Sorry for the delay in getting this up! With finals, the holidays, and work, my life has been crazy! But thanks so much for waiting! Shoutout once again to my incredible beta, Mandy. Also, thanks so much to my friend Lauren who stays up far too late with me and reads my work too. Thanks dears!
Despite the usual sneers and whispered words, Isabelle managed to keep a smile on her face all day. A genuine, ear to ear grin. She was finally going to be able to speak with her parents and Max about something that didn't have to do with the investigation. She was going to be able to give them their gift basket and hear directly from them how they were doing. There was no way that she was going to let her peers and a few professors ruin that for her.
She ate dinner in a flash, taking a few bites of her chicken and potatoes and washing it all down with pumpkin juice, Alec and Aline, who sat across from Isabelle, stared at her. A smile crept on her face, excitement dancing in her dark eyes.
"So, Alec, you're going to come, right?" Isabelle asked, standing to brush at her robes.
"At least for a little bit," He hurried to say when Isabelle wrinkled her nose at him, "Iz, I have a giant essay for Potions that I need to work on. But of course I'll say hi to them."
Isabelle wrinkled her nose, "Seriously? With the amount of time you spend in the library, I would have assumed that you've finished all your homework for the next few weeks." She turned to Aline, ignoring the way Alec's face began to burn a bright red, "Are you joining us? You're practically family, anyway. I'm sure Mum and Dad would love to see you."
Aline gave her a small, sincere smile, "I wasn't planning on it. I'm sure they would rather see you, Alec, and Jace more than me." When Isabelle opened her mouth to protest, Aline added, "Iz, don't worry about it. I still have Transfiguration practice that I should do."
Though she frowned, Isabelle made no argument. She glanced down at Alec, who hadn't eaten his food in three seconds and was still chewing away. Restless, she scanned the Great Hall before her gaze dropped on Jace. "I," She said around a grin, "Will be right back."
Isabelle made her way past the other tables, weaving in and out of students leaving and entering the Hall. She found Jace sitting next to pretty blonde girl that Izzy vaguely recognized from Quidditch tryouts.
"Jace," Isabelle plopped herself across from the pair, "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Catching her sarcasm, Jace smirked, "Nothing at all, sister dear. This is Tally," The blonde smiled from across the table, "And we were just talking Quidditch strategy. She's our new beater."
"Well, congrats."
Tally smiled warmly, cheeks lightly flushing "Thank you,"
"Anyway," Jace continued, "What brings you over here?"
Isabelle couldn't help herself from breaking into a large smile, "I wanted to know if you were going to come talk to Mum and Dad tonight. Alec can only go for a bit because he has a paper due on Tuesday that he needs to start-"
"How hasn't he finished it? Isn't he always in the library?"
"And," Isabelle said, ignoring his interruption with a quick flick of her index finger on his chin to shut him up, "I thought it'd be nice if our parents saw all of their children. Besides, Max would be so excited to see you."
A fond smile replaced his sarcastic smirk, "Of course I'll go. What time are you planning on going to Professor Gray's office?"
Isabelle glanced to teachers' table. Professor Gray seemed to be finished eating but was engrossed in a conversation with Professor Carstairs. She turned back to Jace, trying to swallow a growing smirk, "It seems that Professor Gray is currently busy. But, I have to go get the package from my room anyway, so I'll meet you by the Gryffindor Common Room in 20 minutes?
Jace nodded, gold eyes sparkling, "See you then, Iz."
Clary sat in front of the fireplace in the Common Room, trying desperately to focus on her Astronomy textbook and notes, but the only thing she could think of was her and Simon's fight. Screaming match. Declaration of truth. Whatever it was.
She couldn't stop replaying the conversation in her head. From her implications that Isabelle could never be friends with him to his final outburst of his love for her. For the duration of their long friendship, she didn't think she had ever seen him so angry and hurt. And the worst part is, Clary had no idea of his feelings. Looking back, she could see all the hints. All the times that he had been protective of her, the long stares, how he sometimes stuttered and got flustered when she teased him about not having a girlfriend. How could she have been so stupid?
