Broomsticks and Bad News

What's comin' will come, an' we'll just meet it when it does

-Hagrid

"I can't believe detention even exists," Jace said when they only had ten minutes left. He was sitting at a desk, writing lines: I will not behave like a mindless baboon in class.

Harry was himself working on his own lines: I will not act like a wide-mouthed tree frog during class; his hand was aching from the work and he shook his wrist to loosen the stiff muscles. "Hand hurting, princess?"

Jace carefully aimed his quill and Harry and threw it like a spear. The tip of quill embedded itself in the top of Harry's parchment and quivered. Harry eyed the quill with great interest and Jace said, "The next one is going to stick in that scar on your head."

"Snape might actually let you out of detention early if you managed it," Harry said thoughtfully.

"Look out!" Clary whispered harshly as Snape reentered the classroom. She was seating to face the door, the boys with their backs to it.

Jace snatched the quill out of the table just as Snape turned his eyes on them. "Let me see your work," he said impatiently. "You've been here hours, and unlike you, I have useful ways to spend my time."

They each presented their lines to Snape whose dark eyes barely glanced over them, only checked to see how far they had gotten down the parchment. Jace wondered if Snape would even have noticed if he had embellished the work a little. I will not behave like a human-god-damn-being in a class full of idiot wizards. He smiled faintly and Snape noticed.

"Is something amusing Mr. Lightwood?" he hissed.

"No," Jace said petulantly.

"Then why are you smirking?" Snape pressed.

"Because normal people occasionally feel emotions that induce a smile," he replied smartly.

Clary glared at him. The last thing we need is Jace in more detention.

Snape, however, merely smiled thinly. "I would hardly consider you a normal person." Jace flushed but Snape didn't seem to care. "Usually, I would make the three of you continue, but since I am on duty in this castle, and because I value my responsibilities, I'm letting you go."

Clary grabbed Jace before he could get another jib in, and they hurried from the classroom. Harry checked his watch and seemed in a rather good mood. "It's only eleven! That'll give me a bit of time to catch up with Sirius."

"Is Hermione still up, do you think? I'd like to try and start some homework."

"Homework?" Jace looked horrified. "We just spent three hours writing lines and you want to celebrate by writing more?"

"I don't want to fall behind," Clary said sternly. "And neither should you. I mean, do you think Dumbledore is going to let us fight if you keep failing your classes?"

"I'm not failing," Jace said stubbornly. "I did quite well on that quiz in Transfiguration yesterday."

"That's one subject. Harry, come on, you agree with me?" she pleaded.

Harry looked politely confused. "You want to do more homework?"

"You are hopeless!" Clary cried, exasperated.

"And you worry too much," Harry returned lightly. "Sirius said that last week the Order managed to track down a pack of werewolves working for Voldemort. They brought them into the Ministry, lot a good that will do, but I wonder if they interrogated them before."

"Fine!" Clary huffed, stomping off to the portrait and snapping the password at the Fat Lady. "You two do whatever you want but don't come running to me when you're buried under a pile of homework."

"Not likely," Jace said smartly, but Clary still flounced off through the portrait hole. He shot a Harry a quick look but the other boy's face was carefully blank. "I really shouldn't push her like that."

"No," agreed Harry, "especially cause she's better with a wand than you are. The last thing you need is for her to be jinxing you."

"She's not that good," Jace reasoned.

"Not yet. But have you seen Hermione and Ginny's charm work? I'm sure they're more than willing to pass on that knowledge." Harry took a large step up into the portrait hole and Jace followed him. "Just remember that I warned you when she turns you into a matchbox."

"That's not possible," Jace said dismissively. "Is it?"

Harry's laughter echoed around the common room which was mostly empty. Ron was up, though, and he had a copy of the Daily Prophet. "No news on You-Know-Who's movements, but I didn't expect there to be. I guess there have been a few sightings of the Death Eaters though."

"Which ones?" Harry asked, falling into a seat by the fire.

"Greyback," Ron said with a twisted face. "And the Lestranges."

Harry looked thoughtful, but it was Jace who said, "I wonder what the Wonder Twins are up to."

