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Chapter Text

Draco silenced his alarm, slamming his clenched fist onto the blaring alarm clock. He didn't know why Theo had insisted that he buy such an annoying clock, but it certainly did the job.

He opened his argent eyes, blinking slowly. Draco reached his hand up and wiped the remaining sleep from his eyelids, before pulling himself up to sit.

As he glanced around, half asleep, his dorm room appeared to be empty. He swung his legs over the edge, and slipped his porcelain feet into his emerald green slippers which were cleverly places at the foot of his bed every morning.

The time on the clock was ten in the morning, which was definitely a problem. Instead of panicking, Draco kept his composure, walking towards the bathroom.

There was a school trip today, and they were scheduled to leave at ten. Hopefully the busses would be late, though. His hair was ruffled, the top buttons of his silk pyjamas undone, and there were dark eye bags underneath his eyes. Instead of stressing about his appearance too much, he brushed out his hair so that it didn't look as bad as Potters, and just hoped that the eye bags weren't as noticeable.

He didn't feel like wearing anything too fancy, besides he was already late, so Draco rummaged through his drawer of clothings and took out the first things which he saw. He ended up wearing grey joggers and a plain, white, short sleeved shirt.

He stepped out of his slippers, wearing some dirty converse instead. He hurried out of the door at ten passed ten, and the run to the hall was at least ten minutes from the Slytherin dorms. Draco attended the most prestigious boarding school in all of the United Kingdom; Hogwarts, school of Education and Success. Despite such a brooding title, most of the students typically messed around, pulling pranks of sort.

Draco and his friends did like practical jokes, but only on the Gryffindors, of course. His closest friends were Theo, who was also his dorm mate, Pansy, his chemistry partner, and Blaise, who he also shared a dorm with. They were already probably waiting in the hall for him.

CRASH.

Draco fell to the ground with a thud, "What the fuck!" He exclaimed, rubbing his forehead in agony. Whoever he had collided with had run into him with an equal sense of urgency. Draco squinted his eyes open only to see Potter sat in front of him, looking equally as pained.

"You're late," Potter stated, as he pulled himself up to sit. 

"So are you, clearly." Draco responded slyly, brushing the remnants of dust and dirt from his trousers. Potter turned on his heel and walked into the Hall, which they were apparently right in front of. 

Luckily for them, nobody had departed yet. Draco hurried to the back of his house's line, searching for his friends with his eyes as Professor Snape checked his name off the list.

"You're late." Snape stated, his nasal voice feeling like an annoying bug next to Draco's ear.

Draco nodded, and Snape turned on his heel, dramatically walking away. Suddenly, at the front of the hall, there was a loud clap, demanding silence. Everybody's gaze averted towards the front, and Headmaster Dumbledore was obviously waiting there for their attention.

"The rules for this trip are as stated," The old man began, clearing his throat. It was mainly just basic regulations, such as don't run away or get into arguments. The only one that really caught Draco's attention was that everybody had to get into groups of two, and then their duo would be partnered up with another one of an opposite house. 

He sighed and walked towards his friends, they were already stood in a group of three, waiting. 

"Draco!" Theo exclaimed, pulling Draco towards their group by the wrist. Draco winced before standing next to them, and the four of them decided on their duos collectively.

Draco would have to be partnered with Theo, and Pansy and Blaise would be together. The reasoning behind this was that Pansy and Theo were too much alike, as were Blaise and Draco; too similar. 

After almost everybody in the hall were sorted into their duos, the head's of houses then gathered together to form a list of who would be with whom. It took ten extra minutes which Draco could've spent making himself look better, before they finally read out who would be partnered with who.

"Parkinson and Zabini," Snape called out, and Draco watched as Pansy eagerly followed Blaise towards their teacher's. "You'll be with Lovegood and Boot." The sinister Professor finished, and Theo snickered as he nudged Draco, pointing towards Luna.

She was twirling one of her blonde curls around her finger, smiling at Blaise and Pansy.

"That's my cousin," Draco sighed, giving Theo an evil stare. He immediately stopped snickering and sunk into his chair.

After what felt like forever, their names were finally called.

"Malfoy and Nott," Snape declared, and Draco pulled himself up. Most eyes were on him as he walked towards the teachers, Theo close behind. Draco folded his arms and shot an unfriendly glare towards some Hufflepuffs before he was told off by Miss Sprout. "You'll be with Potter and Weasley." Draco's heart stopped.

He could feel the colour draining from his face as an equally displeased Potter walked towards the pair of them. He immediately flipped Draco off, and Draco retorted by kicking him in the shin. Potter went to kick Draco back, before Snape stopped the two of them, splitting them apart whilst they stayed partnered. 

"Don't argue for a couple hours," Draco heard Weasley whisper into Potter's ear, to which Potter nodded along, bored. The four of them unwillingly climbed onto the bus together, and had to sit in a row of four with the group of them. Draco should've just stayed in bed.

Potter sat closest to the window, Weasley went in next, and Theo followed after, leaving Draco to the aisle seat. He fell asleep before the bus even left, and woke up roughly halfway through the journey. Weasley and Theo were actually talking together, having a genuine, friendly conversation.

They were actually quite similar in the way in which they talked, but Theo was definitely ruder. For example, Weasley always decided to say bloody instead of actually swearing, whereas Theo shamelessly said fucking.

"You awake?" Theo asked, turning towards Draco, who nodded sleepily. "We're almost there, like five more minutes." He stated, as Draco rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"Have a nice nap, Malfoy?" Potter remarked, giggling.

"Why are your cheeks so pink, Potter?" Draco yawned, stretching his arms outwards. Potter turned towards the window and muttered something under his breath angrily, causing Draco to giggle.

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Draco swivelled his head around to see his cousin, smiling widely at him.

"Hey, moons." Draco grinned warmly, feeling his gaze softened as she bit her lip. "What's up?" He urged her when she didn't answer.

"I have a bad feeling about this trip." She said in an almost whisper, sounding honestly concerned.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure Blaise keeps you safe." He whispered back, attempting to comfort her.

"Your friends are lovely, but it isn't me who I'm worried for." She answered, slightly louder this time. An uneasy feeling overcame Draco, even though Luna was probably just being the usual conspiracist that she always is. Nonetheless, Draco couldn't calm the feeling of unease that was resting in his stomach.

As he turned back around to face the front, the bus came to a slow halt, and everybody began getting off row by row. He walked in front of Theo, brushing off his worry and replacing it with excitement.

