No, Ben thought as Scrimgeour paternalistically explained why he was obligated to go and fetch that stupid girl from Mexico. He didn't understand. Or at the very least, he didn't agree. She'd been at least partially at fault for not handing over the tennis ball when he'd asked for it. Besides, the portkey office, he thought, had to bear some portion of the blame for delivering a portkey disguised as a tennis ball to a fucking tennis court in the first place. They were supposed to be common, every day objects, sure — and look not particularly out of place to any passing Muggles — but really. That portkey had been practically begging to take the wrong person to Mexico, and it just happened to have been one he'd requisitioned. Nothing about that whole situation obligated him to put his career on hold for a month in order to go and play White Knight and rescue her.

He knew better than to say any of that, though. Even if he could convince Scrimgeour of his innocence on this count (which did not seem likely), he had no ready defense for the second incident. He'd pulled Roman along on his next cursebreaking trip intentionally, although he'd later lied to pretend it was an accident. And he'd basically done it just for shits and giggles, which he doubted Scrimgeour would think was an appropriate reason.

Luckily, they were changing the subject.

"I have international business," he said, feeling a little pompous for the way he'd phrased it but hoping it would work in his favor. "The company I work for has a new contract in France and is looking to expand to other areas, and I need to be able to travel for meetings and negotiations."

(If Scrimgeour didn't already know that it was a liquor company, Ben wasn't particularly inclined to add that detail in).