Harry and Ron laughed. "They're not brother and sister, they're married."

"I'm sure as far as they're concerned, those two things don't mutually exclude each other," Jace said, making a face.

Harry snorted. "We should have brought you to Hogwarts years ago. I could have used your sense of humor a lot."

"I, unfortunately, was doing quite well without the wands and wizards, so that wouldn't have worked." Jace held out his hand for the news paper and Ron surrendered it. He flipped through it and then tossed it aside. "You think after two weeks they might mention the attack on the Institute?"

"No," said Harry as if this should be obvious. "First, it's in a different country. Second, no one really cares all that much what shadowhunters are up to. And, third, no one really knows that Voldemort was behind it but us."

Jace narrowed his gaze. "No one cares? Don't they realize we could be allies?"

"Could you, though?" asked Ron with a skeptical look. "Your lot clearly doesn't like ours, and you make a point of staying out of our business. And, last time you got involved, a bunch of shadowhunters got killed. I'm not saying you can't fight," he said quickly, seeing Jace's narrow gaze, "but I'm saying you're only useful in situations where the Death Eaters are either really dumb or really unprepared. If you get close enough to one, you could kill it, but that leaves the whole getting close enough part. Any half wit would just disapparate."

"We can portal," Jace a said a bit defensively.

"Lot of good it will do you if you don't know where they're going," said Harry, but then he shrugged. "You could grab on and try side along apparation."

Jace considered the idea when Clary suddenly arrived with Hermione. She didn't have her homework with her, but instead had her art book clutched to her chest. Jace smiled a faintly. "Homework?"

"It's been a while," she said with a simple shrug, and sank down onto the floor before the fire with her paper and pencils. She started tracing the contours of a face, she didn't know whose, but it was mature, with defined cheek bones and a mass of hair, the curve of an eye socket, lips…after another minute of sketching, Clary recognized the planes of Harry's face.

She had drawn many people from Hogwarts since her arrival; she'd done Sirius as a dog, and was considering a portrait of his face, but she hadn't seen him enough lately. Now, watching as Harry's face slowly came together under her fingers, she felt a thrill of excitement. She usually only drew her friends and the fact that she had unconsciously drawn Harry told her she liked him.

Well, at least I have friends, she thought, smiling as Harry's face developed before her.

At that moment, Jace peeked over Clary's shoulder. "Something you'd like to tell me?"

"What do you mean?"

Jace reached down and plucked the book out of her hands and held up the picture. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all studied the picture. "Why do you draw everybody but me?" Jace demanded.

"Not photogenic," Harry said simply, and he held out his hands for the picture while Clary blushed furiously. "It's quite good, Clary."

"Thanks," she said, and snatched the book back. "And if you're curious, Jace, it's because you never sit still, so when I try to draw you standing still, it just doesn't look right. Harry looks…normal."

Jace glanced over at Harry. Clary was on to something, he thought. Harry was slouched in a chair, one arm draped over the side, one leg bent across the other. He looked comfortable, he looked natural, he looked like a young man who was at home in a place. Harry was the image of a man who was loved by friends and family, who was given, and gave, loyalty, and he basked in this knowledge.

"I've got a better face for it," said Jace stubbornly, and plucked a pencil from Clary's pile of tools and threw it at a smug Harry.

"Wake up."

Jace rolled over and curled up under the warm blankets resolutely. He was sure his bed had never felt so comfortable before, his pillow so soft. Maybe if he just ignored them they'd go away and he could go back to dreaming of Clary. There was the tired creak of the floorboards and two voices muttering.

"Come on, you prat, get up."

"Ron, I will use this pillow to throttle you, then wrap your body in sheets, tie some stones to it, and then dump your corpse in the lake."

Silence, and then, "Then no matter what you do, you're going to have to get out of bed. So get up."

Jace turned over onto his back and cracked his eyes open; he said the ceiling above his bed, early morning light playing on the contours. "No matter what I do, I'm getting out of bed, but depending on what you do may or may not result in your dying."

"Do people actually believe you when you say that?" Harry snickered.

