Splinters flew around him as his body helplessly plowed through the table, shattered glass and porcelain piercing his skin.

His body hit the stones with a painful thud. Screams escaped his mouth as his shoulder jumped out of its socket, an immense pain all too familiar splitting through his bones.

Harry looked up, the electricity still surging through his body. Crackling with yellow, whiteish energy, Sirius Black walked up to him with a grin on his face.

Were it not for Harry's powers, he would've been dead on the spot. His impaired senses and limp body were a painful reminder of that, slowly coming back piece by piece.

"Harry!" shrieked Hermione's voice a stone's throw away.

A spell hit Sirius in the back without even making him flinch.

Sirius looked puzzled.

He stared down at Harry, then at Hermione, then back to Harry and laughed amusingly.

"Oh my…", he crouched down by Harry, grabbed the edge of his hair, forcing Harry to look up at him. "Hermione huh?"

He bared his teeth. His breath stank of something burning and rot, presumably he had been living on animals he had killed, Harry dared not to think if this version of Sirius' taste for flesh went further than that.

"Yeah… you two always had something going on, you dirty dog", said Sirius with a roaring laugh. "Though, I remember putting her and Ronnie-boy six feet under. Poor Ron and Hermione, always had to stick their noses where they didn't belong. Oh that juicy and vigorous flesh, what a feast! And you sentenced me to my death! For that, I'll return the favor!"

Harry didn't know why he felt such an anger, but someone that looked like his uncle talking about eating humans like he was some kind of beast – let alone people that resembled his friends – drove him furious.

His fingers twitched, regaining the feeling in them and punched Sirius as hard as he could muster, knocking the bastard on his face.

Staggering up on his feet, Harry dragged Sirius by the collar, flipped him over his head and slammed him against the stone, breaking his jaw and nose.

Sirius groaned in pain, but he still smiled as Harry picked him up again by his collar, breathing heavily.

"Atta boy, Harry", said Sirius, showing his black teeth.

"Shut up."

Harry threw Sirius against the stone again, knocking him unconscious and webbed him down. Panting and with electricity still tingling in his body, Harry made his way back to Hermione and Ron who came running and met him half-way.

The tent was almost entirely burnt down, everyone except them were now rushing down the hill to the cottage.

"You okay, Harry?" shouted Hermione, her panicked eyes looking worryingly at him.

Her dress was stained by his already drying blood.

"I'm fine!" he yelled angrily, pulling off his tattered robes, tossing them aside.

A bomb was thrown at the cottage, causing the roof to collapse in on itself; Hermione yelped. A red light cracked as a fight broke out on the beach.

Screams and yells mixed themselves with the cracks and bangs of spells. Thunder struck down. It hit someone – they collapsed almost at once.

Harry's eyes fixed themselves on the shape of a figure flying in the sky, descending towards the beach; Goblin.

"Oh no", whispered Ron.

Sprinting he sat off for the cottage.

"Mum, dad! Ginny!"

A few others fell in battle, almost all of them got up but not everybody; he was fearing the worst. A chilling scream reached his ears.

Harry clenched his fists. "Come on!" He took Hermione's hand and dragged her down the hill, his mouth dry, heart drumming in his ears.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, the breath in her throat. He ignored her as they stumbled on rocks and in the uneven sand. "Harry!"

They bumped into a wall of the crumbling cottage. Hermione stumbled and fell, Harry caught her.

"Harry! Please stop, we need to leave!"

He looked at her, angry that she even considered it. "And abandon everyone else? No."

"Don't be daft, Harry! You're injured."

"They need our help, Hermione, I'm not running away."

And without another word or letting her convince him, he bolted towards the battle.

Running was a fight in of itself as it had started to rain, making the sand wet and muddy. Harry groaned as he strained his dislocated shoulder, the pain causing him to stumble and fall in the sand. He barely caught himself with his good arm, his left cheek dipping down into the sand.

"Uh, Harry!" yelled someone's voice in the background. "We kind of could use your help!"

