"A question for me?" Magnus asks, and not for the first time am I questioning his choice of contacts. I know that he has to see and all, but the cat eyes are really distracting…awesome, but distracting.

I nod and he sits in the spot that Jace has recently vacated, clasping his hands together in his lap as he looks up at me, the glitter around his eyes shimmering, "What's on your mind, Clary?"

"Isabelle and Jon both told me something the day that Jace and I first really went public about our relationship," I look at him, and I see him smiling. "I wanted to ask someone about it, but I figured that if I asked one of them I wouldn't get a straight answer."

"Let me just get one thing off my chest first," he said, "I've been wanting to before now, but the opportunity never really showed up."

"What is it?" I ask, raising both eyebrows at him.

"I know that you both aren't dating," he says. He is so calm, speaking as though it is common knowledge. Of course, this is the part that freaks me out the most.

"What do you mean?" I ask, I try and sound indignant, but I know that I fail. I am too shaken up to really make my voice sound any other way.

"I know Jace and you both too well, sweetheart," Magnus says, shaking his head. "The way that you're acting around each other isn't as natural as it would be if it was real. I think I've figured out what's going on, though, and it's a decent thing for him to do."

I roll my eyes, giving up on the façade of being puzzled completely. Magnus obviously knew his stuff. "You do understand that it is his fault that I have been tormented, right?"

"Yeah," Magnus admitted, "all I'm saying is that he at least fessed up to it and is doing something about it."

I sigh quietly, "How many people know?"

"Just me," Magnus shrugs, "that isn't exactly my secret to tell, you know." He smiles as he looks up at me, his teeth are almost blindingly white, and his expression is almost telling me that it is okay and that I don't need to freak out. "I'm just more observant than anyone else that really matters. I just noticed that you're both too different around each other than what you would normally be. No one else is really paying that close attention. Jon is just fuming over the held hands and flirtations, and that you guys seem so lovey-dovey. Isabelle is too distracted with her own issues to really pay attention to you guys, and then there's both Simon and Alec…who are both too unobservant to notice their own affections let alone yours."

"Then how are you and Alec together?" I question.

"I'm magical," Magnus says, wiggling his fingers to emphasize his points.

"Sure you are," I reply, suddenly remember that I am supposed to be picking up Jace's bloody mess. "I don't know if you'll be able to answer my question if you don't think that Jace and I are going out."

"Don't be so sure," he says to me. "I'm pretty good at knowing things."

"I've noticed," I tell him, a weak half-smile coming to my face. "I guess I really don't have anything to lose." I pause, and collect my thoughts as Magnus favors me with a patient smile. "Jon and Izzy both told me on the first day that all of this started that they saw this coming as in me and Jace getting together…why would they say that?"

Magnus looks at me in silence for a moment before breathing out an almost silent laugh. "I think that you're a bit too oblivious for your own good."

"That's pretty cryptic," I observe. "Can you go into more depth than that?"

"I don't really know if you'd appreciate my honesty," he admitted, placing his head in his hands.

I am silent as I kneel down and pick up an abandoned piece of red tinged gauze. As I toss it in the trash can I look at Magnus and say, "I've appreciated it all the way up until now. Why wouldn't I?"

"Alright," Magnus sighs, "remember that you asked for this."

I smile confidently as I start running water in the sink tap, trying to rid the porcelain of any scarlet remainders of Jace Herondale. The confidence is a mask, however, and I am sure that Magnus knows that. His words are starting to make me nervous. What could he possibly say that I would dislike that much?

"It's the way that you look at each other when you think that no one else is looking," he replies. I blink in confusion, and he just smiles at me in an understanding manner. "I don't know if you even realize that you do it anymore, Clary, but when Jace isn't looking, and you think that no one else is you get this tender, almost longing expression on your face. His is almost the exact same when he's looking back at you."

"Magnus," I say, pausing as I turn around and look at him worriedly. "I don't want to sound self-deprecating, but Jace can have any other girl that he wants. It makes no sense that—"

"He can have any other girl," Magnus agrees, "but what's wrong with you? I don't understand it when insecure people say stuff like that!" He looks up at me, frowning slightly. "A certifiably hot guy is crazy about you, and you're questioning it. Think about this, Clary. What's wrong with you? Why wouldn't he like you?"

"I'm not—"

"If you say that you're not pretty, I'm going to knock some sense into you," Magnus warns me. "You're stunning I'll have you know, Morgenstern. You've been listening to those popular bitches at that school for too long."

I look down, suddenly feeling ashamed of myself. "Magnus," I say quietly, "he can do so much better than me…" I look at the bedazzled boy pleadingly, "He can at least get someone in his league! I'm nowhere near close."

Magnus rolls his eyes and sighs, "Look, Clary," he stands up, as he places a hand on my shoulder. "You and Jace aren't going out right now, I can tell that. I can also tell that you both like each other more than either of you actually know. If you're really that concerned about whether or not Jace is too good for you, you're going to have to talk to him." He smiles at me and says, "I can talk until I have no more glitter on my body, and you still not believe me. If you talk to him though, you might actually get the answers that you're looking for."

"I have one more question," I admit. "It's about Sebastian."

Magnus cracks a smile at the mention of the name. "What about, Verlac?"

"It's just that he's been really friendly to me lately, and I don't know what to make of it, or what to think about it," I look up at Magnus. "I feel really bad about appreciating the nice company, but he's been friendly, even when Jace has been cold. He's been flirtatious, even. I don't know what to do."

"Well," Magnus says, "that's something else that really isn't my place to say anything about…though I can promise you that you really don't have to worry about Sebastian making any moves on you, of all people. I promise."

I look up at Magnus and frown slightly. If he is talking about because Jace is one of his best friends, then clearly the glittery man in front of me doesn't realize that Sebastian has no boundaries, because he has been making plenty of them. Suddenly I find myself questioning his motives. Why was he suddenly so friendly with me now that Jace and I were 'dating'?

All of the speculation was making my brain hurt, and as I look around the bathroom, I realize that I still have more to clean up. I smile at Magnus, who beams back. "I think I've hidden from Alec long enough. I'll see if I can find a different way of not being on the game and leave you to your cleaning." I smile gratefully at him as he walks out the door shutting it behind him. At least Magnus has the decency to know when I need a few moments alone to digest information. He was an awesome friend.

Alright! What do you think Clary is going to take from this?! Also, does anyone have any theories about Sebastian? I'd love to hear them! I love your suggestions about Simon and Izzy by the way, they're all amazing, and I am thinking of taking a few of them into account. I'm sure that you'll recognize a few of them in the upcoming chapters! Bit of a spoiler…Clary and Izzy talk about Meliorn next chapter. Anything specific that you guys would like our favorite short redhead to bring up? Leave it in a review and I'll be sure to put it in if I can!