Note: This story was co-written with the wonderfully talented Solstilla. You can find her on FFN, AO3, and Tumblr at Solstilla.

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

Warnings for the whole fic: Grief/Mourning/Survivor's Guilt, Violence, Referenced Character Death (minor)

Chapter Exclusive Warnings: Mentions of a Bank Robbery, Mentions of a Hostage Situation

DISCLAIMER: Just to be clear, nothing in this chapter is a symbol for COVID. We are not using this to suggest you don't stay home in a pandemic. Don't be stupid. Wear your mask. Get the vaccine. Lily Evans knows science is real and so should you.

Chapter One: The Best We Can Do

It was a perfectly mundane Monday morning as Lily began making breakfast for her father and herself. It was exactly like the start of her morning every weekday. First, she would wake up and get dressed. After that, she would go to the kitchen to make breakfast like her mum used to. After they finished breakfast, she would take the Tube to university, and then, she'd go to work directly after.

Working at the Daily Prophet was tedious sometimes. Although she loved the work because she got to speak with well-known scientists and report on the newest research from time to time, she often found herself wondering if the job was worth the hassle. The full-time reporters were cruel and often stole the best article topics right from underneath her. Her boss, Rita, wasn't much better. Oftentimes, she sent Lily on errands instead of permitting her to do any sort of reporting work. Still, it was a job, one that combined her love of science and writing. Not to mention, it was close to her school.

Trying not to ruin her day before it started, she pushed all thoughts of work from her mind, turning to talk to her father.

"So I don't have lab tonight...are you on call again?"

Thomas looked up from the TV where he was watching some handyman show. "I'm not supposed to be, but you know how Weasley just had twins? I might cover his shift tonight if he needs it. And I think he'll need it." It was silent for a few moments as Lily's father reflected. The man on the television rambled on about some brand new circular saw.

Lily returned to her cooking, adding a few mushrooms to her omelette. "Our schedules never line up anymore," she said softly. "I miss Duckie night."

A wistful laugh filled the small apartment.

"I miss Duckie night too." Ever since Lily had lost her mother and sister, she and her father had made a point to set aside more time together. For the first few months, it was the only thing that kept either of them going, although neither would dare admit it.

During one of the first attacks on the city in April, Petunia and Lily's mother, Marie, were on their way home from a shopping trip. Petunia was to be married in the summer. They never returned.

They had been walking across the Millennium Bridge on their way home from the dress shoppe when the bridge collapsed. Rescuers had gone to the scene and searched in the water, but there were few survivors.

It was already two months into the fall semester, and Lily was only starting to act herself again.

Her father, on the other hand, did an excellent job of bottling everything up. She knew better, though. He was just as cut up as she was.

"Tell you what," her dad said, standing up to start the coffee maker and the tea kettle, "We can have Duckie Night this Friday. What do you think?"

"I think that I can't wait for Friday." Lily turned back to the eggs, flipping her own and frowning at the slightly burnt, sloppy omelette. She could never flip them at the right time or without losing half. Lily, too wrapped up in cooking their breakfast, didn't notice her father abruptly turning back to the TV until he turned up the volume.

"Breaking News: We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you an important alert. On the corner of Marylebone Road and Baker Street, the Gringotts bank is being held hostage. No word on how many people are in the building or if any are injured. More to come as we monitor the situation."

Standing frozen with her spatula still in the pan, Lily shook her head at the news. "I can't believe this," she whispered, defeated. "Not again." Forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the screen and flip her father's omelette so at least this one didn't burn, Lily found herself mildly panicked.

Ever since March, the city had been under attack after attack. The perpetrator was almost never the same, but they all wore a tattoo of a snake on their right wrist. Lily couldn't help but think it had to be the same people connected to the bridge. Based on how her father was hooked to the television, he did too.

Watching the eggs sizzle in the pan, Lily focused on trying to block out the report and clear her head.

That day, when she lost her mother and sister, this man in a red and blue suit arrived. He called himself Spider-Man. While he was too late to save her family, she remembered watching the television that day-much like today-as he used these webs to hold together the bridge's beams and prevent any more deaths. She remembered watching every single civilian he helped back onto stable land.

She remembered her dad screaming at the screen to save Tuney and mum. She remembered his cries when the officials announced that there were no other survivors.

Lily swallowed thickly at the memory.

Sure enough, Spider-Man arrived on the scene within moments of the broadcast's start. Lily watched as a blurry figure dressed in red and blue quickly swung from a building out of frame onto the side of the bank. Even with his timely arrival, Lily heard her father mutter, "Better late than never, I guess. Some hero."