The explosions, yelling, cracks and lightning strikes blended into one cacophony of noise around him, deafening his sense of hearing.

"Get up, Harry!"

Hermione grabbed him by his shirt, drawing her wand with one hand at the same time and dragging him up from the wet sand with the other.

Harry stumbled up; grains of wet sand covered him from head to toe. He groaned as his arm throbbed.

With a whistling sound, stray spells ricocheted against the cottage, and would've hit them if it weren't for Hermione's quick wand hand deflecting them.

"You're in no shape to fight!" shouted Hermione.

"The hell I am. Stay here."

She shook her head in frustration. "What are you, a caveman? Going into battle while your wife stays at home?"

He had no time to argue with her. "Okay! Fine, whatever!"

With striding and hasty steps, he walked towards the skirmish, Hermione following behind.

He placed his hand on his sore shoulder, screaming as he pulled it back into place, the pain searing in his arm and torso.

It hurt like hell but at the very least the pain had minimized and he could move it properly.

As he closed in, he spotted the Weasleys along with Neville, Luna, Xenophilius, both Peters and Fleur fighting for their lives and losing against the overpowering group of villains.

There was no sign of Octavius, only the Goblin, the monstrous Lily Potter, Krum, Mysterio and a group of robed people in silver masks.

The speed in his steps increased, and he made a jump for it into the air, shot out a string of webbing, it hit the hovering Goblin – and with enough force, he kicked him clean off the glider.

Caught by surprise, the Goblin hit the sand with a growl; he was up on his feet before Harry had a chance to regain his footing on the ground, already throwing himself at him.

Harry tried to react but the Goblin caught him in a chokehold.

"Big mistake, Spider-Man! You really don't learn, do you, boy?", sneered Goblin, the excitement to kill trembling in his frenzied eyes. "If you're not willing to kill, you will never move past the shackles of man!"

His hands were crushing Harry's windpipes, he kicked and punched, the Goblin was unmoving and relentless.

His wild eyes flashed with anticipation, his smile wide in a grin as the life was slowly leaving his body. "And because of that, you'll die – painfully."

"Harry!" cried Hermione's voice somewhere, as his eyes rolled into the base of his skull.

Norman looked over his shoulder, then back at Harry, his grin ever wider and his hands squeezing harder.

He laughed wildly, seeing the obvious connection between her and Harry. "In truth, I don't even know you. But don't fret, I will make she too gets the same treatment."

Acutely aware of how his field of view started to fade out, Harry shout out two web lines from each webshooter in a last desperate attempt to save himself – a flash and a boom pried the Goblin off from him.

Both of them landed in the water, Harry was up on his feet and on top of the Goblin this time, wailing on him. A fist of sand hit Harry straight in the face, knocking him off Norman. Harry made a desperate attempt to get back up – someone's claws dug into him and tossed him back to the beach.

Harry tumbled around in the sand, briefly getting glimpses of everyone else's attempts at warding off Mysterio and his followers. Ron screamed Ginny's name. He saw a flash of red hair, a body hit the ground.

He stopped tumbling, face down.

Alarm rose in Harry's chest as a shriek practically cracked the very air, a wail that made the blood in his veins freeze.

He crawled up on his feet and barely managed to jump away from a giant sand fist striking down into the ground on the spot he had just been on – a red slimy whip lashed across his chest, forcing him out of the air.

Harry hardly managed to land on his feet, let alone all fours. His hands sunk into the progressively wet sand, his feet in a small pool of water. Something sharp fizzed past his hear; a blade of some kind.

"He's mine, creature", snarled Goblin at the grotesque red creature that was Lily Potter.

The Goblin made his way to him, slow but determined with Krum by his side.

"No! I'll tear his flesh from his spine!" Lily let out a piercing screech.

She lunged at him like some kind of wild animal, her claws glistening in the rain. Harry held his breath, his mind prepared for the long claws to painfully cut into his flesh—he blinked and in from his left came Peter's feet, they slammed the monstrous creature out of the air and away with a crash and a rumble into the trashed cottage, breaking it even further. Lily was not seen coming back out.

