A/N: First and foremost, a warning is necessary – this story is not for the faint of heart. There is abuse, there is PTSD. There may be some intense sexual situations, not ruling out rape. I promise, there will be fluff later on in the story – but this is rated M for multiple reasons. It is an SS/HG pairing with an HG/DM friendship. Ron is painted rather horribly, Harry as well in certain areas. It is based roughly 6 years after the war and I do take liberties with who lived and died. Not everything is Cannon – EWE, possible OOC.

Obligatory Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns it all, I'm simply toying with her characters.

Introduction:

*Slap* The sound echoed through the room like thunder after a flash of lightening, only the thunder was the back of his palm and the lightening that caused it was that dinner had been 5 minutes late.

"I thought I told you that dinner is to be on the table not a minute after 6:30, Hermione!" Ron shouted, towering over her as she wept on the floor at his feet.

This wasn't the first time that Ron had laid his hands on her, at first it was him punching his fist through walls and telling her that she's lucky it wasn't her. Then, it escalated to shoving her – at first just enough to make her lose her balance, and gradually the force behind the push became stronger and stronger… strong enough that once she fell into the table and one of the broken shards of glass lodged itself into her head. Now – his preferred method of punishment was back-handed slap across her face, never failing to give her a bruise that lasted well into the next punishment.

It wasn't always like this, and frankly – she wasn't sure how it'd escalated to this level. He used to be so sweet and doting, the perfect boyfriend really. It wasn't until his accident on the Quidditch field two years ago that he'd started to decline quite rapidly. A bludger had come out of no where and hit him right in the knee, shattering it to pieces. They tried Skelegrow, but to no avail. The damage was so extensive to the muscular tissue and tendons that no amount of physical therapy ever would allow him to walk the same again. While he could still play if he wanted to, the pain potions got the better of him and that was it.

She wished that she'd had the courage to stand up and leave, but where would she go? He'd isolated her from everyone but Harry and the Weasley's – making damn sure her friendship with Luna, Pansy and Lavender had been burnt to smithereens. Ginny was the closest she had to a friend these days, but she was so pre-occupied with her relationship with Harry that they'd barely seen each other more than once a month at the Burrow for the regular get together. Which, Ron had always made sure not to inflict her any harm the week coming up to that, always being apologetic and kind – to ensure Hermione would not make a peep about what happens the other three weeks out of the month.

He forced her to quit her job shortly following his accident, under the guise of her needing to take care of him. At first it was supposed to be temporary, but when the abuse started there was no way she could go looking for a job with the number of bruises she'd accrue over a week. Sure, there were charms that she could use – but they weren't foolproof. So, she slowly began to decline as well – losing parts of herself, her strength, her personality with every blow. Hermione still had a little bit of fire left in her, though – and she held on to that with every ounce of courage she had left.

Despite not having anyone to go to – or anywhere to go where she thought she'd be safe, she started to formulate a plan. Her parents passed away a few years back and left her a decent sum of money that she hid away and never told Ron about. They weren't married, thankfully, so she didn't have to worry about a messy divorce… she just needed to plan a clean get-away – to somewhere no one could find her. But where? She'd settled on muggle America, California to be exact. She had no intentions to stay there long, but she needed to stay just long enough for the Weasleys to stop looking for her.

"I'm sorry Ron," she pleaded, "I promise it won't happen again, it won't!" she choked down her sobs, he hated when she cried, it only ended up making him madder. It won't, she thought, because I won't be here after morning comes.

Tonight was the night, she would be rid of him for good. Dinner had taken a little longer because she needed to be sure that he couldn't taste the sleeping potion she'd mixed into his drink. She'd been working on a perfect balance – trying to figure out what would best mask the flavor, she finally came across the perfect blend of raspberry and lemon. There was no way he'd be able to tell, the surge of relief that came to her once she'd managed it was one she hadn't felt in a very long time.

She wasn't planning to bring anything with her besides a couple changes of clothes, and of course some books and other essentials that she packed into the bag she still had from when they'd been on the run. She was grateful she'd held on to it, the undetectable extension charm was truly perfect for what she needed right at this moment.

After a few more minutes of him shouting at her, going on about how useless she is and him questioning why he even lets her live – he finally let up and they sat down for supper. She mostly just pushed her food around her plate and took nibbles here and there, her stomach was in knots – she needed him to drink the damn potion she'd concocted after he downed it she'd have roughly 30 minutes before it kicked in full force and she'd be gone. For good.

Ron was quiet, as usual following one of his punishments. Hermione watched him intently, but not too intently to be sure that he wouldn't grow suspicious. He'd taken a few sips of his drink, but still had a great deal left – Hermione was slowly losing hope, but just before she gave up completely he'd taken his last bite and washed it down with the rest of her drink. Finally, she thought, game time.

A/N: Soooooo – what do you think? Would you like me to continue? I'm actually getting kind of excited about this story, I am expecting it to be relatively long – I'm still working on the outline, so any requests/recommendations are greatly appreciated.