"And then what did you do with him after you slit his throat and stabbed him quite literally in the back?" Hermione asked quietly, the disbelief tangled in her tone.
"Well," Severus began to re-tell the tale-
"Lift with your knees, not your back," Severus barked at Lucius as they stood at either end of the slain man, Lucius on the legs, Severus on the arms, and tried to hoist him up for removal. Instead, they only lifted him a few inches off the ground before Lucius let go of his legs, which caused Severus to stumble under the weight, dropping the top end on the ground with a thud.
"Why can't we just use magic," Lucius sighed. "I just had a manicure."
"Because you and I both know they will trace our magical signatures back here and pin us at the location and put two and two together. We need to remain as discreet as feasible right now," Severus barked, frustrated. There was no way the two of them were moving Ron alone without the use of magic. It just was not workable. He was like trying to carry a lead weight on a string.
"And just how do you propose we dispose of the beefy twat without magic? Just carry him out of here over our shoulder, tipping our hats to anyone we encounter along the way?" Lucius retorted sarcastically.
"You know who doesn't leave a signature behind?" Severus raised a brow with a small smile tugging at his lips. A stroke of genius in an otherwise gruesome moment.
"No. You are not bringing one of my house-elves in and corrupting them into body disposal."
"Fine," Severus threw his hands up defensively. "Find me a kitchen knife, or a cleaver, maybe an electric bread knife and some garbage bags. We will take him out in pieces."
Lucius paled considerably at what Severus was hinting at. "The mess!" he exclaimed. "I'm not cleaning up minced muscle and sinew from the floor."
"It will be more than just the floor. It will be the walls and roof too. We could always get your elf to clean up the crime scene afterwards?" He hinted.
"Fine. I'll go get one of them. Wait here, I'll have to apparate down the road."
Severus padded over to the kitchen bench and perused the letter the two of them had penned under the alias of Ron. He was always great at adapting and forging his hand to write in the hand of others and this looked genuine. Of course, he could write in the blithering idiot's handwriting with his eyes closed. He saw that ghastly handwriting sprawled across many a parchment over the years.
Hermione,
I'm sorry about everything. I can't stay here with the guilt of what I did gnawing away constantly. I've gone to get away for a while. Please don't try to find me. I resign effective immediately from my Vice Captain position and give you the house and contents of our bank accounts.
-Ron
The two men had argued at length about what they should write. Severus thought they should omit the Vice-Captain part but Lucius said he was so engrossed with that position he would actually mention it in the note and it was logical that he would, Severus supposed.
Once he re-read the note, he pushed the door to Lincoln's room. cracking the door, he looked in to see his son still thankfully sound asleep. He didn't want to make him privy to the scene going on just beyond his door.
Time seemed to tick by glacially before Lucius side-along apparated with one of his elves. The elf looked mean with a steely gave and half an ear missing, and Severus assumed he had specifically picked this one for the task rather than taking the first one that appeared.
"Korbin," Lucius said sternly, "We need you to… dispose of this cretin for us."
"Where to?" Korbin asked sharply, watching his master intently.
"The place where we take all the other bodies," he answered as if it were a normal conversation the two had.
"You filthy liar," Severus said half-serious, half in a jovial tone, "you said I would corrupt your elf, but it seems your elf is well trained in body disposal."
"I didn't want to walk all the way down the road and then apparate. The effort, you know," Lucius shrugged. "Anyway, Korbin, the dragon, you know the one."
"Is there something you aren't telling me?" Severus pushed.
Lucius sighed through his nose. "We have a little-er a big dragon problem at my place. Voldemort had one delivered to my Manor when he was rising in power, wanted it as security should the Aurors come barging in. Then when Potter killed him, it left me with a giant problem. What am I meant to do with it? Shove it in a crate and return it to the sender? Anyway, he's quite proficient at getting rid of any problems that may arise."
"Ok," Severus began, "but the real question here is, who are you killing, and are you killing them in such a large enough number to keep the dragon fed, or do you supplement it with other meats?"
"What kind of question is that right at this moment," Lucius retorted back, "bodies are a treat," he exhaled through his nose, "I'm not a total monster, you know."
o-o-o-o-o
"You fed him to a dragon?" Hermione whispered in disbelief. "After you slit his throat?" She asked as if she were hoping he would yell April fools.
"Yes," he confirmed with such little emotion he could have been discussing the weather with her.
"And now you want me to go home, find the note, and act as if I know nothing?"
"Correct," he confirmed.
"I thought you might have just punched him in the head or dropped him onto a remote island for him to find his way back. I didn't think you would murder him in cold blood," her voice shaking as she tried to come to terms with what he had done.
