Everything Has Its Price (Eros/Anna)

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros had tried to make the candy shop work. He forced himself to keep it open at least two to three hours per day, at least one of which was after the usual Hogwarts summer school hours, but the brats kept coming in, and the knuts they'd spend for a couple iced mice or a pack of Droobles wasn't nearly enough to begin paying back what he owed his father for this little experiment.

At this rate, he'd be stuck when summer ended, and he knew the likelihood that he might get trapped like the others would only increase the longer he remained. Therefore, it was time to stop waiting for the owner of the book store to come to her senses.

Yes, he could have sent another owl, but Eros was sure that would only lead to another rejection owl in return. As much as he loathed the idea of trying to charm the little Mudblood, he dreaded owning a candy shop next door to Emilian's jewelry store even more. And so here he was, entering the bookstore in the hopes of buying it.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

The day had progressed slowly. She had spent the morning ordering the textbooks to sell for the next term, then spend an hour or so clearing out more of the dusty mess in the apartment above the shop. When the door sounded for only the second time today, Anna looked up from the book she was packaging for delivery. "Good Afternoon. Can I help you find something?" Anna recognized the patron as one of the guests at Dare and Michael's wedding. Although they had been seated at the same table, she never caught his name.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros's lips curved into an urbane smile, one that was well-practiced to hide his thoughts. "I believe I've already found what I was looking for," he said smoothly. He kept his eyes carefully at a proper level rather than letting them assess his opponent like he would have wished. She was, of course, still female, and therefore prone to fits of stubbornness if she felt slighted. She was also one of the middle and lower class that Michael had so gleefully welcomed him into. He reminded himself that this needed to be done.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Oh?" Annabelle asked, uncertain of what he was referring to. She stood and walked around the counter towards him, an act of customer service she always tried to follow. She took in his attire and the way he carried himself, trying to judge what type of book he might be about to ask for, if that was what he'd already found. Most of her customers came and browsed the shelves, picking up several books before finally making a selection. It was rare to see one that knew exactly what they wanted. "Care to enlighten me on your discovery?"

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"I was looking for one Miss Annabelle Hennessy actually," Eros admitted. His polite smile softened. "I do hope that my presence isn't entirely unwelcome, but... I get ahead of myself." The girl was already on-guard, and Eros couldn't imagine why. He'd said absolutely nothing which could be construed as in the least impolite.

"My name is Eros d'Avonderre," he said, introducing himself. "I believe I saw you at the reception last month. I'm afraid I hadn't realized that you were a friend of Michael and Dare, or I would have made a personal call to begin with." It certainly did complicate things. Eros did not wish to piss off the most interesting person in this godforsaken place. And his pet.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna's eyes showed easily the moment he said his name that she recognized the uncommon name as the potential buyer for her bookstore. As he continued, a rapid blush came to her cheeks at being referred to as Dare and Michael's friend. She wasn't sure what the correct classification would be... acquaintances? If Mr. d'Avonderre hadn't noticed she didn't even speak with either of the grooms at the reception, she wasn't about to point it out to him. Instead, she held out her hand and nodded her head, averting her eyes downward out of embarrassment for blushing. "Pleasure to meet you Sir. I am indeed Annabelle."

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Well, wasn't she a quaint little thing? Putting on airs, as though he didn't already know she was a poor Mudblood. Well, if it pleased her to play such a game, he would, to further his own ends. Eros took her hand lightly and lifted it near to his inclined head. "Enchanté," he murmured. He paused just a moment before straightening and releasing her hand. He hadn't noticed that she never spoke with the grooms, having been preoccupied with watching Mano's little game. He wondered if she recognized any more of him than his name? Not that it mattered one whit.

"So, Miss Hennessy, you do look to be an intelligent young woman. I believe you know why I am here?" There were pleasantries and little seductions, and then there was wasting time beating around the bush.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle nodded, pushing aside thoughts of the wedding and trying to remember specifics of his actions there. He'd only been another unknown guest so she hadn't paid him much attention. "I can only assume your visit is regarding the offer to buy the bookstore."

She knew she should stop there. However, Eros's air of arrogant superiority that exuded from every pore of his body, on top of the fact that she was indecisive about keeping the shop, was making her feel insecure and nervous. Despite her desire to provide a good impression, she couldn't keep her mouth from continuing on. "I was actually surprised to get an offer from someone that hadn't even set foot in the shop."

