A/N: I've had the idea of Arabella Stark for a while now, and when I saw TASM2 last week I just thought her and Harry would work perfectly, so here they are(:

This is written using mostly just inspiration from the films, but excluding some of the events.

Arabella Stark stood in the hallway of the school that she had been attending for the past six years, watching as the last of her friends left for the Easter holidays. They were all going home to spend time with their families - a refreshing break from the monotony of school life. Every other year Arabella had done the same: got into an ominous black car on the last day of term and driven to her father's sprawling mansion without a backwards glance. But this year, everything was different. This year she was being abandoned; her father, Tony Stark, had decided that he had better things to be doing than spend the season with his perpetually grumpy, illegitimate teenage daughter. And so she found herself spending Easter in the cold school building with the rest of the losers whose parents hadn't wanted them. It was going to be a long holiday.

Turning her nose up at the mere thought of it, she trudged back into the study centre where the rest of the students had gathered. Mostly they were the children of parents who lived far away or who had jobs too busy to take time off to see their child. The vast majority of them were used to this routine by now, so they had made friends with other losers and were sat in small groups dotted around the tables that filled the room. They talked in hushed tones, gossiping about the events of the past week or assignments that they had due after the holiday. None of them noticed Arabella walk in.

None, that is, except for Harry Osborn, who immediately glanced up at the sound of footsteps echoing through the small space. He frowned when he saw her.

She frowned too. Seeing the son of such a rich, influential man sat all alone struck her as extremely odd; surely he could at least pay someone to sit with him, if he was incapable of gaining friends like a normal person? Or perhaps that was just the issue: ordinary people are often intimidated by the rich and famous. Arabella should know.

Whatever the reason for his loneliness, Arabella decided that she wasn't interested and shook the thoughts from her head. The weird boy was nothing to do her. Except that the only remaining seat in the room was opposite Harry. Arabella rolled her eyes, "Just my luck", she muttered to herself.

Dragging her feet, she walked over to the chair and practically fell into it; it had been a long day. She dropped her bag onto the table in front of the Osborn boy and started rummaging around in it, looking for anything that might make her look busy enough for him to not wish to interrupt. He was still staring at her as her hand came back empty.

"Need some help there?" He enquired politely.

"No," she replied through gritted teeth. "I'm fine."

"If you say so," he shrugged in response. "Hey, what are you still doing here? Don't you usually go home for the holidays?"

"Don't you watch the news? My dad has a new toy to play with. And you know, protecting Earth is kind of busy work - wouldn't want an annoying teenage brat getting in the way."

Harry looked awkward. "Sorry," was all he could think to say in return.

Arabella quickly plastered her usual 'I don't care' expression to her face and feigned nonchalance. Then, in an attempt to push the topic away from herself, she mused, "What's the deal with you, anyway? Do you ever go home or..." She left the end of that sentence in mid air.

"My dad doesn't really like having me around, either. We don't exactly get on." She looked at him with pity, which he hated so quickly continued, "But I'm used to it."

Arabella nodded as though she was interested in the life of this child billionaire. She should really take up acting lessons, she thought. Changing the topic from his evidently depressing life, she asked, "So what do you people do for a whole month by yourselves then?"

"Super-rad parties in the dorms every night, obviously," Harry replied sarcastically. Then, seeing her unimpressed expression, he said honestly, "Mostly just homework. The staff that stay here sometimes organise things for us to do but that's usually about as thrilling as a wet paper towel."

Arabella sighed. "Well I can tell I'm gonna have so much fun," she grumbled.

Harry nodded slightly. Then, seeing that the conversation had come to its end, turned his head to the table and the numerous papers scattered before him. Something in this mess had to provide him an answer. It just had to.

Lying in bed later that night, Arabella felt very alone. Not alone in the way that she usually felt during term time: surrounding by people but doing her best to ignore them all. In a dorm intended for four people but currently only inhabited by herself, she was genuinely and truly alone. She could hear the sound of her heartbeat in her chest and every breath that she took sounded like the beginning of a thunderstorm.

Just down the corridor, Harry Osborn was staring at the ceiling of his own, equally empty dorm room. He'd spent his entire life feeling lonely, hiding in his father's shadow. He didn't like being an Osborn; the pressure to be both intelligent and charismatic, handsome and humorous...it was all too much for him. He knew that he had let his father down repeatedly throughout his life, through almost every choice that he made. Norman Osborn wasn't a big believer in the basic human right of the freedom of choice.

Rolling over, Harry tugged his heavy duvet up around his neck and stated at the blank wall before him til his eyes felt heavy. Eventually, he fell asleep. Arabella gazed at the posters that her and her friends had pinned to the ceiling and walls: firemen with six packs, galaxies and constellations, that Winnie the Pooh one that no one would admit to owning but no one could be bothered to take down either. She had stared at them all so often over the past years at school that she had memorised every colour, every shape, every expression. Tracing them all by heart, she found her breathing getting slower until she, too, fell fast asleep.

A/N: So that was the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it!

This is my first proper fanfic, so reviews (positive or negative) would be greatly appreciated.

Also, does this seem like a good chapter length? I've got some others written already but I'm not sure if they're too short (700 words ish sound okay?)