A sickening yellow grazed his hair, to his shock where there had been a wall now was a pile of rubble.

Hermione shrieked as spells rebounded and shattered the remaining flowerpots, spreading plants, dirt and shards everywhere over the floor.

Screams of pain and sounds of destruction echoed from the hallway, more rubble rained over them, dust getting into their lungs. The screams could only come from Ron who had gone upstairs.

It felt like his heart stopped beating when something massive broke down through the second floor above them with an ear-deafening boom.

Harry pressed his body against the flipped table as spells ate away at it, and for a split-second his eyes met with Hermione's.

Fear. That was all he got from her. Fear and the wand clenched in her hand.

For whatever reason she wasn't attacking, rather keeping up a barely visible shield around herself.

Metallic arms tore the table in half, Harry watched as an arm tore through Hermione's shield, socking her in the face and knocking her out on the floor.

He attempted to reach for her. Metal met his chest, slinging him into the room connected to the kitchen. Glass pierced his shoulders.

Harry hit the floor, got back up but another arm smacked him to the side, throwing him helplessly through much of the furniture.

Landing on his stomach on the floor he watched as Otto Octavius and his four metallic arms moved towards him.

If it hadn't been for his arms, Octavius looked like just any middle-aged man. He sported a tattered green coat and a pair of sunglasses.

"No more running, boy."

Harry stood up despite his feet slipping in a pile of glass. He gritted his teeth, bracing his aching side.

Arms flung at him, he threw himself out of the way with time to spare, he landed clumsily on the floor, the doctor made another attempt at hitting him but this time he was prepared.

Or so he thought. Yet another wall blew open, light blinded him.

Horrible pain surged through his spine, ribs and limbs, for a while it felt like he was getting fried from the inside.

His vision went black.

Next he knew, Octavius' metallic arm pinned him to the floor, a claw snapping threateningly at his face.

Ron yelled his name. "Harry!" A boom accompanied his voice, then a grunt and a crazed laughter, a thud and the sound of a struggle.

He couldn't see much from here, only hearing the sounds of a noisy battle in the stairs. A body tumbled down in his peripheral vision.

Harry tried to struggle, but all four arms were now keeping him against the wooden floor.

Octavius peered down at him.

"Don't struggle or this will be all the more painful", he said, not showing much emotion except an intense focus.

Harry punched and kicked to no avail, the arms were choking him and making him unable to move. He thought of Hermione knocked out in the kitchen.

A fire bloomed up somewhere above him, glass rained over his face, and somehow that loosened Octavius' grip enough for Harry to struggle loose and kick the doctor away from him.

He had no idea what had just happened but honestly it didn't matter because he just needed to get himself, Ron and Hermione out of here.

"You simple-minded buffoon!" bellowed Octavius. "Are you trying to kill us all?"

Harry pulled himself with his webs towards the exit of the room, slammed face first into the door.

Tiny black dots danced before his eyes. He was quickly up on his feet yet again.

Panicking, he scrambled over the floor dodging yet more spells and bolts of electricity, some hit him but he kept on going.

He barely registered what was going on. Ron lay sprawled out on the floor in the hallway, unconscious and a jagged blade jutting out of his shoulder.

Harry threw his own body on the floor next to his friend, shot a web at the door behind him and pulled it close to buy more time.

But it was for naught, the door splintered apart and was pulled off its hinges as Octavius slammed a tentacle through it.

It came crashing down on the floor.

Both Sirius and the doctor were advancing on him, and fast. Harry lifted Ron's body from the floor, it seemed so light to him, the adrenaline rushed through his body, maybe that was why – a blade pierced his knee, forcing him to unceremoniously drop Ron and fall down on his knees, kneeling over his friend.

"Hello Harry", said Sirius through his black teeth. "Long time no see."

Harry made a move to shoot out another web, it was swiftly fried in mid-air by Sirius.

A bolt of electricity struck his chest, he was on his back before he could gather what happened.

He tasted iron in his mouth. Something wet dripped down his chin.

His head was pounding.

"At last."

Harry froze, hearing the voice that haunted his dreams and his thoughts, speak to him.

"This is where you die, Spider-Man… if it so means I'll have to kill you myself."

"Restrain yourself, Osborn. We were told to bring him in alive."

Harry lifted his head, still shielding his friend from further harm. The person that had killed his aunt stepped nonchalantly down the stairs, grinning from ear to ear, as if he was simply heading down for dinner.

"Alive?"

The Goblin burst out laughing, sending a shiver along Harry's neck and spine. Assessing their situation, there wasn't really a way out of this.

Sirius exchanged very quick looks with Octavius.

"I think you've got the wrong idea, Octavius", said Goblin.

With half the house in ruins, spells had ceased. Dust and blood had smeared together in a mess on his glasses, blocking most of his view.

"No funny moves, alright?" said a scruffy voice behind him. A foot hit him in his side, knocking him on his back.

