Woooohoooo! Alerts are working again (or so it seems) that's fab news as now I won't miss out on any of your excellent stories :)

I have another chapter almost written. I might not be able to update over the weekend but if I can't I promise I'll have another chapter up on Monday. I can't stop writing - I'm hooked lol.

I've replied to the reviews I could but for those of you that I can't reply to I just wanted to say thanks again. You're all really kind and yesterday I walked home with a big grin on my face. People must think I'm mad!!

…as much as he hated Lucius, he was still his father as far as the Weasley's were concerned and had done a horrific thing to their only daughter. Draco was quite dreading their arrival.

Draco decided that a sharp exit was in order but he had barely made it to the door when he heard yet another popping noise and felt a large hand clamp down on his shoulder…

He turned around and was faced with none other than Arthur Weasley. The man his father had despised and told Draco was a waste of space that would never amount to anything. Draco wasn't sure he agreed with his father on that. After all it was My Weasley who now had the good job at the ministry, Arthur who still had a loving wife and family. Draco's father had certainly never looked as happy as Mr Weasley did.

"Sir." He managed with a nod of his head.

"Come now boy. You weren't thinking of disappearing on us were you?" Arthur said with a frown. Draco wanted to fidget nervously but years of training had forced him to contain his nervousness; so he instead cleared his throat lightly. "I thought you might want some time alone with your son Sir."

"Nonsense dear," came a warm and friendly voice from by Ron's bed. "Why would we send away the hero that saved my little Ronald's life?"

Draco could have shouted that he was certainly no hero and for her to please refrain from calling him that again but he held his temper well. "Mrs Weasley, it was nothing; I just knew the correct potion to use. Now if you would excuse me I really should-"

"No you don't." Arthur said. "We've yet to thank you properly… Hermione told us how you saved him and if she said it was clever work then it must have been. Don't worry about your father either," Arthur felt Draco flinch but continued. "Hermione also told us how you've changed for the better. I can't judge you on things your father has done so how about we call it a clean slate?"

He held out his hand to Draco who stared at it for a second before saying. "On one condition sir. Please never call that man my Father anymore. He didn't lift a finger to save my Mother's life so he doesn't deserve the title, in fact he probably never has."

Arthur looked awkward but nodded his head and they shook hands. Taking this as a sign Molly stood up and wrapped her arms around Draco's waist, she was ridiculously short compared to him but he still felt as though she had a very commanding presence. She stood back and started chatting to him as if he were an old family friend.

"Now dear, you must come to the wedding of course. I'm sure Fleur won't mind us bringing you as a guest of honour... Now stop shaking your head about like that, it will be a fantastic day. I suppose you'll need some robes... hmm, now you're too tall for even Ronald's I think." She babbled on until Ginny with a laugh told her that she was intimidating Draco.

"Nonsense Ginny dear. He would tell me if I was bothering him, wouldn't you dear?"

Draco nodded his head mutely, not knowing what to say. Maybe I've found someone even crazier than Aunt Bellatrix? He thought. After a minute his brain kicked in and he found his silver tongue which worked wonders with Ginny's mother.

"Mrs Weasley, while I would be absolutely honoured to accompany you to your son's wedding, I do feel that we should wait for you to ask the Bride. I understand this day is very important for her and wouldn't want to impose. If I am welcome then I do have dress robes but I will buy something fitting for the occasion as I would of course need to purchase them a suitable gift anyway."

"Ah, you remind me of your mother, I wasn't particularly good friends with her at school but I remember her having such good manners. Then she was married to that man. Not surprising considering your grandfather's views..." Molly's face turned dark for a moment, but like Ginny she always liked to look on the bright side.

"Right then Ginny, why don't you show me how well you've kept your kitchen and we'll cook something nice together for my baby when he wakes up."

Ginny was delighted; she walked out holding her mum's hand and gave Draco a wink, leaving him with Arthur.