Jace switched his gaze from the ceiling to the side of his bed where Ron and Harry were waiting fully dressed. "Yes. So, I guess that just makes you two idiots."

"Call us whatever you want," said Ron, arms crossed, "but you're still awake and we're still alive. Now, hurry up, you've got Quidditch practice."

"I thought you cancelled the tryouts," Jace groaned, rubbing his face with his hands.

"I did," said Harry. "This isn't a tryout, this is practice; before you try out for a place, I want to make sure you'll get it."

"I could probably just break all the other applicants' arms, then you wouldn't have a problem." Jace sat up and let the blankets fall off him and gather at his waist. Neville, Dean, and Seamus were still asleep, and the school grounds were quiet. "What time is it?"

"Nine," said Harry, pulling the blankets off Jace, "now put some clothes on and hurry up."

Harry and Ron wandered off to the common room and Jace scowled after them. Before, no one but Alec or Isabelle would have risked waking him up that early when he'd been up late before, but for some reason, the people here thought he was just another teenage boy. It was an interesting prospect, being normal, but Jace shrugged it off and clambered out of bed.

Down in the common room, Harry and Ron were waiting with three brooms, and Jace frowned impressively at them both. "I take it there won't be any breakfast?"

"You've taken it correctly," agreed Ron. "We'll come up for lunch."

The three left the common room and passed into the halls of the school. A few of the paintings were up and about, but most were snoozing, and they glowered at the three boys making their rather noisy way down to the grounds. Once outside, they set off in the brisk, morning air for the Quiddtich pitch, and Jace felt a pang of longing for his bed when he saw Hagrid's cozy cabin and the smoke rising from the chimney.

"Just how long will this take?" he asked grumpily.

"The more you think about it, the longer it takes," Harry said wisely.

They reached the Quidditch pitch and found it thankfully empty. Jace wandered slowly onto the pitch, studying the high stands and the hoops at the far ends. The grass was painted with a faint silver glaze of dew, and the air was oddly still.

"Right, so you want me to train for which position?" he asked dully.

"Right now, I just want you to practice flying," Harry said and then held up a sack of golf balls. "Afterward, I'll see how you do with these."

Jace eyed the bag unhelpfully. "You know I'm going to catch them all?" he asked blandly. "You might as well skip the training and just put me on the team."

Ron's opened mouthed stare at his snotty manner was priceless, and Jace chuckled to himself as he mounted his broom. He cast the barest glance at Harry for guidance on flying, and the other boy kicked off from the ground in a perfect demonstration; Ron joined him, grumbling under his breath about "stuck-up shadowhunters" and Jace sprang skyward.

For a moment, he hung suspended in the air, the way he did whenever he leapt, and he waited for gravity to take over and pull him back down. This time, however, he kept going, shooting into the sky like an arrow from Alec's bow. He felt the wind rush past and the sensation of soaring onward, never stopping, took hold. It was liberating.

"Come on back!" Harry shouted, watching as Jace flew higher and higher. He looked over to Ron. "He'll be a natural." Ron looked less pleased at this.

Jace turned about sharply and descended to join the two. Though he managed to keep his face straight, his eyes were glowing with a faint exhilaration. "Right, so what do you want me to do?"

"Just get the hang of flight, maybe practice a few dives, anything just so you feel more comfortable next weekend." Harry knew that this was almost pointless. After Jace's initial flight, he saw that the shadowhunter was just as destined for Quidditch as he was. Jace took off, looping around the stadium, diving and rising, and Harry watched as he cut the air like an artist; it might have been Jace's thousandth time on a broom for all he could tell.

"If he wasn't so damn full of himself I could handle him," Ron said, watching while Jace executed a spectacular loop-the-loop while corkscrewing. "You think the rest of the team will like him."

Harry laughed at that. "It's me and you, Katy, and I heard Ginny wanted to try out," he said, counting off on his fingers. "And we'll need two beaters. You, me, and Ginny are all friends with Jace, and Katy…well, how has every girl in the school taken to Jace? I don't really care what the beaters say, either, look at him fly!"