Plating the omelettes, she moved to the small kitchen table where she could see the telly and look out the window. As Spider-Man swung out with his first save of the day, she cleared her throat. "Dad, breakfast."

Her father was a tall man with a larger-than-average build. He wore jeans and a t-shirt on most days and looked every bit the rugged firefighter stereotype. While she knew he was practically a teddy bear on the inside, Lily didn't dare bring up the Spider-Man argument. Not today. Not this fight. Not again.

"Think the Tube will be late?" she asked conversationally, trying to somehow lighten the mood while also gauging to see if he would even let her go to class given the attacks.

"Always is, isn't it?" he muttered, cutting a piece of his omlette off with his fork before taking a bite. Once he had swallowed, he sighed softly, glancing over to her. Just seeing his expression, Lily knew exactly what was coming next.

"Maybe you shouldn't go in today, not with this going on." It was the same thing he said every single time there was a new attack. At first, Lily had obliged, knowing it worried him to have her out after what had happened to her mum and Petunia. Now, it was getting a little ridiculous, not because it was getting any easier to forget what had happened to them but because there were so many attacks. If she didn't go out when there was an attack, she'd be staying in almost every day.

Instead of fighting him, she just smiled faintly. "Daddy," she replied, shaking her head, "I have to go in. I've got classes today, and I can't get behind just because there's an attack at a bank across town." She paused, wanting to find some encouraging words for him. "I'll be just fine. I'll be in class all morning, and right after, I'm off to the Prophet. Lots of work today."

Thomas just hummed in response, taking another bite of his omelette. Lily was sure he was getting used to her fending off his attempts to have her stay home now. If her excuses of school and work didn't convince him, she was always ready to bring up the fact that he would not be staying home because of what was going on.

Lily smiled to herself, sensing that she had made her point. She decided to look back at the television. Even though he hadn't been able to save her family, she thought Spider-Man was pretty amazing. He was brave enough to go and save citizens of a city that didn't appreciate all he had done. Sometimes, when he was slandered in papers like The Daily Prophet, she even felt a bit of guilt, even if she hadn't been the one to write the articles. Still, a voice in her head told her she was part of the problem.

It was a senseless voice, but it was loud. If Lily were to actually oppose The Prophet's depictions of Spider-Man, the only thing that would change would be her employment status. If anything, speaking out would only make them go harder on the masked hero. So, to keep her job and keep Spider-Man from coming under any more heat, Lily kept her mouth shut, even if it didn't feel like the best thing to do at times.

The bank situation seemed to be dying down as Lily finished off her breakfast. Taking one large gulp of her tea, Lily hopped off her seat and put her dishes in the sink. "Love you, Daddy. I'll be home sometime between seven and eight." She kissed his head before grabbing her bag and her Oyster card.

As Lily raced down the sidewalk and to the entrance of the London Underground, she ran through her schedule in her head. The only class she had today was bio-organic chemistry, and then because her Monday class schedule was lighter, she was expected to pick up coffees and teas for the head writers. After that, whatever her boss wanted her to do, she did.

As renowned as Rita was, the woman exclusively chased after the newest fad. Some days, it was fashion; other days, it was the stock market. Skeeter mostly kept Lily on staff because of the occasional medical or scientific news that would crop up from time to time.

Otherwise, Lily often acted as Rita's assistant. It wasn't so bad. Sure, no one in the office really paid her much respect. Most of the day she was bored out of her mind and not at all learning anything useful for her career...but it did allow her plenty of time to speak with the photographers.

Well, one photographer in particular.

She actually had class with him today, if he ever planned on showing up. She'd seen him in passing during other classes in the years before, and he'd seemed like a good student then. It wasn't until last summer that they had begun working together, though. According to Lily's best friend, Marlene, he's been hit-or-miss at his other classes this semester too, which is apparently quite unlike him. While it wasn't any of Lily's business, part of her did worry for the guy.

What had happened to cause such a big change? Whatever it was, Lily always made it a priority to check on James Potter when she saw him.

They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't exactly strangers either. In truth, the best part of her day was whenever James came in with a stack of photos for the paper. He was kind and funny. He treated her like she was a person.

With James, she wasn't invisible.

The doors to the Tube opened, and Lily was jolted out of her musings as people started pushing around her to get off. She hadn't even noticed the train arrived at her stop until the speaker overhead announced it. Pulling her backpack over her shoulder, Lily hopped off the train.

From the station to the classroom, it was a short walk. Her father was right - the train was running late- so Lily barely made it to class on time.

