His grandfather's distaste over the thought of having something in common with Harry Potter didn't outweigh his curiosity. Lucius exhaled heavily and said in a long-suffering tone, "Very well, since you want to tell me so badly, what do Potter and I have in common?"

Scorpius said, "I require a wizard's handshake that what I say will remain confidential." He couldn't allow the Knights to get their hands on the potion and use it for similar ends.

"Enjoying throwing my words back at me, are you?" Lucius shook hands and cursed when magic bound him to his promise. His eyebrows rose when his grandson massaged his hand, Scorpius's thumb rubbing in circles and pressing acupressure points. He grumbled, "I don't need your coddling. I've experienced worse pain." He didn't pull his hand away.

Scorpius smiled a little and let go. "You and Harry Potter both have subordinates following their own agendas. His are spiking targets' drinks with a potion to make them agreeable to talk and then using the information to harass other Knights."

"He told you this?"

"I discovered it on my own. When I tell him—"

Lucius scoffed. "You think he doesn't already know?"

"You didn't."

Instead of pinning him a withering look, Lucius gazed at him thoughtfully. "If that's truly the case," he said, "Then Potter will make an example of those men and their potions maker. Suspension or dismissal."

"I'll pass along your suggestion." Scorpius wasn't about to dictate terms.

"See that you do," Lucius said. "And while you're chatting, be sure to mention that the Ministry employee selling Micro Trackingbralls has yet to be found. It would be a shame if the Daily Prophet got hold of the story. The public loses trust in government so quickly."

"Uncle Harry should be home tonight," Rose said.

Lucius smiled thinly. "Time is of the essence."

Scorpius said, "We'll show ourselves out."

.

He would have used Side-Along Apparation to head straight to London, but Rose reminded him of their plan to have cabbies affirm that they were in good spirits before and after the family dinner. As the entrance gates closed magically behind them, Scorpius held his wand in the air and summoned a Squire Cab to take them to the Salisbury Floo Station. From there, they'd Floo to London and Apparate to Grimmauld Place.

Rose slid her arms around him. "You don't look happy," she said. "What can I do to change that?" She stood on tiptoes to kiss him.

They were both smiling when the cab arrived.

.

Neither of them smiled when Teddy Lupin opened the door instead of Kreacher. "What are you doing here?" Teddy asked.

"Nice shirt," Scorpius said. Teddy wore a Puddlemere United official practice jersey. "We're here to talk to Harry."

"Ted, who's at the door?" Albus walked into the entrance hall. He wore a Holyhead Harpies shirt. "Hey, come in, you two, didn't expect to see you so soon, and all dressed up. Did you throw another party?"

"We went out to dinner," Scorpius said.

"Without me?" Albus grinned and shut the door. "Some New Trio we are."

Rose playfully elbowed him. "You're the third wheel."

At the other end of the corridor, the door to the basement opened. "My phantom ear itches when there's mischief being managed without me," George Weasley called out, strolling toward them. He wore a Harpies shirt.

"My ear itches from being touched by those old Extendable Ears," Ron said. His orange shirt had a speeding cannonball and 1892 printed in black across the chest.

George said, "Fred may have dusted that side with itching powder once." He sighed nostalgically while Ron yelped.

"We need to speak with Uncle Harry," Rose said. "We didn't know we'd be interrupting . . . whatever we're interrupting."

"Poker night."

"Listening to Quidditch on the wireless."

George and Ron, who had spoken at the same time, exchanged annoyed, I-was-supposed-to-do-the-talking looks.

"Poker night while listening to a Quidditch match on the wireless," Teddy said.

Rose appeared ready to let the matter slide, but Scorpius couldn't resist saying, "The Wigtown Wanderers against the Falmouth Falcons?" They were the worst teams in the British and Irish Quidditch League. He doubted anyone except the teams' friends and family were listening to the match, and even they might turn the volume down as low as possible.

The four men exchanged glances.

Albus said, "I don't see why we can't tell them."

"Family only," Teddy replied.

"Blokes only," Ron said. "But not James. We don't want a repeat of last season."

