In the shadows

After a whole afternoon spent searching through his room, Andrei still didn't find what he was looking for. And after talking to his roommate he confirmed that yes, he was indeed out of spice. When did he use up his last stash he couldn't say. Perhaps with Avis that night or long before it. Thankfully, he knew just how to solve his problem. He searched through his closet and pulled out a wallet where he kept all of his allowance money. With his mother still sending him a generous amount every week and the income he was getting from the Leaky Cauldron job, money wasn't the problem. He took out the money he needed and still had some leftover for the rest of the week. Besides, Andrei was sure his mother wouldn't mind financing his drug habit or care for that matter.

Usually he would come to Keith but his schedule was overbooked. So he sent a note to a Ravenclaw girl he had heard was dabbling into the business as well. They scheduled a meeting in one of the rooms on the Sixth floor that no one ever used. It was safe enough from view of professors and tattle tails. Andrei arrived at the place a little early with the money in his pocket. He took an empty seat in one of the chairs and waited for the Ravenclaw girl to arrive.

Wally knew the Dolohov boy was a returning customer, so she wasn't as nervous as she typically was. She was never afraid, exactly, when going off for a transaction, but she was always aware of the dangers in meeting with people she did not know well enough to trust. Fortunately, she had heard a lot about Dolohov. Keith wasn't one to talk about his clients, but he had always been so happy with the sizable transactions between them.

Wally was very direct in her matters, so she entered the place of their meeting, right on time. She closed the door behind her and approached Dolohov, an older, attractive looking boy. Forcing this realization behind her, she approached him. "Andrei, right? How much would you like?"

Andrei's head turned to the door when he heard it open and he saw a girl walk in. With a quick glance over her, he determined that he didn't know who she was. Other than a Ravenclaw and a new partner in Keith's little business. He looked at her long blond hair and smiled. "So you are Keith's new partner in crime and prodigue. He did well I must say", he sad with a chuckle as she walked into the room. She was attractive and young, too much so to be dabbling into things like these. On a first glance she even struck him as a typical goodie girl. Which made him curious as to how she got started in this business in the first place.

He nodded his head when she said his name. "Yeah. And you are?", he asked, as he preferred knowing people's names when doing business with them. "Whatever this buys me", he said putting out a bag filled with a generous amount of money. He knew he had to stock up now before the weekend came. He had promised to bring at least half of that to the party as a favor to some of his friends. And obviously some had to be leftover for him as well. "I'm guessing your prices went up from last time. They usually do". Keith was obviously doing more than well lately as his business was expanding throughout Hogwarts.

Wally rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion. So he thought he was the veteran here. Little did he know, the product he was buying was only what it was because of her assistance. Keith's operation had been small and she had helped figure out what his recipe was missing, and she had helped get the drugs to go international. And here he came in, riding on his high horse. "I'm not new, I'm returning." She strode over to a desk and dropped her bag on it with a heavy thunk.

As she fished through her bag, she said, "I'm Wally." There was no reason to hide names, because, chances are, there would be an intersect in class schedules. Wally had learned long ago that no amount of disguising was worth it. She typically had people sign a contract to hide the details of their transaction, but she knew Dolohov had been a long time customer with Keith, so protocol was different.

"Do you want an equal share of Spice and Sugar for your money, or do you want more of one?" He mentioned something about prices and she paused. "Sort of. But not really. I have a bit of a special if you're interested."

"Oh?", he asked, surprised with that information. He always thought Keith was running more of a one man business here, being so eccentric as he was. But obviously this girl was good for business as well, otherwise she wouldn't be around for this long. "Wally. Nice to meet you then", Andrei said doubting that was her real name, or full name at least.

There was always a sense of danger in transactions like these as they weren't quite legal. The last thing people worried was what would the Hogwarts staff do. You would get slapped on the wrist and a few detentions, maybe a bit more but nothing extreme. The real trouble would be if the ministry would get involved, which they very well might. So safety precautions were necessarily. The last thing he needed added to gossips about his last name was drug addict.

