Oh my gosh! I am so dumb sometimes... so this is the REAL chapter 4. The one that I originally posted as chapter 4 is actually chapter 5. But I'll take this as an oppurtunity to thank my followers, favoriters (surely there's a better word?), and reviewers: IridescentxPetals and liveandbreathediangelo. Your reviews really brightened up my day!

The Hall of Accords was hung with blue banners, each gilded with the flame blazon of the Lightwood family. Four long tables had been arranged facing one another. In the center was a raised speaker's lectern, decked with swords and flowers.

Alec sat at the longest table, in the highest of the chairs. On his left was Magnus, and on his right his family stretched out beside him: Isabelle and Max; Robert and Maryse; Jace; and beside Jace, Clary. There were Lightwood cousins there too, some of whom he hadn't seen since he'd been a child; all of them were beaming with pride, but no face glowed as brightly as his father's.

"My son," he kept saying, to anyone who would listen-he had buttonholed the Consul now, who'd been passing by their table with a glass of wine in hand. "My son won the battle; that's my son up there. Lightwood blood will tell; our family have always been fighters."

The Consul laughed. "Save it for the speech, Robert," she said, winking at Alec over the rim of her glass.

"Oh, God, the speech," Alec said, in horror, hiding his face in his hands.

Magnus rubbed his knuckles gently across Alec's spine, as if he were petting a cat. Jace looked over at them, and raised his eyebrows.

"As if we all haven't been in a room full of people telling us how amazing we are before," he said, and when Alec glared at him sideways, he grinned. "Ah, just me, then."

"Leave my boyfriend alone," Magnus said. "I know spells that could turn your ears inside out."

Jace touched his ears worriedly as Robert rose to his feet, his chair scraping backward, and tapped the side of his fork against his glass. The sound rang out in the room, and the Shadowhunters fell silent, looking up toward the Lightwood table expectantly.

"We gather here today," said Robert, reaching out his arms expansively, "to honor my son, Alexander Gideon Lightwood, who has single-handedly destroyed the forces of the Endarkened and who defeated in battle the son of Valentine Morgenstern. Alec saved the life of our third son, Max. Along with his parabatai, Jace Herondale, I am proud to say that my son is one of the greatest warriors I have ever known." He turned and smiled at Alec and Magnus. "It takes more than a strong arm to make a great warrior," he went on. "It takes a great mind and a great heart. My son has both. He is strong in courage, and strong in love. Which is why I also wanted to share our other good news with you. As of yesterday, my son became engaged to be married to his partner, Magnus Bane-"

A chorus of cheers broke out. Magnus accepted them with a modest wave of his fork. Alec slid down in his chair, his cheeks burning. Jace looked at him meditatively.

"Congratulations," he said. "I kind of feel like I missed an opportunity."

"W-what?" Alec stammered.

Jace shrugged. "I always knew you had a crush on me, and I kind of had a crush on you, too. I thought you should know."

"What?" Alec said again.

Clary sat up straight. "You know," she said, "do you think there's any chance that you two could . . ." She gestured between Jace and Alec. "It would be kind of hot."

"No," Magnus said. "I am a very jealous warlock."

" We're parabatai," Alec said, regaining his voice. "The Clave would-I mean-it's illegal."

"Oh, come on," said Jace. "The Clave would let you do anything you wanted. Look, everyone loves you." He gestured out at the room full of Shadowhunters. They were all cheering as Robert spoke, some of them wiping away tears. A girl at one of the smaller tables held up a sign that said, ALEC LIGHTWOOD, WE LOVE YOU.

"I think you should have a winter wedding," said Isabelle, looking longingly at the white floral centerpiece. "Nothing too big. Five or six hundred people."

"Isabelle," Alec croaked.

She shrugged. "You have a lot of fans."

Alec sighed. Once Isabelle had her mind set on something, there was no changing it. And with Magnus… well, he could only hope that his suit was not going to be decked out with sparkles. It seemed that the speech was over- thank Raziel- and everyone had taken it as their cue to come over and congratulate him. The Consul came first.

