A/N: Sorry I'm late! I struggled with the flow of this chapter, it just wasn't working for a while. Dance scenes are difficult, okay? I don't know how to describe dance moves!

So, firstly a short message for my regulars (you know who you are), thanks for your feedback on my second Harper chapter. It has been filed and logged up in my brain ready for when we next tune in to The Harper Show. Please continue to share your comments and, to the rest of you, please start to comment - I want to hear your voices!

Some songs are mentioned in today's chapter because of the party but I promise this isn't going to turn into a song fic (not that they can't be done well but they're just the sort of thing you either love... or really, really hate). They aren't obscure - I'm not trying to promote my favourite indie band or anything - so you should have heard of them (Toxic by Britney Spears and Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin) and I think they work in context. You don't have to know the songs to understand the chapter but it is weird how fitting Livin' La Vida Loca is for Alex Russo, seriously. Go listen to it.

(This chapter was supposed to end after Jerry had explained that they'd disappear if they didn't find the Stone of Dreams but my imagination got kind of out of hand with the whole party scene... and the ending is pretty sweet, right? *Insert fangirl screams from Mother Nature (you'll get that reference after reading)* So... I guess that'll have to wait until next time. Don't worry - it's already all planned out.)

I hope you like how I've altered events. Don't worry, we get back on track by the end of next chapter and everything slots into place.

There is a possibility that I won't be updating next week... you see, I sort of have a thousand deadlines coming up out here in the real world, where I can't use a spell to fix that for me, and if I don't discipline myself and get those tasks done, they're sort of going to impact the rest of my life. In terms of my future career, anyway - in a butterfly effect. So it's very important that I don't allow myself to use fanfiction writing as an excuse to not get the work done. If I a) miraculously finish the work early or b) let procrastination and daydreaming defeat my powers of logic and will power (more likely), then there will indeed be an update next Sunday. Otherwise, the next update will be on... 8th or 9th November 2014. So, on that note, Happy Halloween and have a lot of fun scaring yourself to death watching horror movies while trick-or-treaters knock on your door and you think they're demon serial killers coming to slay you!

Warnings: Deviously catchy turn-of-the-21st-century pop tunes which will be stuck in your head all day, more implied sexual content, more strong language, potential trigger warning - an ambiguous situation in which Alex is intoxicated and Javier is somewhere on the scale between sleazebag and predator (he doesn't force anything exactly but... yeah) and... sexy dancing between siblings?

Blindly following the heavy beat of distant music, Alex wove her way between palm trees and deck chairs - she wanted to get to the beach as quickly as possible so she could forget all about her stupid mother and her stupid rules and stupid Justin.

If he had just done what she'd said!

Ugh! She felt another round of tears coming on, practically hitting herself as she rubbed at her eyes furiously. Puffy, red eyes and a sniffling nose so did not scream the 'hot and mature 21-year-old' thing she was going for. She huffed, stepping back against the bushes which lined the path to disguise herself slightly, racking her brains for a spell - she hadn't even had time to change. Hm, come on, come on, she was having trouble thinking, Aha! 'I want a boy to like me tonight... so make him see me as... glowing and bright.'

She pointed a finger at herself. She waited. Then her body started to emit a neon glow. Great - it looked like she'd taken a bath in a tub of glow-in-the-dark paint. Ha, reminded her of the time Justin was all gross and hairy and a werewolf and they had to freaking bathe him in a trash can or something. Attractive. Not. She glared at herself, 'Not like that!' and she guessed from the tone of her voice, her body must have gotten the message because the glowing stopped and she felt freshly washed at least, if nothing else. It would have to do.

A blast of heat in the cold night air moments later told her she'd arrived; she had been busy adjusting her hair - she looked up now. Red and orange in sharp contrast to the blue-black sky; flickering lanterns and fire and grinding bodies reflecting the light on exposed stomachs and faces half hidden by deep shadows and movement. The music was loud and live here, a sensuous song in a foreign language. Alex was standing frozen, on the edge of the path, not yet stepped onto the beach, overwhelmed by the intensity of it. It was so anonymous. She couldn't pick out a face, nobody could pick out her - she could be anybody, for tonight. It was as if she had no parents, no family, no history before this second.