Unable to help herself, a few tears trickled down her face. She was in the process of wiping them off when Jace sauntered in the Common Room, looking extremely pleased with himself. He glanced near the fireplace and did a double take when he saw Clary seated in front of it, surrounded by books and rolls of parchment.
He sat himself across from her, expecting some witty remark from her, but Clary didn't look up from her book. Without her sharp gaze, he was able to fully take in her appearance. Her hair was disheveled and her cheeks and nose were red. When she sniffed, a pathetic little sound, Jace knit his eyebrows together.
"Hey, are you okay?"
She hastily wiped her hand across her face before looking up, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Jace debated letting this slide, letting Clary pretend that he didn't walk in on her crying, pretend that everything was okay. However, his concern for her overruled that side, "I don't know, but typically when someone is crying it means that something is wrong."
Her face fell and the mask that she had crafted slipped. Her eyes began to water again and she angrily rubbed at them, "It's stupid, really."
Jace shrugged, "Sometimes it helps to talk about it."
Clary narrowed her red-rimmed eyes and searched his face, looking for any sign that he was mocking her. Though her and Jace's friendship had come a long way since September, considering they had never spoken to each other before, the two of them had never had any deep conversations. The closest thing that they had to a deep conversation was Clary passing on her condolences about his parents and assuring him that she thought they were innocent. She sighed, running a hand through her wild hair, "It's Simon. We got into a huge fight and I'm afraid I just ruined our friendship."
Jace maintained a neutral face as he asked, "What happened?"
She shook her head, eyes dropping back to the floor, "I said some pretty horrible things to him. I was just trying to protect him." She took a ragged breath before continuing, "Then, he said he loved me, and I didn't say anything back. I didn't know what to say. He left and I just stood there. God, there was a huge crowd too, so everyone knows." Jace refained from adding that everyone pretty much knew that Simon was hopelessly in love with her already. "We've been friends for so long, but I don't know if we're going to be able to recover from this. It just seemed so final."
Ted Hillcrest made his way into the Common Room, interrupting whatever Jace was going to say, "Uh, sorry if I'm intruding, but Jace, Isabelle's waiting outside. She wants you to go." He paused awkwardly, eyes darting back and forth between Clary and Jace, "Now."
Jace let out a deep breath but stood. He cast an apologetic glance at Clary, ashamed that he was slightly relieved that he was leaving. As much as he wanted to help her, he didn't know what to say. He didn't have years of being her friend under his belt. What if he said something that made her feel worse? Unrequited love wasn't really his forte. As he started towards the entrance, he looked back at Clary, pulling her books back towards her and attempting to wipe her eyes discreetly.
Still, he couldn't not say something, "Hey, Clary," She looked up, nose still red, "Everything will work out in the end, yeah?"
She flashed him a watery smile before looking back down towards her work. Jace turned back towards the door and headed out, thoughts still on Clary. Isabelle stood in the corridor, out of her uniform and in a tight sweater and jeans. She held the box of presents that they had collected in her hands and she impatiently shifted her weight from foot to foot. Alec stood next to her, hands stuffed in his pockets.
"There you are!" She cried as soon as she saw him. "Here," Isabelle thrust the box in Jace's hands before walking towards Professor Gray's office, "You were taking forever."
Jace shook his head before trailing after her, Alec falling into step with him, "I was talking to someone. Sorry."
Isabelle glanced back at him, smiling mischievously, "Was it Clary?" Isabelle let out a sharp bark of laughter when he didn't reply, "Well, I'm sorry I took you away from her."
"Don't worry it, she wasn't in much of a talking mood," Jace ignored Isabelle's snort of laughter, "She was actually pretty upset."
"Oh?" Isabelle's voice had taken on a lofty tone, one that usually meant that she wasn't fully paying attention, "Why?"