To no one's surprise, James Potter's seat was empty yet again. Surely this would affect his grades, but perhaps his aunt, who was a dean at the school, had some way to get him out of that. Lily was quite certain she'd seen Professor Pomfrey pass him back multitudes of failed assignments throughout last semester. It was odd, given what she knew about his grades before. He didn't appear to be the type to study much then, but perhaps he hadn't needed to in the past. Had his poor study habits simply caught up to him?

Possibly he just didn't care if it affected his marks.

Whatever the reason, Lily didn't want him to fall too far behind. She liked seeing him, and if failing this class meant he wouldn't be able to take more courses with her in the future, Lily would be sad. For that reason, she took an extra set of notes on a spare piece of paper for him.

Every time she wrote him notes, she told herself it would be the last time. She told herself she would encourage him to start coming to class, but she could never bring herself to stop writing the extra set of notes when she saw his empty seat the next lecture.

After all, she'd probably see him at work, right? She was just being a good peer.

Even so, this time she meant it. The last time. James needed to take accountability for his education. Repeating this little mantra in her head over and over, Lily found herself marching over to the man as she arrived to work, drinks for Rita and the head writers still in hand.

James was, as usual, lounging in a chair, his feet resting on the coffee table in front of him as he stared intently at his camera. Unlike Lily, Rita wasn't exactly his boss. He was a freelance photographer who came in and sold the newspaper his photographs. He wasn't as uncomfortable here as Lily was, and it showed when he didn't look up to see if anyone was watching him as he relaxed with his feet up.

When he did finally look up, it was only because Lily was standing as close as she could possibly get without looking crazed. He blinked, glancing up at her before a slow grin stretched across his face. "Fancy seeing you here," he teased before sitting up straighter, his feet dropping to the floor. "How have you been since I last saw you, oh…" He checked his watch. "Sixteen hours ago?"

Lily huffed, rolling her eyes impatiently, although it didn't carry any real heat. This back-and-forth between the two of them was part of their dynamic. Sometimes, it felt like a game, and sometimes, it almost felt like flirting. "It should have been fourteen hours, you know."

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. James's lips stretched into a cocky, lopsided grin. "Miss me, did you? Honestly, Evans, I didn't realize you cared so much."

"I-it's…" Lily stammered for a second before glancing towards Rita's office to make sure the woman wasn't watching her. The coast was clear, which bought Lily a few more minutes with James.

She set down the drinks on the table James had propped his feet upon just moments ago. Pulling the bag off her back, Lily rummaged through her folder until she found what she was looking for. "Last time, I mean it, Potter," she said, holding out the paper with her arm outstretched and quirking one eyebrow.

James hesitated, watching her for a moment before he took the notes. "You know," he said almost conversationally, "I never asked you to take notes for me." A pause. "But I do appreciate them. Thank you, Lily." He shot her another, more genuine smile. "Really."

Just when she thought she could be annoyed with him, he pulled a stunt like this. "Well," she said, busying herself with zipping up her bag and fussing with the beverages once more. "I figured you must be doing something pretty important to miss so much class." Lily looked at him for a few beats, tapping her thumb against the cup carrier.

She'd been quiet in the hopes that he would offer up that information himself, but James, always the one to defy expectations, did no such thing. Instead, he offered her a slight shrug before leaning back in his chair to look at his camera again. At times, his behavior could infuriate Lily. This was certainly one of those times.

She knew it wasn't her business. He had every right to keep whatever he was doing to himself, but it still bothered her.

Lily turned on her heel to leave. Rita hadn't caught her slacking just yet, but knowing her boss, it wouldn't be long before she got impatient and chewed her out in front of the whole office again. Lily could see it now. Stop chatting with the photographer and bring me my coffee. The whole office will be delayed now because of your flirting.

Rita was always impatient though, and despite knowing it wasn't her business, she wanted - needed - to know why James wasn't in class. So, she stopped, swiftly turning to face him.

"I have to know," she said, breaking through the silence. She waited until he lifted his head to continue, wanting to know he was paying attention to her. "How come you weren't in class today?"

Lily hadn't known what to expect, but James just gave her an odd expression before he smiled thinly, replying, "Overslept."

It was just one simple word. For most, it would be a completely believable explanation but for him, not so much. It didn't make any sense. Although she knew that she shouldn't, Lily couldn't help but call his bluff. "How?"

"How?" James echoed, straightening up again before staring at her, an eyebrow quirked. "Are you telling me you've never overslept for anything in your entire life?" While he seemed serious, Lily could hear the slightest bit of amusement in his voice. After a moment, the corners of his lips turned upward just slightly. "You know, on the second thought, I almost believe that."