The tour was boring, simply put. It specialised in arachnids, mainly harmless creatures but when some species are aggravated their venom can be lethal. They stayed in their groups of four, each group wondering on their own and having to visit every exhibit.

Potter and Weasley were always whispering to each other about something, looking at Draco and then snickering to each other. If it was anybody else Draco might of been offended. But it wasn’t.

As they were looking at a cage containing three wolf spiders, Potter’s phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket, and he eagerly answered.

“Hey mum!” He answered, happily. How pathetic, Draco thought. “Oh yeah it’s great, I’ll be back at Hogwarts in three hours, probably.” His voice was high pitched and annoying, and far too whiney for a thirteen year old.

After he finally hung up, it was time to go to a different type of enclosure. Apparently, the spiders there had been genetically mutilated; bread between other animals to gain some sort of unique capabilities. There was a tunnel in which they had to walk through, it was see through and showed off their unnatural spiders with pride.

Draco was last in the line, he fell behind his small group and mindlessly followed Theo around. As Draco stared up at the arachnids which were crawling around him, his sharp jawline was clearly visible to anybody in front. Suddenly, he felt a tingling feeling spread from his neck and to his body, pulsing through his veins and causing him to twitch. He slapped the spot on his neck, where the sensation had began.

When Draco checked the palm of his hand, there was a mix of black and red sludge, probably from squashing some sort of spider which had escaped his cage. It was whatever, not like he was concerned about that pathetic creature.

After a couple more hours of aimlessly wondering around the laboratory, learning nothing more than the fact that Theo was a Lana Del Rey fan, it was finally time to return to the school. Good. He needed a good nap after that tirelessly boring day.

Chapter Text

Draco climbed out of his bed groggily the next morning. It was around two am when he awoke from restless sleep, as he sat up and rubbed his forehead he sleepily glanced around the room, admiring his roommates. Blaise was sleeping like a dead person, his arms crossed around his chest as if he were in a coffin; Draco snickered. Theo, on the other hand, half of his leg was dangling off his bed, his duvet was on the floor, and he was drooling onto his pillow as he snored loudly.

He looked at the clock and sighed to himself, he had gone to sleep early and woken up before the sun was even up. Draco walked over to the bathroom, slowly opening the creaking door, then reaching his hand inside and flicking the light switch on. He stepped inside, leaving the door open as it was too loud, and sneaking towards the sink.

As Draco turned the tap, something extraordinary occurred. He couldn't comprehend the events unfolding before him, and he attempted to take a nervous step back as it happened. His hand was stuck to the tap, at first he thought it was Theo pulling some sort of prank, but they'd made an agreement to not prank each other and only the other houses (by that they meant Gryffindor). 

He tried with all his force to release his grip on the tap, but nothing was to avail. Eventually, he stopped struggling and thought that he'd wait until Blaise or Theo woke up, but as soon as he gave up, he was released. Draco scoffed, rubbed his hand, and ran back into bed, the bathroom light still on.

It took him a few hours, but at around four in the morning, he fell asleep again. 

At seven, Draco's body reacted by itself. As he felt a cold drop of water drip onto his forehead, his eyes shot open and he felt himself jumping, but it was all too fast to process. He glanced around the room, half in shock and half scared, only to  see Theo hovering a cup over where Draco had been asleep, and that's when Draco realised that he was stuck to the ceiling. Again, he released all the tension in his body, and dropped to the floor, landing perfectly on his feet.

"How did you just?" Theo stammered, his pupils dilated and his mouth hanging open.

"Do what?" Play it cool, Draco thought. If this wasn't a dream, then it couldn't be anything good. "Hey, is that water for me?" Draco casually walked over towards where Theo was standing, taking the cup with shaky hands.

Theo remained motionless, blinking in confusion, and Draco walked towards the bathroom, leaving the water on the side. As he shut the bathroom door, he reached to turn the light on, only to realise that it was already illuminating the usually dark room, confirming that last night wasn't a dream.

Draco was many things, arrogant, inconsiderate, sensitive, dramatic, but stupid was not on that list. He immediately knew that these abilities had to of come from a spider at the laboratory, and the only one that he had come into physical contact with was genetically mutated. Yep, that's his culprit. 

Draco pulled his phone out of his pyjama pocket, pressing the home button hurriedly, and testing to make sure his thumb wasn't stuck. It wasn't. He opened up safari, and typed into the search bar the name of the lab in which he had visited, Riddle Lab. He pressed enter with a shaky finger, and watched as the links appeared on his screen.

He clicked the one which lead to their website, and he continued until their was a heading which read Genetically Mutated Spiders and Their Affects. Draco read over the information numerous times, but not once did it mention the situation of being bitten by said spider.

He eventually powered off his phone, and turned on the shower. His hand didn't get caught this time, which was curious. After a quick shower, Draco blowdried his hair and hurried out of the bathroom, only to see Theo still there. "Are you good?" Draco asked, slightly concerned. He had been in the bathroom for at least half an hour, and Theo hadn't budged.

Theo, seemingly shaking off some sort of thought, turned to Draco again. "Fine."

They both walked down the stairs of their school in silence, and left campus to go and explore town. Theo had his AirPods in, and offered one to Draco who graciously accepted. Sad Girl by Lana Del Rey was blasting in their ears, and Draco admittedly enjoyed it.

Theo went a separate way as he had to buy some new school books, so Draco walked towards the dodgy corner shop. There were some people smoking outside, but Draco wasn't one to judge, so he continued walking. Inside, his phone buzzed and he eagerly answered.

Father - 7:21am

Hey Draco, do you want to meet for breakfast?

Father-7:35am

I'm driving to town just in case!

Father-7:51am

I'm next to that café near the bank, are you coming?

Father-8:22am

I had to leave, I'm sorry son!

Draco hadn't seen any of these texts, but as his neck gave an involuntary twitch, he typed out an angry response.

Draco-8:23am

Can you stop texting me so much? Get a life.

It wasn't like Draco to be so disrespectful, but he had other problems in life to worry about than meeting up with his dad for breakfast. Draco grabbed a random bar of chocolate from the shelf and placed it on the counter to pay. There was only one other customer in the store, a mysterious individual dressed from head to toe in black.

"One quid." The cashier said in a bored voice, chewing her gum loudly. Draco fumbled in his pockets but could only locate ninety cents. He sloppily threw them on the counter. She looked from the loose change to Draco, who was sweating uncontrollably. "You're ten cents short." She groaned.