"Well I was thinking equal amount", he said shrugging his shoulders, as that was his usually order although he preferred Spice to Sugar. "A special? Hmm... I'm very interested what has the Keith & Wally corporation managed to create", he said with a teasing grin. "If I like it there's a big bonus for you right here. I became rather bored of the usual stuff and you have come right in time"

Wally continued to rifle through her bag, turning her head and peering at the Slytherin boy thoughtfully. "I suppose you want the quality stuff, even if it's a big more expensive, yeah?" She paused, looking upwards as she did some quick calculations in her head. Having it figured out, she unloaded the product - a half ounce of high quality Sugar (which was about four times as much as people bought at a time) and an ounce of Spice.

"It's not a special product,' she explained, "but a special price. See, this is a bit more than you really need, and it usually goes for 36 galleons. I'm willing to sell it to you for 28, though, if you promise to get three other people to try Sugar. And I'll want names. If they don't try, you can guarantee that rates will go up."

Andrei examined the merchandise she placed on the table and checked her calculations. He was never the naive type to get tricked over when it came to money matters. And although he doubted Wally would charge him wrongfully on purpose, there was no harm in making sure. "Yes, that would be the best", he said nodding his head.

He grinned as she presented her new offer and chuckled. He had to admit that the idea she had was quite good, and it could be rather beneficial for their business if things went as planned. "I doubt that was Keith's idea. Well done", he said with an impressed smirk. Thinking in his head, he already figured out two people out of the three needed. He was definitely up for the challenge. "You have a deal then", Andrei said agreeing to her terms. "But you have to be careful with those rates. I might be a returning customer but if you charge more than you do, a lot of people might not be that interested in your product", he warned.

"Instead of worrying about the prices, make something new. This is getting old and boring quickly. Figure that out with mr. mastermind. If you need sponsors for your research I can get that for you too. If you can deliver a product that is. Think about it", he suggested, as he knew plenty of people who would pay to have something new, interesting and exclusive on the market.

He agreed, and she felt a little smug. Keith had been so mad to hear she had taken his product with her to Australia, until he had heard that she was rolling in gold and, by extension, he had benefited too. She was sure he would be mad to hear she had dropped her rates, until he heard the stipulation she had added to her transactions. She was sure he would be pissed he hadn't thought of it.

"Our rates are rather locked," she said dryly. "We have our discounts but we'll only increase it if our ingredient costs increase. We have no choice in those matters, unless you want shittier quality stuff."

Wally was bad with people, and this boy harping on and on about improvements was starting to piss her off. Every teenager with parent's money seemed to think they knew everything. "I'll keep that in mind, " she said shortly. "Anything else for tonight?"

"No, I rather pay the extra than not get my money's worth in the end", he said shaking his head. If he was going to buy Spice and Sugar, then he's going to buy the quality products, not the shitty ones. If he had already spent all of his money beforehand, then he wouldn't buy it at all. That's just the way his mind worked, as after having the quality product so many times, he couldn't make himself buy the shitty one now.

Andrei glanced at her as she asked her question and held in the many comments that were running through his thoughts. No, it was better keeping his mouth shut for now, he decided. There was no reason he had to ruin a perfectly good business contact for a laugh or two. Looking at her, something seemed off. Her eyes were clear, too clear in fact, and her skin had a goldish kind of glow. It reminded him of something he had only seen in Alice. "You don't even try your products, do you?", he suddenly said.

But then again, he had to remind himself that it was none of his business. He came her to buy her product, not to chic chat about things. "No, doll, that will be all for now. You can go ahead", he said simply

"I thought so. So, if our rates go up, simply be thankful that we're raising rates rather than dropping standards." Wally really had improved with interacting to people - as surprising as it was, it was true. She simply wasn't at her best right now, with this particular customer. People who presumed to know a business she had a mastery in rubbed her the wrong way - if they had the knowledge, what use was she?

He blurted out his rash judgement and she gave him a scoffing look - yet it was one that communicated nothing. It did not say she did, but it made him appear the fool for even asking. It was a practiced look, one that easily confused all those who ventured to ask. With this look, she left everyone bewildered, too much so for them to typically risk another entreaty for the truth. "I'll let you decide for yourself - I only deal in business that is business."

Ah, she loved her icy cold.

"If that is all, this 'doll' must be on the move. I'm sure you understand."