Her grip tightened on the coffee carrier as she resisted the urge to cross her arms. As it were, all could do was tap her foot impatiently. How on earth was this man the Dean's charge? "Doesn't Professor McGonagall care about your attendance? I would assume as your guardian that your attendance is more closely monitored than any other student's. And I find it hard to believe that she would really let you sleep in so often."

James glanced up at her, his expression harder than it was before. "Funny enough, she's got more important things to do than worry about my attendance all the time." A pause. "Maybe you should find something else to worry about too."

James had never spoken to her so aggressively before. Lily blinked, staring at him for a moment. "Fine. I won't bother with the notes anymore. And this time, I do mean it." She whipped around, her hair flying behind her as she did so, and marched towards Rita's office.

If he didn't want to tell her, she supposed it was none of her business, but neither were his notes.

Something had gotten into him lately. It was beyond just missing classes. It was the sloppier lab work, although maybe that had to do with his absences. It was the weird defensiveness and short remarks like the ones he'd just displayed. And was he looking thinner? Whatever was going on, Lily wasn't sure how to approach it.

Maybe it was simply not her business.

As she entered Rita's office, Lily moved quietly to not disrupt the meeting her boss was holding. She first set down Rita's mocha latte mixed with a caramel cappuccino on her desk, and then lined up the head writers' beverages on the conference cart. Finishing her first task, Lily backed against the wall, hands folded in front of her, patiently waiting for her next assignment. Rita paid her no attention, busy chattering away with some police officer about Spider-Man. Despite arriving at the tail-end of their conversation, Lily could surmise the meeting would not be to Spider-Man's benefit.

For weeks, the mayor and the cops had been painting the hero as if he were some sort of anarchist kid who just wanted to cause trouble. It was like they were blind to all the good he was doing. The Prophet had been no better, complicit in-if not responsible for-the destruction of Spider-Man's character. Now the police were meeting with Rita.

The mere thought had her stomach churning.

Why didn't the police want Spider-Man around? Would they unmask him, and if they did, would it make him stop? Would they arrest him?

All Lily knew was that Spider-Man saved a lot of people from the same death her mother and sister faced. She wanted him to stick around.

As the police officer filed out, Rita waved to him, her bright red lips stretched into a wide grin. "Excellent news," she said in a sing-song voice, passing by Lily and her already forgotten coffee to go into the main newsroom at the Prophet.

"Everyone, come around," she cried, and Lily thought she looked a bit ridiculous as she gestured for the reporters to come closer. "We've just been given the most wonderful opportunity by the London Police." She paused as if for dramatic effect, and Lily suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "We have been asked to find out the identity of the masked vigilante who calls himself Spider-Man. We get the scoop, and the police can catch the guy."

Lily's heart dropped. The way she said it made it clear that the police were interested in more than just figuring out who Spider-Man was. For some insane reason, they wanted to stop him. She couldn't understand that when he was doing more than they had.

Perhaps they didn't want the ridicule from the fact that one man in a spandex suit could save more people in nine months than the entire London police department.

Even so, they should be working with him! Not against him.

As much as Lily wanted to speak up, her voice didn't carry much weight here. She worried that if she spoke out in Spider-Man's defense, it would only backfire. Worst case scenario, she would be part of an even more aggressive attack on the hero. Best case, she would be fired.

Biting her tongue, she busied herself with watching the reactions of her coworkers. While some-primarily the higher-ups- looked quite enthralled with the opportunity, most of the middle range employees looked disinterested.

"Oh, and I might add that the employee who does expose him earns a large bonus."

Ice ran through Lily's veins as the indifference around her morphed in excitement at the opportunity. Scanning the sea of faces around her, no one appeared to have any moral qualms with the whole situation.

That was when one person spoke up from the crowd of reporters.

"Well, that seems a little counterintuitive. He's the one, you know, actually doing something about everything going on."

Lily couldn't help but smile at that. She couldn't see him because of the crowd, but she'd know that voice anywhere. James was always one to point out an injustice whenever he saw one.

Rita narrowed her eyes as James stood, and Lily could swear she saw Rita's lip curl in disgust. She looked away.

Even if he was acting strange, she still preferred to watch James rather than her boss. "I don't see how this conversation concerns you, Mr. P-Parker," Rita replied shortly.

Her hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a laugh. It wasn't that funny-well, it was-but it was even more so because Rita always forgot Lily's name too. In hindsight, it now made sense that all the names were consistently misprinted in the paper.

