First Fanfiction! I hope you enjoy it! (No copyright intended, all characters belong to Cassandra Clare)

CASTLES MADE OF SAND, CHAPTER SEVEN

Let it be

"When I find myself in times of trouble, mother mary comes to me.
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be."

Magnus stuck his keys into the large brass lock on the front door, and patiently waited for the hushed clicking sound. As soon as he pushed on the heavy black door, and stepped over the threshold, Olive was there to greet him; take his books and bag, scurrying up the stairs as fast as her tiny feet would take her, to his bedroom.

Magnus made his way to the grand kitchen, which was situated just shy of the front doors landing around the corner. The whole house was crafted out of dark cherry wood wall panels, and dim lit sconces that lined the intricate dark trimming along the rooftop. All the ceilings were elevated to staggering heights, almost as if he lived in some type of old cathedral church. To the far left, just behind a small half wall, was the formal living room. The couches a ruby red stain, and every other piece of furniture in the room was black. It was definitely a terrifying house to walk around in at night. Shadows seemed to dance and move with every step you took, in a very overbearingly ominous manner. Their house was huge, gigantic, a monster compared to the other lots on the hills -and had many secret rooms, passages, and hidden nooks and crannies everywhere. It was a labyrinth in layout, you never knew what you were going to find behind the walls of this house. It would have been a young child's dream house, to play hide and go seek in -but to Magnus, this house would never be his home, never a dream place to be.

Magnus continued on to the kitchen, where Sarah was busy cooking up a storm over the stainless steel double cook top. Everywhere his eyes fell, his gaze was met by the constant look of the shiny material of steel, sharp harsh convoluted lines, and dark waxy brooding spaces that made you feel trapped and encased.

Ever since Magnus and his father moved into the house, when Magnus was eleven, it had never resembled their once bright, happy and cheerful house he essentially grew up in -not even close to resembling that once happy haven. Nothing was ever the same -if he had to think about it; Magnus and his father had long since recognized that it probably never would be. There was a gloomy air that dropped over top of them -always cloaking them within a haze of shrill mist. Magnus and his father were always good at placing the gloom at the back of their minds -but evidently it was still there, screaming to be let out. They both had become accustomed to hiding that part of their lives from others, it was definitely somewhat of a touchy matter for both men -and would always be. Something you could never forget.

Magnus walked up to the stove, and leaned over the top of Sarah's shoulder, to happen upon the most deliciously colorful casserole dish he had ever seen. "You must teach me your family recipes sometime," he took a long whiff of the pungent smells that arose from the dish, eliciting a tiny sigh to escape his lips. Sarah flinched, only a fraction of a second, when he first began to talk.

"I don't know if you've noticed this by now Magnus, but you move with the grace and silence of a cat. Next time boy, announce at the doorway when you're coming into the kitchen." Sarah gave him a stern glance over her shoulder.

"Will do, mam." Magnus went to sit around the stainless island counter top, and swiped a ripe plum out of a pristine white bowl that laid perfectly in the middle of the island. He bit into it, licking the sweet nectar lazily from his bottom lip. "Where's Felicity gone off to? Usually should would have smothered me as soon as I walked through that door -"

"Something happened between your father and her this afternoon, and he let her go." Sarah shrugged almost sadly, as she shook her head thoughtfully.

"Oh, I'm going to miss her motherly ways," Magnus mocked, knowing it wasn't destined to last in the first place. It never lasted, that was a given Magnus had gotten used to by the age of fourteen. He learnt to always keep his fathers women at arms length -that way he couldn't begin to trust them and welcome them into his soul. It had happened twice before, where he began to like the women too much, cherishing them as friends in a way, but Magnus was too young to know the fault in that otherwise. Now, he could see the error in his fathers judgement on the environment to raise Magnus in -his father was a womanizer... Was he hoping to make Magnus one too?

"Now Magnus, don't turn into a scornful old soul, even if she wasn't the best... person, she was still a mother figure to you. And that's what you need the most." Sarah's tone was tainted.

"And that's where you are wrong," Magnus muttered under his breath, trying to prove to himself and otherwise reassure himself that he really didn't need another mother figure in his life -it wouldn't ever feel as close to the real thing, as he would like and want it to. "So, we have a few new kids in our grade," Magnus changed the topic.

"Is that so?" Sarah didn't turn to regard him, she was too busy chopping different vegetables to add to dinner -but even so, Magnus knew that 80 percent of her attention was on him, just by the way her ears seemed to flutter towards the direction of his voice, locking on his position.

"Yep," he took another bite of the plum, "one of them is in two of my classes,"

"What's she like? Pretty? Smart?" Sarah spun around, ladle in hand, a bright smile on her face. Sarah had never liked Magnus' previous relationships, because apparently they were too artificial and forced -which for the most part she was right. Now upon hearing that Magnus had met someone knew, and the fact Magnus found it important to talk about, Sarah was beaming with hopefulness. Little did she know that this new person Magnus had met, was a guy, and a guy that set him on edge for the record.

"He," Magnus emphasized, "is very timid, and likes Shakespeare." Sarah still gazed at him, her eyes portraying a hidden emotion that Magnus couldn't quite put his finger on. It was as if she could see something he couldn't. Within a second the emotion in her eyes was gone, and she returned to chopping up vegetables.

"What's 'is name, then?" Sarah's partially southern accent came out in the way she talked sometimes, and now was no exception to hiding it.