"Just let me off, please," Draco begged, "I don't have the money right now, it's in my dorm." 

"Not my problem." She rolled her eyes. "Next." The cashier shouted before Draco could retort. He began walking towards the exit, not bothering to put the chocolate back on the shelf. Suddenly, he could hear a feminine scream from behind him, and the hairs on the back of Draco’s neck stood up, goosebumps forming all over his body.

He saw the figure from behind him had taken their black hood down, and brunette curls were now visible. His brown eyes and obvious dragon tattoo on the side of his face were also noticeable, but not as noticeable as the silver gun which he was holding the cashier at gunpoint with.

Draco watched the scene unfold as she emptied the till, and the man threw Draco’s chocolate at him, offering him a friendly wink. “Call the police!” She squealed, before she was silenced by him shoving the gun deeper into her cleavage.

“Not my problem.” Draco stated as he walked outside, unwrapping the chocolate and chewing on it with his mouth closed. The man who had robbed the shop suddenly shoved passed Draco, smirking at him as he bolted down the street, pockets jingling with change. 

Draco continued his day as usual, just with chocolate this time. As he turned out of an alleyway and back onto the street, he could see the thief once again, but there was also somebody else. Draco’s father was walking down the street, looking slightly sadder than usual. Draco felt a tinge of guilt in his chest as he recalled the message which he had sent.

Just as Draco was about to walk over and apologise, the sudden sound of a defining gunshot made his world stop. Draco’s heart was pounding out of his chest as he ran towards his father, who was holding the side of his stomach and dropping to his knees, a frown etched across his wrinkled face.

The thief continued to run, unbothered at what he had just caused. Draco dropped to his knees beside his father’s bleeding body and shakily cradled him in his arms. “D-Dad?” He stammered, moving his fathers long, blonde locks out of his face. 

His father opened his eyes slightly, looking up at his son with tired eyes as Draco ran his hands through his hair. 

“Oh, my boy.” His father sighed, offering a warm smile through his cold, bloody lips. “With great power, comes great responsibility. Please hold that dear to your,”  His father was cut off as his eyes went glassy and vacant. A dear fell from Draco’s cheek onto his father’s cold, lifeless face.

Draco, still sobbing, glanced around him. Not only was there now a crowd, but Potter was stood in that crowd, his jaw slack and his eyes wide, maybe even slightly teary. Draco moved his father’s heavy head from his lap, and closed his eyelids with his fingers. Draco caressed his father’s cheek affectionately with his thumb one last time, before getting up and running into the direction where the criminal had gone.

There were some shouts from behind him, and some footsteps, but Draco didn’t care. He was faster, he was stronger, and he was angrier. Filled with both hatred and passion, Draco ran up the stairs of an abandoned building, the dim, flickering lights making buzzing noises, and continued until he was on the rooftop.

There, he took a leap of faith, if he fell to his death, at least he would be with his father, and if he didn’t, than he would be avenging his father. As Draco closed his eyes, preparing for the worst, it never came. He opened them to see that he had landed on the side of the building, not on a rail or anything, just attached to it like an insect.

He effortlessly climbed upwards, and he was soon enough on that rooftop as well. Draco continued to hop from building to building, now extending his wrist forwards and shooting a long, white, sticky thread from his body. He was similar to a spider, with the same abilities as one would have.

Finally, after going from building to building, he came face to face with the perpetrator. The man was on a random rooftop, laughing as he counted his money. Draco, only seeing red, charged at the man, immediately knocking him off his feet and onto the floor. He stammered and scrambled, attempting to free himself of Draco’s grip, but Draco swung a sharp fist onto the thief’s left cheek, almost knocking him out there.

Draco, dragging the man in front of him, dangled the man off the edge of the building, with full intent to drop him. “No please! You don’t want to be a murderer, r-right?” The thief choked out, kicking the air in an attempt to release himself.

“You murdered my father!” Draco retorted back, his screams of agony loud enough for the whole city to know. He didn’t know when he had started sobbing again, but his eyes were bloodshot and stinging from the amount of tears which were practically etched into his skin.

“And I will pay for that in both prison and hell!” The thief screamed in defence, his voice high pitched and whiney. Draco sighed, throwing the thief onto the rooftop once again, but this time stepping on his buff chest with his shoes. 

Draco dialled the police immediately, and everything after that was a blur. All that he remembered from that night was the last words of his father, and the gaping whole in Draco’s heart, his soul, from where his father had left. 

With great power, comes great responsibility.

Chapter Text

Draco didn't want to wake up that morning, but his body forced him to. He was up at six in the morning, probably being more active than somebody who had just lost his father. School started that morning, and he didn't want to have any detentions alone with his thoughts, so Draco got into his uniform as usual. 

He had to wear a white button up, green tie (according to his house), and normal grey slacks. He didn't do the top button up as per the school regulations, he left his shirt untucked and his hair a mess. Draco sighed at his reflection in the mirror, dark eye bags and pale skin staring back at him. He looked like a zombie.

Worst of all, Potter had seen him crouched over his father's body, sobbing. Everybody probably knew by now, and it wasn't a secret. Suddenly, a knock at the bathroom door startled Draco, and he groaned. Blaise woke up early, but he would never disturb Draco. 

"Go away, Theo." Draco shouted.

"It's not Theo." A feminine, Irish voice responded. How would his cousin of gotten into the dorm room? Nonetheless, Draco immediately unlocked the door, and Luna dove in for a tight hug immediately, having to go on her tip toes in order to reach Draco's neck.

"How did you get in?" Draco questioned, breaking away from the hug yet still holding onto Luna.

"Pansy gave me the password and your dorm number," She grinned sadly, "Is it true that uncle Lucius is," She swallowed her words. Draco nodded solemnly and Luna immediately burst into tears, burying her face into Draco's shoulder. He looked up to see Blaise and Theo stood uncomfortably, watching the two cousins.

Luna stepped back, wiping her tears, and leaving the dormitory wordlessly. Draco's friends didn't stay anything, they just stared, so Draco left closely behind Luna. 

He wasn't planning on going to the Great Hall, at least, not straight away. Draco wandered the familiar corridors of Hogwarts, his steps heavy with the weight of grief. The loss of his father consumed him, gnawing at his insides like a relentless beast.

Any normal person would feel this way at the death of a close family member, but for Draco it was much worse. It felt like his heart was splitting in two, or maybe it was never fully whole. His petty selfishness had directly lead to the death of his beloved father, and worst of all, everybody felt bad for him. If only Luna knew what a monster he was.