Ron looked a little relieved when Harry had mentioned him as a team member. "I guess. I know Seamus wants to try out, I think to try and impress Clary."

"Does he actually think she's going to leave Jace?" Harry chuckled. "He's an idiot. And unless he's better than Jace, I don't think he'll be flying for the house team."

Ron nodded just as Jace flipped about in midair and came pelting back at them. He pulled up, looking at Harry a little expectantly. "So are we done, or are you planning on making me go through all my paces?"

Harry raised one eyebrow, a little irked. He was the captain, after all. "Follow me as close as you can."

Jace smirked. "I'll stick like a bur. Or Romilda Vane, whichever you prefer."

Flushing, Harry shot off, slicing through the air like a bullet; behind him, he heard Jace curse and follow. Jace might have been a natural, but so was he, and he'd had five more years practice, a better room, and maybe a bit more talent-especially when it came to dives. Harry dropped from the air like a comment, and behind him, Jace followed suit. Harry had more speed, more inertia, and a better broom; Jace couldn't catch up, but he wasn't about to be bested by Harry.

"Pull out, Jace!" Harry yelled as the ground came up beneath them.

"That's what your girlfriend-" but the rest of his words were cut off by the rush of air as Harry put on a last spurt of speed and launched at the ground.

Harry jerked his broom up and swung upwards, rocketing for the sky. He shot past Jace, who had managed to pulled out of the dive, but had been too close to the ground, landed for perhaps a second, and had been forced to kick off. He chased after Harry, but it was becoming obvious that the better broom might also have hosted the better flier.

Figures he'd be famous and good at sports, Jace thought ruefully, and then gave himself a small shake. He'd never felt jealous of anyone except Simon, and that was because of Clary. Watching Harry performing perfectly on a broom was just added to the list of things Harry had that he hadn't: a happy adoptive family, lots of loyal, cheery friends, even the ability to love. All of these things Harry had, and he had lost his parents as a baby too. I shouldn't be jealous of a wizard, Jace told himself.

No, you're jealous of another orphan who still managed to grow up without a completely devastated life.

It was unsettling, and Jace finally gave up chasing him; he leveled out and waited for Harry to come back around to him. Ron flew lazily over, but his face was welcoming. "Wait until the rest of the team sees you."

"Wait until Malfoy sees you," Harry said more excitedly. "He's always banging on about how great Slytherin is, we'll see now."

Jace looked between the two and flashed a dangerous smile. "How am I supposed to break his nose in a fit of rage when we lose?"

"Maybe in a victory euphoria?" Ron offered.

"I could do that."

Suddenly, the stadium filled with the sound of clapping and cheering, and the boys looked down to see two smaller figures in the stands. Jace recognized the red hair at once and flew off at a start. Clary and Hermione were sitting in the stands, bundled in their cloak, and Clary spied the figure with the golden head dive out of the air and come darting toward her. A smug satisfaction took over her for just a moment: Jace was coming for her.

"He's an excellent flier," said Hermione to Clary. "I suppose he's just good at it for no reason."

"I would think so," Clary shrugged rolling her eyes, but then she smile and waved as Jace slowed down before them. "I take it Harry and Ron are ecstatic?"

Jace hovered closer. "Well, who wouldn't be? It's me."

Clary raised her eyebrows and slipped her hand out of her cloak. "I brought some cinnamon buns, but if you're going to be that way…"

Jace's stomach growled painfully, and he slipped off his broom just as Harry and Ron joined them. "Take pity on me," Jace said with a plaintive look. "I've been up for hours in the cold."

Clary held the steaming buns closer to her, giving him a cursory once over. "I suppose you earned it."

Jace snatched the buns out of her hands and took a huge bite. Harry snorted. "Shadowhunter by day, pig by night. A Werepig."

They all laughed and Jace pushed up the end of his nose in an attempt to give himself a pug nose. Hermione had her hands full of food as well. "Thought you'd like what's left over of breakfast. They're a bit cold since it's almost lunch."

