"It was probably nothing." Dream sighed, glancing at the water's edge where I nervously stood, "can we just get inside?"
Brushing him off, Hagrid and I watched the ripples. Bubbles came to the surface.
"Did someone fall in?" Hagrid asked, his feet now in the shallows as he tried to get a better look.
Answering his question, a hand rose broke the surface, followed by the gasping face of- Techno? Glancing back to Dream, his exhausted expression had turned to a horrified one as he realized what happened.
Without a moment's notice, Hagrid waded out into the deeper water, pulling Techno back to shore with him.
"What the hell was that for?" Dream shouted, rushing over to the man.
"Dream, he nearly died!" I replied, looking down at Techno, "wait is he dead?"
Techno croaked, turning over to cough up some water. I kneeled down, patting his back as the other two watched nervously.
"I-" he began, stopping for a moment to take a breath, "I tried to guess," he bent over to cough again, "where you all went."
"Well we weren't swimming." Dream joked, only to get lightly hit by Hagrid.
Techno looked up at him, glaring. "You try apparating with three Death Eaters on your heels."
"He can't even appartate." I murmured to Techno, watching him chuckle.
"Let's get you to that cottage." Hagrid suggested, pulling him up and wrapping Techno's hand around his shoulder.
"Please- I should go back." Techno insisted, "I didn't mean to be gone long."
"Yeah, um. Your leg is a mess." Dream added, pointing down to his calf which wouldn't have been noticeable if it weren't staining his pant leg red.
We approached the small cottage. I peered through a window, though it was dark it seemed to be sparsely decorated, probably just a summer house.
"We're in!" Dream announced, gesturing everyone come around to the side of the house where he had broken the window next to the door and unlocked it. He frowned at our disappointed faces, "hey! Did you think we were just going to find a key, no."
"Fine, thank you, Dream." I said, stepping inside and holding the door open for Hagrid and the stumbling Technoblade.
I carefully made my way into the room, finding a lucky switch that brought a small glow of light into the room. Hagrid placed Techno down on the nearest couch, a light cloud of dust rising from it.
Now I began wishing I listened to Madame Pomfrey closer, as I and Dream had no idea how to heal this wound. I swung open as many cabinets as I could find, searching for some sort of bandage for Techno's leg.
"This will do." Dream announced, coming out of the bedroom with a pillow cover. He carefully pulled back Techno's pant leg, revealing the cut to be large, but not fatal. Quickly he tied it around the cut and double knotted it.
"Would you try and find some wood for the fireplace?" I asked Dream and Hagrid, noticing the fireplace seemed to be in working condition.
"Don't be surprised when we only come back with driftwood." Dream sighed, leaving once again.
Finding an old pack of matches in one of the kitchen drawers, I placed it on the mantel and went back to check on Techno. He had a hair tie in his mouth, trying to gather his long and damp hair into a bun.
"Thank you guys for all the help, really," he began, trying to get up. "But I should seriously go see what more I can be doing."
"You aren't going to get far with that leg." I said, putting a hand on his shoulder and easing him back onto the couch. I took the seat next to him.
He sighed, placing a hand on his temples. "My career is over just when it started."
"If anyone expected you to single handedly save Hogwarts, that's their problem." I replied.
"You're right, it's just- I felt so confident when I first started, I had done great in school, gotten all the right recommendations and then two seconds in and Dumbledore's like 'you can leave now, thanks.'"
"Well," I began, not sure how exactly to help him now. "I'm glad you came."
He turned to meet my gaze, a thin smile on his face. "Can I kiss you?"
I nodded, feeling him lean in and press his lips into mine. Returning it, I placed a hand on the side of his face.
"That was okay, right? Sorry I just-" He suddenly blurted, pulling away.
"That was more than okay." I replied reassuringly, leaning back in.
As I should have anticipated, suddenly the door swung back open. Hagrid stepped in, carrying several bare sticks and humming a sea shanty. Dream followed, giving me a confused look as he closed the door behind him.
"Thank you guys, here- let me take those." I said, glancing back to Techno before getting up and taking the sticks from them.
I hoped the book which I was tearing papers from wasn't too important as I bunched them up and laid them in between the stack of wood I had created in the fireplace. Dream came over, passing me the match from the mantel.
"Y/n," He said, knowing we were out of earshot of the others. I took the matches from him and lit it, pretending I didn't know what he was talking about. "Did you-"
"Mhm." I hummed, watching the logs slowly go up in flames.
"Hell yeah!" Dream replied, giving me a hard pat on the back.
Hagrid was now pacing in the kitchen, swinging the cabinet doors open as he passed. "No food, as I should have expected." He sighed, reaching to clutch his growling stomach.
I got up, making my way to the distraught man, "we'll be out of here tomorrow. You just have to hold it together for the night."
He whined, going to take my seat next to Technoblade- who seemed startled by the new company. Truthfully, the idea of staying here much longer was grim, but my concerns barely could extend to the Death Eaters who had interrupted the wedding now. The idea of Techno and what to do next flooded to the front of my mind constantly. He had drifted off now, his head resting on the shoulder of Hagrid who was nearly asleep as well.
Dream and I were keeping ourselves amused by making shapes in the ash that had scattered the floor in front of the fireplace. "It's a dog." He said, gesturing to a blob he had drawn.
"Are you sure?" I asked, smirking as slight rage grew on his face.
He gave up, leaning his back against the thin wall. "So," he began, "have you decided how you're going to make him stay in England?"
Once again glancing over to the sleeping Techno, I realized I had to admit the question I'd had since the beginning. "I don't want to make anyone do anything."
Dream chuckled, "Why can't you ever just be into someone with social skills? One of you is going to have to say something at some point?"
I brushed the ash off my hands and leaned against the wall with him. "One step at a time, Dream."
"You said that in potions class once and then the-"
"Shush, go to bed." I said, putting my finger to his lips.