Grass.

In an instant, despite the lingering dizziness, Severus forced himself into a duelling stance and listened intently for any sound that might betray an ambush. It seemed even darker here than it had been in the highland evening, but Severus wouldn't risk a Light Spell, yet. He needed to confirm that he would neither make himself an easy target for a hostile wizard nor inadvertently break the Statute of Secrecy. As he cast a silent Revealing Charm he looked to the sky. The cloud cover here seemed no heavier than at Hogwarts, so either more time than he had realised had passed while he was under the spell's disorienting effects or he had been translocated to somewhere significantly further south than the school.

The Revealing Charm showed one other person in the area, and that person was no Muggle. They were crouching, perhaps behind some cover Severus couldn't make out in the darkness. 'The missing Miss Granger?' Severus wondered. 'Or a potential assassin waiting for me to reveal myself?'

Severus cast another non-verbal spell and his feet slowly rose from the ground, his body angling forward, he circled widely around the hiding witch or wizard before approaching them. It wouldn't do for the sound of his footsteps to let his target know he was coming, and they might not think to search the sky.

---

Hermione trembled as she crouched in the lee of a dry stone wall. She was cold and wet, but the shiver could be an indication of shock setting in. She hesitated slightly, but then convinced herself that her chattering teeth would give her away just as quickly as a silent Warming Charm and at least she would find out whether she could still do magic.

She was afraid this was a trap, like the Triwizard Cup. She also knew that sooner or later someone from the school would try to find her. Maybe. She wasn't Harry, and no one had rushed to find Montague, though to be fair, no one on the staff had known about the Vanishing Cabinet. Ron would tell someone about the statues. If he was alright, he would tell someone about the statues. They would figure it out. They had to. No one would consider her important in herself, but Sirius's death had affected Harry deeply. Another loss might temper him into the figurehead Dumbledore wanted, or it might break him completely. She didn't think Dumbledore would want to take that risk right now. He would send someone, because otherwise—

Her throat clenched. Her heart burned in her chest. What if, instead of telling Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore, Ron told Harry? What if that was what whoever had set the trap had hoped for? What if she was here because Voldemort knew that Harry would risk his life, and the lives of others, to save her? She might simply have been sent to some random location, and no one waited here because they were all waiting for Harry.

She would stay here until daybreak.

If no one came for her, she would work out where she was and try to make her own way. Hogwarts, if she hadn't come too far. The Burrow, if it was closer. A Ministry, if she was outside Britain.

She had her Apparition licence, but she had never Apparated in the dark, or farther than half a mile. In theory, the longer distance shouldn't make it more difficult, but it would be more draining. How draining would depend on how far she had travelled. She didn't know how far she could Apparate safely, or what would happen if she overstretched herself; a simple matter of not reaching her destination? Perhaps she would arrive at Hogwarts' gates, her magical essence spent, helpless, unable to defend herself, potentially unconscious or even comatose. Worse, she could be trapped in the gut-clenching, Stygian darkness of what she thought of as 'the Between' forever.

She wished that she had thought to research protective wards. Why hadn't Harry ever covered those in the D.A. meetings? She made do with a Disillusionment Charm. To pass the time, she sang to herself inside her head, the sort of songs her parents had played on long car trips, trying to remember all the verses.

When she'd first heard a movement in the darkness, she had cast a Light Spell on instinct, only to catch a glimpse of a sheep's retreating rump as it bleated plaintively in its surprise. She had rapidly extinguished the light, realising that if it had been a hostile force instead of a startled herbivore, she couldn't have made herself a clearer target. Next time, she cast a spell to reveal any humans. And the time after that, and the time after that.

Every time, the spell proved that she was the only person there. Every time until the last. She studied the unmistakably magical aura for long seconds as the witch or wizard crouched on the ground. She felt a tingle of familiarity as she stared at the fuzzy outline when the figure rose to its feet, but she resisted the temptation to call out. When the figure took to the skies, she held her breath. This was a mage with abilities well beyond her own. If they were leaving, her best bet was to let them go.

Then the figure turned. It was now coming directly towards her. Hermione straightened and willed her trembling arm to aim true. 'Stupefy!' she thought silently, and a bolt of red shot towards her airborne attacker.