"Well done, Alec. I always thought that you would make something amazing of yourself, and here we are…" He nodded seriously, trying to hide the faint blush in his cheeks. He wondered how it was going to be possible to get through the banquet. "So, thank you, for saving us all. I don't know how we could do without you." Consul Penhallow patted him on the back on left to go and speak to Maryse. He could hear his mother's cool tones from here, as well as some of her words. "Couldn't be more proud… the family agrees… can't wait for the wedding."

The steady stream of people didn't cease, and by the time it was over, Alec thought he had spoken to every single person in Idris. Slowly, everyone began to fill out the doors, making their way home as the sun had long since gone down and the witchlight lamps were glowing at full strength. The demon towers had been flashing blue all night, and every time Alec saw them, he repeated the rhyme in his head. Blue banners when the lost return.

I did that. I helped the lost return.

It was an amazing feeling.

"Let's get out of here." Magnus whispered into his ear, his lips brushing against Alec's skin and making him crave more. They started to follow the others to the Inquisitor's house- Robert's job had its perks- when Consul Penhallow stopped them again. "We have another surprise for you." She said, sweeping back some of her dark hair. "Since you did such a great service to the Nephilim, you have been given usage of the Branwell country manor for the term of your stay."

"I couldn't –"

"They left straight after the banquet. They needed to attend to business outside of Idris."

Alec hesitated. It would be nice to have the his own place for a while…

"I'm sure he'd rather stay with me." Robert interrupted his thoughts. "We're a tight-knit family." He looked at his father in confusion. However proud of his achievements, he wouldn't usually use the words 'tight-knit' to describe their family. Alec certainly didn't. Barely any Shadowhunter family was- parents were respected, and siblings were in competition of Shadowhunting skills for most of the time. Robert met his gaze unflinchingly, his black eyes resolute.

Alec stared into those eyes. The black ones. But weren't they another colour… green, or something like it? Blue?

Another thought crashed into his head, drowning out the other. How could you forget your father's eyes? They've always been dark- where else would Iz get her own dark eyes?

He had missed half of the Consul's sentence, and didn't bother listening to the rest. Although he wanted to, a bout of dizziness claimed him, spinning the room on its axis. He felt his skin blanch, a cool hand on his arm. "Alexander?" Gold-green eyes hovered above his. He tried to hang on to them, like a person drowning would hold onto a plank of wood, resolutely fighting the vertigo.

"And as suddenly as it came over me, it just went. It was so strange- nothing's happened like it, before you ask."

Isabelle paused, her mouth open with that question surely about to come out. It was silent for a few moments. Alec sat with his back against the wall behind his bed at the Inquisitor's house. Everyone else was scattered around him- Magnus next to him, Jace at the end of the bed, Clary and Izzy on the floor, leaning against the opposite-Jace's- bed. It wasn't as familiar to him as his room back at the Institute, but it was close enough.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" Magnus was obviously on edge about something, and his abrupt manner was nothing like his usual charm as he directed the question at Alec.

"Um, sure." He led the way out of the room, among exchanged smirks from Isabelle, Jace and Clary. He knew that they thought they were going off to make out, but he had a feeling that it just wasn't going to happen. He stopped a little way down the hall, near to the sitting room. Magnus glanced around. "Maybe we could go to the warlock representative's place?" Alec nodded, rethinking his previous assumptions. They let themselves out of the house and wound their way along the bridges crossing the canals and quiet, house-lined streets. He wasn't taking much in as Magnus pulled him down towards the house, simply blowing the door open with magic and closing it behind them again. Alec nearly tripped in the sudden darkness, stumbling into a wall. Magnus's smirk was bright in the gloom. "And they say you Shadowhunters are graceful."

He spluttered, trying to come up with a smart remark. His boyfriend- fiancée- saved him the trouble. He pulled him into a long kiss, and Alec savored the feeling.