George grimaced. "Current and former professionals have an unfair advantage."

Rose said, "Don't tell me you're running that Fantasy Quidditch League again?"

None of the men answered.

Rose put her hands on her hips. "Well?"

"You told them not to tell you," Scorpius said, before asking, "Is Harry in the kitchen? We'll go down and speak with him and then be on our way."

"Kreacher's making tea."

Harry Potter's disembodied voice made Rose and her father startle.

"I hate it when he does that," Ron said. He raised his voice. "Creepy, Harry. Really creepy."

"Sounding like a sore loser, mate."

"I picked too many Cannons players to be on my fantasy team," Ron said in response to Scorpius's enquiring look. "I need to exchange one."

"You use real-life player statistics to compete against someone else's team each week?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah." Ron let George lead the way down the stairs. "There are ten of us in the league, but only half of us made it to this week's meeting." He made a face. "If you couldn't tell, my team lost to Harry's."

Scorpius said, "If you trade your low performing veteran for a rookie that's about to catch fire, it might turn your stats around."

Ron stopped in his tracks. "You, uh, have any recommendations?"

Scorpius whispered a couple of names.

"Is that the sound of someone gaining an unfair advantage?" George asked from the stairway.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you. I was too busy scratching my ear," Ron said loudly.

"Ahem," Albus said. "As part of the New Trio, I think if Scorpius helps anyone have an unfair advantage it should be me."

"Stop saying that," Teddy said with a growl in his voice. "New Trio my arse. I'm sick of hearing it."

Scorpius glanced over his shoulder. Rose shook her head at him, narrowing her eyes when he didn't heed her unspoken command and asked, "Who brought it up?"

"Teddy's mates. They interrupted his afternoon nap to haul him down to the Iron Shackle for an interrogation session," Albus said. "He's been in a nark ever since."

"They said I need to choose between loyalty to family and loyalty to the department," Teddy said.

Rose snapped, "That's unfair."

Scorpius asked, "These mates of yours. Are they assigned to the surveillance team watching Knights of Walpurgis?"

"Colleagues, not mates," Teddy said, "And no. Some of them talk about it, but our badges are too new and shiny. We mostly investigate reports of Dark magic."

"Tea's getting cold," Harry's amplified voice reminded them.

"He always does that," Albus said apologetically.

"Because he's creepy," Ron replied before stomping downstairs.

.

Half the kitchen table was covered in scrolls of parchment. "The chosen teams?" Scorpius asked.

Ron tapped a couple of the scrolls. "Rolf and Bill have the, er, players you recommended."

"Whose team are you playing next week?"

"Louis's." Ron gestured to two adjacent scrolls.

Scorpius skimmed the four team rosters. "Is the veteran you want to trade a Chaser or a Keeper?"

"Keeper."

"Offer Rolf your player for his second Reserve Seeker."

"And I'll win?"

With more Cannons players on his team? "If nothing else you'll make Louis nervous." Scorpius moved away to sit between Rose and Albus.

"Got to keep our trio together," Albus said jokingly.

Across the table, Teddy glowered as he sat between Ron and George. "Say that one more time and I'll hex you."

"One against three?" Scorpius drawled. "Not very good odds."

George snickered.

Teddy's eyes had darkened to black. "What is this, take the piss out of Ted day?"

"Sorry," Albus said, "I expect to be hearing New Trio comments for as long as those two stay together, which—no offense, Uncle Ron—could be the rest of my life. I prefer to be the one laughing about it. You choose whether or not to let what people say get to you, Ted."

"Is that right? I think I have something to repay those words of wisdom, Al." Teddy put his hand into a jeans pocket and removed it to flick the V at Albus.

Scorpius was surprised into a chuckle.

"Don't encourage him," Rose said, smiling.

Albus grinned. "It's all for one and one for all, so he flicked all three of us off."

"That's enough," Harry said. He told Scorpius and Rose, "I was informed that you two went to dinner at Malfoy Manor."

"You didn't tell me that," Ron said.