Suddenly, the loud chime of the school bell could be heard echoing throughout the hallways, and Draco hurried towards his first lesson, eager to finally escape his thoughts for a while.

The moment he stepped into that science lab, he felt eyes burning into the back of his head, the hairs on his neck stood on end and goosebumps emerged all over his body. As he swivelled around quickly, the world seemed to slow down significantly, it was weird. Draco looked at his hands, wriggling his fingers, which were still moving at a normal pace.

There was a balled up piece of paper flying towards his face now that he had turned around, so Draco merely stepped to the side, out of its way, and the world continued at its normal pace. 

"How did you move so quick?" An irrelevant Gryffindor with hair shaved closely to his head, paired with a thick, Irish accent asked. Draco shrugged in response and took his favourite seat in the back corner, resting his head on the desk and closing his eyes immediately. When he lifted his head up again, the classroom was almost filled up completely, except for six seats. 

Moments later, three idiots stumbled in, two of them a giggling mess. 

Firstly, there was Granger, her face was stern and serious, and she paid her respects to the teacher immediately upon entrance. She was excused, and took a seat far away from Draco. Good. He didn't want to be near her anyway.

Secondly, Weasley, still laughing, apologised half-heartedly for his tardiness. He was placed in the seat next to Granger, although now that desk was full. Draco sunk in his chair as he realised where the last individual would probably be placed.

As expected, Potter's smile disappeared promptly as he was assigned to sit next to Draco. There were a few shouts of protest, but they were overruled by the old, greasy professor. 

Potter stomped towards Draco, hands in his pockets and posture slouching lazily. Draco moved his seat closer to the wall so that he and Potter weren't to close. If this was any other subject, such as English or maths, maybe Draco could've ignored him. But it wasn't. Science is mainly group work and practicals, so it was almost guaranteed that they'd have to interact.

“Let’s begin by writing the date and title.” Professor Snape declared in his nasal voice. 

Draco and Potter both began writing in their new books, not bothering to spare each other a glance. Suddenly, Draco heard the quiet sound of something exploding, nothing serious, just a pen. That definitely wasn’t a normal thing to be able to hear in such detail. He turned his head to see Potters hands coated in black ink. Draco scoffed and passed him a spare pen before it became a fuss, and they both continued their work in silence. 

Around ten minutes before the lesson ended, Draco felt a hand tap his arm, so he lifted his head from the desk and turned to face Potter, who’s attention was towards the front of the room, where Snape was teaching. Harry’s emerald green eyes were hidden behind nerdy, rounded frame glasses. His black, fluffy hair stood up at the back, and it looked so stupid. Even worse, was his geeky grin. A smile which had more power and brightness than a billion suns. 

Draco was his polar opposite, his icy grey eyes, sleek, blonde hair and even worse, his smouldering gaze. It was no wonder that the two were infamously enemies.

Although Potter was looking elsewhere, he had his hand held out towards Draco, a neatly folded piece of paper in its grasp. Draco cautiously took it.

I’m so sorry about your dad. You can talk to me, even if you hate my guts.

Seventeen words. That was all it took. All it took for a warm feeling to envelop his chest, his face to heat up with an embarrassed yet grateful sensation, and his gaze to soften as he stared at Potter. 

Draco took the note and slipped it into his pocket, before quietly whispering words of gratefulness under his breath. “Thank you.”

Chapter Text

It had been a week since school had started up, and Draco hadn't so much as exchanged a glance with his friends. All he'd been doing was feeling pathetically sorry for himself through sulking, along with a side of books. One Wednesday, he was hunched into the corner, scattered pieces of crinkled parchment on one side, and a broken pen on the other. 

In his lap sat a thick book, with a red, velvet cover and gold, italics on the front. 

The Webbed Fiend!

It was originally a plan for a very obscure comic book, but it provided an almost similar circumstance to Draco's. A normal teenage boy gained supernatural abilities. Only in the book, he was given a choice from God, and only received webs after agreeing. Draco didn't get a choice;he had his powers spat on him out of pity.

He groaned as he read the pathetic attempts at the graphic novel. 

Peter ran towards the edge of the building, where Gwen was moments away from touching the road bellow. He shot some webs, successfully rescuing her.

This book sucked. It lacked detail, explanation and worse of all, a good plot. Draco angrily slammed it shut, causing it to echo throughout the ancient library. He left his papers and pens, and dumped the book on the nearest desk, frustrated. 

He decided that it was time to get some lunch, as he only had twenty minutes left before his English Literature lesson. As soon as he walked into that canteen, he could tell that it was pure chaos. 

There were chunks of food flying around the place, being thrown between the house tables. Draco angrily stormed towards the Slytherin table and grabbed some chicken legs before hurrying outside the hall. He didn't even make it halfway when he bumped into the back of a fifth year boy. A Gryffindor. 

The boy turned around angrily, lifting up his fist for a punch, but Draco struck first. His hit had such force behind it, that the fifth year flew against the wall, passing out as blood dripped from the top of his head. Draco, both shocked and afraid of his newfound abilities, began to run towards the exit.

 "You have got to stop distancing yourself," a quiet yet demanding voice from behind him spoke, Draco recognised it instantly. He turned around, inches away from the doors, yet deciding to stay. Luna's eyes were already teary as she stared at her cousin who had turned into the one thing which they both truly hated. 

"Tell me that when you watch your dad die!" Draco spat back, angrily. Luna flinched slightly at the volume, and Draco stepped back slightly, both shocked and disgusted with himself. Suddenly, she allowed her emotions to gain control of her voice. 

"I lost my uncle, and it feels like I'm losing my cousin too!" She screamed, her blonde curls glistening against the sunlight. Draco looked above her shoulder, staring at the innocent Hufflepuff who he'd punched, clutching his bloody nose in shock. He then looked towards Pansy, who was holding hands with both Blaise and Theo, staring at Draco in shock. He looked down at his shaky hands, blood coating and staining his knuckles.

Then he looked up to Luna.

Despite her defensive stance, there were tears streaming down her face, her bottom lip was quivering and she was holding herself, wrapping her arms around herself and sobbing. Without speaking, he took a few steps forwards and wordlessly held her. No words were exchanged, but with a returned hug, Draco released her and left.

His dorm was quiet, meaning that it was the perfect opportunity for Draco to take a nap. He wished. Draco knew that his power came with a heavy responsibility, the responsibilities of protecting and rescuing civilians. What he couldn't do for his dad.

