A/N: And we return to quick updating! After writing that last chapter I got a ton of ideas for this story so I'm keeping a mental note to use them somehow. Though the spit between Clary and Meliorn wasn't actually intentional, it sorta came in. But anyway, in this chapter there are some TID characters!

If you've actually snouted around my profile you may have noticed another fanfiction which isn't up yet called The Great Pretender. It's a Sizzy story (with added Clace, Malec and Jaia) which I'm super excited to start writing as Sizzy is my OTP! :) If all goes well it might be up on Monday and I hope you guys will like it!

Even in my dreams I don't own anything but the plot. TMI and all characters (aside an OC who appears this chapter) belong to the amazing Cassandra Clare.


Jace's last lesson of the day was Music with Mrs Branwell, which of maybe all his lessons he enjoyed the most. Even if he had to put up with Raphael and Seelie.

Once he'd settled down next to Simon, he was surprised when the female behaviour support officer entered the classroom. "I'm sorry to disturb you Mrs Branwell, but I have a Clarissa Morgenstern here who is supposed to be in your class? She had a medical appointment when she was supposed to be in your lesson yesterday."

"Ah yes, I do remember being told about her," Mrs Branwell answered with a smile, beckoning with her hand. "Come here, dear."

The redhead trudged in, shooting a fierce glare at the officer who just looked stiff and ran a hand through her messy blonde hair. "She assaulted another student earlier today, so if she kicks off call me straight away."

Mrs Branwell nodded slowly, but Jace could tell she wasn't really interested. "Thank you, Miss Wyatt," she said, dismissing the officer before turning back to Clary. "Welcome to the class, Clarissa. Have you any friends in this class you would be happy to sit with?"

Much to Jace's dismay and confusion she shook her head, so the teacher gestured over to a blonde girl with black rimmed 'geek' glasses. "Well I'll sit you next to Hattie. She's a lovely girl who I think you'll bond with over time."

Clary took the empty seat next to Hattie who offered her a friendly smile. "Hi."

Hattie Meyers was a popular. She was pretty, somewhat smart, a bit of a player and on the cheer team, but she actually took on a very motherly figure within Idris Academy and was fiercely protective. Others weren't exactly fond of her, but Jace had dated her twice so he didn't mind her. She was probably the only decent popular girl.

"Now class, I need to assess your current capabilities in regards to your skills and how you work with others, so I've put you into small groups picked at random, though some people I've avoided putting together for obvious reasons," Mrs Branwell explained. "If you look to the board you'll see the groups. You will be working with these people whether you love or hate them, so unless you have a perfectly acceptable reason these groups won't be changed. I know you have your individual projects, but you will have longer to work on that."

It took Jace a while to find his name.

Group 5:

James Carstairs

Jace Herondale

Simon Lewis

Clarissa Morgenstern

Jace had actually been placed in a pretty good group for once. James - or Jem as he preferred to be called - was the principal's son and had transferred to Idris from a Chinese school after his father took up the position of principal. He was a talented violinist and even though he was very quiet, Jace got along with him.

Simon was grinning. "This is going to be awesome!"

Once the three boys had grouped together, Clary reluctantly plodded over. "Mrs Branwell said we can go in the practice room looking out onto the garden." she said with no emotion evident in her voice.

Jem was smiling. "I love the garden. The flowers are so beautiful."

"Save your descriptions for English." Clary grumbled, getting a laugh out of Jace as he led the way into the spacious practice room. "Jem and Simon, go get your instruments. There's a piano in here so I have no need to steal one."

"If you could carry one that would astound me. You could have been Superman!" Simon exclaimed as he and Jem headed down the corridor, leaving Jace and Clary alone. Not wanting to distract her as she was looking out of the window, he planted himself onto the piano stool and rattled a few keys, playing what seemed to be The Scientist by Coldplay. It was Stephen's favourite song and it had been on the radio the first time he'd kissed Céline, so it bore quite a fair amount of significance to the family.

He was about halfway through the chorus when Clary suddenly sung "So long to all my friends, everyone of them met tragic ends..."

Jace stopped playing for a second, glancing over at her. "Wrong song, Little Red. This is Coldplay. Lyrical geniuses. You've got My Chemical Romance there."

She glared at him with the same hostility she'd shown Miss Wyatt. "With every passing day, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I miss them all-"

She was cut off when Jem and Simon re-entered the room, carrying their instruments - in their cases Jem had his precious violin and Simon had his bass guitar. Simon plonked the case down and pulled a stool over to the piano. "So the task is to prepare two songs. Miss said we could perform whatever songs we wanted so long as we learnt the required notes fluently before the last week."

"Two songs?" Jace was horrified. "I struggle to learn one, let alone two!"

"Sheet music is allowed on the assessment, though you'll get a higher grade without." Jem chipped in, tuning his violin in the background. The faint light from outside shone onto his odd silver hair. Jem was rather tall for age - a little taller than Jace - with a slender frame and a well-defined face. He was handsome in his own way and some girls were known to have a crush on him, though he had turned down all offers of love for some unexplained reason.

