Disclaimer: As always we'll own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in.

Note: So I intended to write a few more chapters for this fanfic, but it became more and more apparent that I was never going to get this done within a reasonable time frame if I did that and so I decided to take this route instead. Thanks so much for sticking it out until the end, I hope you enjoyed it.

Christmas Day Bonding

Since Phoenix wasn't old enough to understand the concept of Father Christmas, much less get excited about the man coming down one of their chimneys to bring him toys, Albus and Scorpius were able to enjoy sleeping in a lot later than the average British parents. The fact that Phoenix had danced himself into a stupor the night before helped too, since their son was often up quite early and neither Albus nor Scorpius would have appreciated having to get up sooner than necessary that morning. Especially in Scorpius's case.

So the two teens were able to catch up on the sleep they'd missed the night before after they'd remembered that there was some toys and stuff they needed to set up before morning, which had required them to very reluctantly get dressed again and go downstairs for a bit before very happily returning to Albus bed to pass out for the night.

But yeah, it was nice that Albus and Scorpius were able to stay in bed until about eight thirty, which for the parents of young children was a Christmas Day miracle. It was about then that Phoenix started calling for them, Albus unwrapping himself from around Scorpius's still form to regretfully get up to retrieve their son from his bed.

Dressing Phoenix for the day took some doing too, the boy was wired and wiggly as Albus maneuvered the boy into his holiday themed clothes before carrying Phoenix out of his room and depositing him beside Scorpius, thinking to let the boy wake his da up.

Which Phoenix did by jumping up and down on the mattress and then flinging himself at Scorpius's head before Albus could stop him.

Scorpius was not amused, though he was awake.

To save himself Albus volunteered to go downstairs and make them tea to make up for allowing Phoenix to wake the blond up that way, Scorpius waving away the offer and stating that he'd get up and make the tea, thank you very much. He didn't like Albus in his kitchen unless absolutely necessary.

Not taking offense Albus entertained Phoenix while Scorpius threw on a robe, and then all together they headed downstairs, the teens opting to go to the kitchen first to get that tea as they both needed to be wide awake and as wired as their son currently was to handle him once the boy got a look at the presents waiting for him under the tree.

Though there wasn't actually that much for the boy to freak out over, Albus mused as he watched Scorpius putter around the kitchen, the Gryffindor absently bouncing Phoenix on his knee to keep their son entertained. They'd both been well aware of the fact that Phoenix would be getting piles of presents from everyone they knew and plenty of people they didn't, so going overboard with their own gifts would have just been a waste of money and effort. Especially since Phoenix was only a toddler still, and would probably prefer his box house to anything they or anyone else might give the boy.

In one corner of his brain Albus was also a little worried about how his important gift to Scorpius would be received. He'd gotten his boyfriend some little stuff too, but the main present was…well he was ninety five percent sure that Scorpius would like it, and Lily and his mum had thought it a brilliant idea…but he was still a little nervous, especially since he wasn't quite sure how Scorpius felt about jewelry. Not that this was typical bling or anything, but the matching one he'd gotten for himself wasn't something he'd have normally worn either, if not for the story behind it.

"Here's your tea."

"Oh, thanks. That was fast."

"We wizards have our ways." Scorpius smirked at him over the rim of his own cup. "Shall we?"

His own cup in hand Albus set Phoenix on his feet and then told the boy to come with them, Phoenix toddling along between them until they entered the room in question and the boy got a look at the presents waiting for him under his tree. Yesterday had taught him what that meant.

"PWESENTS!"

Laughing at their boy's reaction, Albus and Scorpius took seats on the floor and directed Phoenix to the presents that were his, the ones they had gotten for each other having wisely been moved off to the side so that Phoenix wouldn't 'unwrap' them for them.

The first record Phoenix unwrapped was immediately presented to them with demands that it be played, Scorpius handing over his cup before getting to his feet, taking the record from their boy and heading over to their player while Phoenix trailed along after him to make sure he'd play it right.

Music filling the air, Phoenix lost interest in the presents for the time being, Scorpius watching him for a couple minutes with Albus before the blond walked over to retrieve one of the presents that had been set off to the side, carrying it with him as he walked back over to retake his seat at Albus's side.

"There's other stuff, but this is the main one I got for you."

"Hold on a tic, I'll get your main one as well."

Getting to his feet Albus quickly retrieved the present in question, the two handing the other the present they'd bought for him while their son continued with his interpretive dancing by the tree.

Holding back, he wanted to see Scorpius's reaction to what he'd gotten him, Albus smiled as he watched the neat way Scorpius carefully undid the wrappings, setting it aside after he was done before looking at Albus questioningly, his gaze asking why he wasn't opening his present as well.

