I think last chapter I forgot to mention that I do not own anything, etc.

It didn't take long for Pansy to convince the group to let Ron stay to help them in their hunt for Harry Potter.

Many groups of Snatchers had formed following the Ministry's announcement of muggle-born registrations. Registering with the ministry brought upon many troubles so many muggle-born witches and wizards fled to the forests and surrounding areas of the country. Refusing to register was illegal and, if caught, they were punished by imprisonment in Azkaban. The Ministry was offering good rewards to anyone who brought in unregistered muggle-borns. People in need of money quickly banded together to hunt the muggle-borns and collect the reward galleons. These groups became known as Snatchers because they would "snatch" unsuspecting people that were found wandering about, especially alone, regardless of their true blood status.

The group of Snatchers that Pansy belonged to specialized in looking for muggle-born students that had not returned to Hogwarts and had fled in fear. Pansy was readily received into the group because as a recent student, she would know exactly who to look for. She was probably the brightest person in the bunch and so she had gained everyone's respect and they tended to follow any of her orders very easily.

The reward offered for muggle-born students was a good incentive but the group realized that turning Harry Potter in to the Ministry would pay off better. The group was in need of cashing more gold as they had now gone two months without catching any runaways.

The leader, or Thorn as he was called, took Ron to Pansy's tent where he would be staying under her watch. Thorn gave her Ron's wand to keep as she would be the only one in charge of extracting any information from him.

Later that night after they had some dinner, Ron and Pansy were sitting in her tent. Ron was very curious as to why Pansy was hanging around with a group of Snatchers. He thought she would be at Hogwarts. He was also curious about her lack of questioning. She was appointed the task of finding out the whereabouts of his friends but she had yet to ask him anything.

"So, when does the interrogation start, Parkinson?" asked Ron. "Aren't you supposed to be asking me where you can find my friends?"

"Yes Weasley, I am supposed to be asking you that but we can save that for some other time," Pansy replied.

"If you think I am going to tell you where they are just like that you are wrong. Besides, by now they probably left to go find another hiding place and I don't know where they will go."

"Weasley, I really don't want to talk about that right now."

"Well if you're not here to question me, why are you here?" Ron wondered. "I guess the better question is what are you doing here with this lot? Aren't you supposed to be back at Hogwarts with the rest of your Slytherin friends? Won't daddy be worried about you?"

Ron's questions really hit Pansy hard. She did not want to remember what happened to her family at the beginning of the summer when her world fell apart and she ended up running off and joining a group of Snatchers.

"My daddy is exactly the reason why I'm here and not at Hogwarts!" Pansy exclaimed and ran out of the tent.

Ron was left in the tent on his own wondering the meaning of Pansy's little outburst. She was definitely different from the shallow and annoying girl she was at school. She came in later and went straight to bed. The last thing he heard before falling asleep was her crying.

The following morning, Thorn decided to find another place to camp. The tents were quickly packed and everyone got ready for the hike through the forest. After a quick stop for lunch, the group kept moving and Ron and Pansy fell behind. He felt really bad for making her cry the night before. He didn't know that her father was a sore subject for her so he decided to apologize.

"Look Parkinson, I'm sorry about what I said last night. I don't know what's happened to you and I shouldn't have mocked you about it."

"You're right Weasley. You really don't have any idea what I have been through. You think you are the only one who has been out here? I have been on the run since the beginning of July. I know what all of this is like."

"Well, why don't you tell me why you are here? Maybe then I can stop assuming the worst of you."

"I can't tell you my real motives until I know that I can trust you."

"Why would I need to be the one prove himself?" Ron asked confused. "Your family supports You-Know-Who. You joined a group of Snatchers that hunt down kids to trade for gold."

"I need to know that you won't betray my secret to Thorn or the others."

"I would have to be crazy to let those guys know anything that could put me or my friends in danger."

"Look the truth is, I am no longer on the Dark Lord's side. Not after what happened to my family. After Dumbledore's death last June, the Dark Lord demanded that my father give him control my family's fortune. My father had always preferred to stay in the background, mainly supplying the cause with money. This past year my father had spent a lot and our fortune disappeared. He was not able to keep giving the Dark Lord money and so he was asked to take a more active role with the Death Eaters. My father refused, and my mother paid the price," she said as tears formed in her eyes. "The Dark Lord asked for me to be inducted to the Death Eaters as punishment to my father. On the night that I was supposed to be inducted my father helped me escape. I was on the run on my own for a while until I ran into this group. They thought I was a mudblood at first but I was able to convince them of who I was and I offered to join them and help them. They aren't really bright. As I saw what happened to those who were caught I realized that I had to keep them from capturing and torturing more innocent kids."

Ron couldn't believe that Pansy's family had fallen so out of favor with You-Know-Who. She had always seemed to share his vision of blood purity. Her family's demise must have really shaken her views if she was now determined to help those of 'impure' blood.

"I give Thorn the wrong information. I tell him that they are blood traitors or half-bloods and convince them to let them go. Why do you think they haven't caught anyone for the past two months?"

It took some time for Ron to process this information. Where did this sudden turn of events leave him? Would she still want him to betray his friend's whereabouts? "So what do we do now?

"We keep doing what I have been doing. But we will also need to feed them false trails on Potter," she said wiping away her tears. Pansy was determined not to let the Dark Lord keep destroying families.

"I don't have time to stick around and help your noble cause. I have to find a way to get out of here and get back to my friends."

"I'll help you escape once they trust you if you keep my secret and help me lead these morons away from the runaway mudbloods."

"Fine, I will help you. But for your sake, Parkinson, you'd better not be lying to me. I still don't trust you. Slytherins don't tend to change allegiances like that so often. If I don't think I can trust you I will find a way to escape on my own," Ron hoped he was doing the right thing putting his trust on the Slytherin.

Let me know what you think.

-Ale