Disclaimer: Don't own nothing :)

NOTE: I even made a special effort for American spelling…

'Attention passengers,' the overhead announced in a clear, female voice, 'the seven-twenty-nine flight to Heathrow is now boarding at bay two. The seven-twenty-nine flight to Heathrow is boarding at bay two.'

'Just to check,' Alec said to Isabelle, brow creased, 'Mom does know that we're going, doesn't she?'

Isabelle fluttered her fingers in a dismissive gesture. 'Yes, I told her. She wasn't very happy about it. She thinks that magic's a bit…' she frowned, '…childish.'

Alec scowled, thinking of Magnus. 'No it's not.'

Jace was trundling Clary's suitcase in one hand, his own in the other. 'Of course it is,' he scoffed. 'Why did you think Clary wanted to go?'

Clary, who had previously been occupied with reading Harry Potter while walking and simultaneously talking to Simon about Diagon Alley, heard this and kicked out at Jace's suitcase.

It bumped into her own suitcase in his other hand, so his wrists twisted painfully and he ended up doing an inelegant jump-slash-step thing to avoid tripping over them.

Clary went back to talking with Simon, innocent as ever.

'Why did you do that?' Jace asked, annoyed.

'Do what?' Clary smiled beatifically.

'Kick my case!'

'I didn't kick your case. It was probably a rock or something in the wheel.'

Jace swore under his breath, letting it go.

'There's bay two,' Alec said, pointing.

'Wow, I hadn't noticed,' Jace said mockingly. 'I mean, that large two taking up the entire wall couldn't –'

'What's crawled up your arse and died?' Simon asked, amused.

'Fuck my life,' Jace muttered.

'It's a wall,' Isabelle said.

'Well spotted.'

'Shut up, Jace.'

Alec stood behind them both, a dark figure leaning against a column. 'I think we should have waited for Clary and Simon.'

'No one cares what you think.'

'Shut up, Jace.'

Clary and Simon entered from the inn with a few empty cloth bags. Clary's cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright.

'Is everyone ready?'

'For what? Is something magical going to happen? Are the walls suddenly going to sparkle?'

'Shut up, Jace.'

Alec hated the word 'sparkle'. It reminded him of why he was so depressed in the first place.

Simon ran his hand through his hair, exasperated at Jace. This, in itself, was totally understandable. But then he smiled. And he had this smug look on his face that Jace wanted to punch off. 'I know how to open it.'

'What, the wall? Does it require a blood sacrifice? Because since you take so much blood, I think you should volunteer.'

'Shut up, Jace.'

'No, really. People give you blood, so, in the words of our dear public service, you should "give back to the people".'

Simon's face had gone blank, as if he was completely expressionless and Jace's words hadn't meant anything.

Jace shrugged. 'I mean, the stuff in those bottles you carry around has to come from somewhere, doesn't –'

Simon swung his fist at Jace's face, and there was a crack as his nose broke. Jace just stared at him, shocked, as blood gushed down his skin, but recovered and spat viciously, a red spray covering the ground in front of him.

'By the Angel,' Alec said hoarsely. 'He hit Jace. He hit Jace. He hit Jace.'

Jace was abruptly furious. 'What the fuck was that for, vampire?'

'You know what that was for.'

Jace saw Simon's dark eyes unwillingly flick to the blood on the ground and back. 'What, you wanted to drink my blood without having to go through the ordeal of biting me?'

Simon gritted his teeth, fist clenched. 'You fucking bastard.'

'Shut up, Jace,' Isabelle cried. 'Leave him alone.'

'I saw that look. And – oh, no, don't you go baring your fangs at me.' Jace spat more blood onto the floor. He sank down into a defensive stance, a seraph blade already in his grip. 'Come and get me, vampire.'

Simon lunged at him so fast Jace didn't see him coming but for the white-and-brown blur. And then he was slammed up against the wall, Simon's fangs at his throat.

'Ow.'

Simon ignored this. 'You want to say that again, Nephilim?'

Jace flicked his wrist up, so that the seraph blade was hot against Simon's neck, right where the scar from Valentine's knife was.

'Do you really want to do this, vampire?'

Simon's fangs lightly grazed the skin of Jace's throat, and crimson beads of blood swelled on the surface of the tanned skin.

Jace pressed the blade harder to Simon's neck, so that the skin there singed slightly, burning under the glass-like angelic sword. A thin line of black liquid bubbled under the weapon.

Simon hissed in pain.

'JACE!' Clary shrieked, her scream resounding in Jace and Simon's eardrums painfully. Apparently she had been shouting for a while but no one had listened.

'Ow,' Jace said, wincing as his eardrums rung.

Clary ran over to them, pulling the seraph blade from Jace's grip and pushing Simon in the chest so that he staggered backwards.