"I warned you I would kill him if he hurt you, and I always follow through on my promises," he bit back defensively.
"But murder, Severus, really?" She sighed heavily, running her palms over her face.
"There was no other option," he said stiffly, looking at her sideways.
"Look. I'm sorry, Severus. I'm sure your intentions were honourable, and I appreciate how you would literally kill to protect me. I just need to get my head around all of this. Yes, he was a prat, and yes, he hurt me, but it is still a shock to the system and I'm feeling somewhat numb at the revelations. And now," she stopped pacing the bedroom for a moment before starting again, "now you want me to go home and pretend everything is fine and stumble upon a letter he has written. I'm a terrible liar."
"Well, there is no time like the present to get good at it. If they get a whiff that anything has happened to him, they will haul you in for questioning and then me once they crack out the veritaserum."
A low, angry groan forced its way from deep within her. "If I go down, you're going with me," she bit angrily. She really hated lying.
o-o-o-o-o
Weeks had passed, and it turned out, that when you leave a signed letter behind and go missing, people don't really push into finding out any information. Of course, Hermione released a statement to the Daily Prophet about the weeks and hours leading up to his 'disappearance'. She painted him in quite an ugly light, and she had the bruises to prove it. What really tugged at the heartstrings of the readers was how the surly ex potions master had scooped her up in his arms and delivered life-saving medical intervention
When asked what made her go to him for sanctuary when, as far as everyone was aware, there was no friendship there, she replied without skipping a beat. "When my son was born, he had terrible colic and reflux. Severus brewed a new concoction weekly, and we became friends over my weekly visits."
It turned out Hermione was pretty good at lying when everything was on the line, excellent in fact.
Severus and Hermione had decided that even though Lincoln was his, it was best not to make the rest of the world privy to that information, or it would unravel the story in spectacular style. Instead, Lincoln would go on being a faux Weasley, much to Severus's utter disgust.
Of course, to the rest of the world, the tragedy to love story pulled at heartstrings. A young, vibrant woman beaten and berated by her husband found comfort and solace in the arms of her former potions master, who welcomed her and her son into his life with open arms.
No one would ever know the truth except her, Severus and the Malfoys. Secrets like that you only confessed upon your death bed when you couldn't be hauled into court and banished to Azkaban.
The months had slowly passed, and spring turned to summer, which quickly made way to autumn and winter. Hermione refused to live in the house Severus killed Ron in, instead, she sold that and bought something the three of them could be comfortable in. Severus still brewed for the ministry, and she spent her days raising Lincoln and contemplating going back to work. The truth was, she didn't need to work. They had plenty of money left behind thanks to Ron's large bank balance and Severus had squirrelled away plenty of savings over the years, too.
Hermione had never quite gotten over the fact Severus murdered Ron in cold blood and for that, she would always have a piece of her that was weary of what he was capable of. Of course, she knew he was capable of being a killer; he had killed many a person under the maleficent reign of Voldemort, but deep down she didn't think he would have done it to Ron, someone he had known for many a year.
Hermione had grown to love Severus just as much, if not more than she had Ron and she assumed the feeling was mutual between them. He was different. He truly cared about her. He showed her affection she'd never been privy to before.
"Is there anything you would change about our life?" Hermione asked him casually, one morning over breakfast.
He brooded for a moment as if weighing up every likely outcome. "Nothing," he admitted. "I think our life is just about perfect."
She shifted heavily in her chair, mouth going dry as she tried to find the courage to tell him what she needed to. "What if our life was going to expand by one extra member?"
He deadpanned, sitting just staring at her. The moments ticked by glacially slowly as she waited for him to answer.
" What?" He choked out, his mouth as if someone had stuffed it with cotton wool.
"Yes," she confirmed confidently. I found out today. "I'd had a touch of morning sickness the past few days but didn't want to alarm or upset you, so never told you."
"You know you can tell me anything, Hermione. Anything at all, don't feel ashamed or worried because I will always be here by your side, no matter what. The fact you thought that news would upset me is abhorrent. How could I be upset knowing the person I love more than anything in the world is blessing me with another child? I am not him, remember?"
He slide the chair out and stood up. Closing the small gap between them, he landed a kiss on her head. "I am beyond excited and proud, Hermione. We never got to enjoy your pregnancy with Lincoln, but this time I can be there for you every step of the way."
Looking up, she smiled through misty eyes, "thank you, Severus. For everything."
A/N: And that's about the end of the story. I hope you all enjoyed it. It was just a little fun, short story.
-Aliasmel1