"And since you have made your opinion clear," Rita continued, completely oblivious to her intern's amusement. "I do believe we won't be needing your services for this article. My reporters are more than capable of taking a couple of pictures."

If James was upset by this, Lily couldn't tell. In fact, he almost looked relieved. "Fine," he agreed, picking up his camera. "I can see myself out then. I'll be sure to keep taking photographs for more newsworthy stories."

As he came closer, Lily could see something of a smirk playing on his features. With a quick glance towards the crowd, she followed after him.

"Hey," she said softly, so as not to draw attention to herself from Rita. "You're right. I don't know why everyone seems to be against the one guy keeping this city together."

James nodded almost imperceptibly. Lily was relieved to see he didn't look surprised that she felt the same way. "Yeah," he sighed, "Well, I'm not going to help them take him down. The city needs him."

Lily didn't have anything much to add, raising her eyebrows and nodding in agreement. The city did need Spider-Man. She knew she did. He gave her hope.

After all, Lily had no doubt that if it weren't for Spider-Man, those hostages that morning would never have made it out of the bank. Without him, who knows how many other attacks would have succeeded? Would Lily even be here today? Possibly not.

Anger surged through her veins like an electric shock. It was one thing for her father to dislike Spider-Man in some sort of defense mechanism due to what happened. It was another thing entirely to completely discount what the man had done for the city.

To rat him out.

Lily swallowed thickly, shaking her head and tapping her fingers against her leg as she lived in her thoughts for the moment. It only made it worse that Rita was trying to bribe people to help her and the police find out his identity. They shouldn't have been trying to unmask him for money. The whole situation was corrupt.

But what could she do? She was only this intern with a boss that didn't even know her name and a company that didn't respect her at all. What could she possibly do to help reverse all the hate the masked hero was receiving?

She smiled slowly as she got an idea. So they wanted a good article about Spider-Man? Well, she'd give them a good article about Spider-Man, one that showed the public how good and brave he was instead of pushing this wretched masked vigilante narrative. Maybe it'd even be so good that Rita's boss, Moody, would make her publish it.

If not, she'd find someone else who would. The people needed to know the truth.

"We...we need to fight back. We need to fight for Spider-Man." She looked to James, straightening up as the plan pieced itself together in her mind.

He raised one eyebrow, seemingly unenthused by her idea already. Lily huffed, shooting him a death glare.

"Will you please just take something seriously for once? It seems like we're the only two people who know about this whole thing that want to help Spider-Man. I think we should."

James crossed his arms at that, eyebrow still raised as he stared at her. "And what do you suppose we should do?" he asked slowly. Lily was beginning to wonder if he was skipping classes to avoid her, or he'd suddenly developed some distaste for her out of the blue.

"Look, I'm not any good with a camera. But I can write." She looked down at her feet, forcing herself not to bounce on her toes from the nerves it took for her to propose this idea, commit to it.

Doing so not only went completely against her job, it went against her father and the law. But Spider-Man deserved this much. She knew he would've saved her mum and Petunia if he'd had the chance. It was the least she could do. "I say you and I team up and we...we bolster his reputation!" Lily looked up at him again, scanning his face for any hint of agreement.

She found none.

"So, you want me to, what? Take pictures of Spider-Man for your article?" James shook his head at that, glancing down at his watch instead of at her. "I won't do it. I know you think you're doing something good for him, but I think everyone should just stay out of it and let him do his job."

Lily's eyebrows bunched together. "I will never figure you out, will I?" She stopped walking along, letting him go ahead of her towards the doors. He only had a few more steps anyhow. "I just thought maybe you'd want to do something about this. I mean, you've essentially been fired for the guy, and now...what? You just don't care?"

But Lily cared. She could do this without his help. Scoffing, Lily turned on her heel away from James for the second time that day.

The rest of Lily's day went quite quickly, besides the fact that she spent it fuming over Rita's greed and James's indecisiveness. After work, she took the Tube back home. She had been expecting an empty flat when she arrived, but instead, she found her father already home. By the smell wafting through the apartment, it seemed as if he was cooking something for dinner too.

Closing her eyes and breathing in deeply, the corners of Lily's lips quirked upwards into an appreciative grin. Dad was making her favorite meal. She let her bag slide off her shoulder lazily, before bounding into the kitchen and taking a seat. "This is a nice surprise. I guess Weasley didn't need his shift covered after all?"

Thomas smiled faintly, looking up from the pan where he was grilling some salmon. "I thought maybe I'd surprise you with Duckie night tonight. I found someone else to cover Weasley tonight. I'm all yours."