Harry and Ron stuffed some toast in their mouth. "We're going to win the Quidditch Cup this year. Did you see him fly? We just need the rest of the team to be half as good and we'll have it."

Clary smiled faintly and snuggled against Jace. "You know, when I was in Mundane school, I never thought I would be dating a jock."

"Well, I never thought I'd be a jock, so we're even," Jace said, and then nodded toward the school. "At least now Seamus will shut the hell up."

"It's a compliment," said Harry reasonably as the group set off. "He clearly fancies Clary."

"Well unless he fancies a broken nose, he'll shut up." Clary snorted into her scarf at Jace's words and he looked at her, surprised. "You don't think I will."

"I know you will, and I don't know how much violence this school can actually handle," she said. "Or how much detention they can possibly give you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Jace said dismissively. "I'm not going to do it in front of a teacher."

"Because that'll make such a difference when Seamus reports you."

"Oh, but think about it," said Ron suddenly. "You said Snape reminded you of Valentine. Think of all the time you can spend with him in detention; it'll be just like old times."

Jace chewed what was left of his cinnamon bun contemplatively. "Maybe I won't break his nose," he stipulated. "But I'll break something."

"You just go full-jock and start dumping his books and stealing his lunch money," Clary suggested, and then laughed because they idea of Jace doing anything for someone's lunch money was too unthinkable for her.

"And then you could demand that he do your homework," said Harry, smirking, "and then you'd actually have good grades."

"Hey!" Jace snarled, but Harry and Ron took off for the Great Hall and lunch.

Jace shot after them, holding his broom like he was going to beat them with it, and Clary and Hermione hung back. "How did you put up with them for so long?"

Hermione suppressed a smile. "Well, you get used to it after a year or so. To tell the truth, we weren't friends at first."

"What happened?" Clary asked.

"Honestly? They saved my life," she admitted. "I mean, it was partially their fault my life was in danger to begin with, but they still saved it."

Clary thought of the first time she had seen Jace and the conversations that had followed. "Jace kinda saved my life too."

"He's seems like the sort," Hermione agreed. Down at the Gryffindor table, Jace was holding Harry down, threatening to poor marmalade on his face, while Ron looked on, laughing so hard he was doubled over. Hermione frowned at them. "On the other hand, I think boys sometimes just can't help themselves."

"Jace, stop!" Clary yelled, laughing and trying to pull Jace off Harry.

"I'm not hurting him," Jace tried to say pragmatically around Clary, who was holding onto him from behind and cutting off his air. "I'm just going to dump all this in his hair and then he'll have to cut it all off. Think of it as a personal grooming issue." Jace tipped the marmalade jar and the first few drops splashed on Harry's face.

"Jace!" Clary managed to get a hold of one of his arms and pull it back.

With one arm free, Harry was able to get his wand out of his pocket, poke it at Jace, and say, "Rictusempra!"

Jace staggered backward, doubled up, laughing. Clary fell off him, watching Jace, confused: she'd never seen him laugh so hard about nothing. "Jace?" she wondered, and when he looked up, she saw his face looked furious, but he kept laughing.

"W-what did he do?"Jace gasped, laughing harder. He was clutching his sides, glaring at Harry who looked victorious even with marmalade running down his face.

"Harry, what did you do?" Clary asked, holding Jace.

"He'll be fine," said Harry, watching the other boy laugh. "Might even do him some good. Lighten up a bit, you know?"

"If you're not careful, he'll lighten up a bit by cutting off all your hair in the middle of night," Clary said shrewdly, but even she had to admit, seeing Jace bested by laughter was novel.

"Ah," Harry said, thought about it for a minute, and then flicked his wand. The laughter ended and Jace straightened up. His eyes were glowing. "It's the tickling charm, don't be so melodramatic."

"We'll see how melodramatic you are when I burn all your clothes-"

"Boys!" said Hermione loudly, and flourished a letter. They all turned to face her and noticed that Hedwig was perched on the table, nibbling a piece of ham. "Perhaps you might take time from your busy schedule to read your mail when it comes?"

Harry snatched the letter and flicked it open. "It's a message from Dumbledore asking me to come to his office tonight."

