Friends
It had been a week since school had started up, and Draco hadn't so much as exchanged a glance with his friends. All he'd been doing was feeling pathetically sorry for himself through sulking, along with a side of books. One Wednesday, he was hunched into the corner, scattered pieces of crinkled parchment on one side, and a broken pen on the other.
In his lap sat a thick book, with a red, velvet cover and gold, italics on the front.
The Webbed Fiend!
It was originally a plan for a very obscure comic book, but it provided an almost similar circumstance to Draco's. A normal teenage boy gained supernatural abilities. Only in the book, he was given a choice from God, and only received webs after agreeing. Draco didn't get a choice;he had his powers spat on him out of pity.
He groaned as he read the pathetic attempts at the graphic novel.
Peter ran towards the edge of the building, where Gwen was moments away from touching the road bellow. He shot some webs, successfully rescuing her.
This book sucked. It lacked detail, explanation and worse of all, a good plot. Draco angrily slammed it shut, causing it to echo throughout the ancient library. He left his papers and pens, and dumped the book on the nearest desk, frustrated.
He decided that it was time to get some lunch, as he only had twenty minutes left before his English Literature lesson. As soon as he walked into that canteen, he could tell that it was pure chaos.
There were chunks of food flying around the place, being thrown between the house tables. Draco angrily stormed towards the Slytherin table and grabbed some chicken legs before hurrying outside the hall. He didn't even make it halfway when he bumped into the back of a fifth year boy. A Gryffindor.
The boy turned around angrily, lifting up his fist for a punch, but Draco struck first. His hit had such force behind it, that the fifth year flew against the wall, passing out as blood dripped from the top of his head. Draco, both shocked and afraid of his newfound abilities, began to run towards the exit.
"You have got to stop distancing yourself," a quiet yet demanding voice from behind him spoke, Draco recognised it instantly. He turned around, inches away from the doors, yet deciding to stay. Luna's eyes were already teary as she stared at her cousin who had turned into the one thing which they both truly hated.
"Tell me that when you watch your dad die!" Draco spat back, angrily. Luna flinched slightly at the volume, and Draco stepped back slightly, both shocked and disgusted with himself. Suddenly, she allowed her emotions to gain control of her voice.
"I lost my uncle, and it feels like I'm losing my cousin too!" She screamed, her blonde curls glistening against the sunlight. Draco looked above her shoulder, staring at the innocent Hufflepuff who he'd punched, clutching his bloody nose in shock. He then looked towards Pansy, who was holding hands with both Blaise and Theo, staring at Draco in shock. He looked down at his shaky hands, blood coating and staining his knuckles.
Then he looked up to Luna.
Despite her defensive stance, there were tears streaming down her face, her bottom lip was quivering and she was holding herself, wrapping her arms around herself and sobbing. Without speaking, he took a few steps forwards and wordlessly held her. No words were exchanged, but with a returned hug, Draco released her and left.
His dorm was quiet, meaning that it was the perfect opportunity for Draco to take a nap. He wished. Draco knew that his power came with a heavy responsibility, the responsibilities of protecting and rescuing civilians. What he couldn't do for his dad.
He immediately hurried towards his clothing draw, pulling out a red, polyester bodysuit which used to be Luna's before she dumped it on him, so it would be a bit of a tight fit. Luckily for him, Blaise had a sewing machine and black thread. This wouldn't be enough, though. After an hour of peaceful work, he had sewn numerous black, web patterns onto this red suit. He had missed his last few lessons for this, but it was definitely worth it.
Draco felt a tingling sensation spread throughout his body again, the same one that occurred in the classroom. Time didn't slow down this time, so Draco had to quickly shove the suit underneath his bed, and he jumped back onto the chair, pretending to read.
Blaise and Theo walked through the door, greeting Draco warmly. This was a ritual recently.
"Oh, hey." Draco responded nonchalantly. They both looked at him in slight surprise, which wasn't a shock since Draco had barely spoke since his fathers death. Nonetheless, they both nonchalantly continued to walk, Blaise lying down on his bed, throwing a snitch up and down, and Theo sat on the floor at the end of Blaise's bed, watching TikTok loudly.
Draco shut the book that he was pretending to read, then he walked towards his bed and grabbed his phone from his bedside table. He opened up WhatsApp, and surely, there were a few unread messages.
Luna-2:38am
I can't sleep, would you care to rob the kitchens?
Luna-3:13am
Okay the house elves just handed me a snack
Luna-7:21am
Riddle sticks, I overslept, do you know where Ginny is?
Luna-7:21am
I Hope the nargles didn't catch her...
Luna-8:02
I Found her, no thanks to you :P
Great, now Draco felt like a total dick. Those were only the messages from that day, there was about fifty in total. He decided to leave them all on seen, and then he simply changed the app to TikTok. After a couple minutes of peaceful scrolling, the sound of Blaise rummaging through draws made Draco's heart stop.
"Have one of you guys used my sewing machine?" Blaise shouted at the pair.
"No." Both Theo and Draco responded immediately, in perfect unison. Blaise shrugged and dropped the subject, causing Draco to heave a sigh of relief.
"Can we go for a walk?" Theo randomly asked the group, as he got restless easily. Blaise and Draco both agreed, and they were out the door in a matter of minutes. Dinner was two hours away, so they planned on wondering to the castle and then returning to the dormitory after they had eaten.
The trio walked down the dormitories staircase and into the emerald green common room, the intricate, silver designs of the fireplace always catching Draco's eye in a way. Pansy was lying on the sofa, her short bob being brushed by Daphne Greengrass.
Daphne was stunning, as was her older sister.
Daphne had long, blonde curls which resembled Luna's in a more graceful way. Her long eyelashes complimented her emerald green eyes and fair skin. Her lips were a perfect rosy red, and her smile could impress the Gods. Her sister, Astoria, was almost her polar opposite. With long, brunette hair, and shorter eyelashes which only made her tanned skin more noticeable. Their family was rich as well, and Draco was familiar with them from gatherings.
"Pansy, are you coming on a walk with us?" Theo asked, casually. Pansy nodded, and stood up, squeezing Daphne tightly before hurrying towards them. Draco was the only one not in school uniform, as he had changed into something more comfortable as soon as he entered the dorm.
"So, are you talking now?" Pansy playfully teased, nudging Draco. He jokingly nudged her back, giving her a grin. "Yes! Can we please do another prank on the Gryffindors?" She cheered, holding onto Blaise's sleeve for whatever reason. Draco chuckled heartedly, ignoring the pleased look exchanged between his friends.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash in the hallway ahead, and obviously, the four of them sprinted towards it. There was a suspicious figure; he had short, dark curls paired with a sharp jawline and thin lips. He was overall gorgeous, but that was beside the point. He had some sort of device attached to his hand, allowing him to explode anything in the direction which he pointed his ring finger towards.
"Go through the passageway, I'll catch up." Draco urged his friends, giving them a shove in the right direction.
"But, Draco!" Pansy squealed, looking just as concerned as the rest of the group. They probably thought this was some suicide attempt or trauma response. It wasn't either - as far as he was aware.
"Go." He demanded.
This was the perfect opportunity for Draco to work on his new abilities. So, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie, and cracking his knuckles, he was ready to fight.