'Stop it! You're so immature.'

Simon wiped his mouth, smearing a red streak across his cheek. 'I'm not the immature one.'

Jace took the blade from Clary and wiped it on the back of his jeans as he said contemptuously, 'And I am?'

Alec raised his eyebrow. 'And I thought they were almost having a heated make-out session.'

Isabelle looked kind of put out.

Simon scowled at Jace, who sneered menacingly.

'Arse-hole.'

'Jerk.'

Clary huffed. 'I'll open the wall, since you're obviously too busy being jackasses to do it.'

She tapped the stones around the deepened brick in the centre of the wall, which obligingly rearranged itself to form an archway.

'Holy shit,' Isabelle said, staring out into the mess of colour that was Diagon Alley.

'What the hell are they wearing?'

Clary took her arm, drawing her forward into the Alley, letting the others follow behind.

'Izzy,' she said, gesturing to all of the people, 'these are wizards and witches. They can all do magic like we'll soon be able to, and this is what they wear normally. They're called robes.'

'Robes? Will we have to wear robes?'

'Yeah, for school. Let's go get them now. See Madam Malkin's up there? That's a robe shop.'

Isabelle looked pensive. 'Do you think robes would look good on me? I mean, draping fabrics…'

Clary rolled her eyes. 'Izzy, you look good in anything. Let's go get some money.'

The girls walked away, leaving Alec with Jace and Simon.

'Why me?' he asked no one in particular.

Jace was walking with an arrogant smirk on his face, his eyes darting every few seconds or so to Simon, who was looking thoroughly depressed and macabre, the blood smeared across his cheek and down the side of his neck.

'You do know you're covered in blood, don't you?' Alec asked interestedly.

'What? Oh, shit.' Simon wiped his face on his sleeve. 'D'you have a scarf or something?'

Alec gingerly removed his own scarf, handing it hesitantly to Simon. Lucky it was black.

Jace smiled smugly.

'So what'd you guys get?' Isabelle asked when they found each other in the Alley. Jace, Alec and Simon had set up camp outside the ice-scream parlour.

'Nothing,' Jace replied promptly. 'You were the ones with the money.'

'Oh, right, sorry.' Isabelle didn't look sorry at all.

Clary caught up to Isabelle, puffing slightly. 'Why didn't you wait for me, Izzy? I just had to get – oh, hi.'

'Hey,' Simon greeted her, nodding. 'Nice robes.'

'You think so?' Clary smiled, doing a little twirl, her emerald-green robes swirling around her.

'I picked them out,' Izzy said unabashedly, pointing. 'She wanted the red ones, but they clashed with her hair.' Isabelle shuddered.

Clary gave a long-suffering sigh. 'Come on, we'll all go to the bookshop.'

Jace was clearly affronted. 'The bookshop? How ghastly. Though I'm sure many of the deprived teenage girls in there will appreciate my presence, unfortunately so will the little old witchy ladies, and I am not in the mood to be chased down the street followed by a ravaging horde of crones with the sole intent of practically raping me with dentures – not that this has ever happened to me.'

Simon raised an eyebrow. 'Happened to you before, has it?'

Jace huffed, absently rubbing his left earlobe. 'I'm not talking to you, vampire.'

'Suit yourself, granny's boy.'

Jace was perusing his parchment letter while the group walked out of Flourish and Blott's.

'It says to take the train from a Kings Cross. Where the hell is a Kings Cross?'

Simon rolled his eyes. 'It's just King's Cross, not a King's Cross. It's a train station in England, you moron…'

'Moron? I have been called many things, namely godly, handsome, hot, witty and unbelievably sexy, but moron was not one of them.'

'Well, now you can add it to your little list.'

'Thank you.'

'No problem.'

'I was being sarcastic.'

'I know.'

Jace was saved the trouble of lunging at Simon when a distraction came in the form of Clary tripping over the hem of her robes and screaming in fright.

She seemed to fall in slow motion, but even Simon with his vampire speed couldn't stop her. She tumbled onto the path, dropping her bags and spilling the contents everywhere.

'Shit,' she said, climbing up from the ground, grabbing Alec's offered hand. 'Thanks.'

She set about gathering her things and stuffing them back in her bags, but when she went to grab them she found that someone else had already cleaned them up.

'Here,' he said, holding them out to her.

Clary smiled hesitantly, taking them from him. 'Uh, thank you.'

'No problem. You're from America? That's pretty cool.'

'Er – yeah. I'm Clary.' She held out her hand.

He grasped it, shaking it. His hand was warm and smooth in her own. 'I'm…'

A/N: So who will it be? Well, that's up to jennfaa…sorry it took so long and that it's boring, but wtf it's not my story, it's not your story, deal with it. Nah jokes you can flame all you want :) Signing off, special-rock.