"It seems like your friend," Jace practically spat the word, "Simon, and her got into a fight."
Alec winced, knowing that her and Simon's friendship was a tentative one. "First off," Isabelle didn't even turn around but he could hear the thinly veiled annoyance in her voice, "Simon and I aren't even that close, so don't act like I'm betraying you. Secondly, it's really not your concern, Jace. So they had a fight. Big deal. I'm sure they'll hug and make up within the next week."
"Izzy, this wasn't a normal fight." He dropped his voice, even though the corridor was nearly empty, "He told her he loved her."
Isabelle froze for a second before continuing her walk, "Shit."
"Apparently it was very public and very dramatic, from what I gathered."
"How did she react?"
"Silence." Isabelle, Jace, and Alec had reached Professor Gray's door, but neither made a move to enter. "Now, she thinks that she's messed everything up between them and that they'll never be friends again."
"I mean, it's definitely going to take a while for the two of them to recover from it."
Jace shifted the box of presents to one hand to run the other through his hair, "So, what do I do? How do I help her?"
"You don't, Jace." Alec spoke up, eyebrows furrowed, "This has nothing to do with you."
Isabelle nodded, "I'm with Alec on this one." Though her face remained calm, her voice was sharp, "This is between her and Simon. I know you just want to help, but this isn't about you. You just met Clary this year. Her and Simon go way back. You trying to get involved would not end well. If she wants to talk to about it, listen. But other than that, just leave them be."
Before Jace was able to reply, Isabelle knocked on Professor Gray's door. It swung open and Isabelle strode inside without another word to Jace. Alec gave Jace an apologetic shrug before walking in after his sister. Jace followed the pair, rolling his eyes. Professor Gray was seated behind her desk, a stack of parchment piled in front of her. Nevertheless, she smiled warmly at the siblings
"Thank you again for letting us use your fireplace, Professor." Isabelle said.
"Of course," Gray pushed a small gold box towards the siblings, "This is where I keep my Floo powder. I'm just going to be grading papers, unless you'd prefer I left you three alone..?"
Alec, Jace, and Isabelle exchanged a glance. Of all the teachers in Hogwarts, they knew that Professor Gray had been the most helpful to Lightwoods. She banned anyone from discussing the investigations in class and continuously made sure that the Lightwood kids were doing okay.
Alec was the first to speak, "I don't have a problem with it."
"You two both know I don't have a problem with it either." Isabelle shifted her gaze to Jace.
"Nor do I." Jace added quickly. Though he and the Transfiguration teacher weren't close, he appreciated everything that she had been doing for Isabelle in the past few months.
She beamed at them, "Well, alright then. I'll just be here. If you need anything or need me to leave, just let me know."
Tessa pulled her chair closer to the desk and began reading the first paper. For a moment, none of the Lightwoods moved. Then, Isabelle grabbed a handful of Floo powder and sat in front of the fireplace. Alec and Jace joined her, placing the package between them. Again, they stilled.
"Am I the only one feeling nervous?" Isabelle whispered.
"No, I'm definitely feeling the nerves too." Jace. replied, staring into the flickering flames, "Might as well just throw the powder in. We're not doing any good just sitting here."
Isabelle cleared her throat before saying, "16 Rose Hollow, Idris.", and tossing the powder in the fire. The flames flickered green and crackled for a moment before showing the living room of the Lightwood manor. Isabelle's heart lurched at the sight. Max, who was curled up in a large armchair reading a book, didn't notice his siblings at first. When he did, the smile on his face lit up the room. He scrambled off the chair, dropping his book in the process, and hastily made his way to the fireplace.
"Jace! Isabelle! Alec!" Max cried, pushing his glasses up his nose.
"Hey, Max." Jace smiled warmly at him.
Isabelle beamed at her younger brother before asking gently, "How have you been?" How are things around the house?"
Max dropped his gaze, "It's been lonely. They pulled me out of school. And Mum and Dad are always in their office or writing letters or doing something. They're not happy."