Peter stood up, panting.

"Thanks for the help", said Harry, grateful that he wasn't standing alone.

Peter threw out his arms as if he wanted to hug him. "No problem at all! Next time, maybe pick a better spot for a wedding. Wet sand sucks!"

Harry looked over to the others that were a bit further away; Mysterio and his goons had been defeated, but not without casualties. Hermione was limping, Ron fell down on his knees by another redhaired person that looked like Ginny, but it was hard to tell…

Goblin laughed. Harry's focus was ripped from his friends to the immediate threat ahead of him.

Krum looked directly at him, he didn't show any signs of compassion, his stoic face locked in a cold expression.

The rain was getting more intense, weighing their clothes down.

"Ready, Spider-Man?" Peter looked him in the eye, his soaking wet hair covered part of his face.

Harry nodded, his glasses fogging up. "Yeah." He could barely see through the fog and rain, but it didn't matter.

Together, the two of them sat off sprinting at Norman and Viktor, who answered with the same card.

In from Harry's right, the other Parker joined them. "Got any more bright ideas?"

His festive clothes had been torn in the battle, revealing the suit underneath.

Harry wasn't so sure, other than to fight back. "I got a few, yeah!"

In his mind he spun up a very quick plan. He had no guarantees that it would work, but if the Goblin was unpredictable, maybe that was the best way to go.

They closed in – and clashed.

"Sandcastle – legs!" screamed Harry.

Remarkably fast, they understood what his plan was; the two Parker's kicked Krum's legs away, they scattered away into grains of sand, leaving Krum legless, and Harry used the walking beach as a springboard, leapt into the air and used his entire body weight to fall down and tackle Goblin back into the water.

Harry's feet touched the ground.

"You're a fool Spider-Man", spluttered Goblin. He looked at Harry. His face displayed disappointment, bordering on reverence.

"Stay down." Harry inhaled a shuddering gasp of air.

The other Spider-Men joined his side, them too looking down at Goblin. Goblin's face suddenly changed, it was as if he had turned into a different person.

His hand trembled, reaching for Pete.

"Peter, please. Help me. I don't know where I am – who are these people? Hurry before the Goblin takes me again! Don't let him."

Pete crouched down. For a second, Harry thought he actually would do it. Pete had a very benevolent look in his face.

"I can't help you, mr Osborn. In my—our world you died. I'm not sure how you got here, none of us are, but I'm sorry. Now listen to me: reality is destroying itself, how do we stop it?"

Norman's eyes widened. His eyes shifted between the three of them.

"Reality? W-what are you talking about? I-I don't understand!"

" Think, mr Osborn! We're out of time!" said Pete.

Krum slowly walked up behind them. "Is this true? This is not my world?"

Harry looked at Krum. "The Viktor Krum I know doesn't turn into sand, no."

"Why have battled them then?" Krum raised his voice at Norman.

Norman shook his head, his eyes went down towards the ground. He sniffled. "I don't know."

"Shouldn't you know?" said Harry. He looked worryingly at the lightning strikes breaking out of the sky. He swallowed. It really was the end, wasn't it? They had failed. And all because of this stupid wedding.

He had believed they had more time. With his entire heart and soul, he prayed that Strange was doing something, anything.

His eyes shot back down to Norman, where he sat kneeling in the water, head hanging.

"Are you going to help us or not?"

Norman chuckled.

His voice lowered into a growl, then he laughed. He raised his head, his eyes again gleaming with the mania of the Goblin yet again.

"If you won't be ruthless enough to crush the ones standing in your way, they'll eventually crush you. Face it, Spider-Man. You've lost. Nowhere to disappear off to. Your friends will die, your family will die, and you along with them!"

With a swash, Goblin's glider flew out of the water and past them, taking its owner with it on the way.

Harry turned around.

In the air, Goblin laughed madly as shots fired from his glider at Hermione, Ron and everyone else.

Harry felt as if he was pierced in the heart with a sword. His feet sunk down in the muddy sand.

"No!"

