Hermione appeared on top of the hill overlooking the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, the same hill she, Harry, and the Weasleys had Portkeyed from to get to the Quidditch World Cup in the summer before her fourth year. I guess this is the edge of the Anti-Apparition wards, she thought.

She racked her brain, trying to think of what to do first. Foremost in her mind was the pain throbbing in her ankle. While Snape (?) had healed her, the job was hastily done and not very thorough. Taking out her own wand, Hermione uttered, "Ferula," and bandages wrapped around her ankle.

Now that the pain was no longer as big an issue, Hermione's mind jumped to her friends. Where were they? Harry could Apparate, as could Ron, although neither was licensed. Ginny could easily Side-Along Apparate with one of the boys. But did they know the danger they were in? Did they know she had left, or would they waste their time looking for her?

Hermione shook her head, trying to rid herself of her worries. She knew Harry had grown up and matured since second year, when he and Ron had flown a car to Hogwarts instead of sending a note with Hedwig. Hermione hoped that Harry would have enough common sense to remember that she had an Apparition license and could get back to the Burrow alright.

Hermione's thoughts then wandered towards Severus Snape. Was it really him that had saved her? It must have been, because his voice had sounded so familiar. Then why didn't she feel angry? After all, the man who had murdered Dumbledore had been so close to her! She could have done something! Yeah? Like what Hermione? Pulled out your wand in the middle of a crowd of Muggles and hexed him? That wouldn't have attracted anyone's attention...And strangely, she knew that even if she had had the chance, she wouldn't have acted. Deep down, she still felt an odd sort of pull towards her ex-professor.

And now, her convictions of him were wavering. She no longer was quite as certain that Snape was a traitor. After all, why would he intentionally want to kill his only mentor and friend? And hadn't he been a spy for the Order? And he did just save her life, didn't he? Why would he do that if he truly was a traitor? Now that doubt was filling her mind, she thought back to all the "coincidences" that had occurred in the Order's favor after Dumbledore's death. Like the time that Tonks had received an anonymous tip-off that had saved many of the Order's lives. Or the time that Remus had shown up at Order headquarters, saying that the Death Eaters were going to attack at the Ministry on May 15th at midnight, and they were actually there. And most importantly, several Order members had gotten anonymous owls, describing the locations of the remaining Horcruxes, and then finally the time and location of the Final Battle. Could all of the tip-offs have been from Snape?

Coming to her senses, Hermione shook her head violently. "I must be dreaming!" she said aloud. "Ha! Snape, innocent? What an absurd idea!"

But her musings were interrupted by three loud "pops!" Turning, she saw an anxious looking Ron and a sooty Ginny clinging to a faintly pleased looking Harry's arm. Ron rushed to Hermione and dropped to her knees at her side. "Merlin, I've been so worried about you Hermione! I wanted to go back to find you after Ginny told us about the fire, honestly I did, but Harry said you'd know to Apparate back. We were worried about the fact that Ginny had never Apparated before, but since Harry had Side-Alonged before, he took Ginny."

Hermione nodded to herself, realizing why Harry looked so pleased, and a small smile found its way onto her face. She blushed at Ron's touch on her wounded ankle, and was guiltily pleased that he was finally noticing her. Yep, she thought, Ron? Paying attention to me? I must be dreaming!