Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Yes I know. Another story when I have two ongoing. But I couldn't help it. This story has been floating around my mind for ages now. It needs to get out of there and into words that people can read. I really hope you enjoy it. I know this chapter is very short but it's just a prologue. There will be more fun to come.

If you could sum up up Scorpius Malfoy in three words it would be: loner, businessman and ambitious.

He hadn't made any friends in his 6 years at Hogwarts, people steered well clear of him as his father's reputation preceded him. It wasn't that he was anti-social either, during the holidays he was more than happy to head out into the muggle world and make temporary friends just for the sake of keeping his social skills in tact, but in Hogwarts he never felt the drive to make any real friends, the effort required just did not seem to justify the benefits he would recieve from them. Instead he had decided that he would throw himself into what he did best. Getting things done for money. In second year he had started a miniature business. It was a simple one too. He set up a post box in an abandoned classroom with the instructions for people to write down a request and their name on a piece of parchment and then drop it in the box. He would then owl the person back the fee that he would be willing to perform the request for.

People had taken it for a joke at first, making nearly impossible requests for him to forfill, but that had all changed when one 4th year Hufflepuff girl had asked requested a dress that supposedly had never been made. He had worked through his father s contacts religiously to find it and then he had delivered it to her via OWL, for the price of 200 galleons. From then onwards the requests came in their droves. Some he did, some he refused depending on whether he thought the effort required was worth the fee he would recieve at the end. It occupied the majority of his time and had lead to him becoming knowledgable in a wide variety of things. It was a job that he dearly loved as it was highly challenging and totally rewarding to his Gringotts vault balance.

Today as he lazily accio'd the requests into his hand one of them caught his eye. It had a Gringotts cheque attached to it. He immediately pulled it closer for inspection. It was a check with no name worth 1000 galleons. He moved it aside to read the request.

I want one thing, and I will be willing to offer you 20,000 galleons for it. However for this to occur I feel that we would need to meet in person.

Naturally I assume a person in your line of business values their annonimity highly and thus I will be willing to allow an unbreakable vow to be cast swearing to keeping your identity annonymous.
The 1000 galleon check I have included is a gesture of good will. Please feel free to put your name on it and owl it to gringotts.

- Alexis Zabini -

Scorpius read over the letter twice, to consider his options. Zabini was one of the most popular girls in the school. She was a very pretty mixed race girl in 7th year with high set cheekbones and dark eyes that seemed to normally capture the attention of many boys in the school. She was also one of the richest people attending the school, which explained somewhat how she could afford to give away so much just to procure a meeting. What perplexed Scorpius though was the question of why she was offering such a large amount. Whatever task she had in mind it was obvious that she didn't think it would be an easy one. Never the less he brought out a scroll of parchment and began to write his response.

To Ms. Zabini

Please come to the 7th floor of Hogwarts and wait outside the old tapestry of dancing men at 6pm

Scorpius satisfied with his reply folded the letter into a third and tapped the centre to seal it with a black wax crest with the letter X engraved on it. His signature seal, that he used for business.
He then began traversing the distance from inside Hogwarts to the Owelry. He made his way up the stairs and as he reached the top he held out his hand.

His owl, Noir, which was a Great Sooty Owl, flew into his hand. He simply attached the letter to his owl.

"Go." he spoke commanding. Suddenly someone jumped. Scorpius looked around to see a girl with long curly red hair, dressed in slightly provocative muggle clothing looking at him.
"Merlin's beard, where the fuck did you come from?" she asked with a frown. Scorpius just shrugged and turned around to walk off.

"Piss off Mr. Creeper. Go find someone else to stalk." she then stated her voice coming across hard. Scorpius didn't even bother to dignify her with an answer, he simply made his way back down the stairs.

It wasn't the first time Rose had called him that. Rose Weasley, daughter of war hero's Ron and Hermione Weasley was by far the most popular girl in Hogwarts. A member of his own house, Slytherin, she had taken to her inherited fame in strides soaking up the attention and adoration. When she said jump, people asked how high. Whatever she said became law. Being friends with her made you instantly cool, being her boyfriend of the week made you a god amongst other men (well until she dumped you, and she always did).

Six years ago when they had both entered the house together, she had decided that Scorpius was a "creepy mute" for not bothering to make any friends and generally avoiding social company. He had been unbothered at the time and it didn't really fuss him now. Sure she made snide comments about him in front of her friendship group to garner laughs and secure her status at the top but on the whole she didn't bother him, he didn't bother her. She had never even made any requests for help from his service.

Scorpius pondered on the her elevated status as he made his way to the Room of Requirement. The room had been his playground and his private study since first year. The rooms magical qualities had always worked in his favour and he discovered more and more about it as he stayed there. It had served as a place to brew potions that he sold for money and even once a room big enough for him to practice broom-flying.