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros's lips curved ever so slightly at one end. Perhaps she was intelligent after all, and his flattery had become a compliment. He inclined his head slightly, as though silently declaring that her point, before speaking. "I did familiarize myself with the location and statistical information, but until recently, I was unable to physically visit. I had hoped to make the purchase at the beginning of summer and take residence, but would not push and make you feel as though you had no choice." Actually, he would have, if he'd thought that it would work, but he hadn't, and so that was neither here nor there.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"You most likely would have been bored. Summer is my slowest season, with the majority of the students gone on holiday. The busiest few weeks will begin shortly, as soon as the Hogwarts owls deliver the lists of books to purchase for this school year." She realized that she hadn't mentioned the fact that before the beginning of the summer she'd had no desire to sell the property. She had said as much in her letter declining his offer so she chose not to bring it up again at this time. If she had wanted to sell, she would have. She didn't have enough business experience to purposely drive up the offering price. "Besides, the above-shop apartments haven't been lived in for at least a decade. I'm still trying to clean them out so they are habitable."

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros didn't at all care about the state of the upstairs apartments, and the fact that the store would actually be busy soon was quite attractive to him. He was positively sick of snot-nosed children with their sugar-sticky fingers pushing grubby knuts across the counter at him. "Be that as it may," Eros said, "I am still interested in the shop, and would be willing to raise my price to..." A slightly inflated price followed, and though Eros knew that he would be unable to earn the sum back before end of summer, especially when added to the cost of the candy shop, he wouldn't be repaying his father with the candy shop, either.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"That sounds like a generous offer, but..." Even though she knew it was coming, Anna felt cornered by his offer. After all her debating, she still was unsure of her decision. Part of her wanted to gladly give it up, to walk away from all the haunting memories that caused her daily grief. She partly blamed the store for her and Michael's downfall and couldn't help remember Chase daily while she worked within the store walls.

There were good memories too, and that was what made her hesitate. She'd spent many afternoons happily in discussion with Markise. She'd transformed the store, doubling both the inventory and the number of customers. She'd put her own special touches throughout, and didn't know if she could bear to watch another undo some of her favorite aspects of the shop."If I sold you the shop, what changes would you be making?"

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros didn't so much as blink, though he was surprised by the question. Why should she care what changes he would make? The shop would no longer be in her hands, so any possible emotional attachment would be foolish. He didn't understand the purpose of attachments to inanimate objects or places to begin with. Comfort was comfort.

He looked around the shop now, as though actually considering Miss Hennessy's question. He would replace the furnishings with something more fine, for one, expand the Literature section and move Muggle books to the back. He might have larger windows installed if he decided to keep ownership of the store after he returned home, but without actually going through the shelves and the inventory and accounting books, he couldn't be sure that it would be enough to hold his interest.

Finally, his gaze returned to the girl. "Tell me, Miss Hennessy. What changes would you make? If you had the resources to do so?"

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna chose not to comment on the direct blow to her financial situation. She had been sinking the profit back into the store, fixing it up slowly as she was able. She already had a wish list that she was working through so the question didn't take much thought. Instead she looked over his fine clothes and polished shoes. I bet he has enough in his Gringots account to make all the changes he wants in a weekend.

With a lick of her lips she met his eyes and began reciting a portion of her list. "The upstairs flat is my current project. After that is fixed, I wanted to give the store a facelift; new paint, change the furniture around, reorganize the sections. I've only added on to the inventory since I've been in charge, but there are major holes that need to be filled. There aren't enough wizarding or muggle fiction books to keep the customers interested, and the previous owner crowded several of the shelves with Gilroy Lockhart's books. I need to replace them all with things a bit more practical."

She caught herself going on and remembered he was supposed to be the one convincing her to sell the store. "But enough about my future plans, what is your intent?"

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"My intent is precisely as stated," Eros said. He'd realized too late that his words had been misinterpreted, and now apparently was near to starting all over again. "I wish to purchase this shop. Does it seem strange to you that a potential buyer might find your thoughts as proprietor valuable? I assure you, Miss Hennessy, that I have no wish to underestimate either you or your knowledge of your shop." What other possible intent could he have? To burn it to the ground and relocate his candy shop?