The three older siblings exchanged a pained glance. Alec asked, "How much do you know, Max? Do you know why you were pulled out of school?"
He shifted slightly and pushed up his glasses, "I know that it has something to do with work. I've asked like, 100 times, but they won't tell me anymore than that. Do you know what's going on?" When Isabelle bit her lip, Max gasped, "You do! What is it?"
"Max, if we could tell you, we would," Jace swiftly answered, "But, if Mum and Dad haven't told you, I don't think they'd be happy if we told you."
"But," Isabelle cut in, wanting to see Max smile again, "We have gifts!"
Max beamed, "For me?"
Alec laughed, "And Mum and Dad. Why don't you run and get them?" Max practically hopped up and ran out of the library, eager to tell his parents that his siblings were waiting in the fireplace for them. Once Jace was sure that Max was out of earshot, he turned to Alec and Izzy with a horrified look, "He has no idea. About any of this."
Absently playing with a thread in his sweater, Alec slowly said, "I mean, it kind of makes sense. He is only 9, Jace."
"It's happening to him too! This isn't some random event that happening across the country. This is directly affecting him. He doesn't even know why he's been pulled out of school."
Alec shrugged, "I know, Jace. I know. But we can't tell him. It's not our place."
Jace answered with a long sigh.
Despite their unhappy conversation, the three of them cheered up when they saw Max dragging Maryse and Robert Lightwood into the library. As their parents sat down in front of the fire, Isabelle was able to examine them for the first time since she had left for school. Both Robert and Maryse looked exhausted. They were pale and had bags under their eyes. Squinting, Isabelle noticed that her mother, who was naturally a thin woman, had lost weight.
Even so, Maryse gave them a small but genuine smile, "My children. We've missed you."
Though she'd never admit it out loud, Isabelle teared up when she heard her mother's voice. There was nothing more that she wanted than to just have this whole mess behind them, have her parents back at their job, and Max in school. Not being able to help in any way was frustrating her more than anything else had previously.
"We've missed you too," Jace quickly said, his voice quivering just slightly. When their Mother asked how Hogwarts was treating them, Isabelle sat silently as her brothers discussed the year so far. She had been wanting to see them for so long but now that they were in front of her, she didn't know what to say.
Maryse sighed, "At least you've been able to focus. We've been worried that you would be too distracted with everything going on here that you wouldn't be able to concentrate on school. You three aren't too worried about everything here, are you? School is your first and foremost prioritary right now."
"We've been fine, Mother." Isabelle said, finally speaking up. She ignored the sharp look that Jace gave her. Fine might not be the right word to describe how they were doing, but it would set her mother at ease. Though she might already worry incessantly, Isabelle knew that Maryse did not need something to stress about in her life. The Lightwood kids were doing fine academically, as it was. Isabelle, at least, was throwing herself into her schoolwork more than usual, hoping it would be a good distraction from the investigation. Besides, it was worth seeing her mother's shoulders sag slightly with relief.
Maryse smiled tightly, "Good. We Lightwoods will pull through. Anyway, Max mentioned that you had something you wanted to give us?"
"Presents?" Max asked, wide-eyed behind his glasses.
Jace chuckled, "Yes, Max. Presents." He pulled the box that sat in between him and Alec towards him. Jace took the bag that contained Max's candy- chocolate frogs, Fizzing Whisbees, Drooble's gum and Bertie Box's beans- and place it in the fireplace. In an instant, the fire distorted their family's faces by turning everything green. The green fire died out and on Max's side, the bag popped out of their fireplace.
Max gasped and grabbed the bag, opening it excitedly. With every piece of candy he pulled out, his grin grew. "Wow! Thanks Jace! And Alec and Izzy!" He said, already opening a container of the flavored beans.
Isabelle smiled, the knot in her chest loosening, "There's more, Max." He froze, hand halfway to his mouth. She pulled out a book that she had bought on an impulse for him. She placed it in the fireplace and watched eagerly as he read the title out loud.
