Chapter Four! Oh, and thank you to all the people who put me on their story alerts..I just wish I knew why…(points nonchalantly to review button)

--

Once they were seated, Draco leaned back in his chair and looked at them.

"So, Weasley, I understand you need my help."

Apparently, that wasn't a good thing to say. Ron bolted out of his chair and would have given a repeat performance of the show at the last firm, had Harry and Hermione not pulled him back and held him down in his seat.

Hermione glared at him till he subsided and then turned to Draco who hadn't moved at all.

" Malfoy, I'm so sorry. He shouldn't have done that. It's just…seeing you after so long has given all of us a bit of a shock. What you said just pushed him over the edge, I suppose. Though to be fair, I think you knew better than to say something like that."

Draco looked at her for a moment and then grinned. "Oh, but Granger, it was so amusing watching him react! It's so entertaining to push his buttons, you must agree…"

Inspite of herself, Hermione had to smile. Yes, it was fun…

Ron seemed to regained his composure again, so Draco decided to get serious. He asked Ceci to come in and began speaking again. "Okay, now that we've – okay, I've – had my fun-" Ron snarled. Draco ignored him and continued, "- let's get down to business, shall we? I understand, Mr. Weasley, that you wish to hire my company to assist in the publicity of your latest venture. May I ask how you happened to come across our name?"

Ron was amazed. Malfoy had switched from arrogant git to serious businessman in a second. Well, if he could do it, so could Ron.

"My brothers are your clients, I believe." He said, perfectly composed. "At least, they're the ones who suggested that I may want to check out your firm. I've been looking for a while, but I haven't found anything satisfactory as of yet."

Draco sat a little straighter. "I see. I've been following the growth of your chain of shops, Mr. Weasley, and I have noticed that you have not done any heavy advertising before this. May I ask why you have chosen now to begin?"

Ron shrugged. "I'm expanding into the muggle world. Things are different. If I'm to get any sort of grip in the market, I will need the best services I can afford to get it."

Draco raised one eyebrow. "And you believe that our firm will offer you the best services?"

Ron hesitated. He really didn't want to do this.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, I've looked at a lot of other firms in the past couple of months, but none of them seemed right. I've been following your growth as well, and it seems to me…that you may be the best choice."

Draco almost cackled. He could just imagine the effort it must have taken Weasley to say that.

However, mindful of Ceci's frown, he just thanked Ron politely and continued, "I assume, Mr. Weasley, that your brothers haven't told you that we reserve the right to refuse any clients we may wish to."

Ron was struck speechless. He wouldn't…would he?

Draco smirked. He could almost see the gears in Ron's head turning.

"Relax, Mr. Weasley. That is just a condition we find it necessary to mention. However, I don't believe it should apply in your case. I feel doing this should be an interesting challenge for us. So, Mr. Weasley, we will take you on."

Ron almost smiled. Almost.

"So what happens now?"

"Now, Mr. Weasley, I have other clients to attend to, so I'm afraid we will have to stop. However, Ceci, my assistant," she nodded at them and smiled warmly, "will fix a date which will be convenient for the both of us, so that we can fix the terms of our contract. She will also let you know who will be handling your account at the same time."

Ron looked a little disgruntled at the thought of having to meet Malfoy again, but agreed and the three of them took their leave.

As soon as they had left, Draco leaned back in his chair, put his legs up on the table, and put a hand over his eyes.

"Ceci," he said, "can I get more coffee?"

Ceci looked at him, as if making a difficult decision. "Well, okay. Since you behaved."

"Thank you. You are my life-saver. You have no idea how hard it was for me to be nice. I had to keep pinching myself to stop from saying something about Weasley's carrot-top."

Ceci frowned. "Draco…"

"What? I didn't say anything, did I? You'd better hand over the account to someone else though, I don't know how long I'll last next time."

Ceci rolled her eyes. "Alright you drama queen, that's enough. Your next appointment's waiting. Ms. Smith. She wants an update on the media budget. And try not to be too charming this time? I practically had to pry her off your door the last time she was here…"

Draco smirked. "Ceci, Ceci. Can I help it if I'm so desirable?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, yeah, tell it to Mr. Weasley. Speaking of which, did you see that friend of his? I wouldn't mind fetching coffee for him sometime…those eyes..."

Since she was almost out of the door, Ceci failed to notice that her boss was choking on his coffee.

--

A couple of blocks away was a tiny pub, named Mama Riley's, which was frequented by three familiar young wizards. The Trio had been coming here for ages, and it was here at corner table that Ron was now sitting, wondering exactly who he had angered to have such an awful fate thrust upon him.

"I can't go back there, I can't! I'll want to punch his face in again! And if I do that, I'll lose the contract! And if that happens, then we can just bid my third baby goodbye!"

Hermione tried to calm him down.

"Ron, for gods' sake! You're a grown man! Are you seriously telling me that you can't act your age for just a little while? Pull yourself together! You're behaving like a child!"

She wasn't doing a very good job.

Ron looked at Harry desperately.

"Harry, mate, you've got to help me out here! You have to go instead of me!"

Harry was taken aback.

"Who, me? See Malfoy on a regular basis?"

Hmm…not a bad idea…his mind supplied.

Harry, choosing to ignore that thought, continued, "Ron, you're the owner! This is your job! Besides it's not like I can stand the git for too long either! Why not Hermione? She can do it!"

"I have a steady job, remember? I don't have the time to do both. Besides, you're on vacation aren't you? Quidditch season doesn't even start for another four months! It's not like you'll be doing anything else…"

Harry grabbed at the excuse. "Yes, I will! I'm very busy!"

Hermione looked skeptical. "Oh? With what, exactly?"

"Well…" he looked around for an excuse, "I have….practices! Yeah, practices, and check ups…and…and.."

Seeing that he wasn't fooling Hermione, he sighed. "Oh, fine. I'll do it. Though I expect adequate payment."

Ron smiled with relief. "Anything you want, mate. I owe you."

Hermione was looking thoughtful again. "You know, I bet the twins knew about this. I wonder why they didn't warn us?"

Ron looked like he was working up the energy to be mad, but then he let it go.

"Who knows? They probably found it funny. They're probably laughing about it right now. Gits."

Harry meanwhile was wondering if maybe he'd given in too easily.

What am I getting myself into?

--

Please review…I need to know what you think…also, Draco's partner plays an important part too, so any guesses who he is?