This would be a lot simpler for you, if you were to leave your mother behind.

[He's looking more alert now, and curious. Scorpius is usually this cold and ruthless, but mothers...well, they tend to be a different topic altogether, with him. He's goading Stephanie purposefully, to see what she'll say]

She's much older, and less likely to find work in a new field, if she works at all. She's a liability you may not be able to afford, and you are almost an adult - entitled to your own life away from your parents.