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

Bonding While Worrying

Dropping off their mail took longer than the two had expected due to the fact that not only was half of London's Wizarding community apparently there to drop off last minute packages and post, but all the owls that weren't currently off on assignment got all aflutter over Phoenix's presence. So while Albus waited in line to drop off their thank you letters Scorpius had to introduce their son to all the owls in between letting the various witches and wizards who'd already braved the lines meet Phoenix and coo over his adorableness. It wasn't as bad as the Ministry, most were eager to get the heck out of the store after being stuck inside it way too long already, but it was still touch and go a few times, especially with Phoenix getting overheated in his suit thanks to the amount of bodies in the relatively small space. But finally they got out, letters taken care of, and so it was time to start checking off the names on the list Scorpius had made of the people Albus had to buy for.

Luckily for all involved Scorpius was the type who planned ahead when it came to shopping, years of running into people who'd lost love ones in the wars and hated him by proxy as a result having taught him well the value of getting in and out as quickly as possible. The fact that those same people were now looking at him as an extension of Albus and Phoenix meant that there was a lot fewer dark looks being aimed in his direction, but they still did their best not to dawdle.

They'd just left the second store with two bags worth of presents when the teenagers were greeted by Albus's family owl, come to deliver a letter from his father. Opening it up Albus scanned the contents, sighing a little over the news before folding it back up again and shoving it into his pocket.

"What did it say? If I can ask."

"Of course you can ask." Leaning in Albus gave Scorpius a quick kiss to remind him of why that was before explaining the reason for the letter. "It was just a letter from my dad telling me that the time's been pushed back an hour for our 'family' lunch with my dad's cousin's family." Albus used air quotes just to highlight how ironic it was to use the term family when it came to those particular relatives.

Shifting his hold on Phoenix, they couldn't let the boy walk in these crowds no matter how much he obviously wanted to, Scorpius thought for a moment before sorting through their busy Christmas schedules enough to know what his boyfriend was talking about. "This is the family lunch you said you'd be going at alone because you didn't want me to dump you in revenge for making you go?"

"Exactly. I mean it would be a million times worse if Dudley's parents, my dad's aunt and uncle were going to be there, but things are always super awkward at these things even without them around. Plus my cousin Brittany is pure evil, and you had enough of her own sort in your house. Her brother used to call her Jabba the Hutt behind her back until she found out and knocked out his two front teeth."

"Jabba the Hutt?"

"Oh, yeah, you wouldn't know who that is. Think of a living pile of shite and you'd be pretty close. Hutt's a character in these movies Finn, Brittany's brother, really likes. Hutt's this gangster, murdering criminal by the way. Definite Death Eater material. Anyway, Finn's okay, he's actually quite a lot like you really, though physical he actually looks a lot like what Phoenix will probably grow up to look. Finn's got blond hair and the Evans' eyes, and unlike everyone else in his immediate family he's thin as a rail. Just one of the many reasons his sister hates him."

"She sounds rather…dreadful."

"Oh she is. But I'll introduce you to Finn sometime, he's shy too but I think you'd get along pretty well. Plus he's really interested in magic and such, so you'd be his hero just for answering his endless collection of questions. We're not really to talk about magic when we visit his house, though they do all know about it. I think if the other three knew about Phoenix they'd probably all have heart attacks given they can't be in the best of health anyway given their size. Finn will probably think it pretty brilliant and totally sci fi."

"Sci fi?"

"I'll let him explain that to you." Rolling his eyes Albus shook his head and then suggested they hurry on their way so that they could finish all this bloody shopping and then go home where the only people they had to deal with for the rest of the day were each other.

Nodding his head Scorpius pointed in the direction they needed to go next, though they hadn't gone far when they heard familiar voices coming from their left with Scorpius the first to spot Teddy and Domi standing by a nearby cart. They appeared to have just bought themselves some hot drinks, Teddy holding what looked like a piping hot apple fritter in one hand.

Yummy.

The poor breakfast Albus had made for them easily forgotten, the trio immediately hurried over to the cart to say hello and get themselves some treats as well. The hot apple cider, when they got close enough to smell it, had both teenagers grinning as they exchanged greetings and gladly handed Phoenix over to Domi so that she could fuss over him while they put in their orders.

"Boys." Domi sniffed, obviously a little put off that they were all going to eat the fritters in front of her. Thanks to the Christmas dinners and parties she had to look forward to in the next couple weeks she was trying to be careful about avoiding such treats when she could. She was not a woman who took kindly to denying herself.

