Abused

Shut up

Pansy, Draco, and Aberforth all stood awestruck, staring at Hermione, her hand placed confidently on her hip. 

"I'll be damned if I let that bastard have anymore leverage over my life." Hermione flicked her wand through the air towards Ron, as if she were issuing one last warning. "Now, my head hurts so let's get back to-" Hermione was suddenly cut off by Pansy grabbing and pulling her into a tight hug. Hermione laughed as she was caught off guard.

"Oh, 'Mione. I've been so worried about you. We all have." Pansy pulled back from the embrace but held her grasp on Hermione's shoulders. "We all love you so much and don't you ever forget that. I don't care what that Weasel or anyone else says." Pansy kept eye contact with Hermione for a second before pulling her back in for an even tighter hug. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." At this, Hermione finally broke and she felt all the tears held up since the beginning of the school year finally fall loose. But they weren't just tears of sadness or fear, there were tears from happiness. Hermione knew that she was loved. She could finally break free from the months of physical and emotional abuse. 

Draco stood frozen, still in shock that Ron would try to cast a killing curse on him. He knew he was far gone to have done the things he had, but he never had guessed had bad it really was. 

After Aberforth let Hermione and Pansy have their moment, he spoke. 

"We need to get you kids back. I'm sure everyone is still incredibly worried." Pansy and Hermione finally turned away from each other and look at Aberforth. 

"Alright. I guess we should go back," Hermione smiled as she wiped the left over tears from her face. Aberforth smiled at the three kids and nodded. 

Together, with Aberforth carrying Ron, the group headed back to the school. Pansy filled Hermione in on the entirety of the situation that had occurred while she was gone as Draco just smiled and nodded along. However, they eventually decided to head to a lighter subject and wondered if the Winter Ball would still take place, with all the chaos going on. 

"I hope it does, I mean I already bought a dress. And an amazing one, at that," Pansy stated. Hermione laughed. 

"And you wouldn't want to disappoint your date, now would you?" Pansy blushed and playfully pushed Hermione. 

"Stop it, 'Mione." The group laughed together. 

"Speaking of dates," Draco suddenly started, speaking for the first time since they left the bar. The two girls turned towards him. He chuckled and rubbed his neck nervously. "Well, I was just wondering if you were still down to go. With me, I mean. Because I just wasn't sure if you'd still be up for it. I mean, with all the stuff going on lately. And it's totally fine if you don't want to. I just-" Hermione finally cut off Draco's stuttering. 

"Draco." She laughed as she cut him of. "Of course I still want to go." Pansy and Hermione both continued laughing as Draco blushed an even darker shade of red. 

The group finally arrived back at the school, where McGonagall was the first to spot them. She immediately ran over and grabbed Hermione. 

"Dear god. Are you alright? Did you get hurt? What happened?" McGonagall paused for a second as she examined Hermione's face. Suddenly, she pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad you're alright, Ms. Granger." Hermione was taken aback for a second, but finally smiled and hugged McGonagall in return. 

"Thank you, Headmistress." After explaining the full situation to McGonagall, which worried her to say the least, the group gathered the rest people searching. The situation was explained, leaving out just a few details in an attempt to protect the Weasley family's reputation. However, it wasn't hard for most students to figure out Ron was behind it. He hadn't exactly been the nicest this school year and it wasn't really a secret that he had been mistreating Hermione. Plus, his unconscious body that everybody failed the mention gave quite a big clue, too.