Hi guys! So, I remembered that this week was Hanukkah, and I thought I'd like to write a Mortal Instruments fanfic to celebrate the occasion for all you Jewish MI readers out there. Please go easy on me, since this is actually my first MI fic, but most of all please just read and enjoy!

Well...

I have a little dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then, dreidel I shall play.

"Simon, did you say something?"

Simon rolled his eyes. Honestly, sometimes Jace could be so lazy, considering how much energy he had when they fought in battle or killed demons. His friend, or enemy, or frenemy, or whatever he was, could slash through fifty demons in the amount of time it took for Simon to have his fangs bared, and literally be able to contain and control fire from heaven inside of him. But good luck trying to get his lazy butt of the couch on a Saturday afternoon. Simon had tried, and he wasn't going anywhere.

So, ignoring his comrade lazily lounging on the couch in the other room, Simon went back to his decorating, and continued to hum the same little song that had somehow wormed its way into his mind.

Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then, dreidel I will play.

"Yo, Simon!" shouted Jace again. The vampire groaned; no wonder the Shadowhunter kept asking him. He'd forgotten that his kind tended to have natural advanced hearing, or maybe they had just trained themselves over time to pick up on small noises. But either way, the idea that Jace had probably been able to hear him humming slightly embarrassed him, more than he liked to admit.

But when Jace called for him again from his inclined position on the sofa- "What did you say, man?"- Simon chose to ignore him. He figured that if he didn't say anything in response, then the blonde-haired Shadowhunter would just drop it.

That was how it usually worked anyway, when one of them caught the other secretly scratching in a certain spot or trying to pick out a wedgie in a clandestine manner, usually what ensued was just a moment of eye contact that crackled with panic before one or the other gave a slight nod of reassurance, and was rewarded with a grateful smile. Then both boys would go on their way, and pretend like nothing had happened.

So, out of politeness, Simon waited a few moments before resuming his tune, and then he proceeded with ease and a slight caution, because he trusted in his and Jace's system- their "bro code", or something. But whatever it was, it benefited both of them, so Simon knew that Jace wouldn't screw it up now. At least, that was how it usually worked.

It has a lovely body

With legs so short and thin

And when it gets all tired

It drops and I will win.

"Whoa, dude, what kind of messed-up song is that?"

The voice, loud and booming, came directly behind Simon's left ear, and it belonged to none other than the famous (Simon preferred "infamous") Jace Herondale/Lightwood/Wayland/Morgernstern. (Seriously; that guy needed to drop a few of his last names. It overcomplicated the whole birth certificate thing way too much.)

"'It has a lovely body'? Tsk tsk tsk. That's disgusting. 'With legs so short and thin'? Man, get over your obsession with legs, and don't call them 'gams'; that's lame. And the part about 'when it gets all tired, it drops and I will win'? Are you trying to rape this girl or what? Really, I expected better from you, Simon Lewis. Or, maybe I didn't, but I still didn't expect you to-"

Jace paused from his chronic pacing on the carpeted floor, his hands folded casually behind his back, long enough to look up at Simon. "Dude, what are you doing up there?"

Simon gulped, and looked down at Jace on the floor below him. It was a mortifying climb down from his terrified perch on the top bunk in his room, with the blonde boy's bemused eyes boring into him. The vampire could practically feel the tomato metamorphosis his skin tone was undergoing. The slight embarrassment he'd felt earlier was nothing compared to the utter humiliation he was feeling because he overreacted when Jace scared him and he jumped on the bed.

"Hey, man," he said weakly.

Jace looked him over, an uncomfortable glance that went up and down. A scowl was set onto his face, so turned down at the edges that the corners almost seemed to touch. Simon figured he was about to slap him for acting like such a girl. He braced himself, closing one eye and an excruciating grimace taking over his face.

Then Jace burst out laughing, his frown turned completely upside-down. A gallant smile had lit up his face, and the sight was enough to draw up a tiny corner of Simon's mouth.

"Aw...man," said Jace, his crazed laughter coming to a halt. "That was the best reaction ever." He chuckled again. "And I wasn't even trying to scare you! Hah! And- no way, are you still blushing? Aw, you're not embarrassed, are you man?"

