The man in front of Harry glanced up at him from the photos in his hands.

"Crap, crap, mega-crap", he said as he looked through them.

Harry looked with hope at the publisher and editor-in-chief of the Daily Telegraph: Vernon Dursley.

The man was so robust his neck wasn't visible, his moustache was as thick as a thumb and he had an intimidating look that told everyone he was a force to be reckoned with.

"You're calling these photos?" Dursley raised one of his thick eyebrows at Harry.

"Yes, sir", Harry answered.

"What did you take these with? Soap?"

"No, sir I…"

"Don't answer that question. Who sent you?"

Harry was speechless. He should have let Hermione come with him – this man was worse than Snape, and that's saying something.

"Well don't gawk at me like a fool and get it over with, I have a paper to run!" Dursley barked.

Harry nervously cleared his throat.

"I was looking for a summer job, sir. I saw you needed photos of Spider-Man."

"And you obviously see this lunatic as some hero, huh?"

"He seems to be helping people…"

"Helping people!" Dursley roared. "Last night he almost killed a person, and in broad day light he caused a massive car crash! Several people were injured, public property destroyed! That is not a hero. The real heroes saved our great country at the battlefield fighting off the enemy with their blood, sweat and tears, not in a ludicrous pajamas climbing on buildings!"

Harry sighed.

"Do I get a job or not, sir?"

Dursley glanced down at the photos again, and shrugged.

"You get five pounds, nothing more", he pulled some change out of his pocket and put it in front of Harry.

"Five pounds? That seems a little low."

"You're a kid, what do you expect? A whole carnival? Alright, take fifteen and get out of my sight."

"Does this mean I have a job, sir?"

Dursley scoffed.

"No job – freelance. Best thing in the world for a kid your age. Meat – I'll send you a nice box of Christmas meat, but I never said you have a job."

Harry returned home disappointed. When he stepped in, Hermione sat at the kitchen-table and read a book. She was so into it that she didn't notice him when he sat down.

He cleared his throat to get her attention, and she jumped a bit.

"Oh, Harry! I didn't notice you! How did it go?"

Harry shook his head.

"Not good."

"Why not? Those publishers would pay a fortune for your pictures."

Harry dug up the little money he had been given, and put it on the table.

Hermione looked at him with a confused look. "All of those photos for fifteen pounds? Didn't you demand more?"

Harry scoffed. "He looked like he was ready to throw me out of the window, of course I didn't."

"Why didn't you go to another paper?"

"It's no big deal. I get another chance to get more. Right now my aunt needs everything she can get."

As the evening descended upon them, they relaxed in the sofa and watched TV. Nothing big seemed to be happening tonight, which was strange, especially for a big city like London.

Even if it was the most relaxing evening Harry had for months, he couldn't let his mind off that something bad might be happening right now.

Maybe someone was being mugged or murdered at this very moment, and here he cuddled with his girlfriend acting like he didn't have any responsibilities.

That was the worst part of making a promise that huge – you couldn't live your own life. He felt he spent more time in the suit than out of it.

But the good thing was that he hadn't had any big problems, like a man-eating shark on two legs or something worse. It was mostly thieves, murderers; those kind of people he stopped.

That he could handle. Living two lives was something completely else.

He noticed how Hermione glanced at him with a concerned look.

"We can watch something else if you want to", she said.

"No, it's fine. I was just daydreaming."

She looked at him with a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.

He had promised her to not put on the suit for tonight, but he was needed out there. What if a bank robbery happened in this very minute? And he was sitting here in aunt Petunia's sofa watching TV with Hermione.

Hermione got up from the sofa. "You want something to eat? There's some leftover dinner if you'd like", she looked at Harry with major concern – most likely understanding what was going through his head.

"Yeah, sure."

She walked away to the kitchen, and he was left to wait.

He waited for her, but over time his gaze slowly went over the room and to the window. He shook his head and sighed, turning his eyes back to the TV-screen. He'd promised, he wasn't going to break that promise behind her back.

Around midnight, Harry waited for Hermione to fall asleep. Eventually she did, and he snuck up from the bed and looked out through the window.

He hesitated to go out there. It was his responsibility to do so, after all. But for not too long ago he almost killed a person.

Slowly he dressed up in the suit; made sure the web-shooters were loaded and pulled up the window. He looked at Hermione and still wondered if this was the best thing to do.

He stood there for a good while, until he pulled down the window again. He couldn't do it, not after last night.

Not after what he'd almost done. He couldn't break his promise to Hermione either.

A sudden voice startled him. "Harry?" Hermione said in the dark. "Are you still awake?"

She turned the bed lamp on and noticed him.

"I thought you'd promised", she mumbled.

Harry scoffed. "Yeah, I know. I just don't know if I can do this."

Hermione put her night robe on and got up to him.

"Harry, I understand. I understand why you feel like you owe the world everything. What I don't understand is why you can't take one day off for me, while I'm here for the weekend", she looked him firmly in the eyes, even if his face was behind a mask.

"I've already told you about this", Harry mumbled frustrated behind the mask.

"Yes, but why do you keep insisting on leaving? It's not your job, Harry. It's up to the police force to catch criminals, not you."

"But I'm Spider-Man. It is my job to be out there. I have the power to do what the police can't, it's my responsibility to use these powers for something good."

Hermione sighed.

"Can you please take of that mask?"

Harry slowly shook his head, refusing to answer.

"I need to do this, Hermione. You know that. I made a promise."

Hermione just looked at him like he was a hopeless kid.

"Who am I talking to right now?"

Harry scoffed. "Really?"

"I'm serious, Harry. Who am I talking to? Harry Potter or Spider-Man?"

Yet again he refused to answer her.

He gave her a final look before he walked towards the window, but she grabbed him with a firm grip and pulled him towards her.

She seemed genuinely shocked. "Is this what this is about?" Harry did something of a small nod. "Oh my God, Harry. What are you thinking?"

In the distance he could faintly hear sirens.

"I need to go", he opened the window and crawled up on the edge.

When he looked over his shoulder, Hermione stood there with crossed arms and just looked at him with anger and disappointment. He could tell that she hated him for leaving her in the middle of the night in aunt Petunia's apartment. He didn't blame her; he had after all promised her he would take a day off.

Without a last word he attached a web to a nearby building and swung away.

AUTHORS END NOTES

I wanted to show the internal struggle of Harry living two lives. He wants to use his powers for good, but he also wants to have a personal life. He's just a kid, so he does what think is best, and betrays Hermione's trust in the process. And yes, I adore J.K Simmons portrayal as J. Jonah Jameson, so I gave the role of Jameson to our unfriendly neighborhood Vernon Dursley.