"Hogwarts: A History." He looked up, "Didn't you have to read this for school?"
"It's mandatory for 1st years, yeah. But, I figured you'd like it. And in two years, when you start going here, you'll be way ahead of everyone else." She added with a wink.
He beamed, flipping through the pages, "Thank you!"
Maryse watched her youngest child with sad eyes, "Why don't you go start reading it and let us talk to your older siblings in private?" He nodded, thanking his siblings one last time. Then, he walked back to the armchair that he had originally been sitting in, nose buried in his new book.
Alec, Jace, and Isabelle quickly gave Robert and Maryse their gifts: respective candy for each of them, the stationary, firewhisky and butterbeer.
"Thank you. Honestly, we cannot tell you how much these gifts mean to us," Robert said, stroking the spine of the book that Isabelle had picked out for him.
"Of course," Jace said. He paused before asking, "So, are we really not allowed to come home for Christmas?"
Maryse frowned, her eyebrows creasing together, "Oh, we want you three to come home. We really do. But we are under house arrest. There's no way that we can pick you up. And," She added when Alec opened his mouth, "I don't feel comfortable with you guys trying to side-apparate alongside Alec. I'm sorry, my loves."
Isabelle felt the knot return, getting even tighter than it was before. She jumped when she heard a chair scraping against the hardwood floor, having forgotten that Professor Gray was in the room. The young professor walked around her desk and stood in front of the fireplace.
"If you don't mind, may I speak to your parents?" She politely asked her students. They nodded silently, wondering what she was planning on saying.
Gray sat down in front of the fire, cloak pooling around her, "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Lightwood. My name is Tessa Gray, I'm the current Transfiguration professor. I couldn't help but overhear your predicament and I'd like to offer to help."
Robert and Maryse's expressions of shock matched Alec, Jace and Isabelle's. Robert recovered first, "Excuse me? What do you mean?"
She smiled warmly, "I don't believe that you and your wife are behind the attacks. Neither does Headmistress Branwell and we both want to help."
"But how?" Maryse asked, blue eyes narrowed.
"Floo powder." Tessa's smile grew to a grin, "Just have Alec, Jace, and Isabelle floo over once the holidays start. That way, you aren't breaking your house arrest and you don't have to worry about them getting from King's Cross to your home."
The Lightwoods' exchanged a glance, "We'd have to discuss it..." Maryse started, slowly.
"But" Robert interjected, "It seems like it could work."
Tessa nodded, sombering, "Of course, I'd have to speak to Headmistress Branwell. I'm sure it will be fine, but I'll send a letter letting you know of her decision." She smiled at the three students before standing and going back to her desk.
Isabelle beamed at her parents, "So, it looks like we will be home for Christmas after all!"
"Might be home for the holidays." Robert corrected. He added, seeing her face fall, "We just don't want you to get your hopes up too high."
Isabelle nodded, even though it was too late. Now that she knew that it may be a possibility, she had her heart set on spending Christmas with her family. In her house. Away from the judgement of the rest of the wizarding society
Maryse sighed, "As wonderful as it has been talking to all of you, I think it's best if we end on this note. I'm sure you have homework and studying that you need to do." Though she smiled at her children, the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, "We love you all very much. If all things work out, hopefully we'll see you soon."
The Lightwoods bid their goodbyes and sent their love before severing the Floo Powder connection. They thanked Professor Gray, who smiled and winked at them, before stepping into the corridor. Jace walked ahead of Alec and Isabelle and let out a bark of laughter. When he turned back to them, his whole face was lit up with a grin.
"We might be going home for the holidays."
Isabelle laughed; his joy was contagious, "I know, Jace! I was there too."
Jace glanced at Alec, who was watching his siblings warily, "Oh come on Alec. Like that wasn't the best news you've heard in a while."
"I just don't want to get my hopes up and have it not happen." Alec hesitated before a grin crept onto his lips, "But, it would be nice to go home over holiday."