He immediately hurried towards his clothing draw, pulling out a red, polyester bodysuit which used to be Luna's before she dumped it on him, so it would be a bit of a tight fit. Luckily for him, Blaise had a sewing machine and black thread. This wouldn't be enough, though. After an hour of peaceful work, he had sewn numerous black, web patterns onto this red suit. He had missed his last few lessons for this, but it was definitely worth it.

Draco felt a tingling sensation spread throughout his body again, the same one that occurred in the classroom. Time didn't slow down this time, so Draco had to quickly shove the suit underneath his bed, and he jumped back onto the chair, pretending to read.

Blaise and Theo walked through the door, greeting Draco warmly. This was a ritual recently.

"Oh, hey." Draco responded nonchalantly. They both looked at him in slight surprise, which wasn't a shock since Draco had barely spoke since his fathers death. Nonetheless, they both nonchalantly continued to walk, Blaise lying down on his bed, throwing a snitch up and down, and Theo sat on the floor at the end of Blaise's bed, watching TikTok loudly.

Draco shut the book that he was pretending to read, then he walked towards his bed and grabbed his phone from his bedside table. He opened up WhatsApp, and surely, there were a few unread messages.

Luna-2:38am

I can't sleep, would you care to rob the kitchens?

Luna-3:13am

Okay the house elves just handed me a snack

Luna-7:21am

Riddle sticks, I overslept, do you know where Ginny is?

Luna-7:21am

I Hope the nargles didn't catch her...

Luna-8:02

I Found her, no thanks to you :P

Great, now Draco felt like a total dick. Those were only the messages from that day, there was about fifty in total. He decided to leave them all on seen, and then he simply changed the app to TikTok. After a couple minutes of peaceful scrolling, the sound of Blaise rummaging through draws made Draco's heart stop.

"Have one of you guys used my sewing machine?" Blaise shouted at the pair.

"No." Both Theo and Draco responded immediately, in perfect unison. Blaise shrugged and dropped the subject, causing Draco to heave a sigh of relief. 

"Can we go for a walk?" Theo randomly asked the group, as he got restless easily. Blaise and Draco both agreed, and they were out the door in a matter of minutes. Dinner was two hours away, so they planned on wondering to the castle and then returning to the dormitory after they had eaten.

The trio walked down the dormitories staircase and into the emerald green common room, the intricate, silver designs of the fireplace always catching Draco's eye in a way. Pansy was lying on the sofa, her short bob being brushed by Daphne Greengrass. 

Daphne was stunning, as was her older sister.

Daphne had long, blonde curls which resembled Luna's in a more graceful way. Her long eyelashes complimented her emerald green eyes and fair skin. Her lips were a perfect rosy red, and her smile could impress the Gods. Her sister, Astoria, was almost her polar opposite. With long, brunette hair, and shorter eyelashes which only made her tanned skin more noticeable. Their family was rich as well, and Draco was familiar with them from gatherings.

"Pansy, are you coming on a walk with us?" Theo asked, casually. Pansy nodded, and stood up, squeezing Daphne tightly before hurrying towards them. Draco was the only one not in school uniform, as he had changed into something more comfortable as soon as he entered the dorm.

"So, are you talking now?" Pansy playfully teased, nudging Draco. He jokingly nudged her back, giving her a grin. "Yes! Can we please do another prank on the Gryffindors?" She cheered, holding onto Blaise's sleeve for whatever reason. Draco chuckled heartedly, ignoring the pleased look exchanged between his friends. 

Suddenly, there was a loud crash in the hallway ahead, and obviously, the four of them sprinted towards it. There was a suspicious figure; he had short, dark curls paired with a sharp jawline and thin lips. He was overall gorgeous, but that was beside the point. He had some sort of device attached to his hand, allowing him to explode anything in the direction which he pointed his ring finger towards.

"Go through the passageway, I'll catch up." Draco urged his friends, giving them a shove in the right direction.

"But, Draco!" Pansy squealed, looking just as concerned as the rest of the group. They probably thought this was some suicide attempt or trauma response. It wasn't either - as far as he was aware.

"Go." He demanded.

This was the perfect opportunity for Draco to work on his new abilities. So, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie, and cracking his knuckles, he was ready to fight.

Chapter Text

Who did this guy think he was? Blowing up Hogwarts like that.

Draco put the hood of his hoodie up, pulling on the string until only his eyes were visible. The mysterious bomber laid eyes on him then, pointing at him with certainty. Draco dodged with a swift back flip, landing perfectly on the wall.

"Hey, you need to watch where you aim those, you might hurt somebody!" Draco joked, climbing the walls and dodging their attempts at bombings as they tried to get closer. The attacker continued to carelessly blast the surroundings.

Draco shot his webs, making the bomber lose his aim slightly,

Finally, the handsome yet evil man threw Draco against the wall. Draco felt his head spinning;a throbbing feeling made him almost faint, but he held onto consciousness. The last thing that Draco saw before his vision went black was the back of the bombers head as he leapt out the window.

Shit, he let the bastard get away. "Hey, bug boy, you okay?" He heard a voice from behind. Draco swiveled his head around and saw Potter running towards him with his two friends by his side.

"I'm a spider, duh!" Draco scoffed, "And yeah, I'm fine." He brushed the dust from his legs and shot a web at the broken window which the bomber had escaped from. He had better places to be than conversing with a Weasley, a mudblood and Potter.

Maybe Draco should be nicer so that he didn't raise suspicions, or maybe not. He did need a badass hero name, though. Maybe spider-dude? Or spider-boy?

After around an hour of searching, there was no sign of the bomber, so Draco defeatedly sighed and removed his hood. He slid down the nearest tree and collapsed onto the floor. How could he save anyone? He was just rude Draco Malfoy. Suddenly, for whatever reason, the words which his father said to him shot into his mind. With great power, comes great responsibility. The last look he saw of his father was glassy eyes and bloody lips, but the last memory was his father's words to him. Draco pulled himself to stand, looking at the darkened sky and taking a deep inhale. 

He turned and began walking towards the school, slightly discouraged but also somewhat inspired to help protect the school and town from future villains. 

Once Draco made it back to the school, it was a little after Dinner, so he headed for the great hall. He had made sure to leave his hoodie in the forest, fix his hair and try to act normal, but there was a cut on his forehead that slightly gave him away. 

