The words echoed in Fred's head like a broken record and he stood up, framing her face in his hands. Lavender pulled away, pulling her sweater on.

"My husband may not be the best one out there, but I'd never break my wedding vows."

Trying to regain her composure, she caught sight of a clock and suddenly looked very alarmed.

"You need to go, now."

"Why?"

"Ethan's been off work for an hour which means he'll be here any minute!"

She started pushing him towards the front door.

"No! I want to talk with him."

"Fred, please don't, he'll only get angry and he might take it out on me."

I cannot believe you just said that, take it back!

"And by that I mean, h-he'll be in a bad mood, and be grumpy."

Fred reached down to hug her but she shook her head.

"Go!"

She literally pushed him out the door and Fred heard it lock as he disapparated, just as Ethan's car pulled in.

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George shook his head, disgusted and Romilda let out a very over-dramatic gasp as Fred recounted what he'd just experienced.

"It was, repulsive, just, terrible. And she tried to hide them as well! I couldn't believe her. She's a completely different person."

Fred rested his head in his hands.

"Well, we'll just have to do something about it, won't we?"

"Yeah, but what? Fred's the only person who's even gotten close to making her admit it."

Fred looked up.

"You guys, knew about this?"

George and Romilda nodded solemnly. Fred had a shocked expression on his face.

"How come you never did anything about it? He could've bludgeoned her to death by now! And you guys didn't do anything about it!"

He shouted, standing up.

"Hey! Hey! We never said we didn't do anything about, we've tried Fred, so sit your sorry arse back down while we figure out what we're going to do."

Fred, muttering that he was sorry, sat back down.

"Well, there's only one thing we really can do. Isn't it obvious?" Romilda piped up, "Fred has to talk to her, and tell her to, I don't know, leave him?"

George shrugged and looked over at Fred who in return shrugged as well.

"Well, Fred?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

"Uhm…"

"Uh…"

"Exactly," He scratched the back of his neck, "I could, I guess, I'll think of something. Is she working tomorrow?"
George nodded, "She's supposed to be."

"Alright, I guess I'll talk to her then, I have to help you organize our new shop anyways. By the way, I never asked, who's managing our other one?"

"Oh, our secretary, but now I guess we can both have a shop. I know which one you want, obviously."

George smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow morning, now excuse me while I go recline in my bed of luxury, AKA, the couch."

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The next day, Lavender was staring into the distance with a taut expression on her face, her lips pursed. Not even copious amounts of foundation were able to cover the bruise under her eyes. Clad in a light, summery scarf around her neck, and a long-sleeved, high-necked sweater, she seemed frail almost, like if you lightly pushed her she might fall over. Mind you, she probably would have. She'd not slept a wink of sleep last night and she hadn't eaten in days. Thankfully not many people were coming into her shop that day and she was able to lean against the counter on her elbow, hoping to catch a bit of sleep. Unfortunately someone gently prodding her interrupted her and she screamed, nearly falling off the counter.

"S-Sorry! Welcome to Be-Fred?"

She said, once she'd picked herself up and turned around.

"Lav, I need to talk to you," He grabbed her arm and led her into the back room, closing the door.

"My shop-"

"The sign's set to "Be back in an hour", I took care of it. Now you're going to listen to me okay? And I don't care if you don't want to."

Lavender opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by one look from Fred.

"Why, Lavender, are you still with someone that does this," He sat down and undid the scarf around her neck, pointing at the contusions on it, "When he's not making you happy and he's not protecting you like a husband should?"

Lavender grabbed at the scarf but Fred pulled it away and she started crying.

"That's not fair! You can't just put me on the spot like that."

"Yes, I can, and I am."

Lavender closed her eyes and choked back a few tears.

"I-I, I don't know anymore Fred, before it was just like, oh, well, for a while it was almost like, he was a back-up plan. The day you walked into my store was something I'd rehearsed over and over again in my mind. I would tell Ethan that it wasn't working and then we'd, I don't know, ride happily into the sunset? It just, it didn't work out that way and I-I, I don't know what to do anymore."

Fred nodded, taking her hand.

"Do you love him?"

Lavender sucked in a deep breath and then shook her head, letting her hair fall into her face.

"No."

He leaned forward to kiss her, and for a second it almost seemed like she might give in, but instead she (gently) pushed his face aside, standing up.

"You shouldn't be here, Ethan's break is soon."

Fred stood up as well, still towering over just like he had when they were younger. She opened the backroom door, wiping at her eyes and Fred followed her out, a guiding hand just barely touching her elbow. Unfortunately for them, Ethan just so happened to walk through the door at that exact moment and storm over to Lavender, grabbing her by the wrist and yanking her towards him.

"What the fuck Weasley? I've had enough of your stupid fucking around with my wife."

His grip tightened on Lavender's wrist and she cried out in anguish.

"Stop it! You're hurting me!"
She yelled, trying to pry his hand off her wrist.

"Oh shut up you slag."

His backhand collided with the side of her face and her head snapped back sickeningly quickly. Fred shouted and lunged at Ethan, causing him to let go of Lavender's wrist and fall backwards into a shelf. She started screaming at the both of them as they became engaged in a fistfight but she soon realized this was a mute point and took out her wand, pointing it at the both of them and yelling twice, "Stupefy!"

When they were both stunned, Lavender walked over to Ethan.

"Incarcerous."

She whispered, and then made him come back to consciousness. When he realized that he had ropes binding him, he tried to kick Lavender and started yelling but she placed a hand over his mouth and leaned down beside his ear.

"I want a divorce."