'I need the place where I study.' Scorpius willed as he approached the tapestry. He chanted it in his head three times whilst walking back and forth. On his third pass the stones in the wall shifted to create a a large arching doorway. He pushed through the door to enter his room.
The room was a relatively large room that looked like a cross between a miniature library and a study. There was a large desk in the centre with parchment all over it and all around the room were bookshelves full of books that Scorpius had read. He walked up to his chair and flopped down in it whilst reading The Art of War. It was a book that he had read many times and was by far his favourite. While he had once read it to garner tactical and philosophical knowledge, now it was simply a book he read for the purposes of therapeutic enjoyment before he took on another job. He had (quite rightly) gotten the feeling that the next job that he was considering undertaking was likely to be the hardest job yet.

Scorpius read for a good hour, calming himself in the process, but as 6pm approached he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. Zabini was a rich girl who from a glance had everything she could have possibly wanted. Money, friends and decent looks. She was rather sharp minded also as a prominent member of the Ravenclaw house.

At 5:55 pm Scorpius left the room and stood just to the side of the entrance casting a disillusionment charm on himself. He watched as the mixed race girl walked towards him gracefully and elegant as would have been expected from someone with her upbringing.
Eventually she reached the tapestry.

"Obscuro!" Scorpius spoke with a flick of his wand at the girl.

"What the-" she cried out whilst diving for her wand.

"Langlok! Expelliarmus!" He said throwing the two jinxes at her. "Sorry about this. But I can't trust you yet." He then stated making sure to adjust his voice to a whisper so she couldn't guess who he was. "Can I take your hand and lead you somewhere?" He then asked. She nodded. He then gently placed his arm on her shoulder and led her back into his study sitting her down on a sofa that had not previously been there.

"Are you still willing to make the vow?" He asked. She nodded. "Then stick your arm out please."
She did as she was told and Scorpius stuck his own arm out grasping his hands around her upper arm, an action to which she followed. He then brought out his wand with his left and pointed it at their entwined arms.

" Do you swear to keep my identity secret, unless it becomes a life threatening issue?" He whispered.

"I do." She replied evenly. Scorpius felt a small stinging sensation as a small thread of fire wrapped itself around their arms before disappear.

"Finite incantatum." He spoke in his regular voice. The black blindfold that had been around her eyes fell off.

Alexis looked at him with her mouth open in shock. And then she started laughing.

"Scorpius Malfoy, of course, who else but you would have the time, the skills and the resources to pull off what you get done." she stated amicably.

"Is it that obvious?" Scorpius replied a little worried.

"Not really. Just now I know it makes perfect sense." She replied.

"So what is the task you wanted from me?" Scorpius asked resuming with a warm but proffesional voice.

"I want you to break Rose Weasley's heart." she replied, her face was stoic.

"Wait, what?" Scorpius asked, unsure that he had heard the girl correctly.

"I want you, Scorpius Malfoy, to break Rose Weasley's heart." she said it again.

"Why?" Scorpius asked. It wasn't in his usual line of requests in the slightest. He wasn't even sure that the Weasley girl had a heart. So far all he'd ever seen in her was a spoilt rich girl with a mean streak who was a decent puppetmaster. He would have said no instantly but 20,000 galleons was a ton of money. The vast majority of adults could not have made that sum of money in a year. He hadn't made that sum in the last 2 years of business he'd been conducting.

"The why doesn't matter." Alexis replied back, her eyes flashing.
"It does to me. I don't like taking on jobs without knowing exactly what I'm up against. If you want me to do this, you're going to have to explain to me your motivation behind this." Scorpius replied.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you." she relented. "She... she... she cheated on my best friend with my boyfriend." Alexis admitted. Her voice was split into equal parts of despair and rage Scorpius noted. "I want that bitch to know what it feels like to have something precious ruined. She walks around without a care in the world destroying everything she touches." she then said with her fists clenched.

"Why use me though?" Scorpius asked.

"From what I've seen from the harder jobs you've undertaken, you seem dedicated to getting things done. You've never accepted a task and failed to deliver."

Scorpius sat perfectly still as the cogs in his mind began to whirl furiously. It would be a job that would no doubt take months to execute. He would have to close up shop, which would drastically affect his credibility. On top of that he would have to start interacting with people who he had no interest in associating with. His surname had been a source of problems when he had joined the school, but luckily as he had kept to himself people left him alone. Gunning for Rose was going to ruin all of that. It would mean he would be coming out of the shadows and stepping straight onto the sun.

"I need to think this over. And to do some research." he stated out loud. It was aimed at himself as much as it was at Alexis. She nodded with a bright smile. Scorpius grinned back though it was for a different reason.

