Rating: PG (might be PG-13 in later chaps)

Pairing: Harry/Draco

Summary: Draco is running an undercover business operation at Hogwarts and Harry is about to find out…

Disclaimer: I own nothing, zilch, nada! Okay, so I own a broken laptop which is about all you'll get out of me if you sue.

Chapter One: Draco Gets an Idea

Sitting in the common room, legs swung over the side of the chair he was lounging in, the young man sighed. He was bored, no doubt about it. There was nothing to do but sit and sigh, which was quite a disappointment. It was seventh year for this young man and he had had expectations of excitement and grandeur. Alas, fate seemed to be against him, as fate so often is. Of course it was only the beginning of the term, but he had really anticipated more.

He sighed again and started to drift off to sleep, but before he could enter the land of nod, he heard a voice coming from outside the common room.

"Really, how can you possibly like him of all people?" a girl's voice asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, but I do." another girl answered, before glumly adding, "The only thing is I don't think he could ever like me."

There was a brief moment of silence before the first girl started talking again. "Well, he's alright, I suppose." she conceded. "He's just not very handsome, is he?"

Dismissing the conversation, the young man tried to recapture his lost sleep. After a few minutes, he jolted up as a thought hit him. He had recognized the two girls as Anna and Tabby, third years who had somehow managed to spend more time in detention than Fred and George Weasley, though none of that mattered. What was really important was the idea that had been inspired by the brief conversation he had just overheard. It would allow him to leave the doldrums far behind and he could make some money on the side. It was perfect! The only thing would be organizing this little scheme and finding a few people he knew would not say a word. Mind running a mile a minute, he jumped out of the chair and darted out of the common room. Not paying attention, he bumped into Anna as he ran by.

"I wonder what has him running like a bat out of hell?" Anna asked in wonderment as she stood up and straightened her robes. Tabby simply shrugged in reply and began picking up the books Anna had dropped.

"I'm not sure," Pansy Parkinson remarked, "but if I know Draco Malfoy, he's up to something."

The three Slytherins shared a knowing grin as they entered the common room, all with the same thing on their mind: how to find out Draco's latest scheme.

OOOOO

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room, the Golden Trio were anything but bored. In fact, they were enjoying the solitude. Hermione was reading a book that her parents had sent as a belated birthday present while Harry and Ron sat engrossed in a game of exploding snap. After about the fifth game, they decided to call it a night.

Hermione chose that moment to look up from her book and glance in their direction. "Going to bed?" she asked, receiving nods in reply. "I'm surprised you aren't going off on some hair-brained adventure." she replied, before sarcastically adding, "That would be the sensible thing, after all."

Ron crossed his arms and looked at her with a smile on his face as Harry ascended the stairs towards their room. "Well, we're tired. Besides, it's still early in the term. Can't do everything the first month, can we? There'd be nothing to do later if we did." He turned and started up the stairs, but stopped a few stairs up and turned around. "Besides, how could we possibly go out now? We'd be leaving you behind, and I know how much you'd miss getting detention with us. But, if you really want to.." He left off here and started to turn around.

Hermione shot him a glare and heaved a nearby pillow at him, mumbling under her breath.

Ron ducked the soft projectile and hurried to the boys room before she thought to hex him. Entering the room, he laughed as he fell on his bed.

Harry, who had heard the exchange, just rolled his eyes. "Honestly Ron, must you do that?"

Getting ready for bed, Ron rolled his eyes in response and then yawned. "Admit it Harry, you enjoy doing that too."

"Yeah," Harry conceded as Ron got into bed. "but not as much as you. Of course, I'm not the one with the crush." He looked over and noticed his friend had not heard a word, seeing as he had fallen asleep instantly. "Typical." He muttered before also entering Dreamland.

OOOOO

The next morning, after a few words, and some diplomatic negotiations by Harry, the three went down to breakfast. It appeared to be a normal day with the typical daily commotion.

"Please tell us Ginny!" Mary begged.

Soon the other sixth years had joined in. "Yes Ginny! Word is you're dating somebody. Who is it?"

