Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's just the way it's gotta be. Thanks for reading.

My apologies to anyone who took offense to my error in word choice from last chapter. As soon as it was pointed out to me I realized that transgendered was indeed the word that I should have used. Albus's wasn't serious, but to those who took offence I apologize again. It's been rewritten.

Bonding Over Food

"You didn't really tell anyone that Scorpius was a girl, did you?" Rosie asked as she cuddled Phoenix, who cuddled the red bear that had become his in his chubby little arms. She'd stopped by to drop off some more clothes and toys for the little boy, not surprised to find out that the newest addition to their family already had more clothes than both his parents put together. Apparently Mrs. Malfoy was determined to match them outfit for outfit, the girl thought with amusement.

Albus laughed and shook his head. "Naw, though I think he thought I was serious up until I told the first cheek pincher that Phoenix was ours. Good British manners kept her from asking how that was physically possible, just as I thought they would. Though we did have a couple who prodded for more details, but I side stepped them quite well I think."

Teasingly Rosie waved a finger at him. "You're lucky he doesn't take after anyone in his family. That's the sort of thing a Malfoy would normally kill someone over."

"He is…pretty unique." They'd been living together for a little over a week, and so far they hadn't had a single real argument. Some strained moments and very long silences, but as a whole they'd learned to give each other their space while finding time to spend together with Phoenix, who kept them busy and entertained. It was embarrassing really, how fascinating they found the life they'd created together.

Rosie cocked her head to one side questioningly. "But you're getting along?"

He nodded. "Yeah, he's all right. Don't know if we'll ever be mates exactly, but I think we can make this work."

"And he's good with Phoenix?" Rosie asked, lowering her head to kiss the side of Phoenix's head, already hopelessly in love with the adorable baby.

"Yeah. He doesn't know a bloody thing about babies but he's getting the hang of things. It helps that there aren't any nappies to change or formula to try and make him drink. And the bond seems to bind us in a way so that as long as we're around he's happy. He hasn't cried once since the introduction party." Albus smiled as he reached out to ruffle the boy's hair. "And we'll find out how Mummy does without Daddy around tomorrow, won't we, Phoenix?"

"Where are you going tomorrow?"

"Davey's band is playing and he's blackmailed me as his best friend to come and cheer them on. They suck pretty bad apparently, so they need all the polite clapping they can muster from friends and relatives."

Rosie winced in sympathy. Her cousin's best friend was a reasonably talented guitar player who seemed to gravitate into bands no intelligent person would want to be in or hear. "I can see why you wouldn't just take Phoenix along. It would be so traumatizing for him that he'd be at least four come morning."

Albus laughed at the idea, though there was some truth to it. "Anyway, I'm meeting up with Davey and some others at this coffee shop at five. I'm hoping to come back to the house in one piece."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you."

"Thanks."

)

The next day Albus sat with a couple of his friends, waiting for the music to start as he fiddled with the tea he'd ordered. And when he wasn't fiddling with the tea he was nervously glancing at his watch. In some part of his mind he knew he was being an idiot, but he couldn't seem to stop himself either. Was this how all parents felt the first time they left their baby at home? He was ready to jump out of his skin. If he'd had some way of contacting Scorpius to check on them he would have probably done so at least a dozen times already. He should have gotten Tomo to help Scorpius babysit, Albus thought as he took a sip of his tea. Why hadn't he realized that sooner? What kind of a father was he?

"Not that you mentally freaking out isn't entertaining, because it is, but you need to calm down, Al." Frankie Longbottom told his friend with a smirk.

"But what if something goes wrong while I'm gone? What if Scorpius decides to heat up something instead of just making a sandwich and the stove explodes? It's really, really old you know. And he hadn't been using one that long. He didn't even know how to make soup before he hooked up with me."

Frankie rolled his eyes, though the use of the word hooked up struck the Gryffindor as…strange. "That's a Malfoy for you. But seriously, Al, I'm sure everything's fine."

"But what if it isn't?"

"Then you won't have to live with him anymore because the Wizarding World's version of Child Services will award you full custody." Davey's Muggle brother Marcus pointed out with a smirk.

Albus gave the younger man a dark look that had Marcus slouching in his seat instinctively. "We're a family now. And if something happened to him Phoenix would be inconsolable. I know it. And he'd never do anything to hurt Phoenix on purpose. It's accidentally I'm worried about!"

"Doesn't it suck though, living with The Ghost?" Davey's girlfriend Magda asked, using one of the school's popular nicknames for the Slytherin.

"I don't mind having Scorpius for a roommate at all." Only because she was a girl did Albus refrain from giving her a dark look for referring to Scorpius by that name. Well that and he had called the other man Ghost too, once upon a time. But he wouldn't ever again and he'd make sure none of his friends did either.

