A/N: I don't own Harry Potter

Word count: 518

Ron glanced out the window as he pulled to the curb. The young woman standing there looked miserable. Her eyes were red from crying, her blouse was misbuttoned, and the look on her face was one he hated to see on any woman.

"Hi, um, can you drive me to the, um, I guess, down town?" she asked.

"Where down town?" Ron asked, watching as she slid into the back seat of his taxi.

"The Crossed Wands hotel. Do you know where that is?" She bit her lip nervously, her black hair plastered to her cheek. Ron nodded.

"I know the place. Could you put your seatbelt on, please?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, my mind is a million miles away," she replied, clicking the buckle. Ron started his cab wondering if he should try to talk to her. She was obviously upset about something. He really had trouble knowing what to say to someone though. One of his ex-girlfriends had said he had the emotional range of a teaspoon. She'd been right, in a way.

"So, um, how long have you been driving a taxi?" she asked,breaking the silence.

"About three years."

"I bet you meet all sorts of interesting people doing this. It seems so much more... I don't know, something than working as an assistant. I mean, I just make copies, and fetch coffee, and get into fights with my boss."

"That's where you're coming from? Work?" Ron asked. The woman nodded slightly.

"Yeah, only, now it's not work anymore. Mr. Malfoy no longer requires my services since I, well, since I refused some of those services. I'm Pansy by the way."

"Ron. Don't you have a place to stay, other than a hotel?"

"Nope, all Malfoy employees are giving Malfoy housing as part of our jobs. I just lost that too," Pansy said, wiping a tear from her eye. "I mean, it's not like I don't care about Mr. Malfoy. I did, but - "

"Not like that," Ron finished. He was nearly to down town. Pansy had turned her attention to staring out the window.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked. "You could report him, for sexual harrassment."

"Report a Malfoy? Are you mad?" she asked. "As for what I'm going to do now, I always wanted to travel. My family is from a small village in China, I thought maybe I could go there, get in touch with my roots," she said with a shrug. Ron smiled. Traveling was something he'd always dreamed of doing also.

"Just call me when, or if, you need a ride to the airport," he said, pulling in front of the hotel she'd requested. She flashed him a smile before paying the fare and slipping out of the cab.

"I might just do that, or I might just call you sometime for some company, if you wouldn't be opposed to that. You're the first person to ever just listen and not try to fix everything for me. Thanks, Ron," she added, grabbing her purse, closing the door and walking out of Ron's life for that day.