'Alex!' Javier, face half painted in shades of auburn light, ran up to her, bare feet flicking sand into the air, and she remembered her name again. She smiled and the spell seemed to be working because before she was aware of it, he had grabbed her hand and was taking her into the crowd.

Justin, meanwhile, was having a minor - okay, major - freak out. At dinner, first Mum had left, then Dad had left, then he had left and he'd forgotten about Max and Max could still even be at the dinner table or drowned in the sea or the swimming pool and he couldn't find Mum and he couldn't find Dad and he couldn't find Alex and it was already 10.30 p.m. and it was way past his self-imposed bedtime and yeah he was probably going to stay up and use the wand some more if Alex ever gave it back to him but that really wasn't the point and - where are they?

He slammed open the door to their hotel room, inhaling and exhaling and inhaling again like he'd just run a marathon - or at the very least, ran away from Juliet's parents after they'd given him one of those hungry looks (almost like they were attracted to him). Anyway, he stood in the doorway, trying to understand why Max was doing a headstand while reading.

'Max?' When had he come back here?

'Oh, hey, Justin - thanks for ditching me back at the restaurant,' Max was annoyed, to say the least. But Justin didn't have time for that right now.

'Max,' Justin walked into the room, raking a hand through his hair, 'this is important - have you seen Alex? Or Mum? Or Dad? And why are you doing that?'

'Helps me to read better - if I stay like this long enough, I start to hallucinate and then I can really see the stuff that's going on in the- woah!' he toppled over, landing on the bed he had been standing next to. He shook his head, face red from all the blood, 'Can't say I have, Justin - although earlier I did see Dad at the bar, I think he was trying to chat up the lady that works there,' Max lowered his voice, 'Between you and me, I think he punches a little bit above his weight,' he returned to a normal volume, 'And I also saw Mum flipping her hair and smiling at that Javier dude, and I think I saw Alex heading to the beach except she was glowing bright blue, Justin, so I don't know if that was her or maybe a light bulb that just really looked like her.'

For the entire length of Max's monologue Justin had been gaping at him, arms crossed. He continued this for several more seconds before scream-whispering (not wanting to disturb the neighbours), 'Max! How is that not seeing them? You've seen all of them! Why are Mum and Dad flirting with other people? Something's wrong! And, somehow, I doubt that was a freakin' light bulb!' Max had returned to his headstand, 'And stop doing that!' Justin spun round to the door, checking he had his wallet and phone before he left, 'I'm gonna go look for them. Stay here.'

'Sure thing, Justi-'

'No more headstands!' he slammed the door.

Alex giggled. Back at the party, Javier was doing an impression of his grandfather as he danced, throwing out ridiculous dance moves and giving Alex old-man compliments including the flattering 'Ah, Miss Alex, I see you still have all of your real teeth - you must have good dental hygiene, no?' They were enclosed in the crowd swaying around them - or was that Alex swaying? The punch here was good; she'd downed three cups of it in quick succession, but it didn't seem like the sort of thing they'd allow to be sold at the bar.

She slapped her hands down on his shoulders, pretending to be telling him off but really just trying to increase the physical contact, classic - it was a trick she used on all the boys, well, except Justin, obviously, 'Stop it!' She moved in closer. The music was moving at a faster pace now. Alex hadn't actually tried grinding before but... how hard could it be, right?

'Alex...' Oh, the way he said her name, Allllex, not at all like Justin said it, with all that emotion, but slowly, calmly - wait, why the hell was she comparing him to Justin? She meant Dean. Dean. Russo. Here was a guy who actually called her by her name.

She hoped her eyes were smouldering enough. She leaned in, raising herself up on tiptoes, ready to kiss or be kissed when-

'Javier!' another girl about her age had somehow broken into their little bubble and popped it. She was touching him on the arm, smiling, Alex wasn't even there apparently, 'I made it!'

'Ah, Emily,' he smiled back, 'I was worried I wouldn't be able to see you until our windsurfing lesson tomorrow - uh, would you like something to drink?'

Huh? Alex didn't like the way this was sounding...