"Thank you," she said, her voice soft as the difficulties of the day melted with her father's act of kindness. "I really needed this after the day I had."

Her father set down the spatula, his eyebrows bunched together in concern as he gave Lily his full attention. He was always worried about her, which was understandable given everything that had happened in their family. It was still hard to make any sort of indication of upset or hurt without him freaking out.

Once she mentioned the whole notes situation with James to her father, he totally lost it, going off about academic integrity and how some boy was using Lily's feelings for his advantage. It took her forever to get her dad to understand that her feelings were entirely professional. After all, good lab partners don't just grow in...well, in labs.

Sometimes she wondered if he actually did understand because he asked about James Potter an awful lot. Anytime he did, he had the same expression on his face: the very one he was wearing as he plated the fish and sat across from her at the table.

Lily sighed deeply, shaking her head and raising her eyebrows in a fond sort of exasperation. "Before you ask, no it is not because of my lab partner." She paused, thinking back on all the events of the day. "Not entirely."

"Not entirely?" Thomas shook his head in disapproval. "Duckie, if that boy is bothering you again, I can call his parents…"

She shouldn't have said it, but it just slipped out. "Planning on purchasing a ouija board?" The room went still with her words.

Since April, any talk of death had been all but banned in their house.

Realizing her mistake, Lily ducked her head and fiddled with the silverware beside her plate as she wracked her brain for some way to salvage the night. Why did she do this? Why did she always bring this sort of thing up?

Then again, why wouldn't he just talk to her about it? Why couldn't they talk about death? Why couldn't she bring up Mum? How come any mention of Petunia was taboo?

"I know this is hard for you," Lily's dad said suddenly, his voice low and soft. "But I'm doing the best I can, Lils. Isn't that all we can do?"

She didn't look up at him, busying herself by putting the fish and some salad on her plate instead. Despite her avoidance, she could feel his eyes on her. What did he want her to say? That it was okay? It was. She understood.

It was just that no one ever really let her talk about her mother or sister. Her dad refused to bring it up. Seemingly any memory of that day set him off. Her friends also got all silent whenever she spoke about it. She knew it was because they didn't know what to say. Even if she wanted someone to talk to, Lily was relieved they didn't understand. James was the only person she knew that would understand, but she never wanted to talk about anything personal at work, not if Rita could overhear or find out through the office gossip.

No, the memory of her mother and sister only lived inside her. Every day in silence, she felt like she was losing a part of them. Those parts of Marie and Petunia Evans that only lived in Lily's memories of them were dying inside of her slowly and silently, and there was nothing Lily could do about it. It wasn't as if she could just form new memories with them!

Did she even remember what her mother sounded like? What did Petunia look like when the sun shone on her face and lit up her beautiful blue eyes? Pictures and videos didn't serve them justice, not compared to the women Lily knew in life.

Maybe her father had a better memory than she did. All she knew was that forgetting the little details about them almost felt like losing them a second time.

"I'm sorry," she said, finally meeting his gaze as she tried to push all thoughts of her mother and Petunia aside. "It's been a hard day and I just don't want to get into Potter right now." Lily tilted her head. "What about your day? Tell me how you found someone to cover Weasley?"

Thomas merely waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm working Ted's Tuesday. What happened today? What's wrong?"

She'd gotten him even more worked up now. Not wanting to bring up Spider-Man and ruin the evening altogether, Lily shook her head in an attempt to get her dad to drop it instead. Even so, he was unwavering in his insistence, giving her a look that clearly said he would not let the subject go.

How did she explain what was going on without giving away her plans to boost Spider-Man's reputation? She couldn't. That's how. "You're going to get mad, Dad," Lily muttered. "You really don't want to know."

"Did someone hurt you? Did James Potter hurt you?"

"No!" Lily sighed, closing her eyes and running her fingers over her face. "No, I'm really...it's just a work problem. Rita wants us to expose Spider-Man's identity, and I think that's wrong."

There was a beat as her dad took in this information, setting down his silverware gingerly. He sat back in his seat, but instead of looking at Lily, he stared at his plate before him. Usually, when she brought up Spider-Man, Lily could see the rage fill in his chest.

His unnerving calmness in digesting this information made Lily's stomach twist in little knots. He knew she didn't agree with him about Spider-Man, although neither of them cared to talk about it. If Lily's dad was reacting this way, what did that mean?

Had they already exposed him? Who was he? Wait! No, she didn't want to know.

If Spider-Man was caught, she was sure she would hear about it at work. Hearing about it twice would just feel miserable. What was the phrase? Ignorance is bliss?