"Al-"

"Magnus," The deep tenor of his fathers voice came through one of the many doorways that led into the kitchen. He swung around in his chair to face the direction of his fathers voice. His eyes rested on the sight of his father, in a slick dark grey tweed suit, his long black hair pulled into his ever so traditional flat pony-tail, and his green eyes, sharp and attentive. But the thing that caught Magnus off guard was the woman standing next to him. Her dark medium length hair, flared at the bottoms just above her collar bone, she was dressed in a formal dress suit, with a light aqua silk shirt underneath, that quite predominately matched the color of her eyes. She had a sweet comforting face, but held a steady gaze.

Magnus narrowed his eyes, in concentration, even further, as his brain tried to mentally connect two pieces together -she seemed way to familiar, but Magnus could not be too sure, where his brain was trying to lead him. "This is one of Valentine's newest associates, and secondly a new assistant of mine," Magnus rolled his eyes, the word 'assistant' to his father, was never a good thing.

The woman stepped forward, a small almost non-existent smile on her face, offering her hand, "Hello, Magnus, your father has told me a great deal about you, in such a small span of time." He starred at her hand distastefully, recollecting the thought that Felicity had just left that afternoon, and his father had already taken up another offer? He glanced past her shoulder to find his father starring at him menacingly, almost threatening for Magnus to take her hand -or else, with those hard forest green eyes. He obliged willingly, her hands warm, clammy, and oh so familiar. Again his mind tried to connect two and two together. Whatever that 'two and two' was.

"So when will you be moving in? Do try to keep it down on school nights, I do enjoy my sleep." Magnus' fathers eyes flamed with anger. The woman, in front of him, face instantly set into hard lines, and she retracted her hand hastily.

"I assure you Magnus, this situation is not like that." Her expression went slightly grave, and a bit cynical as to what Magnus had previously implied. Magnus' father came to stand beside him, and pressed his hand firmly into the nook of Magnus neck. His lengthy tan fingers dug into the bare skin at the hem of his t-shirt. There will definitely be a bruise in the morning,Magnus thought, as his fathers hand held him firm, in his spot.

"Magnus, Mrs. Lightwood has a wonderful husband that I have met sometime ago, and three wonderful children. You would do well in perfecting your manners." He lifted his gaze from Magnus to the woman, as her name hit Magnus dead in the face, causing him to choke lightly on a piece of plum, "Maryse, do forgive my son for his -"

"Lightwood? You're Alexan- Alec's mother?" Magnus starred at her incredulously, finally seeing the slight curve of her mouth, and the delicate arch in her eyebrow, that resembled Alec's features all too well.

"Yes, Alec and his brother, and sister just started school today. You go to Mount Western Prep. Private Academy?"

"Uhh... Yeah I do. Can you pass on a message to your son?" Magnus stood from his seat, shrugging out of his fathers grasp, and made his way over to the archway that led into the hallway closest to the grand staircase; suddenly feeling a bit too awkward standing in the same room as Alec's mother. Maryse nodded in agreement. "Tell him that our Biology report will not write itself, and that he should call me -today preferably." Magnus' father nodded proudly in his direction, only for the fact that Magnus was showing a slight assertive nature over Maryse.

If there was one thing about Gerald Bane, it was his sheer desire to raise Magnus to turn out exactly like him -a demi-copy. The genetics were there, they both had somewhat other worldly appearances, with coffee stained skin, green almond shaped eyes, hard chiseled jaw lines, strong angular cheekbones, and lush black hair. But the only thing that disrupted Gerald's dreams, was the simple fact that Magnus was his mothers son -and always would be.

"Does he have your number?"

"No, but I suspect you to retrieve it from my father on your way out, and further inform Alexander." Magnus felt for some strange reason he needed to hold a strong authority over her. Whether it was because of the looks his father continued to give him, or whether it was because he felt absolutely terrified in her presence; he didn't know. She was as delicate as a flower on the outside, but as Magnus began to talk longer glances at her, he could see the rock hard icy core, that might have been tampered with on very rare circumstances.

Strange, strange trivial things were coursing throughout Magnus mind today, possibly a little trip to Sebastian's fathers wine cellar was in the cards for the early morning hours of tomorrow.

Magnus gave Maryse a courteous bow before retreating into the hall, and dashing feverishly up the stairs.

His bedroom smelt of freshly squeezed lemons, and sweet rosemary perfumes -which was how it always smelt when he returned home. Olive and Sarah were very persistent on keeping his bedroom in the greatest condition, despite his protests. Magnus would have rather his space to be left the way he had it, with his yellow canary sheets crumpled and nearly falling off the bed, and his enormous collection of makeup pots to be laid strewn across his vibrant blue vanity table.

It felt much more cozy that way, but then again he was thankful that Olive and Sarah cleaned up after him, so he wouldn't have to live in his own filth. Magnus was always a very indecisive person -forever more accepting both sides to any coin.

Magnus sifted through his bag, until he revealed his white, purple jewelled iPhone. Upon checking his messages, one caught his attention:

'Meet me in the back woods at midnight.'

A/N: Two days! Way better than four, yes :P ? So like I said in my last Authors note, there will be a couple of filler chapters for a bit (not for too long). Also there will be a future chapter which explains why and what caused such a dramatic shift in the Bane household -but I'm guessing a lot of you could already guess what it is... or can you? Since it is the first few chapters of this story, I wanted to introduce all of the characters that will have a part in the story as a whole; so say hi to Gerald Bane! (There are a few more introductions that will take place along the way!)
Reviews are greatly appreciated. Like you guys have no clue how happy I get when I see a review -I just begin to smile like crazy, and then weirdly giggle to myself, because im cool like that... ahah.
Next chapter should be up soon! I can't give an approximate timeline; it all depends on how many future chapters I finish. (I only have three right now! I cannot run out... that would be devastating.)

Amber,