'Javier,' Oh for fuck's sake - there's another one? A third girl was now tapping him on the shoulder and smiling.

'Javier,' Alex huffed, grabbing him by the arm a little more forcefully, 'Can I, uh, talk to you alone for a sec?' She dragged him out of the main party, pushing bodies out of the way.

Over at the shore, it was much darker. The waves were interfering with the sound of the music, crashing out of sync. She started to speak but then he grabbed her, trapping her in a meaningless kiss. Pressed against him he smelt of salt, his lips seemed cold, breath from his nose barely lukewarm. He pulled away, hands still cupping her neck, down here where they couldn't be seen by the others. She swiped her hand across her mouth, removing the spit, 'Javier, do you know how old I am?'

She closed her eyes for a moment, against the sea wind and the alcohol that was making her head spin.

He spoke, soothingly, but she didn't like the words that came out of his mouth, 'Alex, really, it doesn't matter, the legal age here is fourteen - don't worry, I won't get in trouble. You know,' he pressed his lips against her ear, 'we can go back to my room. I stay at the hotel; my friends - they can sneak you in. We can be quick. I will take you back to your mother before she even knows you are gone.'

She stepped back, stumbling slightly.

'Alex,' he grabbed her arms, pulling her close to him again, 'those girls back there... I do not like them. They mean nothing. They are not beautiful... like you.'

For God's sake, where was her mother to say I told you so? She needed to get out of here, 'Javier, I- er,' she shot him a quick smile, 'I'm just really tired. I think I'm gonna leave,' she paused, 'Alone,' she quickly added.

'Alex-'

'I mean it,' she tried to sound forceful through the alcohol, like she'd scream if he tried anything, because he was still rubbing her arm just as insistently.

His smile eventually fell and he backed away. She guessed he didn't want to risk his job, 'Oh... that is a shame,' it was amazing how fast he recovered, 'But no worries! Some other time, right? I am here all Summer,' he winked, and Alex wasn't sure if that was just the punch making her feel sick, 'And hey,' he rested his hand on her shoulder gently and for a second Alex thought he was going to offer to walk her back, 'just let me know if you want some more windsurfing lessons, because if you buy five, you get an amazing discount, alright?'

And then he ran off, leaving her by the sea, in the dark, by herself, no doubt rushing back to say exactly the same thing to one of those other girls. Probably both of them. Maybe it was for the best that he hadn't offered to walk her back.

She could already see her mother's smug expression. Shut up, Mum.

As for asshole over there, Hurt, angry, plotting revenge and slightly unsure that I'm going to make it back to the room without falling over.

Justin had made it to the beach. He hadn't seen anyone at the pool-side bar, so he didn't know where Dad was again, but at least he'd be able to find Alex. Maybe she'd know something. And he should keep an eye on her - but only because Mum thought it was a bad idea for her to go to this party, of course. And Alex's schemes rarely ended as well as she thought.

He stepped onto the sand, working his way over to the punch bowl. He'd just taken a sip, tapping his foot to the Latin pop music, when he felt a kind of magical pull in the pit of his stomach and his eyes were drawn to an incredibly hot girl who seemed to be almost glowin-

Oh shit, that's Alex.

Kicking himself for admitting, in his head at least, that he found his own sister hot - and we're talking hotter than Juliet here, who was the most beautiful woman on the entire planet, in both the wizarding and mortal realms, in- but, right, this wasn't right. She must have put a spell on herself. She put a spell on herself. It was only the spell. Once again, this was all Alex's fault! Damn it!

'Alex!'

She jumped as he grabbed her arm and then swayed into him slightly, steadying herself with a hand against his chest, 'Justin? What are you doing here?' she snorted, 'I'm pretty sure no one invited you.'

He stared down at her hand, then at her drunken body language and sighed, annoyed, 'Alex, I'm pretty sure it was an open invitation to anyone within a five-mile radius of here, judging by the sheer number of writhing bodies you've surrounded us with,' he made a face at the highly indecent dancing everyone was engaged in, 'But- where's Mum? Did you do the spell? She went back to the room to find you and-'

Alex ripped her hands off of him, just now remembering that, Oh, right, she was supposed to be pissed, 'Oh. Yeah, that. Thanks so much. Are you fucking kidding me, Justin? Gluing people to chairs? And you think I'm an idiot?'

