Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, or Marvel. I do own Harper, Loretta, and Eliza.

I blamed my sister for the obsession. Loretta was four years older than me, and pretty strange. She was obsessed with muggle books, which wasn't that bad, considering our mother was a muggle, but even she said that it wasn't normal. For instance, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit specifically. Loretta had it in her head that Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakensheild were meant to be, never minding that Thorin died at the end of the book. In fact, if you even mentioned that fact, my sister would literally shut down. I'm talking lock herself in her room for five hours and not talk to any of us, just writing fanfiction.

For the longest time, I thought my sister was insane. Muggle books, fanfiction, and what exactly was shipping? It wasn't until the summer after my first year at Hogwarts when my sister changed me, not entirely for the better.

It was my twelfth birthday, and I could tell Loretta had forgot to get me anything. Why, you might ask? Well, that morning when Mum kissed my forehead and wished me a happy birthday, my sister let out a resounding OH SHIT! and ran up to her room. I won't lie, it kinda hurt that she had forgotten my birthday, since I never forgot hers, but looking back on that day, I can't help but be grateful that she was too busy reading Thilbo Baggenshield fanfiction to remember. That night, she ended up giving me a comic book that she had tried to read, but thought it was stupid. It was Amazing Fantasy #15, which featured Peter Parker, an orphan living with his widowed aunt, or as he was otherwise known, Spiderman. And thus the obsession was born

That summer was known as 'The Summer of Marvel'. I dragged my family to every comic book store in London, looking for anything having to do with Marvel comics, or more importantly, Stan Lee. Lee was, and still is, my hero. His characters were so relatable, they had flaws, and real world problems. Then, slowly but surely, I started reading the fanfiction that Loretta was so crazy about, and loved it. I drew my own comics, about Peter and MJ, or Wolverine and Jean Grey. Loretta and I grew closer and closer, until when I went back to Hogwarts for my second year, my sister let me hang out with her and her sixth year friends. This was splendid for me, considering at the time I had no friends.

See, I was the only Hufflepuff girl in my year, and the boys in my house were right gits, so I had no one to be friends with. I tried to be friends with some of the girls from other houses, but due to the fact that my social skills are that of a poo-slinging monkey,my attempts were not successful. Though that year on Halloween I met my best friend.

My sister and I had spent months working on our costumes. Loretta went as a Bilbo the Hobbit, complete with curly hair, waistcoat, and especially hairy feet. Me, I went as Spiderman, with my own web shooters and everything! We were both full of excitement, though me more than Loretta. She was in sixth year after all, and though she was a nerd, she was also mature. I however, was a dorky twelve year old with no friends to impress, and quit frankly, nothing to lose.

So there I was, strolling into the Great Hall proudly wearing my Spiderman costume, when all of a sudden I heard what sounds to be a shriek. I turned to see a tall girl dressed as Rogue from X-Men. For a moment I was speechless, was there a wizard besides me that likes comic books? My hope was then confirmed when the girl ran up to me, yelling YOU'RE SPIDERMAN, HOLY CRAP. We then spent the rest of the night talking about comic books, the endless DC vs. Marvel debate, and Stan Lee.

At the end of the night we decided that we were best friends, and then realized that we did not know eachover's names. Laughing at one another, we introduced ourselves.

"Eliza Flume, third year Gryffindor," she said, sticking hand her out to me.

Taking it, I replied, "Harper Lanktas, second year Hufflepuff."

That was the start of our beautiful friendship. For quite a while, Eliza was my only friend, that is, until the summer of my fifth year, when once again my life changed, but I'm still not sure whether it was good or bad. All in good time, I guess.