Title: Vinculum

Date: July 08, 2004

By: NinjaBubble (L. King)

Warnings: None

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Sticky Situations

After much deliberation (in which they had each just barely managed to keep themselves from hitting each other – as their Professors were sitting directly behind them), Harry and Malfoy found themselves grudgingly sitting on the floor, plates in their laps. Recalling the lasting argument, Harry remembered Malfoy's stubborn refusal to sit at "that trashy Gryffindor table," as he had called it; Harry had then suggested the Ravenclaw table that held two students, that proposal had also been shot down quickly with viciousness. With a clenched jaw and overly exasperated voice hissing through his teeth, Harry had then inquired about the Hufflepuff table and started walking toward it. Malfoy had not followed him, an aspect that became blatantly obvious when another shock ran through the Gryffindor's body, causing him to retreat back and spin around. The only reason they hadn't started shouting at each other was the same as why they didn't wrestle one another to the ground. With a huff, Harry had ended the argument by sitting on the floor, giving Malfoy no other choice than to stand while he ate, or join him. He had been halfway through his meal before the blond teen had relented to the later.

Throughout his meal Harry's eyes flickered up towards the teacher's table, trying to catch Hagrid's attention. He highly doubted that Malfoy would be agreeing to go anywhere near Hagrid's house for the term of their vacation and with luck Harry would be able to make plans with the half-giant to meet somewhere on school grounds; or, at the least, talk for a bit after their meal, a meal that did not taste as good as he had been hoping it would. Nothing could be as good as it was suppose to be when Malfoy was sitting six feet away from you.

Harry looked up from his plate dejectedly. The enchanted ceiling above showed the same grey-white clouds that had been hovering thickly outside his windows, seemingly to glow with light instead of letting it simply pass through. He had half been expecting to see darkness, having forgotten it was merely mid-day. His gaze went to Malfoy. Lunchtime of the first day of break and he had managed to get detention. And not just any detention, a lasting detention, and for who knew how long at that. If he hadn't thought he could feel any worse about being left alone for Christmas he was now feeling sick as well and was desperately hoping he could be left alone. The thought crossed his mind of sending Ron and Hermione letters, but Malfoy, who had looked up to glare at Harry, seemed to deduce what the black-haired teen was debating.

"Don't even think about it Potter," Malfoy hissed, lowly enough so that no one else in the common room could hear. "The last thing I'm letting anybody know is that idiot Dumbledore has stuck me to an incompetent, psychotic, nitwit, twit like you because you hit me." His lips were pulled back in a rather horrible sneer, and had Harry been able to move any farther from the other he would have already been out the doors on the way back to his common. He was seriously starting to think he should have just gone down to the kitchens and asked the house elves for something to eat. If he had done that...if he had done that this whole mess would have been avoided. "Hear me Potter?" Malfoy said with a grimace.

A sigh of agitation escaped Harry's lips as he returned his attention to his meal. "Yeah, yeah Malfoy. Why don't you shut up? Besides, unlike the people you hang out with, the people I know might be able to figure out how to get us out of this mess."

"I do not believe that Ms. Granger or Mr. Weasley will be able to help you Potter," Snape said. The two boys looked up suddenly, having been too involved in being angry with each other to have been paying attention to what was going on around them. Both Dumbledore and McGonagall were gone, and it seemed the four other students there for the holidays were eating as slowly as possible to see what happened between the two sixth year students. The potions professor looked down at them, eyes going coldly from one to the other. "I don't think even I would have done something like this," he muttered. "I'm surprised Dumbledore isn't afraid you'll kill each other. Unless he's altered it..." He didn't seem to be aware of the two boys anymore and stood there for a few seconds before blinking and coming back to himself. Giving them one last look he swept away silently, leaving Harry and Malfoy with no adult supervision.

Malfoy instantly turned on Harry. "This is all your fault Potter! You hit me first, but I get in trouble. Who does Dumbledore think he is? It's you who should be in trouble!"

Harry growled. "Maybe if you had kept your bloody mouth shut!" He retorted, not having intended to speak so violently, but he couldn't seem to help himself. The longer he stayed in the vicinity of Malfoy the more his stomach crawled and the more he wanted to punch the other again. His strong dislike for Malfoy was sickeningly turning into something that more resembled hatred. It was disturbing him, but not enough for him to be able to cool himself off anymore.