"Looks like the band is getting ready to play. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll get booed off the stage early." Marcus volunteered, hoping to lighten the mood he'd darkened. "This new band of his is even worse than the last one."

"So while I worry like crazy my ears will be viciously assaulted too. Good to know."

And were they ever assaulted. It was the shortest gig Davey had ever had as far as Albus knew. People actually threw stuff at them, which, Albus had to admit, wasn't without justification. If Davey weren't his best friend he'd throw stuff too. The drummer apparently couldn't keep time to save his life, and the vocalist was almost as hard on the ears as a mermaid out of water. His ears were still ringing ten minutes after leaving the coffee shop with his friends, since Davey and his band were no longer welcome in the establishment.

Walking together down the street the conversation turned to getting food, Albus immediately announcing that he would be passing to head on home instead.

"But we didn't even get to hang out." Davey protested as he walked at Albus's side. "And you've got to eat, right? I know I'm starving. Besides, you have to stick around and make me feel better about being banned from another coffee shop for life."

"We'll be at school soon and then we can all hang out together plenty." Albus pointed out, eager to get back and check on things. He was freaking himself out, but he couldn't' seem to stop supposing and rambling. "And I'll eat with Scorpius, if his head hasn't exploded from the strain of watching Phoenix by himself. He looked even paler than usual when I left. It would be very traumatizing for a child to see his mum's head explode, wouldn't it? Phoenix would likely never recover, and the Malfoys would blame me and refuse to pay for all his needed therapy. Money doesn't grow on trees you know."

"Well yours doesn't, but Muggle bills are made of paper which technically does come from trees." Magda points out with a smirk, elbowing Albus teasingly. "Now come on, guys, no fighting or insane rambling allowed. We'll just go to that new pizza place we passed on the way here, have some slices, and then we'll let Albus get back to his adorable baby boy. I want to meet Phoenix anyway. The picture of him in the Prophet was adorable."

"He was pretty cute looking, considering he's half Malfoy." Davey agreed.

"Malfoy's not bad looking." Magda argued, rolling her eyes when her boyfriend glared at her, the other guys giving her weird looks too. "What? I'm just saying. I mean he's no Al, but he's not someone you'd freak at waking up besides. Well no…that's not true, you'd freak out once you were awake enough to remember what his last name is, but before that you'd probably think he was decent looking."

"Let's get that pizza." Frankie announced, and changed the topic to something less nauseating.

)

Cleaning his cutting board by hand, a novel experience for someone who'd never done dishes before coming to his current residence, Scorpius glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Phoenix was still fascinated with the large spoon he'd given him earlier. Apparently his son was a little vain, the baby had been studying his own reflection for a good twenty minutes now. But given how adorable he was, Scorpius couldn't really blame him.

"Because you're going to be as gorgeous as your Daddy, yes you are." Scorpius told the baby, who banged the spoon against his high chair in agreement. "You'll be the handsomest boy to ever come to Hogwarts, just you wait and see."

Phoenix's response to that was to gurgle and blow spit bubbles.

Laughing Scorpius dried his hands on a dish towel and walked over to use his handkerchief to wipe up the drool. "Is that's your way of saying you're going to be drool worthy, Phoenix? Hmm?" Placing a kiss on the baby's head Scorpius didn't doubt it for a minute.

Ten minutes later, when the egg timer went off, Scorpius turned it off and pulled out his wand, pointing it towards the oven. The oven door opening Scorpius used magic to make the roasting pan rise out the door and placed it on top of the stove. Walking over to study his first attempt at cooking Scorpius was pleased to see that he hadn't obviously burned anything. That was a good first sign. Probably. Looking over in the direction of the instructions Scorpius read them over again carefully, wanting to make sure he'd followed his house elf instructions to the best of his abilities.

Turning his head to look at Phoenix Scorpius gave the boy a rueful look. "Looks like I'll have to eat it to find out if it's edible."

Scorpius wasn't quite sure what to make of the fact that the baby found the idea laughable, but since it was a welcome change from the worried looks the baby had been wearing off and on since Albus had left the Slytherin decided not to take offense.

Walking out of the room and into the dining room Scorpius retrieved his plate and headed back over to the oven again, using a large spoon he'd set out for the purpose to scoop up some of the potatoes and carrots onto his plate. Next it was time to slice up the roast, something that proved harder than he had anticipated, but it looked cooked all the way through, which was the main thing.

It certainly smelled wonderful, the Slytherin thought with a surprising amount of pride. Maybe Albus was right, to compare it to potion making, which he excelled at and the Gryffindor most definitely did not.