Justin was glad that she had mistakenly thought he'd actually managed to glue them to their chairs but he still had to defend himself, 'I- You- You know I'm not comfortable breaking the rules!'

'Then why did you bring the family wand, you hypocrite!'

'I would have been allowed to take the wand if it wasn't for you, Alex! Did you do the spell or not?' It was a good thing everyone was too drunk to pay attention to their shouting, that's all Justin had to say.

'I didn't wait to find out if I did the spell or not - I didn't even get a chance to say all of it thanks to somebody - but something happened and right now I don't really care what or where Mum is or what you want to complain about or... or... or-' Alex hiccuped and it was hard to tell in the semi-darkness but Justin swore her lip was quivering. For real this time.

'Alex...' he found himself raising his free hand to touch her hair, 'Are you okay?'

'Yes!' she sounded offended at being seen as anything other than indestructible. She backed away, 'I'm just- just very busy because... I have to get ready to go back to Javier's room tonight!' she smiled as if she had just insulted his action figures.

Justin gasped, 'So that's why you have a spell on yourself!' Justin didn't notice the way Alex's eyebrows furrowed, 'You- you are not going to his room, Alex. I won't let you. We're going back right now-'

He had grabbed her arm and tried to start marching her back to their room but the girl was stronger than she looked, even when she was wasted: she hadn't budged. She forced herself to laugh, 'Do you really think I'm still a virgin, Justin?' voice going delicate, questioning his sanity.

Okay, so she actually was, technically, but she wasn't going to let Justin know that, of all people - he could not know that he had lost his virginity first, too.

'What?' Who? How? When? Where? Was it Dean? Was it the time Justin let them use his room to study? I knew Dean didn't study! He was going to kill him- 'Alex,' he stemmed his own thoughts, 'You... don't know anything about this guy! Juliet and I are in a committed, loving relationship and I know that you're still upset about Dean but-'

Alex rolled her eyes, 'Juliet and I are in a committed, loving relationship, Alex, we don't have sex, we make love and rainbows and- fuck you, Justin!' she used the arm which his hand was still gripped around to yank him forward; he almost fell into her, 'You can't tell me what to do!'

'Yes, I can.'

'No. You can't.'

'Alex-'

'You're just jealous!'

Justin's eyes widened, cheeks visibly blushing even in the orange lighting. They were very close - she could see his face in detail, 'I- I-'

'I mean...' Alex swallowed loudly, trying to reword that, 'You're jealous that no one's throwing themselves at you here, at this lousy resort. Face it, Justin,' she stood up straighter, breaking eye contact to prepare the insult. She met his eyes again, detached now, 'The only people you can pull are mythical freaks that actually think Dungeons and Gargoyles is cool.'

'Okay, firstly, Alex,' Justin began, distracted by his inner dork, thank God, 'they aren't mythical if they actually exist. Secondly,' he raised his other hand, eager to correct her from every angle, 'I think you'll find that several supermodels were rather interested in playing Dungeons and Gargoyles with me, thank you very much.'

Alex laughed, for real this time. The dork just couldn't help himself, could he? She was just about to make a comeback when-

Baby, can't you see? I'm calling. A guy like you, should wear a warning,

Alex grinned, 'Oh my God! I love old music!' Javier had been forgotten; she tried to drag Justin into the crowd.

Now he wasn't budging, 'Alex, this came out in 2003. I was fourteen,' he raised his voice, 'What part of that information classifies Toxic as "old music"?'

She shrugged, still tugging, 'Well, I guess you would know, Egghead, you did have that poster of Britney Spears in your room that you used to talk to every night - and don't try to tell me you were inviting her over for a tea party,' she leaned in and whispered, 'I heard everything.'

Justin squeaked and stopped resisting due to shock, allowing himself to be guided further into the beach, barely even flinching when his free arm brushed against the practically naked bodies around him (in all fairness, the so-called naked bodies were in swimming costumes, and it was a beach), 'Wait...' he said and Alex turned, walking backwards now, 'how did you hear?'

