Lure of Money ~Open~

[eric]

During his summer break Eric had visited Gringott's Bank. His vault held many treasures, some expensive trinkets, some mundane. Trunks of sparkling gold almost fell over at the edges of the vault. The labors of hard work past. He had selected several of the trunks, two small and one medium sized to be delivered to his contact in London. His idea was simple, but he was sure no one had even thought of it before. In fact, he felt superior in the moment as he smiled to his American counterpart, and handed over the three trunks. The man was gone in a wisp, and Eric had returned to the Leaky Cauldron for a quick lunch. It was rare that he spent the holidays with his family. Honestly, he could care less for the festivities missed. It was not Eric's cup of tea.

Many months had passed since he had made the exchange with the American student. Although Eric was not at all apprehensive about the deal, he did have a tendency to grow impatient when it came to dealing with Americans. They always seemed so damned rushed, never stopping to enjoy the process. He figured that was fine in this instance. After all, he stood to gain a ton of money in this transaction. The American's fee was a small sum compared to the rewards that could be gained once Eric graduated this insufferable school. His eyes sparkled as he unrolled the parchment. Hazel orbs danced across each line under the lowlight, and he nodded with every word. Things had gone exactly as planned, and the package had been delivered and inserted into his vault.

The current market value of gold overseas had sky rocketed in the last several months. Eric knew that there had to be a way to take advantage of this. His mind crawled over idea after idea until it struck him. His plan was simple, and delicious at the same time. A simple exchange could bring him more than he would give. The profits could be mind blowing, all he had to do was make contact with the right person. The right person turned out to be a long distance cousin of his mother's family. The male had some small amount of talent in magic and was going to a private school in the states. The tuition had to be hefty, and the con job Eric sent into motion was complete in a short period. His smirk moved across his lips as he rolled the parchment up and dipped the end into the flame from the torch on the wall. The parchment burnt to ash, and Eric began to move down the corridor.

He had talked his cousin into coming to London during the holidays and picking up three trunks of gold coins. These coins held the standard value in the wizarding world; however, melted down and turned into bars the same gold could be turned into mountains of muggle dollars. Muggle dollars were worthless in the wizarding cities, but they were a good thing to have when traveling abroad. With muggle money Eric could buy no end of muggle luxuries. He could rent a flat, buy anything he wanted or needed. He could use the money to bribe other muggles into his bidding without using a drop of his magical talent. Not to mention the fact that having muggle money could gain him access to more things those poor creatures produced that could turn a profit while inside the castle. Eric almost giggled at the thought.

He felt sure he was on an never ending cycle of profit and gain. Use muggle dollars to buy things that the other students would pay top gold to acquire. Smuggle in more items, and sell them at a premium price for gold. Then, take half the gold gained and turn it into muggle money to keep the cycle going for as long as his heart desired. Pretty soon he could make enough to employ someone else to do all the grunt work for him. He could sit back and watch his money roll in by the owl-load. Easy as taking candy from a first year Hufflepuff, not that he would bother to do such a thing. He never much cared for candy in the first place.

However, now was the time to consider who he could bring in on his little project. He would not mind having someone in charge of selling the stock to the other willing students. His mind played over many possible ideas, but he could not think of a single person at the moment. His own trust level was really low, and no one would ever be allowed to meet with his contacts, or know where the muggle items came from. No, all he needed was someone to sell items at the school, and collect their small cut while bringing the rest to Eric. Nothing less, nothing more. It would help if said person was attractive. Being attractive drove prices up, and made for pleasant business meetings. He leaned back against the wall and considered his plan a little more. Time slowly ticked by.

[Kelsey Rachel LeBlanc]

There was no denying that Kelsey LeBlanc was a messed up individual. Though her physical appearance did not scream messed up it was through her actions that one could see it. She found herself seeking the attention of any male who would give it to her. She found an outlet in drinking and defying the rules set around her. She was not always like this. Before she came to Hogwarts and before her father became Minister, she was actually a sweet, innocent little girl. She had always did what she was told and rarely ever misbehaved. Then her father became Minister when she entered her first year and everything went to crap. Other children began to give her a hard time once her father changed the rules of the wizarding world. Her father began to change as well, become crueler and just unpleasant to be around. When her parents got a divorce that was when the skipping class started, which lead to drinking, which eventually lead to her whoring around.