Ginny blushed. "Oh. Uh, nobody. Really."

"I'll kill him." Ron grumbled.

Hermione shook her head. "Really Ron, we've been down this road before. Use your brain for once."

"Mione!" Ron cried in dismay.

"Is it dragon scales or snake scales?" Neville asked in confusion as he went through his potions text.

"Haven't a clue." Harry said, thinking nobody else had noticed. He was wrong.

"You mean you haven't studied yet?" Hermione questioned, her argument with Ron now forgotten.

"No?" Harry tried, earning a sigh from Hermione.

"We have an exam in potions this morning. Snape only told us about five times." she said in exasperation before turning her attention towards Neville. "And it's neither one. It's actually essence of dragon."

"Oh." Neville replied sheepishly. He then returned to the book and, after one glance, groaned in dread.

Hermione now turned to Ron. "And what about you?" she demanded. "Have you studied yet?"

"Mione!" Ron moaned.

"Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to do with the two of you." she told both Harry and Ron. Harry smiled and picked at his food while Ron shrugged and piled his plate as high as he could.

"What do you mean I'm going to end up dateless?" Seamus suddenly exclaimed from several seats down. Lavender and Parvati had been trying to foretell the future to an irate Seamus and a distracted Dean.

"Exactly what I said. The tea leaves never lie." Lavender said matter-of-factly.

"Well you should try looking in a mirror, because you aren't any prize yourself!" he screamed in outrage, earning a slap from Lavender and a glare from Parvati, both of whom stormed out of the Great Hall.

"I hate to say it mate, but you deserved that." Ron said as he looked up from his food."

"Shut up." Seamus replied testily, tossing his fork down and leaving as well. Dean finally looked up from his drawing and took off after Seamus, yelling at him to wait up.

"Really Ron, I wish you'd use your head sometimes. And please try to develop better eating habits. It's rather embarrassing to be seen with someone who has the eating habits of a goat." Hermione admonished.

"Mione!" Ron exclaimed yet again.

By this time, most of the Great Hall seemed to be staring in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Not that Ron and Hermione noticed. It was soon redirected, however, to the Slytherin table were Crabbe and Goyle got fighting over the last piece of toast. Mumbling under her breath about behavior not befitting Slytherins, Pansy got up to leave, but not before knocking them both in the head on her way out. At this point, everyone went back to eating breakfast and chattering amongst themselves. It was Harry, however, who put it best. "Well, that was interesting."

Towards the end of breakfast, Hermione noticed something. "Harry, Ron, have you noticed that Malfoy never showed up for breakfast?"
Ron looked around the Great Hall and realized she was right. "Maybe he was killed by a renegade house elf during the night. Would serve the git right."

As Hermione scolded Ron, yet again, Harry thought of something. "You don't suppose he's up to something, do you?"

"He's Malfoy. Of course he's up to something. Besides, you never can tell with Slytherins." Ron said, eyes narrowing.

Hermione nodded her head in agreement. "I wouldn't be too surprised." Suddenly her eyes went wide as a thought hit her. "You know, now that I think about it, he hasn't tried anything this year. That's very odd, especially for him."

"Now I know he's up to something." Ron stated.

"That's probably true, but we don't have any solid evidence. The only thing we can do is keep a close eye on him and see if he does anything suspicious." Hermione rationalized as Harry nodded.

Ron groaned. "But it's Malfoy. Everything he does is suspicious."

"Alright, something more suspicious than normal." she said as she smacked the back of his head.

"Mione!" He hissed as he rubbed the spot where she had hit him.

Harry sighed. "I get the feeling this is going to be a long day. And we haven't even had potions yet."

When Harry suggested that Draco might be up to something, he was correct. It just did not happen to be an evil something. Well, not truly evil. Slightly illegal and on the side of greedy, perhaps. Not that that had ever stopped him before. He just had to make sure none of the professors found out. He knew the people involved would never tell, for they would also be incriminated.

Now all he had to do was find the right parties to help him, not that he would ever admit to needing help. They would have to be people he could trust, which was easier said than done. Slytherins, especially those of the Malfoy variety, had a hard time trusting.

