A/N First I just want to thank the people that have reviewed and followed this story so far, I really appreciate it. Secondly I want to apologise for taking so long to update; I'm not really keen on this chapter at all but I've tried editing it many times and nothings really changed. There are lots of important bits about Lacie and Draco's past though. I hope you enjoy it at least a little :)

Snatching was a monotonous job, the same thing every day and it wasn't guaranteed that they would actually snatch anyone on any given day. Lacie stayed behind at camp bored out of her mind when they went out, always being left with one of them to keep an eye on her. Scabior's mood swings were getting worse as the weeks went on, snapping at Lacie when she reminded him that her foot needed tending to, hitting her when she said something that he didn't like. She was constantly covered in bruises and when Draco cancelled their first meeting she couldn't help but cry; she needed a familiar face to keep her going.

It was two weeks in when one morning she awoke to Scabior shaking her. She looked up at him in surprise, blinking tiredly in confusion; he had never woken her before, usually she awoke and he was already gone.

"Draco wants to meet us, come on, get up," He uttered causing her to groan slightly.

"Idonwanna," Her voice was muffled by the pillow causing Scabior to chuckle.

"You 'ave to." She sat up, yawning widely before pulling herself up. Pulling on her jeans and then her boots she looked to Scabior expectantly. He considered her for a second before attempting to flatten her hair.

"You'll do," He uttered before he grabbed her wrist and left the tent with her in tow. They left the borders of the campsite before disapparating.

They landed in an alleyway unfamiliar to Lacie who barely even had the chance to glance around herself before Scabior pulled her after him. The streets were quiet except for the few businessmen and women that rushed to work at those early hours. Scabior stopped suddenly outside of a small café with grease stained windows. He looked at the sign for a couple of seconds before peering through the window and heading for the door. Lacie's stomach lurched as she saw the blonde sat at a table in the corner. He rose like a gentlemen as soon as they walked up, offering his hand to Scabior in a very business-like manner.

"Malfoy," Scabior uttered in a greeting, shaking the blonde's hand before they both sat. Lacie felt like she was sitting back down at the Slytherin table at Hogwarts as she felt Draco's eyes burning into her as she sat next to Scabior and opposite Draco. A thin teenage boy came over to the table, asking if she and Scabior wanted anything to which Scabior just muttered two black coffees before he disappeared again.

"She's a mess," Lacie cringed at the words and jumped slightly as Draco reached across the table and brought his hand to her cheek, lightly touching the two scars from Scabior's ring. He then took her chin gently and tilted it up, looking at the bruises lining her neck. "What the hell have you been doing to her?" He glanced at her clothes in distaste. Scabior had taken her to a nearby river to wash herself as well as her clothes a couple of days a week but without any proper soap, the stains from the mud wouldn't budge and magic only did so much.

"If she steps out of line she has to be punished, I'm sure you would do the same," Scabior shrugged before accepting the two coffees that the gangly waiter brought over.

"You obviously know nothing about me snatcher," Draco hissed, glaring at Scabior.

"See it from my point of view yeah? A burden is thrown to you and she just ends up causing more trouble than she's worth even after you've warned 'er and then she takes up precious working time-"

"I'm paying you-"

"Yeah but me an' my men aren't gonna to be able to live on just keeping 'er alive for you are we? We still gotta snatch," Draco held his tongue in defeat and looked at Lacie again, eyeing her as she stared into her coffee. The smell was soothing her; it smelt like breakfasts at home when her father used to drink the strongest of coffees, the rich smell filling the whole house.

"Have any of them touched you sexually Lace?" Lacie looked up with wide surprised eyes, not expecting to be pulled out of her reverie.

"No, of course not," She stumbled out, surprised to find her voice. Draco leant closer to her before softening his voice.

"Are you telling me the truth Lacie or do I have to use Veritaserum again?" He spoke down to her like she was a child and Lacie couldn't help but feel anger burn through her intensely.

"I'm telling the truth," She muttered before narrowing her eyes surprising both of the men at the table. "You're unbelievable, you know that?" Draco was stunned into silence. He knew he shouldn't have brought up the potion but he needed to make sure she was alright in that manner of speaking at least.

"Why are you even acting like you fucking care Draco? I'm not yours. I'm not your pet!" Lacie was doing her best not to yell as the misplaced group was already attracting the unwanted attention of the staff. Scabior sat back slightly, amused as he saw this fiery side of Lacie; every time he had gone up against her she had ended up a quivering wreck instead.

"I never stopped caring about you."

"I don't know why you bother; you ruined everything a long time ago so just give up! I nearly ended up paralysed because of you Draco and I'm never going to forgive you for that." She glanced to Scabior, suddenly remembering his presence, "And then this! You hand me over to a bunch of murderous men and a fucking werewolf and you expect me to be grateful!"