"I offered you a bite of mine, Dom. Three times." Rolling his eyes Teddy just shook his head when she gave him a dark look he knew all too well thanks to her, his mother in law, and his wife. "So what are you guys up to? Shopping?"

Rather than let his cousin think he was as bad as Albus Scorpius informed Teddy that he had finished his own Christmas shopping a while ago. Albus was the one who thought it was just fine to wait until the last minute.

"It's not that big a deal." Was Albus's defensive response, his shoulders hunching. "And this isn't the last minute."

"No, because I said we were going shopping today instead of you doing it when the mood struck."

"We've just come from the jeweler actually, to pick up a necklace I ordered for Victoire. It turned out rather nicely, I think." Pulling it out Teddy showed it to Scorpius since he was fairly certain his cousin would be a far better critic than Albus, who wouldn't know what to look for in good jewelry.

Naturally Albus's response was that it was certainly shiny, while Scorpius had the knowledge and training to examine and approve of not just the setting and design, but the flawlessness of the sapphires and amethysts as well. It was a lovely gift.

Bemoaning the fact that she didn't have a man to buy her a beautiful necklace like the one her sister would be getting for Christmas, Domi decided to hell with it, she needed that fritter to make her feel better about the fact that she was single. Setting Phoenix down, the boy had started to wiggle in her grasp anyway, Domi told them of her plans and then went back over to the cart while the guys discussed a proper Christmas gift for Albus's mother since neither teenager was sure what to get her. She'd vendetta their ideas when she got back.

So off she went, returning minutes later with her own treat having run into a former schoolmate at the cart. In the process of chewing her latest bite of fritter Domi took one look at them and abruptly started choking, gesturing at them wildly.

All three automatically running over Teddy gave her back a couple helpful thumps, the men asking if she was okay when she finally managed to swallow the piece of dough that had been stuck in her throat since she was not hurling in public.

"Forget about that." She managed to croak out, slapping away their concerned hands. "Where's Phoenix?!"

A moment of stunned silence and then the three turned their heads in the direction of where they last remembered seeing the boy…who most definitely wasn't there. And none of them could remember exactly where he'd been standing or what the toddler had been doing while they'd been talking, assuming the boy would stay where he was put which was completely barmy now that they were thinking about it.

In a finger snap the reality of the situation had all four of them frantically turning their heads this way and that as they looked around them while calling Phoenix's name, searching for the sight of the toddler in his bear snowsuit without luck. The crowds were just too thick and Phoenix wasn't big enough to easily spot given that he was less than half the average person's size.

Seeing that his cousins were both on the edge of becoming hysteric as they called for their son, Teddy took charge as the oldest and least likely to panic. Thank Merlin there was four on them. "All right, we split up to look for him. If you spot him or meet up with someone who's seen him send up a blue flare into the sky to alert the rest, all right?"

"What color of blue?" Domi wanted to know, her worry not making her think terribly straight at the moment.

Understanding her, Teddy told her that her eye color would work and then quickly assigned directions to each person, everyone taking off as soon as they had their assigned area, determined to find Phoenix as quickly as possible before something happened to him.

)

Having figured out that he was less likely to get squished if he stayed close to the buildings, Phoenix made his way through the crowds as he explored this interesting place he found himself in. There were so many people who were so much bigger than he was, he wasn't used to it but it was sort of neat too. It was like he was invisible and no one was trying to pinch his cheeks anymore! Their colors were all mostly happy too, which was good, he hated bad colors after all, and the fact that most people sides Chocolate still couldn't get what he was telling them a lot of the time was real frustrating.

Feeling a deep ache bloom in his tummy Phoenix stopped and placed his hands over it, brows wrinkling in puzzlement for a moment before he realized that something was wrong with his da and mummy. Not liking that one little bit Phoenix immediately turned his attention to using his senses to detect where they were, his frown growing that much deeper when he realized that they weren't together. Who was he supposed to go to? What had happened? They were really upset about something.

Shaking his head at both of them Phoenix decided to head towards mummy since he felt closer, and then they could find da and they'd be together again and no one would be sad.

Unfortunately that meant going in a different direction then most of the people around him, who jostled him and knocked their bags into him without realizing he was there. And then there was space beside him and Phoenix immediately moved to stand in it, watching the people stream by him in frustration. Or he was until his senses picked up on something behind him that made Phoenix give a full body shiver as he slowly turned around to face the cause of that feeling.

