More Ways to Kill A Weasley

A/N: I typed this all up and then I lost it. =[ So this is probably not going to be as good as it would have been!



Hermione Granger soon-to-be Weasley applied her makeup with a shaky hand. She didn\'t dare use a glamor, for fear that her Master, Severus Snape, would notice and wonder why his apprentice had cast it. She couldn\'t have him wondering, prying...discovering what Ron had done to her.



It had started soon after the Last Battle. Ron was jealous of Hermione and Harry\'s successes. He was the least "golden" of all the Trio, and he knew it with a bitterness that rivaled anything Hermione had ever seen. Two weeks after the downfall of Voldemort, he had hit her for the first time. She\'d been rattling on about her N.E.W.T.\'s, growing animated in the discussion of an advanced Charm, when he had stood up and popped her in the mouth. Just bam and it was done. Blood had dripped down her teeth as she stared at him in utter, dumbfounded shock.



That\'s when he\'d informed her of the new rules of being the girlfriend of Ronald Bilius Weasley. She had to do exactly what he told her to do, with no delays. Even a minute\'s delay meant another punch. She had to submit to him, whenever he felt like sex. He raped her for the first time less than a week after the punch, Stunning her and grabbing her wand before she could defend herself. She\'d sobbed on the floor for hours, mourning the loss of her innocence, while he laughed and wiped the blood off himself onto her clothes.



She was still amazed that he let her apprentice herself to Severus, but he\'d told her why. It was all a front. As soon as they were married, he would force her to quit or he would beat her so badly, she ended up in St. Mungo\'s. Or dead. She\'d believed him.



The last go-round was because his dinner was two minutes late. For that, he had blacked her eye, split her lip, and punched her in the stomach so hard, she couldn\'t breathe for over a minute.



She looked at her face in the mirror. It wasn\'t the best of jobs, but hopefully, in the dim light of the Potions laboratory, Severus wouldn\'t notice her injuries.



It felt natural to call him Severus, at least in her mind, she noticed, as she applied a final swipe of concealer. They had quickly moved to first names because, as he said, it was ridiculous for an apprentice to call her Master "Professor." She couldn\'t help but agree.



Sometimes, Hermione wished that she was with Severus instead. She was certain that he wouldn\'t hurt her the way Ron did. He would be sweet, gentle, kind...loving.



Her cheeks flushed at the direction of her thoughts. How dare she have adulterous thoughts? Ron would kill her if he knew the attraction she was developing for the Potions Master. And him--she couldn\'t bear that to happen.



She threw a panicked glance at the clock and swore, Disapparating. She was late again!







Severus paced the length of the room once more, his irritated look falling on the clock. Hermione was brilliant, the kind of apprentice (and student) one only dreamed of. Why then could she not manage to be punctual? He was nearly certain Weasley was behind it somehow. He didn\'t like the redheaded boy. He never had. There was something in Ron\'s eyes...



A loud pop heralded Hermione\'s arrival. She rushed past him, disheveled and flustered in a patched cloak.



"Sorry, sir, er, Severus," she mumbled, her cheeks stained red, as she edged past him. "Time uhm got away from me..."



He looked curiously down at the girl. Her face looked odd this morning. After a moment\'s reflection, he realized the chit must be wearing Muggle makeup. He\'d heard that Muggle women had to resort to caking stuff on their face instead of a properly applied glamor, but he couldn\'t imagine why Hermione would be wearing it now. He resolved to find out.



A stealthy step and he was behind her. He cast a silent cleansing spell and whirled her around. She gasped, hands automatically flying up to cover her face.



"Oh my God!" Severus exclaimed when he saw the dark bruises covering half of her face. "Hermione, who did this to you?"



She shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes, refusing to answer him.



"It was Weasley, wasn\'t it," Severus said flatly. His eyes glittered with cold, implacable rage. "I\'ll kill him."



Hermione lifted her head, eyes shiny with tears.



"No, Severus, please don\'t," she begged. "It won\'t help--you\'ll go to Azkaban...I can\'t let you do that..."



"All right, Hermione," he said quietly. "I won\'t go and kill him, no matter the pleasure it would give me. What else has he done to you?"



In a soft, faltering voice, she began to describe the things Ronald Weasley had perpetrated upon her. She twisted her hands in her robe, distraught, and Severus fought the urge to pull her into a hug and comfort her. He didn\'t know if she would appreciate the gesture, especially since she had been so horribly abused.



"I\'m so sorry, Hermione," Severus couldn\'t resist any longer; he pulled her gently into his arms. "I have a plan," he added, the thoughts taking shape in his mind. "Nobody will ever suspect us..."







Ronald Weasley fumed as he stormed up the path toward the castle. His idiot betrothed had apparently injured herself, and that slimy git of a Potions Master had left already. She was in so much pain, she couldn\'t concentrate enough to Apparate.



She\'ll be in more pain when I\'m through with her, he thought, a dark, cruel look coming over his face that most people wouldn\'t recognize as being on Ron Weasley\'s face.



Thunder pealed overhead, and rain started to fall. He grimaced. A storm. Perfect.



A huddled shape lay on the lawn ahead and he hurried towards it, a vengeful smile twisting his lips. That must be Hermione.



Lighting flashed, striking the Whomping Willow behind him. With a little assistance, a large branch cracked and plummeted fifty feet, landing on Ron\'s head and splitting it like an overripe melon. Hermione lifted his body with her wand and dumped it in the lake for the giant squid. No sense in letting a perfectly good dinner go to waste.



Severus came out from behind a tree and joined her, gathering her in his arms.



"He\'s gone," he whispered in her ear. "How do you feel?"



"Better," she said, a hesitant smile crossing her bruised lips. "And just think of what we can tell people...it really was a dark and stormy night when he died!"



Severus groaned. He\'d never suspected his apprentice had an affinity for puns!