"You would've rather have gone to Azkaban? You wouldn't have lasted a day in there," Draco hissed back with just as much anger. He was putting so much on the line for her and she was playing the ungrateful brat in his eyes. "And as for Justin, none of that was my fault."

"He targeted me because of you," She spoke in disbelief, "and your friends just made it so much easier."

"Well tell you what Scabior, do whatever the fuck you want with her, what does it even matter anymore." Draco pushed his chair back and stood, having turned his full attention to the snatcher. "I'll be in contact." Scabior merely nodded amused as Draco threw his money onto the table before storming out of the café without another word.

There was silence between the snatcher and his captive as he moved and took Draco's seat, eyeing Lacie who still looked stunned yet angry at Draco's final words. He pocketed the galleons and ignored the looks from the few other customers in the café.

"Well that was interesting," he commented before beckoning the teenager waiter over and ordering two full English breakfasts. "So who is Justin? You failed to mention a Justin when you were telling me about you and Draco." Lacie blinked, unemotional before looking to Scabior, shaking her head slightly.

"No one," She mumbled, sipping her coffee, wincing as it burnt her tongue and throat. Scabior sighed. It felt strange to her as if Scabior had suddenly appeared again after disappearing behind her wall of rage.

"I know we're in a public place but I'm not afraid to strangle you again, I can easily kill anyone that questions me."

"He tried to rape me."

"Oh," Scabior didn't want to admit that he was surprised before something suddenly clicked in his head. He thought back to the amount of times he had tried to touch her and the way that every time she would freak out completely, going into a fit of tears mixed with weak anger. "That's why you resist me…" He uttered, blinking at her in surprise.

"I guess," She mumbled, not wanting to voice that it was also because he scared the life out of her and she seriously didn't want him anywhere near her. Scabior was so wrapped up in himself it was unbelievable.

"You blame Draco though?" He questioned curiously, realising he had never really just sat down and talked to the girl before – not that she would have told him anything straight out anyway, she always needed coercion.

"Justin only started to take an interest in me because he thought I was interested in Draco and was jealous or something, I don't know. Draco forced me to go to the Yule ball and it was there that I was told about the bet. Justin had poisoned my drink and when I left he tried to rape me, Snape found us," Lacie mumbled out, hoping he'd be happy with her answer. She didn't want to have his hands wrapped around her throat again, it was a terrifying feeling. "Snape saved me."

"Snape?" He spoke in surprise as plates were placed in front of them. Scabior immediately got stuck in whilst Lacie just stared at her plate before moving the food around a bit, not really in the mood to eat. She was accustomed to her stomach being so empty that she felt sick from the greasy smell.

"Yeah, he was alright with me. He let me make potions in his classroom in my spare blocks."

"And this kid's name? What did you say it was?"

"Justin. Justin Chanmot." Scabior almost laughed. He looked up at the girl opposite himself wondering how on Earth such a little thing could surprise him so much in such a short amount of time. He knew the name. He had even met the boy briefly. He debated for a moment whether to tell her that he knew that he was a snatcher now but refrained, thinking of how much of a headache it cause for himself. Justin had served his time in Azkaban, it hadn't been long but when he had left the Ministry had approached him; either go back to Azkaban or become a snatcher. That was how they were all recruited more or less unless anyone willingly stepped up – and that was very rare to say the least. Scabior had been out of Azkaban for quite some time but a Ministry official had unfortunately caught him in a bar fight down Diagon Alley and had given him the ultimatum. He had argued it was merely a petty fight but she wouldn't have anything of it, simply asking him what his decision was. Scabior found that he had a knack for snatching however – a natural hunter. His sense of smell was impeccable, he had always known that but he had never thought he could use it like a blood hound would, to hunt down his prey.

"I take it you miss Hogwarts?" He pulled himself out of his thoughts, glancing back to Lacie before carrying on eating.

"I guess in a way. It hasn't held many happy memories for me, I was invisible until last year and then so much bad stuff happened. I miss the lessons I guess, I really did love potions."

"I was never too great at it, I preferred charms." He registered the surprise on her face as Lacie stared at him, confused at the fact that the snatcher seemed to be opening up to her. "Anyway, eat, not like we get a meal like this often."

"I'm not really hungry."

"Don't be stupid, just eat, we aven't got all day." The two fell quiet as Lacie reluctantly started to eat, finding her appetite more though a question was still burning at the back of her mind.

"Where were you last night?" She questioned quietly, not knowing if it was her place to question his whereabouts or not.

"Why?"

"I just woke up and you weren't there," As much as the man scared her he also offered her protection against everything else. Her life was in his hands and when he had suddenly disappeared on her it panicked her slightly. Even with his short temper and all of the beatings she still felt safer in his presence than that of Greyback's.

"We were snatching. We need to start doing it at night. We're not getting enough money just doing it in the day."

"Oh, okay." They both finished up and paid before leaving.