They didn't wear masks and carried wands; Snatchers. One of them bent down to look at him. A smirk spread in the Snatcher's face. "It's him alright. Oi, you two, grab the girl."

Harry watched as two Snatchers went into the kitchen and walked back out, dragging an unconscious Hermione between them.

"Don't you touch her, you—"

The Snatcher above him stomped hard on his face, something snapped and shot a small shockwave through his nose and forehead.

"Shut up."

Warm liquid trickled down his nose, into his mouth.

The Snatcher turned from him; his attention drawn to Hermione.

"Hello gorgeous – is she dead?" said the same Snatcher.

Harry kept his gaze fixated on the ceiling.

He was surrounded – they were surrounded. He lay sprawled out on the floor next to Ron, looking for all and any openings.

If he could muster enough strength with his good arm to throw Ron down the steps to the basement and get him out of the way, he could make his way to Hermione… perhaps he could get them out of here.

But the situation looked dire and he didn't see a way out of it.

The Goblin stepped off the last step and somehow noticed this, he placed his foot on Harry's arm to keep him down, crushing it and definitely breaking a bone or two.

Harry grimaced from the pain shooting through his arm.

Goblin laughed at his misery.

"You don't look like you're enjoying yourself, Spider-Man", said the Goblin matter-of-fact.

Harry spluttered out a small fountain of blood, trying to speak.

"Now, now…", the Goblin crouched down and grabbed him by the head, brusquely forcing him to look at Hermione. "If you value that girl's life, you'll come with us. And then—well, the rest is up to your imagination."

The Goblin's eyes gleamed with murderous intent, his grin stretching inhumanely wide over his face.

For a moment, Harry looked helplessly on Hermione, hanging limp between Snatchers, her knees almost touching the floor.

As if they moved by their own, his numb fingers stretched out for her. He couldn't reach his webshooters. His fingers weren't responding to his thoughts, they simply twitched and trembled.

It was pointless.

"What will it be?" said the Goblin. He pushed Harry's head against the floor.

A series of thoughts ran through Harry's head. They would die here. And for what?

Or… maybe there still was a tiny glimmer of hope left.

Perhaps his only way was to lie and cheat his way out… even if it meant the worst would happen to him.

"She's nobody", Harry spat out, a pool of blood formed by his mouth.

"Oh spare me this nonsense", said Goblin, slamming his head against the red-tiled floor. He felt a pang of pain go off in his skull.

Sirius chuckled in the background. "Nice try."

"Take me."

"That's the plan, my dear spider", said the Goblin's whispering voice.

"Leave them alone", more blood pooling up. "They are no one."

A Snatcher howled laughing. "Do you really think we're that daft, you dumb git?"

Harry realized in that moment what really was going to happen to them if he didn't do anything fast; he probably would be tortured, then handed over to Voldemort and killed on the spot, while Ron and Hermione were sent straight to their deaths or worse, Azkaban.

"Let's go, this place is a dump", said the one who Harry guessed was the leader amongst the Snatchers. He waved his wand and a puke-yellow light blew open the door, shattering it into pieces.

The two Snatchers holding Hermione grunted and struggled moving out of the door. Harry's eyes shifted to the Goblin, who had briefly had let his guard down.

Now.

Harry defiantly spat in the Goblin's face. He hit him in the throat with his good hand, throwing back into the staircase.

The Goblin braced his jaw, gasping for air, if just for a very short moment. "You little—"

A force built up inside him. Where this force came from, he had no idea. But he caught Norman's hands when they flew for his face, stopping him completely.

Harry bit together his teeth around, moved his arms, pushing back the Goblin back towards the staircase. He refused to let him win.

Gathering his strength, his feet planted themselves into the floor, even his broken arm pushed back and the Goblin's grin faded, good, he was scared of this sudden

The struggle between them was an unwavering wrestle for power, to get the other to slip up and lose this reverse tug of war.

The others looked on in confusion, fear or maybe neither – it didn't really matter, as long as they were distracted.

The Goblin growled, gritting his teeth, spit foaming down his lip. His eyes were about to pop out of their sockets, Harry could tell he was at his limit.

"Why won't you just stop being so stubborn and die?"

"Because, Osborn…", strained Harry, yet pushing back. "I feel sorry for people like you."

"Sorry?" the Goblin snarled mixed with laughter. "Gods don't have to be sorry! But I see now, you're not worthy of your strength, you're… you're just a witless boy!"

"Shut up!" Harry yelled, and with that, he threw everything, all of his strength, every little bit of it into shifting his weight, tackling Osborn.

From the sheer force, they fell through the crumbling stairs down to the basement. The Goblin hit his head with a satisfying bonk on something metal, the mad man was out for the moment.

Harry spared no time webbing himself out of the basement.

Everything came to a slow crawl when he let his senses and reflexes take charge… everyone except him were moving painfully slow.