"Not to mention it was a cheap shot!" Malfoy shouted as he brought his own fist crashing forward, intending to hit Harry in the jaw, replicating what had been done to him.

All those times Quiddich had saved him, and it came into play again. The sharp eyes he had developed from looking for the snitch had spotted the shift Malfoy had made and the motion of the his arm. Harry quickly scrambled back, ignoring the shocks that were running through his body, getting slowly worse with ever movement. For some reason Malfoy didn't look affected as he moved forward quickly, fist smashing into one of Harry's arms that he had held up to defend himself. Harry grimaced and Malfoy swore, clutching his own arm as well. The two paused and looked up at each other curiously, though by no means friendly.

"Dumbledore's altering?" Harry wondered, but Malfoy just snorted and rubbed his own arm. The other four students in the room where whispering fiercely, and when the two sixth years looked up they quickly took their leave, the tables having long since been cleared of food. Without a doubt the tale of their detention would not go untold. With luck people wouldn't remember by the time school started again. After a minute or so they moved back to where they had been and Malfoy sat back down. They sat in silence, Harry poking at his food, no longer feeling hungry; Malfoy did nothing, and simply sat, straight backed, glaring at Harry as though if he did it right he could blow the other's head up. He looked so determined that Harry could almost have sworn his hair began to heat up and he suddenly jumped to his feet, his plate disappearing as soon as he left it. "Get up Malfoy."

The teen in question looked up with narrowed eyes. "Why should I Potter?"

Harry remembered the small 'Ten Ways to Keep Cool' book Hermione had given to him as one of his presents for his birthday. He took a deep breath and counted to ten, wondering why he couldn't have remembered the book when he had first run into his Slytherin foe. "To go to the library," he stated stiffly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Malfoy looked at him with the same glare, no understanding showing on his face. Harry took another deep breath and continued. "Maybe we can find out what spell Dumbledore put on us and can figure out how to break it."

Malfoy snorted, but he stood and dusted himself off anyway. "Going to the library without your little Mudblood. This must be a big step for you Potter," he sneered viciously, his eyes glimmering with enjoyment of his own comment.

"Someday you're going to regret every insult you've given out," Harry shot back heatedly.

"Is that a threat?"

Glaring at his blond nemesis, Harry smiled, though it was obviously strained and anything but kind. "You bet Malfoy." He took a moment to flick invisible dirt from his robe and looked up again. "So, are we going? Or do you want to sit around here all day exchanging death threats?" He asked testily. Of course, considering what had been happening lately, any threats they made would most likely quickly become attempts instead of discussions. Malfoy didn't even bother to answer him, he simply glared and then brushed past Harry, quickly making his way out of the hall. Not wishing to suffer from any consequences of Dumbledore's spell, Harry hurried and follow.

At first he thought he would stay behind the other as far as he could, make an attempt to be away from Malfoy and look like he was actually on his own. It didn't take long to come to the conclusion that he would look like a servant boy following his master through the halls, and he walked forward faster until he was walking beside Malfoy, though keeping his distance as much as he could. Suddenly it had become a great boon that the halls were silent and abandoned of students.

The library was just as empty and left the two to explore and look where they please. Unfortunately the inability to move an acceptable distance away from each other limited the whereabouts and reach of their search. They had been looking for roughly an hour, and hour during which neither of them spoke, and had found nothing. Harry finally grabbed Hogwarts, A History, remembering how much help they had received from Hermione, who seemingly had memorized the entire thing. Looking up, he had to be surprised that Malfoy was dedicatedly looking through books, he had not complained once about how useless their work seemed to be. But, of course, they were stuck together and Malfoy, no doubt, was just as willing as Harry to spend as much time possible to find out how to reverse the spell.

However, they had still not found anything four hours later. Hogwarts, A History had been surprisingly useless. Books were piled in high stacks around them, blocking each other from sight. Ever inch of the table top was covered and Harry had a few more down by his feet. Too Close for Comfort; Not so Cruel, but Unusual Punishments; Spells of the Weird; Unusual Glues; all lay uselessly amongst dozens others. Anything and everything that sounded as though it might have a trace of what they were looking for.