When he walked in, a few heads turned, but not too many. One of them was Potter, who had parted lips and was wiping gravy from his chin as he inspected Draco. The blonde boy ignored this and walked towards his friends instead, sitting with Theo and hissing in pain as he moved his leg over the bench.

"Where the fuck did you go?" Pansy questioned, a mouthful of mashed potatoes slurring her speech. 

"Places," Was all Draco came up with, "I got caught up in the attack and some super awesome guy with a really handsome voice came and saved us." Maybe Draco was overdoing the self love, but his confidence was clear enough to anybody with an ego. After all, who wouldn't be obsessed with themselves if they were Draco fucking Malfoy?

"Handsome? Potter said his voice was high and whiny." Blaise smirked, cutting into a comically large piece of Turkey. 

"It certainly was not," Draco shouted, defensively, causing a few people to stare. He didn't feel too hungry, so Draco ate only a spoonful of mash and a few peas before he got up and headed to bed.

As Draco left the great hall, he bumped into a figure whom he didn't see the face of. They both apologised quickly before locking eyes with each other. Potter stood in front of him, green eyes of what seemed to be disgust looking from Draco's eyes and then to the dried blood on his forehead.

"That spider guy got hit in the same spot, you know." He suspiciously stated, folding one arm over the other. At least he said spider instead of bug, or whatever. 

Draco swallowed, he had nothing to be scared about. He subconsciously moved his hand onto the cut on his head, "Crazy." He sarcastically said before leaving through the massive doors and walking past the staircase and down to the dungeons where his dormitory was located.

He dressed into his favourite silk pyjamas, before he sat on the sewing machine and began to sew a red hood from a hoodie into a similar material to the rest of the suit and connecting them. He yawned and switched the machine off, taking the completed suit and hiding it underneath his mattress. 

Draco tucked himself into bed and fell asleep soon enough. By the time he awoke, his roommates were snoring in their beds. Theo had an arm and leg hanging off the side whilst Blaise was lying like a corpse in a coffin.

Draco walked into the bathroom and splashed his face with water before walking towards the library. He didn't know what else there was to do except for fighting villains, that was until he realised that people were beginning to officially call him 'spider guy'.

Draco always felt better when clearing his head on a walk in the local town. As a result, he threw on some grey joggers and a grandpa sweater paired with some worn down converse and began to leave the campus. It was only six by the time he left, so not many people were out.

As he was on the path to the town, Draco heard a sudden ear-piercing scream which cut the silence. He hurried towards the source, and saw a woman getting her purse stolen by a petty thief. As he hadn't been noticed yet, Draco slipped off his joggers and shirt, revealing that his suit was beneath his clothes. He slipped the mask on and hurried towards the thief who was still wrestling with the young woman.

Draco shot a web at the thief's hand,sticking it to the tree behind him.

"Robbing a defenceless girl in an empty forest? Pussy move," The thief moved his hands for a gun, but Draco's senses were heightened, so he hurried moved the girl out of the direction of the bullet before it landed, and swung her to safety a further area away. The woman had a phone in her hand which was recording Draco, but he didn't care too much.

Instead, Draco used his webs to stick the thief's other hand to the tree as well, and told the woman to call for authorities.

"Let me go!" The thief shouted, grunting. 

"Be quiet," Draco scoffed and shot another web at him, except this one landed on his mouth and made him shut up, "Good boy." He teased with a grin underneath the mask. 

The girl, still recording, asked Draco for his name. Her blonde Bob matched her red lipstick which was currently being bitten into by her top lip. 

"Spider-Man." Was all that Draco could think of in the moment, it slipped off the tongue like a melody with perfect harmony. The woman squealed and asked for his phone number, but Draco was already swinging from branch to branch and trying to locate where he left his belongings. 

Shit, if that video was on the internet, maybe somebody might recognise his voice? Hopefully not, but there was always a chance. Just in case, Draco hurried back to the castle and sat in the Great Hall immediately upon entering, so that when his friends would arrive it would be as if he never left.

Sadly, he was not the first one there, as Luna and Potter and some other random students were already conversing in the middle of the room. Potter gave him a suspicious glare whilst Draco awkwardly hurried towards his table.

Chapter Text

"Spider-man is so hot," Draco overheard Potter  saying from the other table. He felt his cheeks flush as he scowled. His friends entered not a second later, rushing towards Draco.

"Did you see that video of spider-man?" Theo asked Draco as soon as he sat down, immediately piling his plate with food with one hand and getting the video up with the other.

"He has a name now?" Draco swallowed the lump in his throat. He was so bad at playing it cool.

Theo showed everyone the shaky video of Draco rescuing that woman, and him calling himself spider-man. He was so cringe, he wanted  to die.

"He's so funny! Calling him good boy," Theo cackled as he replayed the moment. Draco pretended to chuckle as well. After eating a bit, he excused himself and rushed up to his room before classes started.

Draco put his suit inside of his bag, just in case, and hurried to science before he was late. He had to sit with Potter this lesson, unfortunately. The black haired boy seemed to be growing more suspicious of Draco by the hour. When Potter sat next to him, the first thing he did was whisper, "I'm onto you," Under his breath, not bothering to even spare Draco a glance.

Draco ignored him, and continued to do his work. When the lesson was finally finished, Draco began to pack away his things and leave, until his bag tipped over. A book fell out, as well as the red sleeve of his suit. Potter only saw it for a second, so Draco quickly packed away and hurried out of the classroom. That wasn't good.

The break before double sports was supposed to be relaxing.

Draco sat under the bleachers with Theo, Pansy, and Blaise, picking at the corner of a half-eaten protein bar like it had personally offended him. The late-morning sun pressed heat against the back of his neck, and the sharp tang of sweat and damp concrete filled the air.

Theo was sprawled out beside him, legs stretched, his phone held lazily in the air. “Did you know they found part of a license plate in the rubble?” he said, scrolling through the latest news update from the explosion yesterday. “No matches yet.”

Draco nodded absently, only half-listening. His thoughts were tangled in loops.

The sleeve. The glimpse of red. Potter.

He hadn’t said anything since class, but Draco knew that look. He’d grown up around people like Potter—self-righteous, curious, a little too smart for their own good. If he’d seen the suit, even for a second, he’d already be working on figuring it out. Draco didn’t know how much time he had before he made the connection.

“Draco,” Pansy interrupted his thoughts, waving a manicured hand in front of his face, “you’re brooding.”

“I am not brooding,” Draco said automatically.