"Oh and if I do take this on, I'm going to have to change how I price. I'll be expecting weekly payments of 200 galleons a week, and then a bonus of 15,000 upon completion." he added. It was a much higher sum that previously, but he could see that Alexis was desperate. There was obviously nobody else she trusted to do the job. He knew he'd be a fool to not push for the extra payment.

"That's fine." she replied walking off with a bounce in her step. She reached the door before turning around to flash him her brightest grin yet. "Thanks. And your secret is safe with me."

-x-y-z-a-b-c-

Scorpius was sat in the Slytherin common room with a chess board out. It was early evening and the room was full of activity. Scorpius had placed himself in a corner facing outwards. To the casual eye it appeared that he was just having a game with himself, however he was actually observing the room. Rose was sat at the centre talking to Helena Flint whilst she had her boy of the week, Michael Ellis, the seventh year Hufflepuff quidditch captain sitting next to her with his arm securely wrapped around her waist.

'Like that's going to stop her from dumping you tomorrow.' Scorpius thought with a little grin as he commanded his knight to take a bishop.

From what he could observe, Rose was at total ease and in total control of the world around her. She made a joke, everyone laughed. She made a statement everyone agreed with her.

"Pathetic." Scorpius spat out loud accidentally.

"What was that creeper?" Rose called out having heard him. She glared at him. Scorpius knew what was coming next. She'd ridicule him in front of everyone and he wouldn't do anything. It wasn't that he couldn't stand up for himself. It was simply that he didn't care. He didn't give two shits what they thought about him and thus he didn't see the point of expending energy on them.

Until now. If he was going to undertake this job, he'd first have to change everyone's perception of him. Rose Weasley would never date a nobody. So he'd have to make himself somebody.

"Oi, creeper I'm talking to you." Rose continued, stepping towards him. "See, he's such a weirdo, he's practically a mute out of class." she said to her friends around her. Scorpius grinned, she'd just played into his hands.

"Actually, I'm just ignoring you, there is a difference." he retorted, before moving another chess piece. He watched as a flash of anger went through the girl's eyes before she just sniffed disinterestedly.

"Whatever, it's not like anyone cares who you ignore or don't ignore. You're totally invisible anyway." she replied.

"Then why are you talking to me?" he replied.

"I'm not, I'm making fun of you. There is a difference."

"True. Regardless you're still acknowledging my presence. Now would you kindly depart from here. I'm clearly busy and not at all interested in talking to you."

"Oooooooo." Helena Flint stated, clearly enjoying the exchange. Rose turned over to her and gave her a glare. The blonde crony swiftly backed away with a look of fear on her face.

"Whatever, I don't want to talk to you anyway." and with a flick of her hair she turned around and walked off dragging her boyfriend and crony with her. Scorpius snuck glances around the room. It was obvious that the whole common room had been secretly watching this commotion. He smirked and moved his rook out trapping the oppositions king.

"Check." he spoke out loud. He'd put himself on the map.

-x-y-z-a-b-c-

In the morning Scorpius made his way down to breakfast later than he was used to. He'd spent the previous night creating a basic plan on how he was going to achieve his goal.

As Rose Weasley only cared for status he'd quickly come to the conclusion that the only way he was ever going to get her to look at him in the first place would be to ascend the social ladder and reach the summit. He would have to become the most popular and sort after male in Hogwarts. Once he reached that level he'd then have to find a way to keep her attention solely on him. And then, and only then could he break up with her and ruin her heart.

He'd even come to the conclusion that his heritage was going to work in his favour. As a Malfoy he could make her have to cut ties with her family as he was sure that they would never approve their darling daughter dating 'scum' like him.

All throughout breakfast Scorpius smiled as he began to plan just how he would ascend the social ladder. First of all he was going to need friends.

But before all of this he needed to let his client know that he was going to take the job.

Scorpius got up from the slytherin table and walked straight over to the seventh year ravenclaw breakfast table, his eyes trained on Alexis Zabini. People looked in his direction obviously wondering what he was doing. He grinned a little. Every act that put him in the spotlight was an act that put him a step closer to Rose. Eventually Alexis noticed all the commotion turned away from one of the boys she had been speaking animatedly with to face him. He offered her a light smile as he walked right up to her.
He then bent down and leaned into her ear. It was showy and he was sure by now half the hall had his eyes on him.

"I'll do it. But we need to talk later." he whispered.

He stepped away and watched as Zabini gave him possibly the biggest smile he'd ever seen on a person. He grinned back and walked out of the hall without a second glance, his eyes on the entrance, despite all the eyes he could feel on his back.

"This could be fun." he stated out loud rubbing his palms together.

Hope you liked it. Let me know what you liked and didn't like. Tell me what you think of the premise. Criticism is highly encouraged as I can only make my story better if you tell me what you don't like about it. So read and review people.

-Firemaker-