"I want to see your reaction."

Scorpius blushed a little. "I'll like it no matter what you got me."

"Likewise. Now open it already."

)

Shaking his head over what he saw as a typical display of Potter impatience, Scorpius didn't both to argue or point out that he was just as anxious to see what Albus thought of the present he'd bought for him. Instead he turned his gaze back down to the box, eyebrows raised at the fact that the insignia on the top was from a well-known shop that sold custom watches and jewellery. Like most wizards he'd received a watch on his seventeenth birthday to mark the occasion, and he wasn't really one for rings or any other personal adornments. Frankly Albus was even less the sort to buy or wear such a thing than he was. Not to mention the fact that the box itself would indicate that whatever it was, it wasn't thin or small. What on earth?

Puzzlement no doubt written all over his face, Scorpius lifted up the lid and then stared at what lay within the box, that much more baffled by the piece of jewellery before him.

It was a bracelet, the width just short of the average man's thumb. Lines of silver ran the length of the bracelet at its top and bottom, as well as in between the odd white rectangles that made up the majority of the piece itself. He'd never seen any stone that looked like this though, and when he touched it Scorpius immediately corrected his thinking, recognizing that it was most certainly not stone, and yet it wasn't like any shell he'd ever touched before. The shell of a dragon, phoenix, some other magical creature? There were a lot of possibilities he probably wouldn't even think of normally, but why would Albus want to give him a shell bracelet of all…Phoenix. Shell.

"Albus."

"I had one made for Phoenix and myself as well. Mine is gold in between and his is gold and silver so it will match both of ours. You like it?"

Pieces of Phoenix's egg. The one that their son had been born in and which had brought them together in the first place. It had never occurred to Scorpius to ask what had happened to the pieces, their lives had revolved around Phoenix from day one after all and the egg had served its purpose at that point and was no longer needed. Albus had kept the pieces though. Had had had them made into this priceless keepsake.

"Scorpius?"

"It's perfect." Finding his voice again Scorpius beamed at his boyfriend, his heart in his throat. "Will you put it on for me?"

Beaming right back at him Albus nodded as he accepted the bracelet from Scorpius, gently wrapping it around his wrist and then securing the clasps for him. "Perfect fit."

"Perfect." Scorpius repeated, wrapping his arms around Albus's neck as he hugged his tight. "And here I thought I couldn't possibly love you any sodding more than I already do. Trust you to prove me wrong. Thank you."

The full body jolt Albus gave against him was the jolt Scorpius needed to realize what he'd just said and confessed to the Gryffindor, his arms automatically tightening further around his boyfriend to prevent him from drawing away from him. Plus in this position he couldn't see Albus's expression or vice versa, which struck Scorpius's sense of self-preservation as being for the best.

Albus didn't try and pull away from him though, thank Merlin, and when the other man's familiar, callused hand came up to stroke his fingers through Scorpius's hair it was all the Slytherin could do not to strangle Albus's with his grip as he continued to hold onto him rather desperately.

"Well that tops my gift, hands down."

It took a moment for Scorpius to figure out what Albus must mean by that, but he wasn't an idiot either and the need to confirm that he wasn't misunderstanding was finally enough incentive to make him loosen his hold and pull back so that he could see Albus's face. Though he kept his arms loosely wrapped around his boyfriend's neck, just in case.

"You…you don't mind that I…I love you?"

"Mind? You Malfoys." Smirking Albus leaned in to press their lips together in a tender, sweet kiss that brought a smile to Scorpius's face automatically. "I'm rather mad about you as well, Wife."

Lips twitching, Scorpius beamed with happiness even as his spoke wryly. "You just had to add that wife part, didn't you."

"Yes, yes I did."

Laughing in delight Scorpius pulled Albus in for another kiss, the two more smiling against each other as opposed to actually snogging, which suited them both fine, thank you very much.

And so wrapped up in each other and the moment that they were having neither teenager saw the way their son jerked out of his dance, the boy giving a full body shiver before going still and then turning around to look at them as they really did start snogging properly.

Neither saw the way their son's eyes glowed with life and power, or the fact that he beamed at them with absolute happiness over the fact that his parents' soul deep bond had just snapped into place, though mummy was a bit slow so it might be a little while before both his parents realized how deep the bond went. But the two would be together for always now, and they'd always be a family no matter what.

It was the bestest present in the whole wide world in Phoenix's opinion.

)

Thirteen Years Later

Phoenix always dreamed in bright and brilliant color, the boy rarely remembering what he'd dreamed for long aside from the fact that he didn't have nightmares which was just lovely in his opinion. Presently he was dreaming about the fun he'd had building snowpeople in the backyard with his siblings the day before when a considerable weight jumped on his unconscious body, waking Phoenix up rather quickly even as he identified his assailant before opening his eyes. He didn't need to open them to see his sister's aura after all, not to mention the fact that Bunny had a habit of jumping on people that pretty much guaranteed it was her. If it was the twins they'd both have jumped on him.