Thomas sat up a bit straighter, cutting up his fish while Lily sat with her food untouched and mentally spiraling. He nodded to her plate, but Lily didn't care for anything to eat when Spider-Man could have been unmasked against his wishes.

Why did anyone care? Who was he hurting?

And why did the police want Spider-Man's identity so bad?

"I don't know why you're so surprised by this, Lils. Haven't you seen the wanted posters around town?" Lily snapped out of her thoughts. Wanted posters.

"They want his identity so they can arrest him easier." It wasn't a question. There was no way she could be complicit in this. Lily stood suddenly, going into her room to scavenge for her polaroid camera Petunia had given her years ago. Her dad followed after.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching from her door frame. The usually tidy room had already been torn apart. Lily's clothes littered the floor, and her nightstand drawer sat open.

There was a loud gasp of relief as Lily emerged from her closet, clutching the camera tightly in her hands. Looking down at the old gift, she swallowed back the lump in her throat. There was no time for the tears prickling at the corners of her eyes right now. Lily knew what she had to do: she had to tell Spider-Man what was going on. She had to try and get the public on their side.

She had to find Spider-Man. And fast, before anyone else tried to or, worse, succeeded to. The only way she knew how to do that was to find trouble and hope he came to her rescue.

Her father would be so furious with her if he knew the truth. Unable to look him in the eyes, Lily pulled the camera's lanyard over her head before marching to the front door.

"Lily Marie!" He was getting mad. Lily winced, turning around as she slid through the door, halfway outside already.

"I'm doing my best, Dad."

When James left the Prophet, he walked through the London streets with his head down and the hood on his jacket up. He dodged through crowds of tourists and ignored the sellers calling at the street markets. He hadn't really known where he was headed until he found himself standing right in front of the Sleekeazy's headquarters. The skyscraper wasn't a place he visited often anymore, but to James, it was still a place of comfort. It gave him the tiniest feeling of home, and after the day he'd had, that was exactly what he needed.

It was only when the front doors of the headquarters were opened for him and he walked into the plush lobby of the old but still grand building that he thought about what had happened that day. His day had started normally enough, but it had quickly turned hectic when Sirius had called him with the details of the Gringotts bank situation. Luckily, Sirius had a police radio, so James didn't have to wait for the news to report crimes.

Still, it had interrupted his plans to actually go to his bio-organic chemistry class that morning when he had to don his suit and save those people.

At the bank, there had been nineteen tellers and customers held hostage while the thieves loaded every banknote they could carry into their van. The thieves with the snake tattoos got away, taking every pound they could find. He hadn't been worried about the money, not until each civilian was safe and out of the building. The people were always his first priority, even if it meant letting thieves, muggers, or murderers go.

To some, that might've sounded a little backward. After all, stop the criminals, and the civilians are safe. It didn't matter to James, not after the bridge collapse.

It was, to this day, the event with the most casualties since this whole thing had started nine months ago. He had been putting the finishing touches on his web-shooters when he heard about the attack, but he had been too afraid to use them because he wasn't sure if they were fully functional or not. Instead of webbing from building to building, he'd taken a mixture of public transport and running to get there. By that time, it was far too late for many people.

To make matters worse, he quickly found out that the web-shooters did work - and perfectly, he might add - when the rest of the bridge began to fall. He was forced to use them to stop more deaths.

The deaths his mistakes had caused that day were unimaginable. Even now, his chest tightened at the thought of all those people that died because of his wariness to test out his web-shooters. He hadn't ever imagined so many people dying because of him. Before, it had been one or maybe two, which was terrible, but the bridge collapse had taken over a dozen lives. As if that wasn't awful enough, it wasn't the worst part.

The bridge collapse was the first time he knew someone that had died and saw the consequences in the lives of the people around him. They hadn't just been names to him that time, and that had changed everything.

Sure, he still hadn't really known them, but he knew Lily Evans had lost her mum and sister on the bridge. He saw how it affected her: how she suddenly stopped coming to class one day, how, when she came back, she kept her head low and always took the calls from her father when anything else happened. It killed him to see her like that because he could understand how she felt.

Beginning to think about his parents immediately tore him from his thoughts.

James could feel eyes on him as he stood completely still in the lobby of his parents' old company. An employee brushed by him to get to her office, and everyone was giving him odd looks as he stood there, frozen. Normally, a strange person just awkwardly standing in the middle of a lobby would earn a one-way ticket out the door very quickly, but James supposed being the largest shareholder - even if he didn't have any real power in the company yet - had its perks. Sure, the security guard, Kingsley, was watching him in a peculiar way that looked a lot like a mixture of curiosity and pity, but no one was going to bother him here.

