Abused

Aberforth

Draco quickly assessed the situation. They had been searching the school for almost an hour now. Ron had mostly left right after he took Hermione, meaning they had most likely been gone for a long time. Too long.

He turned on his heel and went to go find McGonagall, or Madam Pomfrey, or anyone else to tell. As he rounded a corner he stopped short of running into Pansy. 

"Pansy."

"Draco." Draco explained what he had saw in the Room of Requirement. Her eyes slowly widened as she seemed to come to the same conclusion Draco had. 

"That means they've probably been gone for about-" 

"-an hour now, yes," Draco cut her off. "We need to tell Headmistress McGonagall. Pansy nodded in agreement as they both simultaneously began to run again. 

"God. If they really left that soon, they're probably both far away by now," Pansy stated as she ran side-by-side with Draco. Draco breathed a deep breath. 

"Yes. They probably are." They were both silent for a minute, except for their heavy breathing caused from their constant running. 

"What about the man whose store the tunnel leads to? Hog's Head, was it? Surely he wouldn't let someone carry an unconscious Hermione without suspicion, no matter who the person might look like," Pansy reasoned. She was mostly trying to make herself feel better about the situation. 

"I think Dumbledore's brother- Aberforth?- is smarter than that. But Ron was able to use a Polyjuice potion on himself and a Sleeping Draught on Hermione. Who knows what the weasel is really capable of. Despite being an absolute bastard, he seems to be smarter than he lets on." Pansy nodded in agreement. 

"I guess we can only hope, then." Pansy and Draco eventually made it outside where they met McGonagall again. Draco explained the Room of Requirement and the painting. The Headmistress tried to stay calm, but it was getting even harder to do so. 

"So you think they would have left an hour ago?" McGonagall asked again. Draco nodded.

"I'm assuming they would have left as soon as possible, so an hour would be about reasonable," Draco confirmed. Headmistress McGonagall shook her head. 

"Then we must get to Hog's Head as soon as possible as well. Hopefully, Aberforth will at least have information. 

"McGonagall!" a voice suddenly called out from a distance. McGonagall, Pansy, and Draco all whipped around to find the source of the voice. From a distance, they saw an older man standing at one of the ground entrances. They did not have the clearest view of the figure, but Draco's eyes immediately widened. 

"It's him! Aberforth!" Pansy gasped as she made the connection with Draco's statement. McGonagall, Pansy, and Draco all ran towards the man, hoping for some sort of good news. But since the man was here, their guesses about the painting tunnel were almost certainly true. 

"Aberforth! Why are you here?" McGonagall asked, even though she had a very good idea why. 

"I came to inform you of a small red-headed Weasley who tried slipping me a Sleeping Draught and then proceeded to attempt to sneak the Granger girl out through my shop. Unconscious, no less." McGonagall gasped  at Aberforth's story. "Earlier the boy came into my shop and asked to use the tunnels. I was, of course, hesitant about his request, but he insisted he was surprising his girlfriend, so I let him through. 

"Luckily, I'm no stranger to Sleeping Draughts or anything of the sort, and I recognized the Draught in the 'gift' the boy gave me before his use of the tunnel. I waited for him to come back through, as he said he would, in order to confront him about it. When he returned he had an unconscious girl in his arms, which I recognized as Granger. I do have to admit that the boy did not go down without a fight. He tried every hex in the book before realized he was outmatched. I managed to stun him and give him a taste of his own medicine by feeding him his own concoction." Aberforth glanced around the school grounds. "I'm assuming from the chaos here and your reactions to me that that pair has caused quite a ruckus." 

"So it really was the Weasley boy," McGonagall muttered in almost disbelief. Draco had the urge to tell everyone that he 'told them so,' but he figured there were more important things at hand. 

McGonagall informed Aberforth of the full situation, and after she finished, Draco spoke again. 

"Where are they now?" Draco asked. 

"Back at my shop, of course. The girl hadn't woken up yet and the Weasley boy shouldn't wake up for awhile. However, to be safe, we should probably get back to check on them." Everyone nodded. McGonagall decided to stay at the school to calm things down and inform everyone of the current events. Pansy and Draco followed Aberforth. 

As the trio arrived at his shop, he explained that he had temporarily closed it in order to handle Ron and Hermione. "And here we are," Aberforth stated as they arrived at the specific shop's room where Ron and Hermione were. Aberforth opened the door, and there they found Ron still unconscious with Hermione sitting on the opposite side of the room. She was holding herself up with one arm while the other held her head.

"What- Where am I? What happened?" Hermione had clearly just woken up, but Pansy and Draco gave her no time to recover. 

"'Mione! I'm so glad we found you!" Pansy exclaimed as she hugged Hermione tightly. 

"Are you alright? Are you feeling alright?" Draco asked, still worried. 

"What's happening? What's going on?" Hermione asked again. "The last thing I remember was Madam Pomfrey giving me medicine in the Hospital wing. Where are we now?" Pansy pulled back from the hug. She took no time in sugar-coating anything.

"Ron tried to kidnap you," she stated simply. Hermione froze, then shook her head firmly. 

"What? No. He wouldn't do that. Why would you think that?" Hermione asked, her voice becoming a little unsteady. 

"Ron came into the school with a Polyjuice potion that made him look like Madam Pomfrey. It's how he gave you a Sleeping Draught and tried to sneak you out," Draco explained shortly. "We can explain the rest of the details later. Now, we have to get you back to the school. Everyone is worried." 

Hermione was still in shock. She was just in the hospital wing, finally getting some breakthroughs and feeling semi-better. But now, she was just told that her abusive boyfriend had gone through insane lengths just to try to get to her. She was convinced they were either lying to her or she was going crazy. 

"Hermione?" Pansy asked softly. "It's alright now. You're safe now." Hermione still couldn't seem to move.

"I don't understand," she finally managed to stutter out. "I don't understand." Hermione felt a tear fall down her cheek. She hadn't even realized she had been crying. "Wha-" she wiped the tears from her face. "Why am I..." Hermione suddenly burst into tears. Sobs racked her body as she felt Pansy embrace her gently. More gently than anyone ever had. 

"It's alright, 'Mione. We're here for you now. Let's just get back to the school now," Pansy tried comforting her. Hermione eventually nodded. She stood and tried to compose herself. She looked up at Aberforth.

"Thank you," she whispered to him, just loud enough for him to hear. 

"Of course. I'm always here to help. Oh, and-" Aberforth reached into his pocket and drew out a wand. "I believe this is yours? He had it with him when he came back." Hermione wiped another tear from her face before reaching for the wand. 

"It is. Thank you so much." Aberforth didn't respond this time, he only smiled. "I'll walk you three back to the school. And I guess I have to carry that one." Aberforth smiled and gestured over to a still-sleeping Ron. Despite the serious situation, the students all managed to let out a small chuckle. "Headmistress McGonagall can decide what to do with him." He glanced at Hermione. "And, of course, I'm assuming you'll have a say in it, too." Hermione nodded. 

"Ah, dammit," a rough voice suddenly cursed from the side of the room. The group whipped towards the voice and found Ron slowly beginning to stand.