Kelsey was in the point of her life where even if she wanted to stop her ways she couldn't. She had already damaged her reputation and she was so dependent on alcohol that she would go insane without it. Maybe after Hogwarts she would be able to leave England and start a new life, far away from her father and all the bad memories that surrounded her. Until then, she would have to put up with all the negativity around her and just try to get by alive.

As she stood in front of her mirror in her dorm room, Kelsey smiled at her reflection. Standing at about 5'2, she was a rather attractive young lady. She wasn't the prettiest but she wasn't terribly ugly either. Her long, red hair flowed past her shoulders, complimenting her pale skin and huge hazel eyes. She moved her eyes past her reflection and upon the huge pile of homework sitting on her desk. Kelsey wasn't a dumb girl. She was actually kind of smart. However, she had no motivation to do her homework, ever. It was just another way for her to tick off her father. Though she was almost failing more than one class, she knew that if she started doing her homework it would be like giving into her father. So she left it on her desk, there to collect dust.

Feeling boredom flow over her, Kelsey decided it was time to wander the castle. She found herself wondering out of the Slytherin common room and into the dungeons. She had always liked it here. The creepy, cold atmosphere that the dungeons provided always seemed to soothe her in an odd way. As she wandered around a corner, she came to notice an old friend, Eric, leaning against a wall. This brought a smirk to her face and she began to advance towards him.

"Pondering the mysteries of the world, Eric?," She began as she took slow strides towards him. "Or has boredom consumed your body, rendering you unable to move any further?" she smiled, finally standing a few feet in front of him. She always found entertainment with Eric. He would be the perfect cure for her boredom.

[eric]

Red headed. Alcoholic. Slightly messed up, yet insanely popular in certain sets due to her father's conquests. Wonderful in bed. Even better at plotting another's fall from grace. Unbalanced, yet fun. Self-centered, but entertaining. These things went through his head immediately as her voice flew through the air and landed in his ears. Slowly he turned his head to look upon her. She was delicious in so many ways, not just physically. Being close to her was the one thing that Eric knew would bring him more success in his own endeavors than being around any other person he had ever known in the school. She had what he wanted, what he needed; and, Eric was not simply thinking physical pleasure. He could find that almost anywhere he looked, even though she held some skills that others he had entertained could not compare. Today, however, his mind was centered on money, and the attraction of bringing more money into his already considerable coffers.

She was far from stupid, even when she was falling down drunk which seemed to be happening so much more often these days. She had a wit about her that made her words hold double meaning, yet she had a way of getting straight to the point. She was not stupid, this Eric knew; but, he felt like she loved to play dumb just to see what she can get out of other people. It was like a habit for them to beat-around-the-bush before the conversation would turn to exactly what she desired of him. Sometimes she needed alcohol which Eric could always provide for a price. Sometimes she had an idea that could cause some chaos in their school, these would always be filed away for Eric to consider later. Sometimes, and this was frequent, she just wanted a good lay. Eric never minded spending that time with her, as he figured others have spent at other time. Kelsey could be a slut, but the word seemed to dirty for what she really was. In Eric's opinion she was someone who lived life for herself, followed her heart even when it led in the wrong direction, and did whatever she felt like doing for the hell of it. Eric liked her a good deal, even if he doubted he would call her a true friend. He wasn't sure if he could honestly trust her.

"Oh, are there mysteries in the world? I hadn't noticed." He answered with a small smirk of his own. He looked her over, as he often did when she was around. It was hard to keep his eyes from her when they stood close. She had an odd beauty. At times she could be the most seductive girl in the room, and other times she could blend right in fading back into the crowd so she wasn't noticed. Eric never could place his finger on this secret talent she had, but he always looked for her in a crowd. He was often interested in what drew her to remain silent when something was going on. He almost felt like she knew things others might not know. He raised an eye brow, "Do I look bored? And, I assure you, my body can move in any way I decide for it to move. As well you know." He nodded to her as his eyes slid down her front before he looked away. Kelsey would be the perfect cure for his boredom.