your way of rebelling against the system? I find that a bit questionable." "Just because you're not able to recognize the message we're conveying with our pranks. It's called moral psychology.", Peter replied and Marlene poked his forehead before they went to their next lesson. All the way there, Mary and Lily kept giggling together, holding hands, and even a blind person would have recognized that they were flirting, but the others had long since given up trying to point this out to either of them.
Marlene had said they would have to figure it out on their own, but also that it could take a while for people who were oblivious about their own feelings. And at least that was the case for Lily. Mary on the other hand...not so much. When they arrived the classroom smelled faintly of rotten eggs and Peter immediately opened one of the windows before joining James and Sirius in the back row, for although Slughorn was quite an acceptable teacher, all three of them hated Chemistry. Unless their teacher had planned some experiments, then it could be quite entertaining.
"You know, I don't understand why Slughorn is so suspicious of us. I mean...that little mishap with the Bunsen burner was a one-time thing.", Sirius said, throwing his arms up dramatically and Lily sighed. "You almost set the whole school on fire." "Yeah, but only almost.", James grinned, pointing his finger guns at her and the red-haired girl rolled her eyes before she took Mary's arm and sauntered off with her. "If it's not because of the incident with the Bunsen burner, then because you almost burned off Peter's eyebrows during an experiment.", Marlene reminded him and James gasped in horror.
"Marls! We said we'd never talk about this again!" "Yeah, it's really not nice to rouse Peter's trauma again. He's suffered sleepless nights and nightmares of the worst kind because of it.", Sirius whined theatrically and Peter nodded somberly. "You three really are idiots.", Marlene sighed, and as she turned around, she almost collided with the very broad shoulder of Mucliber, who was pushing his massive frame through the school hallways, grumbling, followed by Avery and Snape, who both frowned in a similar way, but probably for different reasons.
"Oi, watch where you're going dyke.", he snorted and Marlene made a face. "Come up with some new insults, baby. Or is that too much effort for your little pea brain?", she sneered and Mulciber stopped, like an old steam train screeching to a halt, and looked down at her. "What did you call me?", he growled while Avery stood behind him, grinning widely as if about to cheer him on, which wasn't far off the mark. "Oh sorry, was that already outside of your limited vocabulary? My mistake, I should have remembered that you're mentally at about the level of a four-year-old.", Marlene snapped back, a belligerent twinkle in her eyes, and James looked at Sirius and Peter, who stood behind him but just shook their heads silently. Marlene was quite capable of fighting this battle herself.
"You stupid cow, I'll...!" "What, beat me up in front of everyone? Do you really want to risk another reprimand?", Marlene asked and Mulciber pressed his lips together, clenched his fists and then pulled away, Avery trudging behind him looking a little bit disappointed. Only Snape lingered for a moment, his beady black eyes fixed on the back of Lily's head. "Fuck off, Snivellus.", Sirius snarled and Snape glared at him disdainfully before shambling off, obviously in no mood to start an argument today. Even though he was really great at provoking.
"Come on, we should go.", Peter said quietly, grabbing a wrist from each of his two friends and pulling them in the opposite direction. It wasn't uncommon for them to clash with Mulciber's little gang almost every day, a rivalry that had started the second they began their first day of school together. Mulciber was dimwitted, yes, but easily angered and what he lacked in brains he made up for in brawn. Avery, on the other hand, was like a nasty little weasel who always went after what he thought was the best option and Snape...well Snape was a bitter loner, a coward with a way too big mouth and a mean streak that he liked to take it out on the smaller and weaker.
He had once been Lily's best friend, something James had never understood, but after she rejected him and he insulted her, she had rightly told him to stay away from her. She'd stubbornly ignored him ever since, far too kind a treatment if you had asked for James' opinion, who'd clashed with the lanky boy with forever greasy black hair so many times he'd lost count. But James refused to waste too many of his precious thoughts on someone like Severus Snape, especially when there were so many other things worth thinking about.
Well, admittedly, in Professor Binns's history classes, he mostly switched off, but he was certainly not alone. His way of speaking was so endlessly boring and dry that one had the feeling of listening to a ghost and it was not uncommon for students to fall asleep in his class. He didn't care much however, he was so old that it surprised James that he could even operate the printer in the staff room. And because a secret second life as a superhero could be very exhausting, it wasn't long before James' head sank onto his desk and he disappeared into the realm of dreams.
For a while he was floating around in absolutely blissful zero gravity, dreaming of something he forgot the second Sirius shook him awake and Peter beamed down at him, telling him that it was now time for lunch. James yawned, rubbed his eyes, his glasses almost slipping off his nose and together they made their way to the cafeteria. "Hey, did you hear about the robbery this morning? Happened right here, just down the street. Some petty criminal wanted to rob the kiosk at the park there.", Mary said and James pricked up his ears.
"Oh really? Did he get arrested? Was anyone hurt?", Lily asked, grabbing a tray and joining the line of other students queuing for lunch. "Pfff, of course not. Spider-Man was right there and grabbed him.", Sirius said, showing Lily his phone. It showed an image of the criminal wrapped in a cocoon of spider threads, dangling upside down from a tree, and a blurry red-blue speck far to the left of the image. "Wow, it seems like it's really hard to get a decent picture of him.", Peter remarked and Sirius nodded. "He's just too fast."
"He's doing vigilante justice and I don't like that. He should just let the police do their job.", Lily said, grabbing an apple juice from the counter. "Lils, I love you, but if you really think the police have everything under control, you're sorely mistaken. Spider-Man is the best thing that could have happened to them. I mean, he's always there and saving people. I think he's exactly what London needed and to be honest, more than we deserve.", Marlene replied and the six of them sat down at their usual table.
"That's right, he gets so much shit thrown at him on the internet, but he keeps going and he doesn't want anything in return. He's a hero, it's as simple as that.", Sirius said, leaning back. "Yes, if you make it that easy.", Lily replied and James looked back and forth between her and Sirius, waiting for a heated argument to ensue, but just as Sirius opened his mouth to say something, a group of stragglers entered the cafeteria and James' full attention was immediately on the boy walking up front who looked so much like Sirius and yet couldn't have been any more different.
Regulus Black had the same raven hair as his brother, the same high sharp cheekbones and the same straight aristocratic nose, but that was where the similarities ended. He was not as tall as Sirius, but with a more pointed chin and hair that curled more and was cut shorter, and whereas Sirius' eyes were more like a deep, calm ocean, blue like absolutely pure sapphires, Regulus' eyes were two pools of silver, cold and unreachably distant like two full moons shining bright in the dark night sky. And so incredibly beautiful...wait, what?