“You’re always brooding,” Blaise added, tossing an empty water bottle into a recycling bin with lazy precision. “But today it’s extra.”

“You’ve barely said two words since that thing in chem.” Theo narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on with you?”

Draco waved a dismissive hand. “I’m fine. Just tired. Sports will snap me out of it.”

Pansy looked him over with a skeptical glance. “You’re lying, but whatever.”

The gymnasium was humid, the kind of damp that clung to skin and made everything stick. Students filed in, dragging their feet and groaning about dodgeball, which had quickly been turned into an intense, hybrid version of indoor capture-the-flag.

Coach Fenwick stood at the center of the court, whistle in mouth and clipboard in hand, shouting orders like he was assembling a SWAT team. “You’ll need speed, reflexes, and actual functioning hand-eye coordination! Which means, Longbottom, you’re benched until further notice!”

Neville let out a sheepish laugh and sank onto the bench.

Draco’s team—Theo, Pansy, and a painfully uncoordinated first-year named Jamie—lined up on one side of the court. Potter, of course, was placed directly opposite him. Arms crossed, sleeves rolled up, and that infuriating glint of suspicion in his green eyes.

Draco didn’t break eye contact. Didn’t blink.

He couldn’t afford to.

The whistle blew, and chaos erupted.

Draco moved instinctively—sidestepping a flying dodgeball, ducking under a diving student, and weaving toward the other side of the court. He wasn’t even thinking about the game. His mind was busy running defensive calculations: where Potter was standing, who had a phone out, whether the gym had security cameras.

He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror panel across the court—flushed, golden hair slightly mussed, jaw clenched tight.

And then—

Flash.

A quick, bright flicker from the window. Subtle, but sharp. Not like a camera flash. More like—

Metal catching the light.

Draco’s stomach dropped.

He stopped mid-step and turned his head sharply toward the tall gym windows that overlooked the back field. Just beyond the trees, something—or someone—moved.

A dark shape. Tall. Lean. Coat fluttering in the breeze.

Then, a sudden crack, sharp and violent. The sound of something heavy slamming into the far gym wall. Not a ball. Not part of the game.

An explosion.

Students screamed. The impact sent a section of bleachers tumbling sideways, and the gym lights flickered.

Instinct took over.

Draco bolted for cover, skidding behind a padded wall just as another blast hit the equipment shed outside. The windows shattered inward with a sickening pop. Coach Fenwick was yelling, trying to herd students toward the emergency exits, but panic had already broken out.

Draco could feel it—the electric buzz in his chest, his fingertips tingling, the hairs on his arms standing up. Something was wrong. Off. Deliberate.

He peeked around the corner of the gym wall.

There he was.

The bomber.

Standing casually in the middle of the field like he hadn’t just hurled two home-made explosives into a crowded school. He wore a long dark coat, his face still hidden, but the way he moved—like he was testing, toying—made Draco’s blood run cold.

He was watching. Waiting.

Looking for something.

Or maybe… someone.

Draco swore under his breath and ducked behind the wall again. His backpack was inside the locker room, stashed away under a bench. The suit was in there. No time to change, not without being seen.

But he couldn’t just stand here.

Another explosion shook the gym, closer now, sending a wave of dust and debris down the corridor. Students coughed and stumbled through the haze.

Draco didn’t think.

He sprinted out the emergency exit, around the back of the building, and ducked behind the supply shed. There—no cameras. No people. He unzipped the side of his backpack just enough to slip on the gloves and wrist shooters. That would have to do. No mask. Not yet.

He scaled the shed in two quick bounds, perched on the roof, and aimed carefully.

One shot.

Thwip.

The web shot out and stuck to the outer wall of the gym, just above the second explosion’s impact zone. Draco launched himself across, used another web to latch onto a support beam, and slung himself down near the injured bleachers.

A kid was trapped underneath.

He grabbed the metal and strained, fingers burning as he lifted the beam just enough to let them crawl out. The moment the kid was clear, Draco shot a web between the broken supports to hold the collapsing section in place—then scrambled back up and out of sight before anyone could spot him.

The chaos ended as fast as it had started.

The bomber vanished into the trees again, slipping through the smoke like a ghost. No one caught a clear glimpse. Emergency services showed up ten minutes later, and school was put on temporary lockdown.

Draco had already peeled off the gloves and stuffed them back into his bag.

He returned to the locker room with the rest of the students, towel slung around his neck, feigning the same shell-shocked confusion everyone else wore.

Except one person.

Potter.

He was seated on the bench, face streaked with dirt, breathing heavy—but his eyes were locked on Draco with laser focus.

Draco walked past, pretending not to notice. But he caught it, just in his peripheral: the flicker of realization, or maybe confirmation, in Potter’s expression.

Something had changed.

He knew something.

Back in his room, Draco sat cross-legged on his bed, suit stuffed beneath the mattress again, a notebook open on his lap.

He sketched the bomber’s silhouette. The angle of his shoulders. The way he held the trigger. Trying to piece together clues. Trying to stay ahead of this. Of him. Of Potter.

This wasn’t some game anymore. Not about showing off or being the “hot spider guy” on a grainy internet video.

This was real.

Dangerous.

And Draco Malfoy was very much in the middle of it.

Chapter Text

The school had officially closed for a week.

An entire week.

Seven full days off, “to allow for mental and emotional recovery,” according to the email from administration, which had included three entire PDFs of trauma resources, a meditation playlist, and a GIF of a sloth hugging a stuffed bear.

The explosion in the gym had been classified as a targeted external threat, and that was all anyone was officially saying. Unofficially? The rumors were feral.

There were conspiracies about black-market tech, about angry ex-professors, about underground fight clubs run by the math department. But the most persistent thread of gossip, looping through the halls like wildfire before the students were sent home, was this:

Spider-Man was real.
And hot.
And maybe a student.

Draco Malfoy was in hell.

Avoiding Harry Potter should not have been difficult.

Under normal circumstances, Draco had thrived on a steady diet of controlled snark, long walks through the library to avoid emotional vulnerability, and minimal contact with anyone whose name rhymed with “bother.”

But these were not normal circumstances.

Harry bloody Potter had seen the suit sleeve. Just a flash of red and webbing, tumbling out of Draco’s bag at the worst possible moment. It had been a second—barely enough time for anyone else to notice—but it was Potter. Which meant he’d already gone full True Crime Podcast mode and was probably mapping out Draco’s entire schedule.

