Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I do not have any rights to Harry Potter and I do not make any money from writing these fics.

A/N: Written for the A Bit of Motivation Competition, the One Million Words Added Challenge, the Chocolate Frog Challenge, the Pairing Diversity Boot Camp Challenge, the 335 Pairing Bonanza Challenge, the If You Dare...Continued Challenge, the Disney-A-Thon Challenge, the Camp Potter Archery Bit Challenge.

Prompts: Dangerous, Tom Riddle Sr/Cornelius Fudge, An Arm and a Leg, Write about Cornelius Fudge (Owl), Write about one of the seven deadly sins (Greed), Forbidden Forest, Sentence: The house was unusually quiet, Anxiety, Explanations, "Yeah, but was it worth it?", over 2,000 words.

More Power

The house was unusually quiet. The curtains were drawn shut and the windows closed blocking out the rain pounding against the window as the storm raged on over the deserted and empty hills for miles around. From the old rusty white garden gate that was swinging carelessly in the stormy wind backwards and forwards almost like a tennis match only one light in the house could be seen coming from downstairs. Hushed voices were heard between loud bangs of thunder and flashes of lightening and every now and then the sound of someone yelling could be heard over the storm.

"This is dangerous! It is costing me an arm and a leg and the Forbidden Forest!" Cornelius shouted out angrily as he sat in his large sandy coloured winged back chair in front of the roaring fire, "I thought that when I agreed to this that I would have more power, more money!"

"And you will Cornelius but these things take time," Tom Riddle Sr replied as he calmly looked at the wizard in front of you, "Have you forgotten about all of the explanations I gave you when I first met you? Just look at my son and see how he is shaping the world around him yet he is only in his first year of Hogwarts."

"Yes but children are easier to manipulate and control than adults, we can bring them up to think it is normal to give the Minister extra money but the adults will not take it! What if the adults do something to ruin our plan?" Cornelius asked worriedly, his anxiety growing as the seconds ticked by on his old expensive grandfather clock that rested against the wall behind him.

Cornelius waited for a response from the muggle sitting in an identical chair next to him, when he had first met the man on one of his many publicity trips to Diagon Alley he would of never of thought that it would of turned out like this.

"It takes time to gain power, wealth and fame," Tom replied with a greedy glint in his eyes, "Some might call it greed but I don't, if I have to give up a few things along the way, like say...my son, than I will. All I want is more power, more money, I want to control everything. If you want proof of just how far I am willing to go to get what I want that just look at what happened to my wife."

"Yeah, but was it worth it?" Cornelius asked causing the atmosphere to take a drastic turn and the air around them felt like it had dropped several degrees, "Aren't you worried that someone will realise what really happened to your wife? I mean is it not common knowledge that your son was born in a muggle orphanage?"

"He was and I let the boy grow up there too," Tom replied with a dark laugh making Cornelius shiver in fear, "And look at the benefits! I have been able to get even more money and go places that I would of not gone if I had to look after the brat. When I showed up at the same time that old idiotic Headmaster did to 'save' Tom from the orphanage I bet I looked like a hero which got me even more wealth and fame!"

Cornelius let out a thoughtful hum as he mentally went over everything that the muggle had told him. Part of him agreed with the man, in the world and time they lived in you had to take everything you could without a second thought. While greed was classed as one of the seven sins in Cornelius' mind it was also just how the world worked.

"Aren't you worried that your son might suddenly decide to get revenge on you?" Cornelius asked as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, "Your son has already shown that he has a great mind, he is a true Slytherin and he knows who to be with if he wants to go places. "

"Thank you Cornelius, as you have just admitted I have done a good job in raising my son," Tom replied proudly while ignoring the fact that he had not raised or touched Tom until the day he had pretended to find Tom, "It is thanks to all of my well chosen and thought out decisions that I am where I am today! If I had not chosen the choices I did I would of been poor or dead!"

"Yes Tom," Cornelius said as he let out a low sigh, this was the eighth time in the last hour that the man had gone on this very same rant, "Now then, by the looks of the storm outside it is in for the night. Would you like to stay here for the night?"

Tom nodded his head, "I will take you up on your offer, with those wards you had put up around my house those portkey's that you give me will take me a long way away from my home and I do not feel like walking in the rain."

"I am sorry about that, the portkey drops you off at the edge of the wards," Cornelius answered calmly, "If you want I can have a portkey that will take you between our living rooms so we can ignore the wards and not have to worry about anyone spotting either one of us coming and going from each other's houses...I still do not know why you will not use the floo network for."

"Because it would be very easy for a person who does not know about magic to come into my home, see me using your fire place transport and try to copy me, just think of the mess it would create," Tom replied causing Cornelius to wince at the thought, "Besides I would rather keep all of my money for myself and not spend it on some stupid fine because we did not think things through."