Jace ran his hands through his hair, "And did you see how happy Max was to see us? And how much he loved the gifts? We have to thank Aline for that idea, it was brilliant!"
"Yeah, it really was." Isabelle stopped smiling, "But did you see how lonely he is? This is a lot worse than we thought, guys." Jace slowed his pace to match hers and Alecs, "We need to go home. Max needs more interaction than just our parents everyday. It doesn't sound like he even gets much time with them."
Alec put a hand on her shoulder, "Iz. It'll be okay. Once this investigation finally shows that they're innocent, Max is going to able to go back to school. He'll see all his friends and this will be nothing more than an old memory. Don't worry. Things will go back to normal soon. I promise."
She glanced at him, "Thanks. I hope you're right. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go to the library. I need to pick up a book for my Astronomy paper. See you two later" She headed down the corridor to the left. A few seconds later Jace caught up to her.
"So, I was thinking about what you said. About Clary."
Isabelle shook her head slightly. Clary must have really made an impact on the boy if he was still thinking about her during their conversation with Maryse and Robert. "Yes?"
"I know you don't want me to say anything to her...but what about you? Look," He said when Isabelle just stared at him, "I know that you're actually friends with her and it seems like you and Lewis are pretty close. You didn't see Clary, Iz. She looked like she just needed a friend."
She bit her lip, "Fine. I'll try to talk to her tomorrow. But only to stop you from doing something stupid. Like opening your mouth or trying to be 'helpful'"
Jace grinned, "Thank you, Isabelle. Now go find your book." Isabelle rolled her eyes but parted ways with her brother with a smile on her face.
After searching the library for a good ten minutes, Isabelle came to the conclusion that the book she needed was, in fact, not there. She bit her lip, cursing the mandatory enrollment for all 5th years.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Simon sitting alone at a table, hunched over a sheet of parchment. Her lips quirked upwards and she found herself making her way to him and sitting down next to him. He looked up, startled, but then relaxed when he saw it was Isabelle.
"Oh, hey. What's up?" Before she could answer, he continued, "Oh wait, today is Friday. Didn't you say that you were going to try to talk to your parents today?"
Isabelle didn't even try to hide the amused grin that grew on her face, "Yeah, all of us were able to talk to them. Professor Gray ended up letting us use her office. It was really nice being able to see everyone, you know? Especially with everything that's going on."
"And how was the care package received?"
"Really well. Everyone loved their gifts." She paused, "Thank you, again, for helping with it. It meant a lot to me."
"No problem." He smiled and glanced at his watch, "Is it really 9:00?" When Isabelle nodded, he leaned back in his chair and groaned, "I've been in here since dinner. I should probably head back to the Common Room."
When he made no attempt at packing up his supplies, Isabelle casually asked, "So, are you hiding from Clary?"
Simon buried his head in his hands, "You heard about that?"
Knowing that Simon and Jace's relationship was rocky at best, she merely said, "That's what happens when you have a huge fight with your best friend in the middle of a corridor."
They sat in silence before Simon sighed, "I just don't know what to do. I want to apologize and have things go back to normal I can't. Everything I said to her was true."
Isabelle shrugged, "I can't tell you how to fix this mess. You two know each other best and you two are the only ones who can fix whatever is going on."
"Isabelle, I told her that I loved her. I told her and she didn't say anything. She just stared at me and it was horrible and embarrassing." His voice cracked slightly and Isabelle found herself frowning.
"I'm sorry, Simon."
He shrugged then laughed bitterly, "Yeah well...there isn't anything you can do. You're right. This is between me and Clary. Tell me about your talk with your parents. Or how Quidditch is going. Just help me get my mind off this stupid fight, please."
She eyed him for a moment, weighing her options before giving in.
She told him all about her conversation with Max and her parents. They talked about her Quidditch practices and swapped stories from their classes. They talked until curfew, both trying to forget what had been bothering them.
Thanks so much for reading and feel free to review! :) Thank you!