"Sorry about Molly, you'll learn to love her ways. She likes to mother everybody; Merlin knows she's had enough practice!"

Draco was perplexed at how nice Mr and Mrs Weasley were being to him, surely they couldn't have simply forgotten all the mean things he'd done to their son, all the horrid remarks he'd made about their situation in life and, definitely not about the amount of jokes he made about Ron's appearance.

"Mr Weasley I-"

"Call me Arthur. Go on…"

"Ok... Arthur. I feel that I should say something about my behaviour towards your son at school. You see we never really hit it off and-"

Arthur laughed, again cutting him off. "Didn't hit it off? More like hated each other vehemently I should say. Molly and I understand how kids can be at school my boy; we were there once you know. I had my fair share of school rivalries. Some adults just can't seem to grow out of it but judging by the looks Ginny gave you she's taken to you and she always has been a good judge of character. I'd say you're over the worst of your behaviour and if you befriended my Ginbug then I'm sure some of her better habits will rub off on you. Just don't let her convince you to help her with any pranks. She's almost as bad as the twins when she gets going!"

Draco was astonished. He'd never been around such easy going and forgiving people. It was like he was among a different species. And what did he mean Ginny had taken to him? What looks?

Hermione piped up from her seat by Ron's slumbering form. "I can't bear it any longer… How did you know what the barrier was? How did you know what potion to make?"

Draco noticed that Arthur seemed all ears at the question too. "I excel at potions, it's like the knowledge is just in my head waiting to come out. I can read all the books and then something inside me just knows how to make the concoctions better, more potent. Like I said to Ginny, I wasn't Snape's best student for years for nothing."

"Snape." Hermione spat. "He has the means to save so many people's lives with his potions. yet he chooses instead to be a murderer."

Arthur looked to Draco for a response. Draco sighed, he felt that had to try and defend Snape even though he wasn't really sure he deserved it. "He's not a nice man, you're right there. But he took an unbreakable oath to protect me and do what I had to do if I couldn't. He told me Dumbledore knew this. I… there's so much I don't understand and more that he said he couldn't tell me. I just can't think too badly of the man. He's always been more of a father to me than Lucius ever was. When Voldemort said I was to be put down, as he called it, Snape was the only one to defend me. He said that Dumbledore had put me into a kind of trance and 'bewitched' me for want of a better word. He told so many lies to Voldemort for me that I simply can't believe he is still loyal to the Dark Lord. I don't know that he has any loyalties other than to himself but I know he didn't want things to end up how they did. He even visited me in my cell and offered to help me escape at his own risk but by then they had killed my mother and I had no will left to break away from my captors."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know what to think, I know I can't forgive him. Murder is still murder. He had a choice - he could have spared Dumbledore and paid the price of taking the oath."

"But there were more Death Eaters following him... because of me." Draco hung his head. "One of them would have killed Dumbledore anyway. Especially if they came up and saw Snape dead on the floor, they wouldn't know it was from the vow. I'm not asking you to forgive him; I'm just saying I can't hate him."

Arthur cleared his throat. "I think we've said enough on this subject. It's a sore point all round. We all know your involvement and I think none of us can hold it against you anymore. I don't know what I would have done at your young age if I was told to do those things to protect my family. It must have been very difficult. But you obviously regret it and you're trying to do your best now, which means my son is alive for which I am most grateful."

"Me too Mal-Draco. For once I'm glad someone knew more than me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Ron." Draco nearly sneered at the look she gave Ron, who was snoring louder than ever but caught himself in time.

Ginny and Molly came back after a while and Molly looked very happy. "Arthur, we can stay for a while can't we? I'm missed seeing my babies and we haven't got another meeting until after the wedding next week."

"Of course my petal." He said giving his wife a big hug.

Great thought Draco. Well, I never saw this coming… Summer holidays with the bloody Weasley family.

I loved writing Arthur and Molly; I just kept hearing them saying the lines in my head! (Obviously the actors' voices from the films as my copies of the book have never spoken to me... yet!)