All I Want For Christmas Is You - a Magnus/Alec fanfiction

Prologue - November 30th

November 30th

Andrew Blackthorn stamped the wreath of thorns into the final wax seal. He added the envelope to the pile that had slowly grown on the desk before him. Deep in the bowels of the Los Angeles Institute, the Head of the Blackthorn Family was sending a letter - multiple copies of the same letter, in fact.

"Livvy!" Andrew called, nudging the letters into a neat pile. "Come here a moment!"

His daughter promptly poked her head around the study door.

"Dad? What is it? Training's about to start."

"It won't take a second, dear." Andrew assured her. "I just need you to take these and send them as fire messages for me."

"Who to?" Livia asked, rifling through the envelopes without any addresses on.

"All the US institutes." Andrew explained. "A young shadowhunter from Idris has gone missing. We assume he will show up in America, because both his parents were American. I'm sure he's perfectly fine, but of course-"

He broke off from his explanation when he noticed Livia glancing towards the door, in thinly-veiled impatience.

"Go on then. Have fun at training. And don't forget to post those!"

Livia dashed from the room, the letters tucked under her arm.

"I won't! Bye!"

Livvy, Ty, Tavvy and Dru all had training and Katerina, their tutor, hated them being late. Livvy loathed conflict, so therefore attempted to be on time - if not early - whenever possible. The older kids didn't have training; Mark was studying, Helen was out on research, and Julian-

"NO! DON'T! STOP!" a voice rang out through the halls. Ty.

Just then, Julian came sauntering down the hall, hands in his pockets, shirtsleeves smeared with paint. Livvy, anxious to get to her twin, jumped in front of him.

"Hey, Jules, wait!" She said, stopping her older brother with a hand. "Take these and fire message them for me? I have training and-"

Julian, always happy to oblige, took them without protest. His sister looked flustered, and anyway, he wasn't busy. Somewhere upstairs, Ty yelled again, voice raised in panic and anger.

"It's okay, Ty! I'm coming!" Livvy called to her twin, and ran to help, taking the stairs two at a time.

Julian shuffled the letters and started towards the library, where the fire was. However, he never quite made it that far. To his credit, he got the majority of the way, but then a familiar voice rang out.

"Jules?"

Emma. He hadn't known she was visiting today. Julian turned and spotted the loveseat sofa in the hall, laden with plush pillows and a decorative throw. He lifted one of the sofa cushions, shoved the stack of letters underneath it (he was sure he'd remember them later - he didn't) and replaced the sofa cushion, rearranging the pillows and throw to hide the evidence. Then he raced off to greet his would-be parabatai. The ceremony was next week, and they'd been preparing for months.

So the letters, unsent, stayed wedged under the Blackthorn's sofa cushions, unbeknown to Andrew. And that, is where our story begins...