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Far too many Slytherins underestimated the value of proper friends, thinking only in terms of enemies, allies, and minions. Most of them couldn't look past the risk of betrayal long enough to realize that, without risk, there was no reward. Blaise Zabini was a perfect example of that.

Blaise had been the first friend that Harry had made upon coming to Hogwarts, and they had been thick as thieves ever since. Literally.

As a friend, Blaise had two phenomenally useful talents. The first was his natural business acumen, inherited from his deceased father. Once Stephen Hollings had graduated at the end of their second year, the two of them had quickly moved to take his place as Slytherin's resident distributors of all things contraband and shady. It hadn't been simple or easy, but between Harry's bank account and Blaise's head for numbers and deals, they had managed to clear out the rest of the competition, and a year-and-a-half later, had expanded the operation into all four Houses. It was a great partnership. Blaise handled the business end, and Harry made sure that anyone who tried to horn in on the action was swiftly discouraged. Or if they showed real talent, recruited.

For example, Gryffindor had been the first and easiest to fall. There, it had been the Weasley twins who ran the black market in order to fund their experiments, and all it had taken was a short chat and the promise of putting them on the payroll. They found the idea of Gryffindors buying contraband indirectly from Slytherins, only to turn around and use those items against other Slytherins to be hilarious. It also didn't hurt that Harry had once saved their sister's life.

Hufflepuff, and especially Ravenclaw had been far more difficult nuts to crack, but nothing was impossible to those willing to go the extra mile, provided that they always had a strong alibi.

What Would Slytherin Harry Do?, Chapter 3