"For what?" Ron asked at once.

"Lessons I suppose," Harry mused. "He did mention he'd like me start."

Jace eyed the letter a little jealously. "Learning how to fight at last, I see."

Harry was too curious himself to care about Jace's sarcasm. "It'll be how to fight to Voldemort."

"But, Harry, if Dumbledore knew how to stop Voldemort," began Hermione, "why hasn't he done it?"

"Maybe he needs help?" Harry guessed. It did seem unlikely that the greatest wizard of the age would need his help, but what other reason was there? "Or maybe he just figures I should know since Voldemort is trying to kill me."

"He's trying to kill all of us, mate," said Ron in a bracing manner.

Harry was about to respond when another owl came soaring down. It was smaller, brown, and her huge yellow eyes that were pinioned on Harry. It held out its leg with a note tied to it. Harry tore it off and red quickly:

Harry,

Someone finally broke the news about Jace and Clary. Come down to Hagrid's before dinner so we can talk.

Sirius

Harry handed the letter to Jace and Clary, who glanced over it and frowned. "If someone let slip who we are," said Clary, "no one here seems to care all that much."

"Must be what Sirius wants to talk about," Harry mused. "I wonder who told?"

"Who do you think?" Ron asked sarcastically. "Who hates us and likes making other people miserable?"

"You mean Malfoy?" Hermione asked, glancing over to where the boy in question was finishing his lunch. "He doesn't look much in the mood for a devious plot at that moment."

"Oh, come on, Harry, you agree with me," said Ron at once.

"I don't know," Harry said slowly. "I mean, he's not been interested in anything lately. Why blab now? Besides, after everything his father did, who would believe him?"

"Sounds like something Snape would do," Jace said darkly.

"Snape works for Dumbledore, and I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't let him," Hermione said calmly. "Do you have any enemies?"

"Aside from my maniac father?" Clary asked a little panicked.

"Well, I hardly doubt anyone here is going to take Valentine Morgenstern seriously," Hermione said. "I just mean that someone obviously is trying to draw attention to you, and it could be from our side, but it doesn't make any sense since Voldemort and the Minister already know you're here. It makes more sense that someone from your lives is doing it."

Clary and Jace exchanged a quick look. "Unless it's Valentine, I can't think of anyone else," Jace finally said.

"Well, whatever the reason, Sirius wants us to come down to Hagrid's before dinner to talk about it." Harry stuffed the note in his robes and sat down at the table, piling a plate with sandwiches and frowning at his food. "Guess I've got some time to catch up on Charms, at least."

At five that evening, they all headed down to Hagrid's house. Clary was quiet, thinking of her impending doom, and wishing reverently that it would all just go away. After the first few weeks at Hogwarts, Clary had begun to like it, enjoy it even. She had managed to escape the first week of not knowing anyone unscathed, and had come out with a handful of friends. She was learning magic, which was, in her opinion, nothing short of cool, and she was having the strange, liberating experience of being the girlfriend of Jace in a rather mundane setting. She supposed what she liked the most was the feeling of solidarity she shared with her fellow students. They had accepted her and Jace simply because they all went to school together; Clary felt like she was safe at Hogwarts. And, besides, she figured the school setting was doing Jace a little good; Harry and Ron seemed to have no problem putting up with his temper and sarcasm, welcomed I even, and he had begun to relax a little around people his own age. While she missed New York with a pain almost physical, she was beginning to accept her life here, and knew she could be happy at Hogwarts.

Harry knocked tersely on the door and Hagrid ushered them in with a brief hello. Sirius was seated at Hagrid's table, going over some documents, his face dark. When they group came in, he waved at them.

"The fat's really going to fry at this one," he said by way of greeting.

"That bad, is it?" Harry asked, hurrying over to the table.

Sirius sat back in his seat and surveyed Clary and Jace. "You like it here, don't you?"

Jace raised one eyebrow but Clary said, "Yes."

"You have friends here?"

"Yes, they do," said Hermione before either of them could answer. "Of course they do."

