Morgan listened with a small frown while Basil recounted the argument with his older brother. He was no stranger to little familial squabbles: his mother and father always found plenty to say about any minor detail in his career, so it seemed like the pile of things to nag him about was never depleted. If they ever did run out of job-related grievances, there was the usual other lot, which he suspected Basil would be more familiar with an sympathetic to: why didn't you do more dancing at the ball last night, why not talk to Miss So-And-So, her mother is such a dear friend of ours, couldn't you make a bit more of an effort at the dinner? And all that for someone who actually enjoyed social events, for the most part. Morgan expected that Basil had it all twice over.

He smiled at Basil's joke, and reached his foot out to lightly kick the side of Basil's shoe. "I'm afraid I won't be taking anyone in on a junior lawyer's salary. You'd have to bring that up with my mother," he joked back. In all reality he probably could have afforded to move out by now, but he hadn't run the numbers; he knew his mother would have fought him leaving and honestly didn't know if the added independence was worth the effort of getting away.

"You ought to find a way to head him off at the pass," Morgan suggested. "Next time you're back from Hogwarts, send him a list of social events you'll be away for, before you even get home. He can't badger you if you've already got plans. And if some of the parties are made up and you just want to come over for drinks," Morgan continued with a boyish grin, "I won't tell him."

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