Scorpius could be useful working for Malfoy Enterprises? "I've heard about the Stop Snitching flyers posted in Knockturn Alley," he said. "Are informant ranks so decimated you ask family members to turn on each other?"

"No." Potter seemed genuinely appalled. "Lucius isn't under investigation." He hesitated, and then added, "At this time."

Honest to a fault, just like Super Wizard. "What do you want?"

Potter glanced over his shoulder. "Ron and George are in the process of imbedding voice-activated recorders into Trackingbralls for the Auror Office."

They had reached the motorcycle. Scorpius handed Rose's blue helmet to Potter. "There's a Sizing Charm."

"I trust in your driving ability."

Scorpius drew on his helmet and adjusted the chinstrap. "Ability doesn't ensure safety. This is a Muggle machine, not a racing broom."

Potter put the helmet on. "Draco was always concerned about personal safety too."

Was that before or after Potter's Sectumsempra curse? Scorpius said, "That made him the best of fathers."

"I'm sure." Potter gestured to the motorbike. "You didn't choose the windshield option?"

"Deflection Charm." An acrylic shield would have ruined the aesthetic. Scorpius waved his wand and a leather backrest with chrome side brackets attached to the passenger seat. "Something for you to hold onto."

"Thanks."

Scorpius swung a leg over the motorbike and waited for his passenger to settle onto the pillion seat before he revved up the engine and let out the clutch.

The riding experience was different, to say the least, with Potter on board. The motorbike handled the same: easy to manoeuvre at any speed, and once airborne, a twist on the throttle sent the rpm rocketing. As the landscape beneath them blurred, Scorpius realised the difference was weight—not in kilograms, but expectations. Rose only wanted to enjoy the experience and his company. Potter had an agenda.

Scorpius circled around and landed the motorbike at the edge of the apple grove bordering the paddock he and Rose had touched down in earlier. "Is this enough distance?"

"Should be." Potter climbed off the motorbike and brought a Sneakoscope out of a shorts pocket. "It detects Trackingbralls as well as untrustworthy people."

"And I have a Toadstone in my pocket." The stone, a token of thanks from Lysander Scamander for finding his toad Loki, grew hot to warn of danger.

Potter's eyebrows rose. "Is it shaped like a bezoar?"

"No." Scorpius put his feet on the ground and remained seated. "I've seen how fast Trackingbralls can roll. There isn't time to waste."

"So get on with it?" Potter smiled wryly. "You'd think after all these years I'd find it easier to ask someone to put themselves at risk for the good of the wizarding world, but I still struggle."

If the slight pause that followed was Scorpius's cue to speak, he ignored it.

"Your relationship with Rose is another complication," Potter said.

"Is it?"

"Her parents are my dearest friends." Potter tugged his helmet off. "I can't have a serious discussion wearing this thing."

Scorpius didn't move.

"You aren't making this easier," Potter said.

"Is that what you want? Very well. It's public knowledge I'm joining the board of Malfoy Enterprises. My grandfather isn't under investigation, so that leaves the Knights of Walpurgis." The wizard supremacist group whose name Voldemort changed to Death Eaters. The group his grandfather continued to support.

Potter nodded. "Aurors monitor the activities of prominent members, but we've never had an informant inside the organisation."

"I declined knighthood," Scorpius said.

"You'll still have access to people and information. Lucius has made it clear that you are his heir, not Draco."

"Father has other interests."

"I know."

Typical. Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater to Aurors, even if a man became a law-abiding citizen who created perfumes with his wife. "What kind of information are you looking for?"

Potter said, "The Stop Snitching flyers you mentioned. Rumour has it the Knights of Walpurgis are behind them. I want to know if their campaign is meant to cover up something they've already done . . . or something they plan to do."

The Toadstone in Scorpius' jacket pocket suddenly heated as if it was trying to burn through leather. "If I find out I'll pass the information along." He held up the Toadstone so Potter could see the greenish glow.

Potter asked, "Pass information how? Through Rose? I don't want her involved."

"Too late."

The Sneakoscope sprang to life, whistling and spinning like a dervish. Potter's expression tightened. "There's a distinct lack of privacy in this family."

Scorpius asked, "Shall we teach them a lesson?"

Potter deactivated the Sneakoscope. "What kind?"

"Trackingbralls and water don't mix." Beyond the orchard was a duck pond. Scorpius and Potter could ride over and use spells to plunge the Trackinbrall to the bottom. It had worked for Scorpius and Rose last Easter.

"The new models are resistant to water pressure," Potter said.

Weasley ingenuity was always evolving. "There's another lesson we could teach."

Potter got back on the motorbike. "What's that?"

Scorpius dropped the Toadstone into his pocket. "Eavesdroppers never hear any good of themselves."

.

The ride through the orchard and across the paddock became a test of self-control. Potter's "advice" on dating a Weasley was so dryly amusing; without a Deflection Charm Scorpius would have had bugs in his teeth. Scorpius stopped the bike a safe distance from Rose's father and uncle, who waited at the spot he'd parked at before. He removed his helmet and gloves. "They don't look happy."

"I wonder why," Potter said blandly.

Scorpius grinned before he could catch himself and then tensed when Potter blinked like an owl—-hopefully in shock that a Malfoy thought he was funny. Scorpius headed for the garden.

Rose's father stepped into his path. "It's true. Don't look at anything on Rose's body below her neck. Not when I'm around."

"Yes, sir." Scorpius continued on.

"Harry's wrong about me liking you better if you praise my inventions," George Weasley called after him. "You have to buy them too."

"I'll remember that." He strolled over to join Rose on the stretch of lawn currently used as a bowling green. "Who's winning?"

"Team Teddy. Did you have a nice ride?"

"Mmm."

Rose linked her fingers with his. "They're having a bowls tournament. Do you want to play?"

Scorpius shook his head.

Rose said, "Neither do I. Let's go home."

.

.

A/N: The dunked in the pond references last chap and this one came from ch. 13 of Our Little Secret when Rose and Scorpius went for a swim with their clothes on to deactivate a Trackingbrall. The "don't look below her neck" was inspired by a "Daddy's rules for dating" list. Readers of OLS might remember the chat Scorpius had with Rose's male relatives and some of the "rules" that came up, like "You make her cry, I make you cry."

Special thanks to the readers who reviewed last chapter: arrrgghimapiratenow, Calenmarwen, drcjsnider, Fay-Io, Guest 1 , Guest 2, & Guest 3 (You've gotta type your names next time so I can stop imagining you as Dr. Seuss characters, cousins of Thing 1 & Thing 2 :D), Il'Diko, judypkoi, makoshark, Mageofthebooks, Missdagane, Moontime, senbo-samba, SGed, syNemYoA, tambrathegreat, VanillaMostly, and zizzic797.