And since Potter never seemed to follow the unspoken social rule of avoid the people you suspect are leading a double life, he’d been popping up everywhere.
First it was the hallway outside Draco’s chemistry class.

“Malfoy,” he said casually, leaning against the lockers like a walking accusation. “Going somewhere?”

Draco blinked. “...The other direction.”
He turned 180 degrees mid-step and walked away.

Next, it was the library.

Draco had spent a solid forty minutes trying to build an alibi by researching species of spiders that weren’t native to their city. He was halfway through an article titled “Orb-Weavers: Pretty, Not Powerful” when a chair scraped back across from him.

Potter sat down. Silently. Menacingly. With the most judgmental iced coffee Draco had ever seen.

Draco closed his laptop without breaking eye contact.

“I’m studying,” he said.

“For what? School’s cancelled.”

“Then I’m studying leisurely.”

Potter narrowed his eyes.

Draco narrowed his more.

After a long, uncomfortable silence, Potter said coolly, “You know, you’ve got a lot of bruises lately.”

Draco blinked. “I bruise easily. I have… fragile skin. Like a peach.”

“A very sarcastic peach.”

“Exactly.”

He stood up and left the library immediately, nearly walking into a shelf labeled Bug Biology.

It only got worse.

In the dining hall, he dropped an entire tray when Potter brushed past him on the way to the drinks station.

In the courtyard, he sprinted—sprinted—in the opposite direction when Potter waved at him from across the lawn.

By day three, Theo was watching him like a hawk.

“Okay,” he said that evening in the dorm, tossing a protein bar onto Draco’s bed. “Talk.”

Draco blinked. “About what?”

“You are avoiding Potter like he’s contagious.”

“Maybe he is.”

“Contagious with what, exactly?”

“A pretentious, overgrown and nurtured ego.”

Theo gave him a long, unimpressed stare.

“Draco. He waved at you. And you ran into a tree.”

“It was a well-camouflaged tree!”

“You screamed. Loudly.”

Draco flopped back on his bed and covered his face with a pillow. “I’m having a perfectly normal mental breakdown, okay? Mind your business.”

But Theo, unfortunately, never minded his business. That was his entire personality.

By the time Friday rolled around, Draco had fully committed to the Avoid Potter Challenge (Level: Expert Mode). He wore sunglasses indoors. He switched sides of the hall every time he saw a green hoodie. He even pretended to be on a call when Potter approached him outside the dorms—despite the fact that his phone was visibly dead.

“Are you talking into your wallet?” Potter asked, genuinely baffled.

“It’s a new iPhone prototype,” Draco replied flatly. “Leave me alone, you poor people would never understand.”

“Hey, I’m rich as-“ But before Potter could finish his snide response, Draco had turned away and walked directly into a janitor’s cart.

Potter did not laugh, but he definitely smirked.

That night, Draco returned to the dorm and found Blaise, Theo, and Pansy sprawled on the couch like they were waiting for a dramatic intervention. Which, apparently, they were.

“We’ve decided something,” Pansy said without preamble.

“Does it involve a therapist?” Draco asked, toeing off his shoes.

“No,” Theo said. “But if this keeps up, yes.”

“We’re taking you to the beach,” Blaise said. “Tomorrow.”

Draco blinked. “...Excuse me?”

“Beach,” Pansy repeated. “Sand. Sun. Silence. Maybe a crab.”

“You need to reset your brain,” Blaise said. 

“And get a tan. You look like you’ve been living in a bunker.”

“I have,” Draco snapped. “The bunker is my life. The outside world is too—too Pottery right now.”

“Exactly,” Pansy said. “And this is a Potter-free zone. No wifi. No campus. No mysterious staring contests. Just us and maybe a bottle of rosé I definitely didn’t steal from my mother.”

Theo slung an arm over Draco’s shoulder. “Come on. It’ll be fun. We’ll grill something unhealthy. You can scream into the ocean. Blaise can judge everyone’s flip-flops. It’ll be healing.”

Draco opened his mouth.

Closed it.

And then sighed. “Fine.”

“Yay,” Pansy said dryly. “The enthusiasm is blinding.”

The next morning, they loaded into Theo’s questionably legal rental car (Draco had questions, Blaise told him not to ask them) and made their way out of the city toward the coast.

The beach house was stupidly perfect. Pale wood floors. Big windows. The smell of salt and sand and coconut-scented candles. And, as promised, zero signal.
Draco dropped his phone on the table and slumped onto the couch with a groan. “If Potter shows up here, I’m jumping into the ocean.”

“I’ll bring snacks,” Pansy said.

The beach was mostly deserted. The sun was warm. The waves were calm.
Theo made pineapple burgers and burned exactly three of them. Pansy judged people’s swimsuits from a distance with binoculars she had inexplicably packed. Blaise took aesthetic photos of everyone when they weren’t looking.

Draco tried to relax. He really did.
He still jumped at every sudden noise, flinched when someone shouted “Spider-Man!” from a boat in the distance, and spent twenty minutes stress-building a sandcastle that resembled a tiny medieval fortress.

“You know,” Blaise said casually, watching him position a flag made of a popsicle stick, “if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were building a safe house.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Draco said, fully concentrating on the structural integrity of the moat.

“Uh-huh.”

That evening, the four of them sat on the beach wrapped in towels, the sun a molten orange smear across the sky.

“This was a good idea,” Draco admitted quietly, hugging his knees.

“I’m always right,” Theo said, stretching his legs.

“Lies,” Pansy muttered. “But it was a good idea.”

There was a long, comfortable silence.
Then Blaise said, “So. On a scale of one to ten, how hot is spider-man to you guys?”

Draco screamed and threw a handful of sand at him.

Everyone howled with laughter.

And for a moment, just a moment, everything was calm.

He could deal with secrets later. For now, he had sunburn, sand in his shoes, and people who loved him—even if they didn’t know everything.

And for once, that was enough.

“We only have two days off left, was a beach trip really necessary?” Draco heard an uncomfortably familiar voice say behind him.

“Be quiet, Ronald! It will be good for Harry to stop obsessing over this new hero that he’s so horny over,” An antagonising female voice responded. And Draco didn’t appreciate that last sentence.

“Oh for fucks sake.” Potters’ unmistakable voice said from behind, and all Draco did was tilt his head back with closed eyes and let out a long sigh.

“Lovely to see you too,“ Pansy said to the trio behind them, half sarcastic, half condescending.

“Well this was a twist, burnt pineapples anybody?” Theo suggested, a sly smirk on his tanned face.