Still, he felt like the right thing to do, the thing that would relax everyone in the lobby, was to move along and stop standing there like a lost child. So, that's what he did.

He took one step forward, then another, until he got over to the lift. He hit the button for the lift, waiting quietly as the elevator doors slid open seamlessly. He tried not to think of the countless hours he had spent there as a young child as he took a step into the empty elevator.

Despite the fact that he was trying his best not to think of his parents, he couldn't help but be reminded of them here. He'd been eight when they died, which meant he didn't have too many memories of them, but he remembered the moment he was told they'd left him for the last time perfectly. It was hard not to think about it as he stepped out of the lift and started up the flight of stairs to the roof.

The metal door creaked as he opened it. James had to squint at the last rays of sunlight as he stepped out onto the flat, concrete roof that housed a helicopter pad.

It was there, on the roof, that little eight-year-old James had found out his mother and father were never coming home from their business trip. They'd kissed his head, said their goodbyes, and quickly left him with what he'd thought at the time was his temporary guardian. Only a few short days later, as he waited for their helicopter on the same roof he found himself on now, he'd learned his parents were never coming home.

He would never forget that day.

Aunt Minnie, who wasn't really an aunt, but a family friend, had been just as distraught. She had been tasked with relaying the message to her new charge. In their will, Monty and Mia Potter had specified Minerva McGonagall to act as James's guardian in case of their untimely death.

James wasn't even supposed to have made it to the roof. He remembered sprinting up to the roof to greet his parents the moment they set foot on top of the building. Aunt Minnie called after him, but he was too stubborn and too rambunctious to listen then.

Almost daily, he wished he had just listened for once. Hearing of his parents' passing was bad enough, but to see the anguish in his Aunt Minnie's eyes as she told him on top of it all...that nearly broke him.

Even before she was his legal guardian, James had a special connection with his Aunt Minnie. She taught him the best moves in football, she acted as a tutor whenever he fell behind in classes, and she had visited nearly every weekend in his childhood.

Since that horrible day, Aunt Minnie had really become family. No one could ever replace James's own mother, but James liked to think Aunt Minnie made his mum proud. They had been best friends, after all.

James stepped onto the edge of the roof, sitting down slowly as he took in the London skyline and the ground below him. They really weren't kidding when they said people looked like ants when you were above them. He'd grown used to the view since he'd started swinging his way through the city, though.

Although most of his time spent as Spider-Man was spent fighting, the occasional slow day allowed him time to explore spots he'd never experienced otherwise. Maybe he was a bit odd, but he found it refreshing. Relaxing, even.

There was something about the feeling of complete and total freedom that swinging through the air, jumping from building to building brought.

It was almost like flying.

By now, he'd learned every inch of London. From The Shard to King's Cross to The Marble Arch, James could navigate his way through anywhere in the city with muscle memory alone. It made it quite helpful after mornings like the one he had today.

After saving the hostages from the bank, James knew he didn't have much time to get into work without stirring up suspicion. Much like school, he'd been late or completely absent far too much to be considered normal. Sure, it was easier than school since he could use the excuse that he was off taking pictures somewhere, but that only worked so often.

When he had gone into the Prophet, he had known that he would see Lily, and he knew he'd have to steel off his emotions to keep her safe.

She always asked far too many questions, and he didn't want her to have to pay for that mistake. He hated having to speak to her the way he did today. He never wanted to hurt her, never wanted to upset her.

He knew keeping his distance was the best thing he could do for her. She didn't need to get close to him. That would only hurt her in the long run. No, the best thing for Lily Evans was for the two of them to be nothing more than friendly acquaintances, even if James wanted to be so much more.

He didn't know what to do about her Spider-Man article idea either. He didn't need her getting into more trouble because of him. She needed to ignore it and focus on her own work, but if James knew anything about Lily, he knew she wouldn't do that.

If she felt it was the right thing to do, she would get involved. He didn't know how to stop her, and that thought terrified him more than anything.

Keeping his distance was manageable. Keeping her away from Spider-Man wasn't so easy.

The sun dipped below the horizon as James sat on the edge of the roof, deep in his thoughts about Lily. He didn't notice there were fewer and fewer little ant people on the streets below him. It was only a blood-curdling scream that drew him to his feet as he scrambled off the edge of the roof towards his bag. He grabbed for his mask blindly, tugging it over his head once he found it, and then pitched himself off the edge of the roof.

This sounded like a job for Spider-Man.

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