'What?'

'My... conversations-' he was not going into anymore detail than that.

'Psh, I'm not sure you could call them-'

'Alex! I'm serious, you couldn't have heard through the wall, I always used a spell to soundproof my room when I... talked... to Britney! In the middle of the night, I might add!'

'Well,' she lowered her chin and breathed out, 'maybe-I-was-hiding-in-your-closet-purely-for-pranking-and-blackmail-purposes and, come on, Justin,' she whined, swinging his arm, 'You have to dance!'

'You-' he looked around them, now in the centre of the crowd, and Alex thought he was about to gag when he saw the way everyone else was moving, all pressed up against each other like that, 'Alex, no! I can't dance with you to this song!'

'Why not?' she was holding his hand, pouting, 'Do you want me to go somewhere with Javier instead?' What? She was going to milk this for all it was worth.

Captain Jim Bob Sherwood, protect me, 'Okay, forget-' he gestured around them at all the gyrating, 'that. "I'm addicted to you", "you're toxic"? The lyrics are highly inappropriate!'

'Justin...' she tipped her head back, Ooh, stars, 'Sometimes you should just ignore the lyrics and... listen to the music. It's just surface junk - it's not like people ever say what they mean,' she stopped looking at the sky. Okay, he still looked grumpy, so he wasn't dancing anytime soon... she could fix that.

She dragged him out of the mass of people back over to the punch bowl, knocking people out of the way and ignoring his pathetic little protests. She picked up a cup, shoving it at him, 'Drink.'

He tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow, 'And if I end up as drunk as you, then-'

'Then at least you'll loosen up a little!' she turned her head towards the band covering songs for the evening, 'Oh! Listen, a Spanish song, so now you can dance.'

He rolled his eyes, downing the drink against his better judgement because she always brought out the worst in him. He grimaced, no wonder she'd had so much, the thing was full of sugar, 'Alex, I can understand Spanish!' And if he'd thought the lyrics to Toxic were bad... this one was actually about romantic love, 'I actually listen to our mother who, by the way, forbid you from going to this party!'

'Will you just shut up and dance, already?' she grabbed the half-empty cup out of his hand, drank the other half (Justin's skin crawled - her lips touching the spot where his had been) and then chucked it behind her, hitting someone on the head.

'Hey!'

Ignoring whoever that was, because who cared, anyway, Alex pulled her brother back, again, whose hand she had been holding the entire time, by the way (Justin hadn't seemed to have noticed this), into the dancing bodies.

'Dance,' Alex said as she used his hand to twirl underneath him.

Justin stood there. A stone among the people moving around him, 'I don't know how to dance, Alex.'

'Bullshit!' she was dancing around him now, trying to make him spin by bending his arm further than it should go, 'You seemed fine dancing with Juliet at my Zombie Prom. And we used to dance together when we were kids all the time!'

'Ow!' he finally gave in, spinning to release his arm from the pain it was under, 'Yeah but not like this! And that was... slow dancing with Juliet, Alex. You know, lady-like dancing.'

She tried to rest her other hand on his shoulder at that - but their height difference was too much so she settled for his elbow, 'I can do lady-like dancing.'

He swallowed, not moving, and then she grabbed his hand for him and put it on her waist.

'There. Now you have no more excuses.'

He huffed, 'I can think of one,' but he finally started to dance.

'So just don't say it,' Alex pointed out as if he was incredibly stupid. And maybe he was.

So now they were slow-dancing, highlighted in contrast to everyone else, who were most definitely not doing anything as structured. And hey, even the moon had come out - the light that had been clouded over until the siblings had reunited. The silver illuminated everything far better than the fire. Who knew Mother Nature was a Jalex shipper, huh?

'Wait...' Alex half-whispered, 'Wasn't this song by Shakira?' she giggled, 'You like her even more than Britney.'

Justin rolled his eyes at her wicked grin - couldn't she just stop talking for a minute? Did she have to bring up the fact that they had a history together? 'Your point is?'