Dozens of conversations and information shifted through his head while he found himself in a strange, peaceful state, spinning around in mid-air, webbing everyone around him down and avoiding their attacks with such precision he managed to get their attackers to hurt each other.

Their attacks weren't bothering him, in some ways it was a dance and he was leading it, while his mind worked.

More Snatchers poured in through the doors. They weren't a problem, Octavius and Sirius were.

What would Hermione do? What would Ron do?

One word appeared in his head: apparate.

Walls exploded behind him from recoiling spells. It didn't faze him, at most the dust kicking up blocked part his view, but he saw through it.

Whatever part of the spider that had decided it was time to wake up, he was in full control and it was peaceful.

The shrieking pain in his bones was a constant reminder that he couldn't stall forever. The metal jaws of Octavius' arms snapped relentlessly at him, and for a single hit he allowed himself to not pull any punches.

A single piece of the one of the four claws broke off, but it was enough to bewilder its owner. Dodging and weaving away from the other arms, he catapulted himself up in the air, towards Hermione, he landed next to her, shot out a web at Ron and pulled the red headed boy his way.

There were no more spells coming his way, no more attackers – except Otto Octavius who glared at him, absolutely dumb-founded.

"Impressive", said Octavius calmly. "But are you certain your bravado will protect their lives from you?"

Harry winced from the stabbing pain in his midriff, but he knew he could keep going. The pain was bearable, for now.

"What do you mean?"

Two metallic arms shot out, grasping Ron and Hermione by their legs. "No!" Harry froze.

Just like that, the doctor's demeanor flipped, and instead of calm and collected, he was furious and ranting.

"I am not a fool, boy!" growled Ock. "I know your weakness. Osborn might not have seen it, Black definitely does not see it – but I do! Those uncivilized men will use their fists before they use their brains!"

Harry kept his eyes on his friends dangling precariously upside-down by the ceiling and at the same time he watched Ock.

"Intelligence! Something you lack, I am afraid, not that a simple-minded boy like you could understand!"

Octavius was out of breath, the anger was exhausting him. Harry somehow managed to stand up, despite the large number of broken bones in his body. A stream of blood poured down his nose, into his mouth.

"These people – they are your weakness. I'm right, aren't I boy? Yes, the way you begged for them to be spared made it obvious."

Hermione's eyes shot open. Octavius didn't see it, at least he hoped he didn't.

Her eyes met with Harry's, she was scared, that much he could see. Yet she remained calm. He made a subtle hand gesture to Hermione, hoping she picked up on it.

He didn't know if he wanted to tell her he'd got this or have her do something while he had caught Otto's attention.

He hoped it was the latter. He really hoped it was the latter.

"Wow, you are a genius", Harry taunted, lightly knocking on his head. "You got me… yeah, real – real clever of you, mate. You figured it out, congratulations. You… you want a medal for that?"

His lips cracked open, forming a grin. The taste of iron filled his mouth.

Otto responded with a disgusted snarl.

"You want to know something else?" Harry took a few steps forwards. A wand had appeared in Hermione's hand, yet she played unconscious, dangling peacefully back and forth in Ock's grasp. "Whatever Voldemort told you – it's a lie, he's playing you, the lot of you!"

Octavius scoffed. "What are you talking about? If you believe for one second that I am in this for anything but my machine and my Rosie—hang on, Rosie?" He looked confused for a moment, disturbed by something Harry couldn't see or hear.

The confusion in Otto's face turned to sadness. His eyes glanced at his arms from the corner of his eye. "My Rosie…" Grief spread like a disease across the muscles in his face and unbridled anger twisted it into something nearing inhuman.

He looked at Harry but didn't seem to see him, stuck in his own head.

"Gone!" he bellowed. "Spider-Man was there, he murdered her… no – but what about my machine? We rebuilt it, didn't we? Didn't we? The power of the sun—"

Harry snapped his eyes from Ock to Hermione.

"Now!"

In the blink of an eye, a massive indigo jet shot out from her wand and hit Octavius in the chest, knocking him back into the living room with a yell and a harsh cacophony of destruction; Hermione and Ron fell out of his grasp and crashed into the floor.

Hermione's eyes shot open, Harry made a run for her and Ron.

He heard the room cave in on itself, he caught a glimpse of it and saw only a blob of broken things piling onto Octavius by themselves.

Hermione desperately reached out for him. "Harry!"

Somewhere electricity sparked up. "Oh no you don't!"

His spidersense went off.

Get out of the way.

Harry threw himself down on the floor, just about evading the lightning bolt that would've struck him otherwise, and right when he gripped her hand, he was yanked up in the air, out of the demolished house.

A.N: I originally wanted to have Harry cast wandless magic, but I realized how clunky it was and maybe it would be better to have Harry and Hermione kind of work together. I still want to bring that element of wandless magic in, but there are so many subplots going on right now that I have deliberately saved many planned ones for another sequel.