Too soon, Magnus pulled away. "Believe it or not, this isn't what I wanted to talk you about."

Alec noted the serious undertone in his voice, trying not to get too worried. Everything had to be fine. Everything was fine. He took a deep breath.

"This isn't real."

He looked at Magnus, shocked. The suggestion was completely ludicrous. Although…. The probability of Magnus being wrong was very low. And if he wasn't sure of something, then why would he say it? He was nothing if not well considered, and hundreds of years of experience rarely yielded wrong conclusions.

Magnus went on. "Your father? He's not really here. But the demon controlling your dream is, and its using your father's shape. Generally, it would want someone closer to you so it could keep you from discovering the truth, but it can't take my form- well, it could, but it would be extremely difficult. Memory and mind are my specialty, if I do say so myself."

Alec stared at him, but the thing slipping from his mouth was not what he expected. "Modest, aren't you?"

Magnus shrugged. "Modesty is overrated. But that's not really what you want to ask, is it, Alexander." His words were a question, but his tone was not.

"So nothing is real. I didn't kill Sebastian, I didn't destroy the Endarkened…" he trailed off and forced back the ice in his chest. "Max isn't alive." He said in a near-whisper. "We're not engaged. My father-" he broke off once again, not able to bear continuing.

Magnus's hand brushed his face. "If only our hearts could be protected as our minds can be." He murmured.

Alec knew what he meant. An icy fist seemed to have closed around his heart. The pain of losing Max, of losing Magnus, was brought once again to the surface of his mind. "Can you get us out of here?" Alec asked, pushing past the tightness in his throat.

Magnus's eyes were sad. "The others aren't here- it's only us. And since it's not my dream, I can't push both of us out of it. That's up to you."

Alec hesitated. "I'm not sure I can do that."

"One more thing you should know. The demon has allowed me to be present in Isabelle's dream, but in no others. Clary, Simon and Jace- I can't reach them."

He focused on the part of that he could handle. So Isabelle wasn't in danger. A good start. "Why, though?"

"I guess if Isabelle thought about why you were alone, and she realized something wasn't right, she would be able to use the sense of wrongness to break free of the delusion. It feeds on the dreams and wishes of humans, and every second you're in here, it grows stronger."

Alec sunk down against the wall. He looked up at Magnus, who was terribly pale under his tan skin. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of such bad news." He murmured as he sank down and ran the backs of his fingers down the side of Alec's face. "Alexander, I will do everything in my power to help you."

He leaned into Magnus, not caring that he wasn't really supposed to do that anymore.

Although… Alec remembered the dryness of his throat, his wildly pounding heart when he had asked whether forgiveness was even an option. I have forgiven you. He was tired of going without Magnus, and he didn't seem to be complaining, either.

"I told your sister to come to my loft tomorrow. I don't know how anyone multitasks, it's too stressful."

Alec sat up, confused. "What?"

Magnus still looked drawn-out and preoccupied. "I'm not only here. I'm also in her dream. It's sad, being with you, but not you and Sheldon as a demon is creepy." The remnants of his relaxation drained out of him, slipping away swiftly as a fish in water.

"Simon? Simon is the demon." Numbness spread throughout his body. "If that demon even touches her, it will regret it for the rest of its very short, worthless life. And Clary? Is Jace the demon?"

Magnus attempted to rub the tension out of Alec's shoulders. "I'm keeping an eye on them. Don't worry. And since Jace is a Shadowhunter with extra angel blood, the demon would find it incredibly difficult to get past his angelic protection." He breathed a deep sigh. "And this is very tiring, so I'm going to fall asleep in a few minutes."

Alec couldn't bring himself to worry about going home. It was completely fake anyway, so why did it matter what he did? But worry about his family he did. He even spared a moment for Clary and Simon. If something happened to them, his siblings would be devastated. And he wasn't sure he could handle it. Hiding and lying, all the while trying to escape and help the others, too. Alec was beginning to feel exhausted himself. With all the new information swimming in circles around his head, he let himself tilt to the side and sleep.