Alec POV

The corridors were crowded with students.

Alec was rushing to his second class that day. He had been held back talking with the potions master about the most recent assignment. He was going to be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts if he didn't hurry.

It was early October, and the school was buzzing with excitement. The other schools were going to arrive at the end of the month and that was all anyone could talk about. You could hear snippets of gossip as you made your way through the corridor. Everyone seemed to have their own tale of where the schools are ("I hear they go to school in a pyramid in Egypt; the accents are just meant to throw us off"), how they are going to arrive ("No, seriously, I heard from an uncle of a friend of a friend that all of the students get their own pet dragon and they will be riding them here"), and which school they predict will win ("Definitely Hogwarts" "Sorry, but no. As sad as I am to say this, it will be Durmstrang; they won last time"). Some were even talking guesses at what the tasks would be ("Maybe they'll have to fight a giant; the one who knocks the giant out the quickest gets the most points"). But, by far, the biggest topic was, of course, "who will be the Hogwarts champion?"

But Alec paid no mind to any of it. He had but minutes to get to the other end of the school, and all of the people who were standing around, talking about the Triwizard Tournament, were just obstacles that Alec had to maneuver around. So, he just kept his head down and pushed his way through the crowd, hoping no one would stop him or bother him. He quickened his pace, knowing he was running out of time and-

Crash

Paper and books went flying everywhere, and an ink bottle crashed on the floor.

"Shit," Alec whispered. He bent down and started gathering up his stuff.

"Whoa, sorry, let me help you," replied a familiar voice.

Alec froze. He would recognize that voice anywhere. The voice that was the announcer at Quidditch matches (except the Slytherin matches), giving nicknames to all the players and critiquing their hair and fashion choices, even though they all wore the same thing. The voice that called out to his friends across the corridor and made jokes, with laughter following close behind. The voice from the other side of the classroom in earlier years that made snide remarks, talked back to the teacher, yet still got questions right when asked and was one of the best in the class. The voice of a guy who wore makeup and glitter, and wasn't at all ashamed of it or of anything else about himself for that matter. The voice that belonged to a tall, lean, and lightly muscled student with cat-like eyes of a yellow-green color, eyes that were looking down... down at… Alec.

Alec could barely hear anything over the beating of his own heart as he looked at Magnus. "N-No, no I'm good. I-I got it," Alec mumbled, turning his head back to the floor, sure he had sounded like an idiot. He continued to gather his stuff back together, determined not to look at the Slytherin and get out of that situation as quick as possible.

Magnus helped him gather his stuff anyway. Alec tried to ignore tingly feeling that went through his body every time he brushed his hand with the Slytherin whenever Magnus handed back a textbook or a quill. He was sure his pale skin was deeply flushed by now and he hoped Magnus wouldn't notice. When he had all of his stuff together, he mumbled a thank you and started to walk away, but he was stopped by Magnus's hand on his arm. A shock coursed through his body from where Magnus's hand held his arm, and Alec had to use all of his will power not to gasp in surprise.

Magnus was looking at him intently. "Wait, why haven't I seen you before? What's your name?" Magnus asked, a faint smile tugging at his lip-glossed mouth.

"Um, it's A-Alexander. Alexander Lightwood," Alec said, pulling away from Magnus. He started heading towards his next class. "B-but everyone calls me Alec." He put his head down and hurried away from Magnus without looking back.

Alec couldn't believe what just happened. He made a complete fool of himself the first time Magnus really noticed him. After years, that's how he introduced himself. "Idiot," Alec whispered to himself as he made his way through the corridors. "Perfect, now he will forever remember me as the stuttering klutz." And with that cheerful thought in mind, he arrived to his class, just in time. He took his seat and tried to erase the event from his brain and pay attention to the professor, but to no avail. The memory of Magnus's hands brushing his, of his hand on Alec's arm, forcing him to stay for a split-second longer brought butterflies to his stomach.

And, despite everything else that happened, Alec couldn't help but smile.

"Can you see them yet?"

"No. How about you?"

"Nope."

It was October 30th and the entire school was waiting outside for the other schools to arrive. Everyone was either searching the sky or they were staring at the Black Lake (then again, a few were taking turns staring at random places convinced that they would be riding giants or trolls or lions). Alec and the other older students knew exactly how they would arrive, having already seen the underwater ship and the large carriage flown by horses in their second or first year. For some reason, they decided to host the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts for two years in a row (then again, there were rumors of Giant attacks on the Durmstrang Institute and that the Beauxbaton Institute was in being renovated…again, though nothing was confirmed). Most of the younger kids had heard the stories but some still didn't know what to expect.

"Hey, Alec, you see anything yet," Jace called.

"Nope. They're late, just like last time," Alec called back over the wind.