Covering up the dish to keep the rest of the contents warm Scorpius picked up his plate with his left hand and his wand in the right, magically moving the baby and his high chair into the dining room with him. Once there the Slytherin took a seat and angled Phoenix's chair towards him since the baby liked to be able to see him at all times.

Cutting up some of his meat Scorpius smiled as he took his first bite, savoring the perfection of his creation. It tasted just like it was supposed to. Winking at the baby, Scorpius grinned as he tried the potatoes next. "Looks like I didn't do too bad at all, Phoenix." If he didn't get food poisoning, he was ready to believe he might just be able to learn how to cook successfully.

The Slytherin was about a quarter of the way through his first helping when he heard the sound of the front door being opened. At first he assumed it was Albus, home early, but there was more than one person walking down the long hallway, the sound of the footsteps and whispered voices indicated there were several.

With his wand drawn Scorpius had just enough time to get to his feet and put himself between Phoenix and the doorway before he saw that Albus was leading the group of people with a very hungry look on his face. A look that turned into hungry puzzlement when the Gryffindor took in the fine linen, fancy china, and lit candelabra Scorpius had set out.

"Where did all that come from? The food and the fancy table setting I mean. And is there any more food?" Not even bothering to say hello to the two or make introductions Albus headed straight for the kitchen as soon as Scorpius told him to help himself to what was in the pan on the stove, the others on his heels as they loudly announced their interest in having some too.

Retaking his seat Scorpius looked over at Phoenix, his pleasure lost now that they had guests. He'd recognized all but the one, who looked enough like Davey Anders to suggest they were related somehow. It wasn't that they were bad people of course, Albus wasn't the time to hang out with the mean spirited or stuck up, but they didn't like him without knowing him, and Albus was sure to ignore him in favor of their company.

Working up a smile for Phoenix Scorpius turned back to his food, ignoring the Gryffindors and guest when they came in to take seats at the long dining room table. Though he was pleased when Albus took the seat on the other side of Phoenix, presenting them as a united front to the others. The unknown boy, Longbottom and Anders were eating roast beef sandwiches, Albus and Magda Pinewhistle had gotten to the potatoes and carrots first apparently. There was some satisfaction though, in watching them take their first bites of his food and show pleasure in his creation.

Albus's brows furrowed though once he'd eaten enough to settle his stomach's growling, puzzlement in his eyes as he looked over Phoenix's head to meet Scorpius's gaze. "You never did say where this came from. Did Kreacher get up and make it for you? I told him you'd be fine with a sandwich for dinner."

Shyly Scorpius shook his head. "I…I made it."

"You made this?" Frankie stared at the Slytherin from across the table, his sandwich stopping millimeters from his lips. "Seriously? You can cook?" Frankie looked over at Albus questioningly, sure that the man had said earlier that Scorpius barely knew how to operate a stove.

"This is the best pot roast sandwich I've ever tasted." Marcus added as he continued to eat with a gusto. Albus and Magda had gotten all the potatoes, and he wasn't much for carrots, but this beat the hell out of the crappy cardboard pizza they'd tried to consume earlier.

Meeting Albus's still puzzled gaze Scorpius shrugged self consciously. "I…well you said it would be good…if I could cook. I thought I'd try while you were away, so that if it turned out really bad you wouldn't feel like you had to eat it."

Albus grinned at the Slytherin in dawning delight. "Well thanks to this you're our new family cook. This is brilliant, Scorpius, seriously. It doesn't even need ketchup!"

Scorpius knew that to be a big compliment, since the man loved to put ketchup on everything if given the chance. Flushing with the praise the Slytherin turned his attention to playing with his food, his cheeks flushing even pinker as Magda and Davey added their praises, forgetting who they were talking to as they made yummy noises over the food.

Looking very pleased with the situation Phoenix slapped his hands down on his high chair happily, like he was beating on drums.

"So what's with the fancy plate and silverware?" Magda asked as she sighed over the fact that there were no more potatoes on her plate. The Slytherin hadn't been expecting them after all, and hadn't made that many. She was just thankful she'd guilted the guys into letting her have what Albus had left behind.

Scorpius shrugged self consciously. "This is how we eat dinner at home."

"Hmmm, you can cook, know how to set a romantic table, and you can watch a baby for two hours without burning the house down or calling someone for help." Magda grinned at the Slytherin, a twinkle in her eye. "I might just have to dump Davey and go after you instead, Malfoy. The best Davey can cook is grilled cheese sandwiches."

While Scorpius flushed a little over the comment Frankie shook his head at his friend's teasing. "You'd have to steal him from Gabrielle Goyle, Mags."

"Oh, right." With a laugh the brunette slugged an arm over her boyfriend's shoulder, leaning in to give him a smacking kiss on the cheek. "Looks like I'll have to stick with you. She'd crush me like a bug without breaking stride."

Nobody could argue with that.