Simon nodded, that same uncomfortable grimace back on his face. Even the slight movement of his head when it bobbed practically screamed "painful humiliation."

"I'm pretty sure a blush this bad counts as a sunburn, which isn't such a good thing for vampires," he wailed, and Jace cracked another grin.

"No worries," he said with that carefree attitude, that the vampire both loathed and admired. "Your secret is safe with me." He made a motion like locking up his lips and throwing away the key. Simon just rolled his eyes.

"So, what were you humming anyway?" Jace asked with a mild hint of curiosity in his voice, as he leaned casually on the oak desk in Simon's room. "Sounded pretty spicy, or at least the verse I heard did."

"Oh...it's nothing," Simon said, slightly abashed. This was a different kind of embarrassment than before; this was more personal.

"Didn't sound like nothing," said Jace with a slight frown. "In fact, it sounded a little familiar. Let's see, is it the one that goes:

Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then, dreidel I will play.

"Is it that one?" he asked, a small trace of the thoughtful expression still stuck on his face.

Simon stared at him, his mouth agape. "How on Earth do you know 'I Have A Little Dreidel'?" he asked, his astonishment more than evident.

The blonde Shadowhunter shrugged nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal that Mr. Religious knew something about Simon's religion.

"Not sure. I picked it somewhere, maybe at a party when I was younger, but I just kinda remember it. Why?"

If the vampire thought his mouth had reached its maximum drop-level, boy was he wrong.

"Why? I'll tell you why! That was song co-written by Samyel S. Grossman and Samuel E. Goldfarb- yes, there names were both Samuel. Me and my family play it all the time around the Hanukkah season. I grew up with it, so I love it. And...it just so happens that it's like the best Hanukkah song ever written!"

Jace blinked at him for a moment, his eyes slightly glazed over. Simon was still panting a little. Then, the Shadowhunter broke out of his trance, and said, "Dude, you celebrate Hanukkah?"

Simon nearly smacked his forehead. He took off his glasses slowly, which he still wore sometimes for comfort even though he didn't need them, and cleaned them meticulously. Then, he placed them carefully back on his head, and let out a deep sigh.

"Are you serious? I'm Jewish. Of course I celebrate Hanukkah." Duh.

"Well...yeah," said Jace, somewhat defensively, "I knew you were Jewish, but you never decorate or anything, so I thought you were the non-holiday type."

"The non-holiday type? What does that even mean?"

Jace shrugged. Simon sighed.

Dead silence.

"Can you sing the next verse?"

"What?" said Simon.

"I said, can you sing the next verse? I wanna hear the rest of the song."

Simon, somewhat confused, nodded numbly, and rang out:

My dreidel is so playful

It loves to dance and spin

A happy game of dreidel

Come play now, let's begin.

Jace grinned, and then he clapped. A slightly embarassed smile on his face, Simon bent over and bowed dramatically, waving his hands at "the crowd", which consisted only of Jace, who hooted and hollered for all his worth.

"Last part is just the chorus again," hinted Simon, as he offered an invisible mic to Jace. "Wanna make this part of the show a duet?"

Another blinding white smile on his face, Jace nodded, and both boys stood up on top of Simon's desk, dancing, rocking, and singing their hearts out as their high and low voices joined together in a screeching, off-key rendition of the chorus in "I Have A Little Dreidel":

Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel

I made it out of clay

And when it's dry and ready

Then, dreidel I will play

"Well, well, well," said a musical voice from the doorway. "What have we here?"

Well, guys, please tell me what you think. I plan to add a chapter for each day of Hanukkah this week, so please follow and favorite if you'd like to see more. Also, PLEASE review, because I'm not sure if all the terms and/or traditions I talked about were correct, so if you're Jewish and you celebrate Hanukkah, PLEASE HELP ME. And if you're not Jewish but you'd still like to help me out, tell me what you'd like to see in the upcoming chapters. Also, should I change the title of this story? (Cuz, let's be honest, the title sucks.) If so, what should I change it to? Thank you so much for reading!

Have a wonderful evening, and happy Hanukkah!

Love,

~Princess Andromeda II