"Just remember that then," Sirius said bracingly. "I'm not saying anything is going to change, maybe no one will care. But if they do, just remember you've done nothing wrong and you have every right to be here."

Clary and Jace shared a worried look as they wondered how their fellow students would take the news they were a witch and wizard. "How bad is it going to be?"

"Word was slipped to the Daily Prophet," said Sirius at last. "They're writing an article on it now, all about how Dumbledore and the Minister lied about letting you in here."

Jace bared his teeth in a snarl. "We were the ones in danger because your wizard tried to kill us."

"I have no doubt that the Minister will make those exact claims when they interview him and demand an explanation for the presence of two shadowhunter children at Hogwarts."

"Will Dumbledore get in trouble?" Clary asked nervously. "He's been good to us and it seems unfair that-"

"This is nothing compared to last year's stunt he pulled with the Ministry. He was on the run back then." Harry smiled encouragingly at them both. "People leave him alone, and if they do complain, what's the worst that's going to happen? This school is the safest place to have your kids now, who would pull their own children out of safety?"

Jace pressed his lips together. "Are we going to be asked to leave?"

"Even if you are, Dumbledore won't send you away," Sirius told them firmly. "You'll have to put up with people here, but he won't expel you."

"Great," Clary muttered, thinking of her introduction to the shadowhunter world and now here. "That's just what I need is to be the odd one out again."

"You're not alone," Jace reminded her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Of course you're not," Hermione said confidently. "We're your friends too."

"Do we have any idea where this all came from?" Jace asked, changing the topic to something to something less emotional.

"The Prophet received word from an anonymous tip, and won't release any information on the informant, "said Sirius. "We don't think it was anyone from Voldemort's side, but it could have been. I'll be looking into shadowhunters when I go to Idris."

"You think a shadowhunter did this?" Jace demanded sharply. "Why?"

"I wouldn't know," Sirius said frankly, "but I'll tell you if I find out. It's not like it put you in anymore danger than you already were from Voldemort. We can only assume it has put you in danger from Valentine."

"He'll come after us," Jace said with certainty. "He wants us for something."

"He'll have a tough time getting you here," Hagrid said suddenly. "The protection on the school for the students' safety from You-Know-Who is as good as it gets."

"Dumbledore should still know my father is a threat," said Clary with a look to Jace for support. "Valentine could hurt someone."

"He does know, and he's already taken it up with the Advance Guard," Sirius said. "They'll be more watches on the school, but, honestly, you should just be more concerned about Voldemort."

"You'd find that hard to do if you saw Valentine's army," Jace said darkly.

"We know about the prophecy Valentine is trying to fulfill, and we're working to prevent that," Sirius said. "A Sword, a Cup, and a Mirror are the requirements, yes? Well, we're going to try to get one or more from Valentine."

"He's still got an army of demons," Jace hissed. "You got any plans for that?"

Sirius slammed his hand on the table. "No! But then again, isn't that supposed to be the shadowhunter's job to be handling that? Listen, Jace, I know you're worried, but we have a war on two fronts here, and we have to focus our forces on Voldemort. I'm going to the Clave next week to warn them about the threat of Voldemort, and I'll let them know that we're counting on them to keep the demon thing under control."

"They won't listen," Jace said spitefully.

"Then they'll deal with the consequences," said Sirius darkly. "A long time ago, the shadowhunters had the chance to join forces with us. We could have been one force for good in both worlds, but they wanted to go it alone. Hell, we both did. Now, we're stuck with the current situation. We can't fight their wars no more than they can fight ours."

Jace wanted to tell Sirius that unless they dealt with Valentine, it wouldn't matter, but how could he? Sirius was right in all respects. The Clave and the Ministry had chosen to separate their forces, and now, they were dealing with that decision. Did he really expect the Ministry to send a group of men like Mr. Weasley to deal with demons? Did he expect the Clave to send a battalion of shadowhunters to fight Death Eaters?

"What happens next, then?" Jace finally asked.

"I warn them about Voldemort and what happens if Valentine raises his army, and then I leave. You'll stay here because regardless of who comes looking for you now, you're safest on school grounds."