"Morning, Bunny."

"IT'S CHRISTMAS, PHOENIX! IT'S CHRISTMAS AND FATHER CHRISTMAS CAME!"

His ears ringing a little Phoenix grinned at her nonetheless, happy because she was so happy and excited as she bounced around on his bed in her rabbit pajamas while their sister Honey stood beside his bed, her face lit up with barely controlled happiness as she smiled at him. It wasn't in her nature to show her excitement the way Bunny did, but Phoenix could feel her joy and it made him beam back at her.

Of course the real reason they'd come to wake him up was that no one was allowed to open presents until everyone was downstairs, and understanding that Bunny was liable to drag him out of bed if he didn't hurry up Phoenix assured her that he was up and they should go wake the others up. He'd be down in a minute.

"We already woke Riley up, and Aries and Taurus are getting Mummy and Dad up too." Bunny informed him as she hopped off of his bed. "So come on already!"

Shaking his head Phoenix pushed aside his covers and got out of bed, putting on slippers and a robe before holding his hands out to the girls, who took them eagerly as they all headed out of the room together.

Focusing on using his abilities to locate everyone Phoenix saw that his big brother was already downstairs, probably putting together tea to help himself and their dad wake up since neither of the two were morning people to say the least. His parents were in their room with the twins, and everyone was radiating such contentment and happiness that Phoenix was tempted to just curl up somewhere and enjoy the wonderful fullness all their happiness gave him.

He'd often thought that this must be what a food coma felt like after one or more members of his family ate too much good food.

Heading down the stairs together they were the first to arrive in front of the tree, Phoenix letting the girls' hands go so that they could run over to presents while he went over to the record player to select something Christmasy, but also soothing since it was really early in the morning.

Seventeen year old Riley came in a minute later, the beautiful inside and out teenager the only Muggle in their family. Not that any of them cared about that. When they'd adopted him along with his Muggleborn sister Jemma, who they all called Honey, people had thought they were crazy, and that it wouldn't be fair to Riley either, but Phoenix had known the two were meant to be his siblings, just as he'd known when it came to the twins, Taurus and Aries. Bunny was technical related to him on their dad's side, but her parents hadn't wanted the responsibility of raising a child so they'd given her to them so that Phoenix could have a sibling. No one had expected his parents to adopt four more to bring their total number of children up to six.

Mum liked to say that someone had to keep up the Weasley family tradition of a very full house.

Pleased when Riley took the seat beside him the two teenagers watched their sisters in comfortable silence until the ten year old twins came running into the room to join their sisters, their parents following after at a much more subdued pace. Both men wore tired smiles, but then it had taken considerable effort on their part to get their younger children to turn in for the night after a present bonanza at their dad's parents' place.

For the sake of everyone's sanity Mum informed the kids that they could start opening their presents, Dad very gratefully accepting the tea Riley handed over as they all turned their attention to the tearing open of wrapping paper and the yells of surprise and delight when the presents inside were revealed.

And later in the day they'd all head over to their mum's grandparents' place for the usual Weasley family Christmas dinner, all the family get-togethers and parties they got to go to Phoenix's favorite part of Christmas or any other holiday. It was being around people who loved him and loved each other that made him glow with love and happiness, and in his case that really wasn't just an expression.

Soon he'd get to enjoy watching his Mum, Uncle Flint and all his other Quidditch obsessed relatives trash talk each other in preparation to the annual family Quidditch match, which always made Aunt Lily and Aunt Gabrielle roll their eyes at them. And then there was watching Aunt Rosie try to keep Uncle Sev away from all the chocolate without success, and Uncle Christopher joining him in watching everyone with a mixture of fondness and exasperation at the insanities that always seemed to occur when you put a bunch of people with Weasley blood in the same room together.

There was the slight downer of Flora being a little peeved at him, since he'd told her that a good looking Ravenclaw she'd had her eye on wasn't her soulmate the week before. She'd decided that his time in Slytherin had warped his ability to see that sort of bond, nevermind that everyone knew he'd picked that house to make his great grandfather happy before he passed away. Plus Phoenix had a perfect record of matching people, thank you very much. Hadn't he matched most of his mum's cousins and their friends?

And thinking of all the matches he'd made Phoenix turned his head to study his parents, smiling at the picture they made as they sleepily leaned against each other for support, watching their children with loving, amused expressions on their faces.

Theirs was an unbreakable bond, Phoenix thought with satisfaction. Now and forever.

The End