"Well, they better hurry up. I'm freezing my but off!"

"It is really cold out here," Clary put in.

"Why do we have to wait out here anyway? Why can't we just stay inside," Simon asked.

"Come on, you don't want to see a carriage flown by Abraxan horses ," Izzy said, "or a ship pop up out of the water?"

"I've seen a ship come up out of the water! It has been done by muggles. It's called a submarine," Simone replied.

"Okay, fine, but it's not the same. And still, have you ever seen a flying horse?"

"Well I can see them from the warm and comfort of the Gryffindor Common Room."

"You're impossible," she sighed, leaning her head on Simon's shoulder. She shivered, giving away the fact that she too was in fact cold. Simon wrapped his arms around her to warm her up, and Alec looked up at the sky, just in time to witness a scene he had witnessed only once before.

He seemed to remember the carriage being a lot better, like the size of a mansion. Now, however, it looked about the size of a middle-class suburban home. At least the horses didn't fail to impress. Their long wings were beating up and down in sync.

His fifth year friends didn't seem to care; they were all gaping with awe. Clary had that dazed look in her eyes that she always got when she was imagining how the scene in front of her would look on parchment. She was probably mentally checking if she had all the right colors or if she would just have to make it in black and white (which Alec doubted she would settle for; she would probably write to her mother to send another supply of colored ink). Simon was shocked, staring in disbelief at the sky. Clearly he had not expected anything close to what his eyes currently beheld. Izzy looked equally shocked, even though she grew up with magic (unlike her muggle-born boyfriend) and had asked Alec to describe the scene over and over throughout the years (which Clary and Jace, who were purebloods like the lightwoods, had not).

Jace had stopped gazing at the sky to look at his girlfriend. Alec knew how much he loved the look she got when Clary got lost in her artistic mind (believe me; he had to endure months of Jace's endless babbling about her before the two started dating). Of course, Alec didn't mind it anymore. Anything that made his friend happy made him happy.

And at that moment, the thing that was making all of his friends happy was landing on the ground in front of them. There was a collective intake of breath when the horses landed with the carriage right behind them. Everyone watched in silence with mouths open as the door to the Beauxbatons Carriage slowly creaked open.

Having seen this all before, Alec wasn't sure he would be able handle the next round surprised gasps that were sure to come when the Durmstrang students arrived.

The Headmaster's voice boomed through the hall.

"I would like to welcome our guests, who will be staying with us for the rest of the year. I hope you will treat them the same as you treat any student here at Hogwarts." He smiled at the Durmstrang students, who chose to sit at the Gryffindor table this year, and the Beauxbaton students, who were sitting at the Slytherin table, after one guy (clearly the star of the school; everyone followed him) saw the likes of Camille and Magnus. The three started talking and laughing right away, and they even got along with Raphael. However, with the greater number of students this year, some chose to sit at Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and at those tables all three schools socialized.

Alec himself was sitting with the Gryffindors, which he now realized wasn't the best decision as he was currently squished between Jace and a 15 year old Durmstrang student. He had sneaked over from the Ravenclaw table because he was so sure that the Beauxbaton students would have sat there. It's where they usually sat (or where they sat last time, but he heard that they tended to sit there from one of the ghosts), and Alec had planned to avoid being in the situation he was currently in. But, of course, he had forgotten that Gryffindor was a popular choice for the Durmstrang Institute (that and Slytherin of course, but Beauxbaton had taken residence there since they arrived first).

Now Alec was sure he would be as thin as spaghetti when he finally got to stand up. If the schools had come only a few years ago, the fact of being squished up against Jace would have thrilled Alec, but now it just came as an annoyance. Alec only hoped the headmaster would hurry up his speech so that he could finally stand up and stretch his legs. Then he could enter his name (which Jace had finally convinced him to do) and go to sleep. He knew his sister and friends couldn't wait to get up either, and he could see Izzy's need in her eye's to get away from the guy who was currently trying to flirt wi- wait, never mind. She elbowed him in the gut.

Classic Isabelle, Alec thought, shaking his head. He had just been thinking of kicking the guy in the shin when she made her move, which was good because Alec probably would have missed (given that there were literally 20 sets of legs in Alec's range) and end up kicking her instead.

"Now, the Triwizard Tournament is held every 5 years," said the headmaster, bringing back everyone's attention, "and it consists of three dangerous tasks that will test you to your limits. Three of you will be put up to the challenge, but only one will win the grand prize of 1000 galleons. But, the question we are all asking is, 'which among you will be up to the task?' So…"

The headmaster went through the same speech he told at the last Triwizard Tournament. He explained the rules, the rule change, and how it would work. All the while, Alec tried his best to pay attention, but having already heard most of it, some small part of his brain started to wander. And there it was, in the way back of his mind, trying to resurface itself; his encounter with Magnus.