He ran. Trying to save them. But the sand slowed him down, keeping him from reaching them. And there was nothing to swing from except for Goblin's glider – which he couldn't reach.

As the bullet hailed and peppered the beach, more than some casted spells to protect themselves, some tried to knock their attacker down from the sky – unsuccessfully. Someone in white got hit.

Was it Fleur? Or Hermione? He couldn't tell as his vision was becoming ever more unfocused.

Another person was struck, their lifeless body dropped to the earth – their screams of pain reached him, sending a chill through his bones.

He fell, scrambling along the surface of the sand, the one single thing on his mind was that he had to keep moving and get people out of danger.

And then… he didn't really believe what he was seeing; there was a fourth Spider-Man emerging in the midst, a dark purple figure haphazardly leaping at the flying Goblin.

Harry slowed down to a leisurely walk; watched the glider swerve and spiral down right back into the ground; observing the additional Spider-Man in confusion and awe.

By the time he reached the scene, Goblin was already knocked out cold. The purple figure hunching over Goblin raised its head.

It's green slits for eyes glared at him.

"Harry."

Days, or maybe was it weeks ago – he had stopped keeping track a long time ago – had this exact man attacked him in his home, and wrecked it in the process.

The mask unfurled on its own from the figure's face, revealing a redheaded person underneath.

Ron's face looked back at him, his eyes grief-stricken. His fists were stained with blood.

"Ron—"

Ron shook his head. "Later."

Harry opened his mouth, but seeing mr Weasley carrying Ginny, white as a ghost, in his arms, next to him clung mrs Weasley crying, refusing to let go of her daughter made him freeze up.

He rushed up to them, a deep chill running through his body. His mouth went dry seeing Ginny's face, her eyes were closed. "Is she alive?"

"Don't know", mr Weasley's lip trembled.

Next to mr Weasley, Fleur and Fred dragged a stumbling George, blood pouring in torrents from the side of his head.

"Is she alive?" Harry screamed at them, demanding an answer.

"We don't know!" roared mr Weasley, his face contorting with anguish and ire.

Harry had never seen him in such a state.

"Harry!" screamed Neville's voice. Harry reacted at once.

Behind them, Hermione leaned herself against Luna, limping, one of her arms around Neville's neck as both of them pulled her along.

Neville looked worse for wear, a deep bleeding gash just below one of his eyes, one of his arms hanging limp by his side.

Walking by Neville, Luna and their daughter's side, the Grangers were shaking and trembling, their faces frozen in shock, but they were unharmed.

Harry rushed towards them and embraced Hermione. Then he seized her head and forced his forehead against hers. She was soaking wet from the rain, spots of red stained her once white dress. His hands went through the wet strands of hair obscuring her face.

Several cuts went across her face, neck and shoulders, her lower lip had swollen to a nasty shade of purple.

"I'm alright", she assured him, stroking his cheek.

"You're alright", he repeated and swallowed, and kissed her as he breathed panicked breaths.

"Harry, your aunt—", said Hermione as they pulled apart.

A horrible feeling grew within him. "What happened?"

"She…", Hermione sniveled, her face turning into a shade of red as she held back her tears. "Your aunt jumped in front of me. She got hit and…"

Hermione's words became unintelligible. Sobbing, she buried her head against his chest.

So the blood all over the dress didn't belong to her.

Harry wasn't feeling his fingers or hands anymore, they had gone cold and numb along with his legs.

Slowly, he let Hermione go and walked over to the spot where Bill and Hagrid sat on their knees. Lying in the wet sand, was his aunt gasping for breath.

Harry fell down on his knees by his aunt. Her eyes were closed, her arm resting on her stomach. A pool of blood turning black, gathered beneath her, crawling its way into the damp beach and mingling with the rainwater.

Petunia took a few rattling breaths. Her eyes opened, and even though she was gravely injured, she looked and smiled at him.

Harry wanted to push away the tears, show her that he wasn't afraid. Show her that he was strong, like her and Sirius had taught him to be.

He squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

Nothing was real anymore. This was just a terrible nightmare. A nightmare that he would never be able to wake up from.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry's lip trembled, his voice cracked. "You're going to be alright. You're okay… we're going to make sure you—"

"Let it go", said Petunia.

Harry's body sunk. His head drooped and hung over her body. Why did she have to do this to him? There had to be something he could do.

"I'll bring you back", he whispered.

She brought his face up to her level, eyes sternly looking at him.

"Don't be stupid, you'll do no such thing", said Petunia.

Tears fogged his vision. He felt Hermione's arms embrace his back, her head leaning against his body.

Petunia took a deep, coarse breath. "Harry—Harry? Listen to me. You're the greatest thing that happened to me. Don't you forget it. But you have to let people go… you can't always save them. Do you understand?"

Harry screamed at her as loud as his lungs allowed him to, no words that could describe the anger and pain he felt that any of this was happening, angry that she wasn't letting him save her life.

Tears ran down Petunia's face. "I know", she whispered. "My boy, I know."

She shuddered and drew another breath, her eyes rolled to the back of her head for just a second until they refocused on his face.

"You're a good boy. You'll set things right."

Her hands withdrew. She coughed, blood trickled down the corner of her mouth. Harry wiped it away, his hands unable to stay still.

A fizzling sound was heard somewhere behind him. He didn't care. Hermione sobbed into his back.

Aunt Petunia closed her eyes and smiled with a fond, pensive look on her face.

"What was that thing… that Sirius used to go on about?" her voice was almost too quiet for him to hear.

"Potter!" yelled a voice in the distance.

His body shook. Tears dripped down his face, wet spots formed on her dress. His hold on aunt's hand solidified. He refused to let her go.

"Potter for God's sake, there's no time!"

"Kid! We'd better leave – stat!"

Her lips opened again, her voice but a murmur in the wind. "With great… something or other. Every time you were being a little cheeky brat, he used to say that."

Aunt Petunia chuckled, her laugh turned into violent coughing until she finally settled down.

A loud explosion of lightning crashed above them.

Hermione's face entered his field of vision. "Harry? We have to leave."

Harry gasped for breath, the tears almost choking him. "With great power comes great responsibility."

"Yes… that's the one. He was such a lovable goof."

And then she stopped moving. His grip on her hand eased up. It fell softly beside her. He grasped his glasses and felt them crack in his hands.

He let out every bit of fury within him in a scream. His aunt who had raised him, had taught him so many things, his aunt that had scolded him for sneaking candy into his room at night, congratulated him when he had joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team, she who had believed in him when no one else did, comforted him when he had woken up in a cold sweat from a nightmare…

"Please Harry!" cried Hermione. "I know it's horrible and unfair, but we need to go!"

"I'm not leaving", he growled.

He looked down at his aunt. It looked as though she was sleeping peacefully.

Against his will, Harry was ripped from her as the two Peter's and Hermione pulled him away and into one of Strange's portals.

He kicked, punched and screamed to no avail. Hagrid was the last one to enter through the portal with a grim look on his face.

Harry couldn't care less where they had gone. He let himself fall on the ground, slide out of Hermione's grasp.

He sobbed. The pain would never be gone, but she would be.

Hermione's hand brushed against him. He felt her holding him again. Two more pair of arms joined them in their hug; Ron and Peter.

The pain he felt was immense, nothing he'd ever felt before could compare itself to this, it was eating him from the inside and it wanted nothing but destruction, nothing but to feed further on his misery. Another person that he had killed in his wake. He could breathe, this feeling was suffocating him.

He wanted to turn back, but deep inside he knew it was much too late.

His body was shaking from how hard he was crying; Hermione sobbed against his shoulder, Ron and Peter gloomily patted him.

They held him and kept him from drowning and completely going under – for how long was unimportant.

He wanted to remain like this. Being held, kept alive, there was nothing else left to him.

A.N: The hardest scene so far to write, tears were shed. I very much enjoyed writing aunt Petunia all the way back in Broken Web, even if she's as far away from canon as you can get.

Did I have plans to kill off someone else? Yes. That is all.