Harry sat back and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes that were aching with all the reading. His head thudded dully and he was wondering if it was possible to smell like a book. From behind books there was a thud as another closed and Malfoy groaned. "This is completely useless Potter. Why did I ever let you talk me into this?" There was a pause and the brushing sound of a book being slid across the table before Malfoy continued. "Is this what you and those numb-brained friends of yours do all the time? No wonder you're all so boring," he groaned.

"What else is there to do?" Harry asked after taking a deep breath, as he leaned down and picked up another book from the floor. He couldn't remember picking the book out. Then again, they had just been taking piles of books off the shelves to look at, not much caring what they were. He cracked it open and started to look through, skimming over the pages quickly. Five hours of research taught a person how to look for a specific item.

A dull thud sounded, presumably Malfoy falling against the back of his chair and abandoning his search, he didn't comment on Harry's question. Apparently he didn't have any better ideas, seeing as the professors who they would have asked for help were the ones who had put them in the situation to begin with. Abandoning the book he was looking at as a lost cause, Harry tossed it away, wanting to stop looking as well and wondering why they couldn't find anything. Maybe the spell was a special one Dumbledore had made up?

"Bloody hell Potter! Don't throw books around!" Malfoy swore after a thud.

With a sigh Harry pushed his seat back. There was a time to admit defeat, at least for the day. They could start looking tomorrow. Though the thought made him groan. He had spent vacations researching before, but he had Ron and Hermione to talk with during those hours, and they had managed to go out and do other things as well. Even if he did have to stick with Malfoy, the thought of which was still sour, at least they could try to do something. He thought of having to spend the night with Malfoy and hesitated. "We still have a few hours to dinner. Let's just keep it up. I'm sure we have to come across something." Was he having what appeared to be a normal conversation with Malfoy?

Malfoy snorted. "No way. I'm fed up with this! That quack Dumbledore probably took out all the books with it in it. Just the kind of sick thing he would do."

"Don't call Dumbledore a quack Malfoy."

A large book came hurtling over the wall of research that separated them and smacked Harry in the head before falling in front of him. "Don't be such a child. Crabbe and Goyle are starting to become more mature than you."

"At least I don't hang out with Mudbloods."

"I told you not to call her that!"

Another book came sailing over the pile. However, this time Harry had time to duck. Forehead touching the book in front of him, the second still hit the back of his chair, bounced against his back, and fell to the floor. "What's wrong with you-" He stopped, eyes fixed on a segment he had seen in the process of sitting up, of the first book Malfoy had thrown. "Wait..." he murmured softly, having heard the other push his chair back and stand.

"Why should I, Potter?"

Harry went over the beginning of the page and he looked up quickly, grin on his face. "I found it. Or, at least something that sounds like it." Malfoy raised his eyebrows, but hurried around to his side of the table and they both started to read. It sounded like the same thing. The spell was Vinculum, it bonded two people together within a certain distance as decided by the person who gave the spell. The chapter read that it was not often used considering there weren't many reasons to do so. However, it was used to bond a prisoner to a captive so that the prisoner wouldn't be able to run away, for the one who ran was the one who felt the shock of the bond. Logically, the further the two (or however many people) got from each other, the more the shock would increase. Vinculum declined in such use however when too many prisoners started finding ways out. It seemed killing the captive or the person who had preformed the spell, were the two most popular.

The two kept reading, Harry personally hoping to find some better news and found it a little further down. It seemed that Vinculum could only be performed on people who did not wish to be together. So, if it was performed on friends or loved ones, the spell would not work. Accordingly, the second way to break the spell with it not being taken off, was to become friends. The book said it was a rare occurrence and, because those under the spell already had disagreements, it was more likely that they would kill each other than become friends; though it had happened in a few cases in which the spell was left on long enough. The section ended rather abruptly. Harry and Malfoy looked up at the same time, both dissatisfied with what they had read.

"Well that was helpful," Malfoy said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Harry sighed, more than disappointed with the results of their search. At least they knew how to break it. But, considering Dumbledore didn't look like he was going to let up until at least the end of the holidays, and Malfoy was as likely to become his friend as Voldermort, Harry felt a little more than disturbed. Of course, Malfoy wouldn't kill him. ...right? He eyed the other teen and felt nervous, maybe leaving the library would let him think about something else. "Let's go to dinner. I'm starved." He stood, closed the volume, and they made their way to the exit. On the table, on the cover of the closed, leather bound book in pearly lettering on the cover reading Sticky Situations.

tbc...