No, no, no, not you, Alec thought, attempting to erase the memory for the umpteenth time, still to no avail. He settled for pushing it to the back of his mind, where it remained a constant nagging reminder throughout the whole speech.

Before Alec knew it, the speech was over and Jace as tugging at Alec's robe. "Come on, get up. We have to put our names in the Goblet of Fire."

Alec allowed himself to be pulled up by Jace. He followed him to the end of the hall, where they met up with Simon, Izzy, and Clary.

"Finally," Clary began as they made their way to the Goblet. "I felt like I was being squashed like a bug back there."

"At least you didn't have some guy trying to flirt with you," replied Izzy.

"What!" Simon, who clearly didn't notice despite the fact that he was sitting next to her during the speech, exclaimed. "Which one was it?"

"It doesn't matter," she replied. "I elbowed him in the gut."

"Nice, Izzy!" Jace called.

"Okay, can we just get this over with," asked Alec.

"Yea, yea, fine," Jace answered.

They had reached the Goblet by then. Some students were already placing their names. The rest were heading to their rooms, probably planning to enter in the morning when there were less people around it. The students from the other schools were following their headmasters out of the castle, the Durmstrang students to their ship, and the Beauxbaton students to their carriage. Some were taking looks at the Hogwarts students, scanning them up and down. They were probably sizing up their competition. Others offered smiles or waves as they walked by.

Jace was first of their group to place his name, to which some students cheered. Izzy was right after him, and Simon and Clary followed right after her, choosing to place their names at the same time. Alec clutched the paper with his name on it, which he had quickly scribbled on, along with his school, earlier that day. It was his turn. He stepped over the age line and dropped his name in. A weight lifted off his shoulders as he watched his paper get swallowed up by the flames. He smiled. It was done. No turning back. No changing the past.

And, maybe, for once, Alec didn't want to change it.

"Now, now, settle down. I know you are all eager to know who the champions are," said the Headmaster.

The Great Hall was buzzing with excitement; most people barely touched any of the food from the Halloween Feast. Everyone kept looking at the Headmaster during the feast to see if he was done with his food yet.

Alec was sitting at the Gryffindor table again. Alec could see Magnus sitting between Raphael and Camille. The Beauxbaton guy had his arm around Camille and the two were just brought out of their conversation by the Headmaster's voice. Magnus's eyes were scanning the hall, and he was currently working his eyes up the Gryffindor table. Alec quickly put his head down, hoping Magnus's gaze would pass over him and the Slytherin wouldn't notice him. At least it wasn't Magnus the Beauxbaton guy had his arm around. Alec wasn't sure he'd be able to handle that.

The Headmaster continued, "It is time for the Goblet to make its decision, and-," the flames in the Goblet of Fire had turned red. A piece of paper was shot out, which the Headmaster caught.

He read the note and announced, "The champion from Beauxbaton is… Jean André Courtade!"

Everyone at the Slytherin table stood up and turned to face the guy who had his arm around Camille. He turned shouted over the applause, "I prefer just Jean André!" His English was pretty good, surprisingly. He smiled at Camille and headed over to the Headmaster and shook his hand. He had a head of dark, curly hair and green eyes. He was average height and lean, but clearly strong. He was pretty attractive too, which, even if Alec wasn't gay he would have thought so. At least the constant giggles from a group of girls down the table would have been enough to know that. Jean André made his way to the back room.

The Goblet turned red again, and a second piece of paper shot out.

"And the champion from the Durmstrang Institute is… Viria Karsten!"

A girl with red hair and blue eyes stood up. She was actually very pretty, even Alec could see that. With her curvy but lean figure, much like Izzy, she looked like the type of girl that could be on the cover of some muggle fashion magazine that the muggle-borns would get sent to them by their parents, who received the monthly subscriptions for them. She too went up to shake the Headmaster's hand, before following Jean André to the back room.

Only the Hogwarts champion remained. All the students held their breath, each one hoping that they or their friend or sibling is the champion. Alec too couldn't help but hope that he was the champion, despite the fuss he made about even entering. He knew he would be up to the challenge. Even though he wasn't in Gryffindor, the Hat had seriously considered it. After seven years, Alec still didn't know why the Hat chose Ravenclaw instead.

As the flames turned red for the last time, everyone leaned forward. Time seemed to slow down as the final piece of paper was shot in the air, as the Headmaster caught it and looked it over.

"And, the Hogwart's champion, the final champion for this Triwizard Tournament, is…," he said, pausing for dramatic effect, but it only made everyone impatient. You could see that some of the students wanted to yell out "Well, who is it?" but no one did.

"The champion for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is…," and the headmaster looked around before his eyes landed on the Gryffindor table.

"Jace Herondale!"