A/N – Welcome to my new story, Justice. It has 21 chapters (including the prologue and epilogue). Updates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, to fit around The Dark Lady.

A word of warning for Ron lovers – this story probably won't be to your liking.

This first chapter is the prologue, which is slightly shorter than my normal length chapters and just sets the scene. The next chapter flicks back six months, where the story begins to explain how Hermione got to this point. The story then carries on up until the point of the prologue, and beyond. I won't be repeating the prologue in the story, but I will mention where it would occur (Even though it's very obvious where it fits into the story).

Enjoy!

Prologue.

Hermione Granger slowly opened her eyes before quickly shutting them again as the light in the room hurt. In fact all of Hermione's head hurt, she had a pounding headache and it hurt to even think. Unfortunately Hermione couldn't not think as she pondered how she had ended up in such a state. Just thinking of the previous day made her feel ill, but that didn't explain her thumping head.

The previous day Hermione had gotten married and just thinking about it made her skin crawl. Without a doubt she'd just experienced the worst day of her life as she'd married Ron Weasley. Hermione's marriage wasn't one of love, in fact over the last few months she had come to hate her once best friend.

Hermione still wasn't keen on facing her future as Mrs Weasley, but she knew she had to. Gingerly she opened her eyes and slowly sat up in bed. Hermione took a couple of minutes to get used to the throbbing in her head, before pushing back the covers on the bed. As she pushed back the covers Hermione noticed two things, first of all she was wearing a skimpy negligée she didn't recognise and secondly there were streaks of reddish brown stains on her arms and hands. Lifting her hands to examine them Hermione recognised the stains as blood. Totally confused she looked around the room and screamed at what she saw.

Scrambling out of bed Hermione looked back in horror at the mess she had been sleeping beside. Ron lay on the other side of the bed, dead. His face had been beaten so badly he was only recognisable from his red hair. Hermione began to sob quietly as she took in the sight of the blood soaked bed and the lifeless body of her dead husband.

Hermione's eyes dropped to the bedside table where she spotted her wand, complete with bloody fingerprints. Hesitantly picking up the piece of wood she pointed it towards a plant in the corner and cast the spell that produced the last spell cast from the wand. Despite expecting the green light of the killing curse to emerge from her wand, Hermione still flinched and dropped her wand when the plant in the corner withered and died when the beam from her wand hit it.

Now she knew the killing curse had been cast with her wand, Hermione began to panic. A further look round the room revealed a beater's bat in the corner of the room, covered in blood. Hermione suspected the bat had been the weapon with which Ron had beaten and she was in no doubt that her fingerprints would be all over it.

Standing in the middle of the honeymoon suite Hermione took stock of her situation. Ron was dead and she would be the prime suspect. The only thing was she didn't know was if she had killed him or not. It didn't matter how hard she tried she couldn't remember anything of the previous night, the whole thing was a blank. As much as Hermione wanted to believe she didn't kill Ron she just couldn't be sure she didn't, and if she wasn't sure how would she convince anyone else of her innocence.

Hermione was also very aware that the events of the previous afternoon would do little to help her cause. While she couldn't remember the previous night, she could remember earlier that day, and more importantly she remembered the huge fight she'd had with Ron during their wedding reception. Hermione knew plenty of people had witnessed the argument where she had slapped him and told him she wished he was dead.

Reaching down and picking up her wand, Hermione made her way to the bathroom in a daze. Filling the sink with water she dropped her wand into it, before taking a good look at herself in the mirror. She had streaks of Ron's blood on her face, in her hair and down her neck and the top of her chest. Turning away from the sight of herself looking all bloody she stripped off and stepped into the shower. Once under the warm water of the shower she scrubbed herself clean, watching mesmerised as the water turned pink as she washed the dried blood off her body. Hermione stayed in the shower far longer than necessary, making sure there wasn't a trace of blood on her.

Eventually emerging from the shower she wrapped herself in a large towel before picking her wand up from the sink and drying it. Clutching it tightly in her hand Hermione crept back into the bedroom, feeling a wave of nausea as she spotted Ron's body. Turning away from the bed, she grabbed her overnight bag and began hurriedly packing her belongings.

She knew that she had to get away, at least until she discovered the truth about what had happened the previous night. Hermione knew she should alert the Aurors, but she also knew if she did she would be arrested straight away and if that happened she might never find out the truth. If she was arrested she knew the evidence against her was strong and a little bit of digging would prove she definitely had a motive for wanting Ron dead.

Once her bag was packed Hermione hurriedly dressed in jeans and a jumper and tied her hair back. Taking once final glance at Ron, Hermione was hit by a wave of nostalgia. Despite her current feelings towards the redhead he had once been her best friend and as such she vowed to find out the truth about what had happened here. If she remembered killing Ron she would hand herself in, but her gut was telling her she'd been set up. Whoever had done this wanted her to take the blame, and she wasn't prepared to let that happen.

Turning towards the door, Hermione cautiously peered into the corridor. Finding it empty she quietly left the suite and headed for the back stairs. Racing down the stairs she kept an eye out for anyone, but luckily she made it to the ground floor unnoticed. From the ground floor, Hermione slipped out of the emergency exit onto the grounds of the vast hotel they had hired for the wedding.

The hotel was a secluded one on the south coast of England. Ron had picked it for the wedding and all of the guests were spending the weekend at the hotel. Hermione and Ron had been due to spend the remainder of the weekend at the hotel with their friends and families, before going on honeymoon. Like the rest of the wedding Ron had taken charge of the honeymoon and he'd organised for them to take a trip to Australia, where the Quidditch World Cup was being held.

Looking around at her surroundings Hermione cursed quietly. There was no way to leave without risking being seen. Hermione didn't want to be seen, as that would lead to questions and Ron being found. As it was she knew if she could get away undetected she would have a good head start, no-one would expect to see her and Ron for a while so no-one should notice anything was amiss too soon.

Pulling her wand out Hermione decided she'd have to apparate. She knew the Auror's could trace her apparition path, but it was the only way to get away from the hotel without being seen. Hopefully by the time the Auror's were involved she would be safely out of the country. Double checking no-one was around, Hermione waved her wand and disappeared with a crack.

When Hermione reappeared she was in her flat in London. Running into her bedroom she grabbed her passport from the bedside table and shoved a few more things into her bag. Travelling the muggle way was slower than she would have liked, but international travel in the wizarding world was closely monitored and the Aurors would be able to track her in no time. At least travelling the muggle way it would take them longer to find her, and hopefully by then she'd be with the one person she knew would help her.

Before leaving Hermione headed into her study and turned on her laptop. A brief search showed her where the earliest flight to the south of France flew from. Writing down the details on a scrap of paper Hermione shoved it in her bag, before shutting down her laptop and throwing that in the bag as well. She wasn't going to risk leaving it behind where someone might be able to work it and find what she had just looked at.

Double checking she had everything, Hermione left her flat and hurried into the nearest town, which luckily for her happened to be a muggle town. Once in town Hermione slipped into an alleyway and apparated away again. This time she knew the Auror's would have to search much harder to find where she had apparated from and trace her.

When she reappeared this time Hermione was in Manchester, not far from the airport. Entering the airport Hermione bought a ticket to the flight she had found online and checked in. Luckily the flight was due to leave in just over an hour, giving Hermione less time to panic about been caught.

Hermione didn't relax until she was in her seat and the plane had taken off. Once she was in the air she let herself think about where she was going. She knew the person she was running to would help her discover the truth about what had happened to Ron. She also knew he would protect her at all costs and even if the worst should happen and she remembered killing Ron, he would still support her and love her.