Harry replied, "We were talking Quidditch."

Albus, Teddy, and George nodded as if the answer was reasonable. After a few more seconds of glowering, Ron shrugged.

Teacups appeared in front of each person. Kreacher shuffled over to the table, teapot in hand. "Cold tea is not proper to serve to guests. Kreacher makes a fresh pot." He poured tea into Harry's cup, and then served Rose, Scorpius and Albus. "Kreacher keeps the picture of the New Trio in his den," he told them.

"Kind of you," Scorpius said.

"Want one of me?" George asked. "I've been featured in the Prophet with and without two ears."

Kreacher considered the offer for a moment. "No, thank you, Mr. George."

Ron snorted.

"He doesn't want a photo of you either," George said.

"I wasn't offering," Ron shot back.

"Dad," Rose said with a rebuking frown.

"Unless he wants one," Ron added quickly.

Kreacher shook his head as he poured Teddy tea. "But Kreacher thanks Mr. Ronald for the offer." He finished serving tea and then offered them shell-shaped madeleine biscuits arranged on a silver tray.

"This is a first," Ron said as he took four biscuits. "We usually make do with store bought choccy digestives."

"Blacks does not eat store bought digestives," Kreacher said.

"What about Malfoys?" Albus asked.

Scorpius wasn't going to hurt Kreacher's feelings by admitting that he had nothing against store bought digestives. He took two madeleine biscuits, "These look delicious. Thank you."

Kreacher stood and watched him eat. "Mmm," Scorpius said.

"Yes, very delicious. I'll call you if we need anything," Harry told Kreacher, who reluctantly went to his den and took a long time closing the door.

Ron dunked his biscuit in his tea and lifted it to his mouth. "It's a calculated risk," he said, "sopping up the right amount of tea and eating the biscuit before it dissolves."

"How often do you fail?" Scorpius asked.

Ron's next attempt at dunking a biscuit ended with half the madeleine floating in his teacup. He said, "More often with cakey biscuits. What did you want to speak to Harry about?"

The switch in topic brought Scorpius's gaze to Rose. How did she want to handle this?

She said, "Do you remember the potion Barry Boot gave to Scorpius at Lumos Duo?" When her dad nodded, she said, "A group of Aurors are using it-completely unauthorised, I'm sure-to gain information to harass Knights of Walpurgis."

"A serious allegation," Harry said.

Scorpius replied, "My grandfather expects you to investigate and make an example of those involved."

"Or what?" Ron asked.

"He didn't say," Scorpius replied. It wasn't a lie. Lucius had implied that he would tip the Daily Prophet off about a different matter. "He's also concerned that person selling Micro Trackingbralls hasn't been found."

"That's because Ministry employees aren't selling them," Harry replied. "I ordered an inventory and every Trackingbrall in the department is accounted for. The badge the person used was fake or stolen."

Scorpius asked George, "What about the Micro Trackingbralls you've been working on in the lab?"

George laughed a little. "I have better security wards than the Department of Mysteries."

"Not the best example," Harry said.

Ron replied, "He meant they're impossible to break. Only George and I know the counter spells."

He sounded absolutely sure, but George's eyes held a flicker of unease. Scorpius asked, "Are the spells written down anywhere?"

"No one could find them," George said.

Not even someone compelled to help her lover? Scorpius looked at Rose. She nodded and said, "I think we should double-check your inventory."

.

.

A/N: November is National Novel Writing Month! Me deciding to participate in NaNoWriMo with a bit of an outline and idea of what my novel was about instead of being a pantser like the last dubious "win" is why it's been so long between updates. Since I made it to the day fifteen, 25,000 word halfway mark, I rewarded myself with this chapter, and although it's short, I hope the thought of a family Fantasy Quidditch League made you smile.

Special thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and those who reviewed recently and made me feel bad about the long wait between updates. :D Next update, I'll be done with a rough draft and have the time to list and alphabetize every reviewer's name.

I know Fynnsmom is doing NaNo , and if anyone else is too I'm Kerichi on the site. The more writing buddies the merrier!