Hold My Hand

Chapter Two- Holding Hands

Snape stood up quickly, and rushed over to the two boys.

"Potter!" he barked. "Did you add the bat wings before stirring?!"

"Er..." Harry was rather distracted by the fact that is hand was friggin' glued to bloody Malfoy. "Yeah... I guess?"

Malfoy put his head in his one good hand. "Shit."

Snape huffed. "Get down to the Hospital Wing, the both of you. Now!"

They left silently.

As they walked down the halls in silence, questions piled up in Harry's head until, finally, he got up the courage to ask one.

"Malfoy? What did I do to make us..." He held up their conjoined hands. "...like this?"

Malfoy seemed surprised he had accepted it was his fault and that he had phrased the question so civilly. Surprising Harry, he actually answered.

"Adding the bat wings before stirring changed the whole recipe. It set off the delicate balance between newt eyes and salmon scales, causing the explosion. Being before stirring it, it changed the recipe so, as far as I can guess, instead of bonding souls, it bonded-"  here he also held up their conjoined hands "-something physical, as in our hands when we both reached for the beetle wings. Since the potion was made for a romantic connection, it did the best it could with two hands. It connected them as if two lovers were holding hands."

Harry nodded. The explanation made enough sense. Except...

"Malfoy... The potion was made for people with chemistry. But we obviously don't, we hate each other, so why did it work?"

Malfoy seemed surprised at the logically stated question. He actually seemed to think it over.

"The best explanation I have is that either we have a chemistry we don't know about yet-" here Harry and Malfoy both rolled their eyes, "-or it was because we hadn't finished yet."

They had reached the Hospital Wing. Malfoy used his hand, since he was the one with a right hand, to open the door.

Madame Pomfrey glanced up at them. "Oh dear, you two haven't been in another fight have-"

Here she broke off, and after a moment, both boys realized why. She was staring at their conjoined hands.

"I didn't know... Well at least you aren't fighting anymore... But then why are you-"

"Madame Pomfrey," Harry interrupted, a feat most students wouldn't dare do, "There was a Potions accident, and mine and Malfoy's hands were glued together."

Malfoy quickly went over what he had told Harry on the walk over. Madame Pomfrey listened sympathetically, and nodded when he was finished.

However, when she opened her mouth to comment, the doors to the infirmary opened to reveal Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore.

Snape growled low. "Well, Mr. Potter, it appears that when you added-"

"Mal-Draco already explained it to me, Professor."

Snape looked surprised. "Did he? Well." He started to leave, but stopped and turned. "One more thing, gentlemen. While our potion was supposed to last ten minutes, the explosion prolonged it."

Harry felt Malfoy stiffen. "How much longer?"

Snape looked irritated. "Instead of being ten minutes, it will be ten...weeks."

"WHAT?!" Harry and Malfoy both shouted.

"I can't stay with him for ten weeks!" Harry protested.

"There is no way I can tolerate being around him that long!" Malfoy cried at the same time.

Dumbledore held up his hand. "You will be given your own room, so as to reduce fighting about where you will sleep. You are expected to figure out where you will eat and how you spend your free time. Your classes will be changed to accommodate. You are also excused from said classes for a week to adjust."

Professor McGonagall looked at them sternly. "Come now. I'll take you to your rooms."