"Who could I get?" he asked himself as he paced in front of the Slytherin common room. He continued this way for several moments, when suddenly it hit him. "Of course!" With that, he took off, once again banging into someone in his hurry, calling back an apology as he went. Definitely not a Malfoy trait.

"I swear, that boy gets stranger every day." Pansy commented to Millicent, the two having recently returned from breakfast. "He should have his head examined." They shared a knowing look as they parted company. If they had not been Slytherin, it could almost be said to be a look of sympathy. But that would be too much to hope for.

OOOOO

"No, Draco, Absolutely not!" a male voice emphasized, sitting himself on the ground. "I won't be involved in another one of your schemes. The last time…I don't even want to think about it!" He shuddered. "We were just lucky that it was Snape who caught us and not Filch." He shuddered again. "Anyway, my answer's no! No!"

Draco had managed to find his two accomplices and drag them outside to talk. They didn't have much time, seeing as breakfast would be ending soon.

"Oh, come on. You know it'll be fun. Besides, what else do we have to do around here?" a feminine voice piped in. "I know you want to!" As she said this, she plopped herself down next to him and crawled right up in his face. "Please?" she whimpered as Draco pretended to be amused.

The male sighed. "Alright, I'll do it." he replied as Ginny threw herself on top of him in a giant hug. "But only because it's you."

"Only because she wouldn't leave you alone." Draco added with a smirk.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she squealed happily, tightening her grip and preventing him from getting away. "Blaise, you won't regret this."

"I better not." he grumbled. "If I get into any trouble because of this, I'll disown both of you. Now could you please let go of me Ginny, so I can get up?"

Ginny let go and moved back a couple of feet. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself." she said calmly before turning to Draco. "Now, give us the details!" She was eager to find out what Draco's plan entailed.

"Not now." Draco replied, looking around. He then spoke softer so only they could hear. "Meet me tonight in the Room of Requirement, 10:00." When both nodded their heads in agreement, he stalked away.

"Well, I guess that means I'll see you tonight." Ginny said to Blaise as she stood up and brushed off her skirt. Leaving in the opposite direction Draco had, she noticed Harry and Ron staring at her. How long they had been there watching, she had no idea. As for what they were thinking, she was pretty sure she did not want to find out.

OOOOO

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Harry and Ron had just arrived, walking through on their way to potions. Needless to say, the sight had stopped them dead in their tracks.

"Harry, did you just see what I saw?" Ron asked, shocked and somewhat angry.

"You mean Ginny talking to Blaise?" Harry asked back, equally as shocked. "Then yes. Although I think Malfoy was there too. I can't be sure, seeing as he was walking away as we arrived."

Ron growled. "If Malfoy even speaks to her, I'll kill him!"

"Ron, what did I say earlier!" Hermione reprimanded. She had been explaining the effects of various potions ingredients to a very confused Neville, who was actually more confused than before, and had just managed to catch up with the duo.

Ron groaned and Harry sighed in relief, glad his friend had not uttered "Mione" again. His two friends stared at him as though he had two heads, but he could care less.

"You don't suppose…no, she couldn't possibly!" Ron said, slightly startled by his own thoughts. "It's ridiculous."

"What?" Harry asked curiously, Hermione listening intently.

"Well, it's been going around that Ginny fancies someone, though she won't say who. You don't suppose that it's Blaise, do you? Or worse, Malfoy?!" Ron said, anger and confusion coming over him.

Harry looked shocked. "I honestly doubt it Ron. But if she is…well, we won't think about that now. I mean, she couldn't possibly!"

"Yeah." Ron agreed, not completely convinced. "Couldn't possibly. But if she is, I'm gonna kill him!" He then started walking towards the castle, murder on his mind.

"Ron! How many times do I have tell you!" Hermione shrieked, taking off after him.

"Mione!" Ron complained, slowing his steps and wincing as the verbal onslaught began.

"Yep, definitely a long day." Harry whispered, before going after them.

A/N: Alright, tell me what you think...