"So what can you do, Clary?" Simon inquired, his gaze trailing over to the redhead who was still standing by the window.

"I can sing." she replied simply

"Favourite singers?" Jem asked softly.

"Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragons, My Chemical Romance, 30 Seconds to Mars, Panic! At The Disco and Evanescence."

"So you're a rock lover, are you?" Simon assumed, eyeing her Fall Out Boy top. "We could do a rock song, though something playable on piano, violin and bass guitar."

Jem's silver eyes suddenly lit up. "You could duet with Jace! He can sing too!"

"Yeah, but I don't know words to half the songs from those bands. If she'd said Coldplay, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran or something decent I may have obliged." Jace pointed out dryly, ignoring the venomous glare Clary shot at him.

"We can work around one of those band's songs and the other one we can decide in a minute," Jem suggested. "Do you know of any songs we could all play?"

She produced an iPhone from the pocket of her jeans and swiped the screen a few times, placing it onto the windowsill. "This is one of my favourites which I think will work for all three."

Not surprisingly, it was The Light Behind Your Eyes; aka the song she'd been singing earlier. Jace didn't know anything beyond the first verse and wasn't sure if he was overly enthusiastic about it, but Simon and Jem seemed to be happy as they nodded along encouragingly. Once it'd finished, Simon looked impressed. "It's a bit long but I think we can do it. We need a second song now."

"I learnt Fireflies by Owl City for my individual assessment so perhaps we could do that?" Jem offered up.

Jace dipped his head in agreement and the other two had no objections, so it was settled.

"I'll go find sheet music," Jem decided. "Coming, Simon?"

He rose up to his feet and they both departed momentarily, leaving Clary to just replay The Light Behind Your Eyes and sing the entire thing.

So long to all my friends
Everyone of them met tragic ends
With every passing day
I'd be lying if I didn't say
That I miss them all tonight
And if they only knew what I would say

If I could be with you tonight
I would sing you to sleep
Never let them take the light behind your eyes
One day I'll lose this fight
As we fade in the dark
Just remember you will always burn as bright

Be strong and hold my hand
Time—it comes for us, you'll understand
We'll say goodbye today
And I'm sorry how it ends this way
If you promise not to cry
Then I'll tell you just what I would say

If I could be with you tonight
I would sing you to sleep
Never let them take the light behind your eyes
I'll fail and lose this fight
Never fade in the dark
Just remember you will always burn as bright

The light behind your eyes
The light behind your

Sometimes we must grow stronger and
You can be stronger when I'm gone
When I'm here, no longer
You must be stronger and

If I could be with you tonight
I would sing you to sleep
Never let them take the light behind your eyes
I failed and lost this fight
Never fade in the dark
Just remember you will always burn as bright

The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes

The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes
The light behind your eyes

She was undeniably talented in her field, even if Jace still didn't think much of the song.

It was when the song finished that Jace noticed her wiping tears from her cheeks. "If you're seriously crying over the fact they aren't a band anymore, I'm going to have judge you for it." he warned jokingly.

She inhaled sharply, eyes blazing. "My mom used to sing it all the time, if you must know!"

"So why are you crying about it?" he inquired with the same fierce tone.

"My mom fucking died in a car crash nearly six years ago Jace, of course I'd be crying about it!" she screeched at the top of her lungs, dropping to her feet and allowing her tears to spill freely from her eyes.

Jace was stunned into silence, unable to say a word.

Not only had she potentially spilled her biggest secret in the worst way possible, she'd actually not called him 'dumbass'. He knew the latter meant nothing, but it still came with its own minor shock.

Once he'd recovered, he rose from the piano stool and crouched beside her. "Clary? I'm sorry for forcing that out of you. I never meant to make you cry."

She just cried harder, making Jace feel exceptionally awkward as he scratched the back of his neck. He wasn't very good with sobbing girls. "Hey, it's okay."

He wanted to embrace her and find better words to comfort her with, but considering she hated the very sight of him it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Rather than staying, he awkwardly patted her shoulder and straightened up, returning to the piano to practice whatever came to mind first.

He heard quick footsteps and felt small arms around his waist no less than five seconds later, knocking the breath out of him in utter profound shock. To make things less awkward he spun round and wrapped one arm over her shoulders, his other hand playing with her fiery red hair idly in some probably awful attempt to soothe her. She was sobbing uncontrollably into his chest and not saying anything. Nor did he.

They stood entwined together for a while until he detached himself from her, resting a strangely concerned gaze on her. "Don't let them see you've been crying. They'll ask questions."

Clary wiped her eyes furiously with the back of her arm, taking a deep breath. "Okay, I'm good."

He nodded, just as Simon and Jem returned with a wad of paper. "Let's get started!"


And look, you see Clary isn't as strong as she makes out! I know the whole parent-dies-in-car-crash thing is a bit cliché, but I wouldn't say the aftermath of the crash is. You'll see more on that quite soon I think.