The man stood a couple buildings down from him, leaning against a wall and watching him with a penetrating stare that was very unnerving. But it wasn't the look in the man's eyes that made Phoenix's stomach hurt, but the yuckiness of the man's colors that only looked worse and worse to Phoenix the closer the man got to him. Whimpering Phoenix wanted to back up but he couldn't, his feet just wouldn't move. He wanted his mummy and da! He didn't want the scary person to-

From the shadows something big and powerful moved, the bad man stopping and whirling around to face the much larger figure that had joined them. And then the yucky colored man was gone, winking out of sight like he'd never been.

Very relieved by that fact Phoenix turned his gaze to the person who'd made the bad man leave, having to crane his neck up really high to meet the golden eyes that looked down at him. This man wasn't bad, though his colors were very sad and painful. And-and the center of his colors…they were like Shiny's! This was Shiny's person!

Closing the distance between them Phoenix held out his arms and demanded to be lifted up, the man hesitating for a moment before doing as asked and bringing him up to settle somewhat comfortably in his arms, though Phoenix had to wiggle a little to get comfortable. Once he was Phoenix reached out and gently placed his hands on the rough scruff on the man's face. "It ogay. No sad, it ogay."

Pushing all the happiness and love he could into his new friend Phoenix could see that the man knew he was doing something, those pretty gold eyes were very wide now, but he didn't resist either. It was too bad he didn't have a lot of good stuff stored up, he'd given a whole bunch of his happiness and stuff away already, but he gave what he could and then snuggling in shifted so that he could hug the man's neck as well as he could, offering just physical comfort now since it seemed to make his own parents very happy when they were close together and he liked to be cuddled too lots and lots.

"PHOENIX!"

Lifting his head up at the sound of his name Phoenix recognized the voice as Shiny's, and pointed in the direction he could sense she was in now that she was close by. Their bond wasn't as strong as the one he had with his mummy and da.

Thankfully his friend started to move in the direction he was pointing and they'd just about reached the crowds still walking by when Phoenix found himself being held above his friend's head. Wow, he was really, really high up! It was brilliant!

Giggling and kicking his feet Phoenix waved both hands at Shiny when he spotted her, disappointed when he was lowered again when she burst through the crowd and came over to snatch him out of his friend's arms as she crushed him against her chest and said a bunch of stuff he didn't understand.

And then he could breathe again as she settled him on her hip, which was very much appreciated.

"You, you found him!"

As Phoenix watched Shiny did that weird thing his own parents liked to do with their mouths, the action making his friend's colors dance just like it did with most people he saw doing the weird thing called snogging. His friend's cheeks were going red too, just like da's did all the time.

When she pulled away Shiny was blushing a little and staring at the man who was staring back at her weirdly too. Phoenix thought their faces were really funny and giggled some more.

"Oh you think this is funny, do you? Scaring us all to death like this? Your poor-Oh!"

As Phoenix watched Shiny pulled out her wand and pointing it at the sky sent out a burst of blue color that had him clapping in appreciation as it exploded high above their heads. It was very pretty and made the clouds look nicer.

So, he had found Shiny her person and didn't even need to tell her since she'd obviously figured it out for herself, and his mummy and da were both getting closer, he could tell. Yay.

)

Bursting into the alleyway Albus didn't quite know what to think when he caught sight of the giant hulk of muscle Domi was chattering away at, but as soon as he spotted Phoenix that didn't matter. Running over he took him from her and clutched his little boy lightly against him, pressing his now wet cheeks against Phoenix's neck as he breathed in his baby's scent as Phoenix squawked a little in protest at being held so tight again. But not for the world could he have loosened his grip even a little even with Domi rubbing his back and telling him there wasn't a scratch on Phoenix.

Then Scorpius was there and they made a family sandwich with Phoenix stuck in the middle, his face saying he was completely bewildered by what was going on and he wouldn't mind an explanation ASAP either.

Teddy came last, and when Albus and Scorpius were both up to turning their attention to the bloke who'd apparently found Phoenix in the first place Teddy introduced them to Christopher Worden, who was actually a friend of his from Russia.

Naturally they couldn't thank him enough, Christopher's attempts to get them to stop thanking him hindered by the fact that he was actually mute, having been attacked by werewolves when he was young which was why he was both scarred and a werewolf himself. That the foreigner was not at all used to being thanked or treated kindly was obvious, though it was the fact that Domi had latched onto his arm and had yet to let it go that really seemed to bamboozle the man.

Ten minutes later Domi was strong arming Christopher off to join her for some tea and then men were left wondering if, since they owed the man, they should have maybe tried to stop her.

Oops.