"You have a good point but I have a feeling that there is more to it than that," Cornelius said as he shot Tom a smug knowing look, "I thought that it was more along the lines of how the last time you used the floo network you flooed yourself to the wrong address and found yourself in the middle of a-"

"I recommend that you do not finish what you were about to say," Tom hissed out threateningly causing Cornelius to close his mouth with an audible click and fear to shine in his eyes, "Have you forgotten that while I am a muggle I do not mind taking more darker routes to get what I want."

Cornelius gulped nervously and nodded his head, "I know, I saw what you did to that person who is renting out your mothers old house. I believe you Tom."

"Good and it was not my fault," Tom replied as he took on a hard look, "If that stupid fool had just given me the money like we agreed upon in the first place than I would not of had to treat them in just a manner."

"Y-Yes, well we were going to bed..." Cornelius said slowly as he nervously tried to steer the subject away to a less dangerous one, "Maybe we can continue our talk tomorrow?"

"We will, I have several important things that I want to bring up with you anyway," Tom replied as he stood up with the grace of a deadly swan, "I take it that you have placed me in my normal room."

"I have Tom, I know how you have a taste for the finer things in life," Cornelius answered as he referred to Tom's uncontrollable and growing greed.

Nodding his head slowly, glad that Cornelius finally seemed to be understanding how things were going to work between the two of them as it had taken long enough, Tom opened his mouth to reply only to be cut off by a loud angry scream and several loud crashes and bangs that came from upstairs. Silently the pair turned to face each other once again and gave the other a worried but calculating look.

"I thought you had said you had gotten rid of her," Tom said cryptically causing Cornelius to wince slightly, "It is obvious that you have not done so."

"I cannot just kick her out of the house like that or send her to the afterlife," Cornelius stuttered out nervously, the pair winced as another loud scream filled the house, "I tried , I really did but apparently she refuses to go until we fulfil all of her wishes."

"And just what are these wishes of hers?" Tom asked as his temper began to grow, "She is a ghost, she has no need for money or fame or even this house!"

"She...she told me that she does not want those things as she says it will not be able to go with her into the next life and help her," Cornelius answered only to wince as a loud crash from upstairs came to his ears.

"Then what does the damn woman want?!" Tom shouted over the loud screams and crashes.

"She wants us to give up our 'greedy ways' and to do what is morally right," Cornelius replied quickly, for a moment both he and Tom shared a look of pure disgust and disbelief on their faces, "She said that it has something to do with us not turning into monsters when we die and losing all of our self control."

"Losing our self control? Becoming monsters when we die?" Tom asked with a dirty sneer on his face at the thought, "That is stupid, you should not listen to that ghost anymore and just get someone in to perform a ritual to get rid of her."

"I heard that those badly hurt the ghosts," Cornelius said nervously, he might of been greedy and willing to take whatever he could but until Tom he was not totally consumed by greed.

"Who cares? The sooner that ghost is out of there the sooner we can sell this place and earn more money," Tom said as a happy smile came to his face at the thought of more money, "Why just think of the place you could live if you sold this old dump! You could live in a place and have servants and House Elves running around doing whatever you order them to do."

"W-well my wife likes this building," Cornelius said nervously, "It has been in the family for years and-"

"Do not tell me that the woman is a Fudge," Tom groaned as he shook his head while Cornelius just nodded.

"Yes, she has never made problems for me before through, normally she just has these girly talks with my wife or keeps to herself," Cornelius answered with a thoughtful expression on his face, "It is only since I have met you and we have been planning and putting our plan into action that she has started to act like this."

"It is properly because she is not getting her own way, greedy little thing. I am happy that I am not as greedy as her," Tom said with a sneer as he called the kettle black, "You mentioned that she sometimes talked to your wife?"

Cornelius nodded his head as he remembered the times he had come home from working long hours to find the two females happily talking with each other.

"Then we have a problem," Tom said as he folded his arms, another loud crash filled the house causing both men to wonder about how much money they would have to spend to fix the damages caused by her, "Your wife has gotten too greedy, being the wife of the Minister of Magic is not good enough for her and now she has got her ghost friend in on the act. It seems like there is a new player in the game."

Cornelius shifted nervously, "Can't we just talk to her and compromise?"

"No, we cannot," Tom replied with a dark look, "We must get rid of your wife before she does anything to ruin our plan."

End.

If anyone is interested and caught the little bit of a twist to this one shot I brought the complete series 1 and the complete series 2 of Bleach from a shop where I live and I've watched the first four episodes and they gave me the idea for this Harry Potter one shot.