We found Isabelle and Camille outside on a busy terrace chatting with a man I assumed was Alexei de Quincey. I was kind of expecting that I wouldn't like the look of the guy. In my head I had this vision of somebody crooked and leery; the kind of person Camille might have slept with to get ahead.

However, the reality was that he looked incredibly professional and refined. I knew that didn't mean he was squeaky-clean underneath his appearance – I mean, Woolsey could pull of refined when he wanted to – but I took it as a good sign anyway. Plus, Magnus seemed to think he could be trusted, and he knew Alexei better than I did.

Isabelle was slotting in rather nicely among the other partygoers. It wasn't the same as Camille, who played it off confidently like she'd seen and done it all a million times over. Izzy had this wide-eyed sort of excitement about her. I was impressed by the way the way she held herself together; charming the colleagues who approached the three of them with just enough flattery that she didn't look obsessed.

I noticed that while Izzy spoke to other people, Alexei and Camille were communicating by glance. Alexei de Quincey looked as impressed as I felt. Cam looked quite proud; like a woman who discovered a rare gem.

"Why is Camille so keen to help Izzy?" I asked Magnus. I was happy for my sister, obviously, but still curious.

"Izzy is family." Magnus stated matter-of-factly. He might as well have said 'Duh, Alec."

"Yeah, my family." I said. The family of her ex-husband's current partner wasn't really of concern to Camille. But she was involved anyway.

Magnus frowned at me and I regretted my word choice. I didn't mean to make it sound like we were separate from him and his.

"You are family." Said Magnus. Which touched me, even if it wasn't technically correct.

Magnus didn't see family the way other people did. When he had nobody he'd surrounded himself with friends who meant just as much to him. When other people like Izzy and I became a part of that it was a huge deal to him. And apparently, it meant something substantial to Camille too.

I tested it out in my head. 'Cam is family.' I thought.

I considered how she'd helped me on Halloween night and the way we'd gotten to bonding in the time we'd known each other. It was one of those things which sounded strange until you lived it; I wondered if that was what it felt like for Magnus when he lived polyamorously.

Before I could think about it for much longer, Woolsey stood up on a platform to announce that the fireworks were about to begin. As he gave a mini-speech, a man stood at his feet and seemed to be hounding him. He kept glancing about wildly, like everybody at the party was another misdemeanour. When Woolsey was done speaking the man helped him down.

"The brother?" I asked Magnus. I had expected that if Woolsey planned to host a potentially house-wrecking party, he would do it while Ralf was away. Instead he'd opted to do it right under his nose.

Magnus seemed just as surprised. "So it is. You know, funny story about Ralf Sc-"

"Alec!" Jace called. The rest of our group caught up to the two of us as the first fireworks lit the sky.

Clary snuggled into Jace's arms like it was the coldest day in winter. Being a girl she couldn't possibly have worn something warm. I sent a fleeting smile to Simon, who didn't have his girl there to hold on to, before turning my attention upwards. I felt Magnus drape a long arm around my waist.

The fireworks rose in vibrant colours brighter than the stars. It was funny how bright explosions could make such a large amount of people stop and take notice. It only lasted a little while, really. It seemed both crazy and wonderful that so many people had come to one place just to share in a few awe-inspiring minutes. When the explosions ended, everybody cheered.

Izzy came to find us again soon afterwards. She looked positively high on life. Well, a lot of good things were happening to her. I was happy to see her smiling.

Instead of drinks, the people with the trays began to hand out sparklers, which was interesting. My sister squeaked delightedly and I knew right away that she must have had a drink or two.

Camille found her way to the group just as Izzy was trying to make Simon write his name in the air next to hers. Not the most mature thing in the world, but there were people much older who were doing similar things just for the novelty of it. They liked to have fun just as much as the next person.

"She's very spirited." Camille observed with a smile as she passed Magnus and I. She was heading inside where there weren't so many fire hazards; probably to preserve her dress. "I like her very much."

I was happy to hear that. I was even more interested to find out what Isabelle thought of Camille when she sobered up. Cam may not have felt the need to seek approval – people threw approval at her in bucket loads – but I sure wanted the liking to be mutual.

Camille glanced back over her shoulder on her way inside. I looked in the same direction and saw Woolsey's brother staring at her disappearing frame like some majestic bird had flown away with his most prized possession.

"Funny story, there." Magnus said to me, I remembered that he had been about to tell me something before the fireworks had started.

Unfortunately we were interrupted once again. Somebody jabbed me rather hard in the back. When I turned around - about to ask them what their problem was - Izzy thrust a sparkler into my hand. I obediently touched the tip of it to hers and watched it come alive.

"Aren't we getting a little old for this?" Jace asked, lighting his up on mine.

"No, we are not." Declared Isabelle, waving the sparkler at him threateningly.

When we were kids Jace and I used to pretend we were sword-fighting with sparklers. Our parents would go mad and we never listened. Even after Jace got this nasty burn one year. It had faded by the next time we were given the fireworks, and so had his fears of getting burned again.

I went to hand one to Magnus who grinned and shook his head.

"Really?" I asked, thoroughly surprised. "Oh come on!"

"How can you of all people not like sparklers?" Simon asked what the rest of us were thinking. Sparklers looked like an explosion of glitter; Magnus should have been the patron saint of fireworks.

"Oh, I think they're nice to look at." Said Magnus. "I'm just not sold on holding a stick of flaming chemicals."

"I'll remind you of that next time you light a cigarette." I smirked. Magnus shook his head, took a step back and watched my friends and I use up most of Woolsey's sparkler supply until burned-out wires littered the ground and people started to retire.

Thank you all for reading, and for the reviews you've been sending. I hope you liked the chapter and I will post the next one, "Another Sad Story" fairly soon.