She laughed into his chest, 'Nothing, nothing,' she met his eyes again, 'Did you know Uncle Kelbo has a shrine to her, too? He has a copy of all of her costumes in his room and-'

'Alex! I do not have a shrine to Shakira!' Did she have to remind him that they shared an uncle? He was starting to feel uncomfortable again...

'Sure you don't, Dorkus,' he should have realised by now that she used all these names for him as terms of endearment.

He started to break away from her and she frowned - she'd had too much punch to be able to hide her disappointment effectively.

'Alex, we should really-'

Oh, thank you, Ricky Martin - screw you and your Puerto Rican, cross-over Latin sensation!

Livin' La Vida Loca had started, and now he would never be able to persuade Alex to leave.

'Hey!' she was happy again, wiggling already, and now he knew that he'd never be able to leave, 'Now this is some Spanish I can understand!'

He put his hands on his hips - he had to at least look like he was annoyed, even in the face of her happiness, 'Really, Alex? So, tell me, what does la Vida Loca actually mean?'

'This,' and then she pressed her body against him, and fuck, he sure hoped she couldn't feel anything suspicious.

'Alex!' he shoved her off of him. She was clearly far too drunk to be aware of her actions.

'Justin!' and then she pressed against him again, 'You can't slow-dance to this song, okay? It's like, impossible.'

And he could have come up with a thousand replies to that but for some reason - blame the punch - his stupid, senseless, idiotic brain (and Justin was rarely one to insult his genius) made no attempts to do this, even though his little sister was throwing herself all over him (she would later claim it was a prank, no doubt), and his body was enjoying it far too much and his hands had even began to touch her of their own accord when-

'Oh my God,' Alex stopped. She was staring at something.

He turned around, confused, and felt her duck behind him. What the-

Close to the shore were their parents. And they were dancing. In a way that no children would ever want to see their parents doing.

Alex was shaking, with laughter, 'So I can't go to a party but it's totally okay for them to sneak down here and do that?'

'Alex!' he turned back, 'Alex!' he had forgotten how close she still was, 'What are they- what are we- we have to leave!'

One of the side effects of that spell must have made them more carefree... and this had been taken to its logical conclusion.

'Oh no, please tell me they aren't-'

Yes. Jerry and Teresa were now joining a small number of people frantically removing their clothes to go skinny dipping.

'Okay,' Alex continued, linking her arm around Justin's elbow, 'No one wants to see you naked, Justin, so let's leave before they see us.'

'Hey,' as they manoeuvred their way through the people rushing down to the sea, Justin couldn't seem to stop himself from saying 'Juliet happens to love my body. I work out now, Alex! You can't pass those kind of judgements when you've never even seen me naked!'

And... that sounded far too much like an invitation. Back on the resort's pathways now, Alex merely raised an eyebrow - she didn't even have to say anything to twist that one.

'I- I wasn't-'

'Whatever, Weirdo,' she was leaning into him a lot, as they walked, feeling tired. They didn't slow down, though - they wanted to get back to the hotel room as quickly as possible in case Mum and Dad somehow managed to beat them back (not likely).

With the crickets starting up and the moonlight and Alex leant against the wall giggling again, while Justin tried to unlock their door, he couldn't help but think of Zombie Prom again and the events that had happened after. The giggling. The darkness. Alex didn't giggle the same way that Juliet did.

It felt wrong to be thinking of Juliet right now. He told himself he didn't know why.

A small click told them he'd unlocked the door. They stumbled into the pitch black inside, Justin almost screaming when he bumped into the dressing table. Alex clamped a hand over his mouth, his lips pressed against her fingers. Max was snoring, they shouldn't wake him up.

At some point they fell into a bed, both insisting it was theirs, and maybe Justin was more drunk than he thought because now he was giggling too, biting his lip to keep quiet, and they were shoving each other.

'Get into your bed,' he whispered.

'Get into your bed, this one's mine!'

'No, it's not!'

'Shh! You'll wake Max!'

'So?'

'Shh!'

And neither sibling left the bed.

And eventually they stopped talking.

And, with moonlight peeking in through the gap in the curtains - thanks to Mother Nature, they fell asleep, still dressed and on top of the covers but comfortable.

Justin sighed.