"I don't agree with house segregation," James shoots back immediately, but he feels the tips of his ears warming a little when Scorpius calls him out on that. He holds up his own hands, palms outward as if in a gesture of peace, but his stance is still clearly uncomfortable.

"You're spreading rumors about my little brother, saying things just to piss me off, and so it sort of makes you an idiot for being surprise when it works."

Again: it'll occur to him later that he just admitted to rising to the bait.