Mr. Weasley is indebted to Mr. Malfoy with no way of paying him- until Lucius notices his daughter. Though their values are vastly different, she is beautiful and pureblooded. To clear his debt, she is to become betrothed to his son and they are to be married within the four months following her coming of age and neither of them has any choice in the matter…

Clearly, this is an AU story. Voldemort was defeated in Harry's 6th year, he and Ginny are happily dating, the Malfoy family still jumped ships last minute and escaped Azkaban and remain a prominent family. Anyway, this just popped into my head and so, here you go. Hope you enjoy. Reviews, criticism (though not the likes of 'Arthur would never do that, Lucius would never want a blood-traitor, yaddayaddayadda' as it's already been stated this is AU) and anything else welcome.

Prologue

It had been two years ago, when his youngest had been in her fourth year, that Arthur Weasley lost his job at the ministry when they decided that there was no need for any misuse of muggle artifacts branch. He had already been struggling financially and no longer knew what he would do. After a very long discussion with Molly, he had finally swallowed his pride and contacted the one man who could possibly help him: Lucius Malfoy.

They were hardly friends, but Lucius was a man of business and would certainly love the idea of having a Weasley at his mercy. His lip had curled in an amused sneer when Arthur had arrived at their discussed meeting area, The Leaky Cauldron.

"Arthur," He had greeted coolly, barely raising his eyes to the man. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"As I'm sure you have heard, the ministry has cut my department," he began, looking to the other man who nodded before he went on. "I'm out of work now. They're going to place me Perkins elsewhere, but it could take up to five months to find another position, you see…"

Malfoy was watching him, his face masked and emotionless. He said nothing for a long while, sipping at his tea, before he finally inclined his head. "And what does that have to do with me? Surely you do not intend me to fight for the reinstatement of that useless department?"

"No," Arthur spoke quickly; gritting his teeth and feeling his pride disappear completely. "But as you know, I was already having trouble- that is to say, the job didn't pay so well to begin with and now, I'm afraid that I no longer know how to support my family. I know Abraxas used to offer contracts of sorts for family friends in need of aid…" he trailed off as Lucius started at him again, a blonde eyebrow raised as he studied the red haired man in front of him.

"Yes, so he did," he confirmed in a tone that betrayed none of his thought on the matter. Each second that ticked by seemed a lifetime to Arthur. "However, I have never done so and you are by no means a family friend. However," he went on as Arthur had opened his mouth to speak again, looking sheepish. "I suppose I could offer my assistance. You will repay me in approximately two years time. I will have documents owled to you by this evening."

"Yes, of course," Arthur agreed hurriedly, feeling no better than he had when he had walked in. It was not a good position to be in, owing anything to a Malfoy. "Thank you." He added, nodding at the other man as he finished his tea and stood to leave.

Now, Lucius Malfoy stood in his home, looking around with disdain two years and one day later. They had been celebrating Harry's coming of age, and Arthur looked shocked to see him there, as did the rest of the cheerful group who had just finished singing a round of 'happy birthday' to Harry.

"Arthur," he greeted with a nod, motioning toward the door as if to signal they should go outside. Nodding back, Arthur followed him, beckoning the group to continue their celebrations and assuring them he would be back momentarily.

"Malfoy," he returned, none too politely once they had stepped out the doors. "What are you doing here?"

Lucius pulled a roll of parchment from his robes, presenting it to Arthur. "You are indebted to me, Arthur. You have paid back only a third of your debt and the rest is owed to me as of yesterday, you see. Or have you forgotten?"

Arthur paled. He had, in fact, forgotten. He had paid back some those first seven months but then it had slipped his mind completely, and now he had no way of paying the rest of it back, not immediately at least. "I don't have that kind of money, Lucius. I'll begin giving you money from each of my paychecks, but-"

"I don't care for your excuses." Lucius responded, but he seemed to be considering something as his eyes wandered back toward the door in the distance. "Who was that young woman standing beside Mr. Potter?"

Arthur didn't understand, but answered hesitantly. "My youngest: Ginevra."

"She is of age?"

"No, she'll be of age August next year."

Lucius was quiet for another long moment before he finally nodded. "The contract merely states you must repay your debt to me, though it does not say how. I am willing to forget your debt in exchange for something new."

Suspicious now, Arthur eyed him, "And what is that, Lucius?"

"I want your daughter."

"You're a married man, old enough for her to be your own daughter! I will not-"

"Not for me, you fool," He snapped, looking disgusted at the very thought of taking a child for his own needs. "For my son. I wish her to become betrothed to him. She is a pure blood and a beautiful girl and would create beautiful heirs with my Draco."

"She is too young to be married right now; she's still in school for another year." Arthur protested, but Lucius merely smiled.

"Yes, so you have said. We shall wait, then. We will publicly announce their engagement the week she comes of age, and they are to be married within the month after her graduation. It will bring great respect to your family, Arthur. And as you have no means to repay me in the monetary sense, you really cannot refuse."

And that was that, he was faced with the horrible realization that he could not argue or repay his debt in any way and just like that, his daughter, so happy and in love with Harry, was destined to become Mrs. Malfoy in just a little over a year.