A/N Yay! Thanks for the reviews, guys, you said nice things! Wow! No flames! To Ami Potter – I checked the second book today. Is it in the chapter where Dobby is freed? Only I couldn't find it there.. I'd appreciate if you'd tell me, so then I might be able to see whether I was wrong or not. ^^

O! I decided to give you guys a longer chapter. I'm not very good at writing long chapters, so don't give me stick if this one's complete and utter crap.

Disclaimer: Not mine, JK's.

Seven Years of Bad Luck

Chapter 4: Explanations

Ron darted forward suddenly and ripped Harry's hand off Draco's arm.

"Malfoy!!!!!" he bellowed furiously. "What the hell have you done????"

Draco sighed and glared at Ron, not deigning to answer him. Instead, he reached into his trunk next to him and pulled out An A-Z of Popular Magical Items and flicked it open at the bookmark he had put in it to mark the page. His eyes scanned the page for a moment, before they opened wider in sudden realisation.

Harry nudged Ron. "I think he's turned into Hermione…." Ron frowned and tried to wrench the book away from Draco. "Malfoy, this is no time to read! Now tell me what the hell just happened!"

Sighing resignedly, Draco held the book up for Ron to take. He grabbed it and he and Harry both read the page. Ron shrugged. "I still don't see that as an answer. Are you going to explain or not?"

"Not." said Draco, folding his arms. "I don't see what business it is of yours anyway, Weasel, it's Potter's and mine."

Ron opened his mouth, about to emit a vicious comeback, but instead, seemed to think better of it, and turned to look at Harry, mouth still open. Before he could say anything, Draco interrupted again.

"And you might want to close your mouth, Weasel, you look like a swordfish with sunburn,"

Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter. Ron's ears reddened and he dived forwards onto Draco, raising his fist, but Crabbe, Goyle and Harry dragged him back.

Whilst Ron struggled in the vice-like grip of Crabbe and Goyle, Harry let go of him and stared at Draco. He frowned for a second, glanced at the book again, and met the cold blue eyes, narrowed, staring right back at him.

"This is all your fault," he said quietly, as he realised what must have happened… what Draco had done.

Ron, who had stopped struggling, frowned and shook his head in confused bewilderment.

"What's his fault? I know a lot of things are his fault, but you know.."

Harry slapped the book down into Draco's lap and folded his arms.

"So. You broke some stupid mirror your dad owns...illegally," he added, "and as a result, you get bound to me for… how long was it? SEVEN YEARS. Seven years, Malfoy! SEVEN BLOODY YEARS!"

Harry calmed down. He breathed deeply and looked at Draco again. "How far?" he asked, in a quieter tone.

"How far what?" came the reply, in the same tone of voice.

"How far can I go… away from you?"

Draco winced and sighed, biting his lip. "Five paces."

Harry's eyes seemed to pop right out of his head. "WHAT?!" he exploded. "You mean to say, that through NO fault of my own, I am forced to spend SEVEN WHOLE YEARS next to..to.. to you!"

Draco stood up. "You think I like this, Potter? You think I pushed the stupid thing over on purpose just so I could be bound to Dumbledore's Golden Boy for the rest of my life at Hogwarts and four years after that??"

He spat the last words, as if they were demeaning to him, and it was then that Harry realised that he had never noticed how well Draco accentuated before. Vowels pronounced in full glory, 't's like spitting flames, 's's as if from the tongue of Salazar Slytherin's serpent itself. He blinked once, as if to recover from this verbal attack, and looked up at the fuming blonde in front of him.

"As soon as we get to school.." he whispered, and was horrified to hear how much he sounded like Snape when he was giving a detention, "..we're going straight to Dumbledore."

Ron, who was also glaring at Draco, managed to shake off Crabbe and Goyle, who both sat down, with confused looks on their faces. Ron glanced at Harry.

"I'm going to go and tell.. get," he added hastily, "Hermione. She'll be wondering where we've gone. "

Harry nodded, and Draco said nothing. The two spent the rest of the journey sitting in the same seats, throwing each other dirty looks.

-

It was dark when they reached the castle. Draco and Harry, who seemed to have come to an unspoken agreement not to say anything to each other until they went to Dumbledore.

They all clambered into a carriage, Draco sitting as far away from Hermione as possible, but in the seat next to Harry. Harry had learnt the hard way that simply just wrenching himself away from Draco would not solve the problem. Any more than five paces away from his mortal enemy…and he was overcome with intense pain filling every bone in his body.

As the carriages trundled up to the castle, and through the gates flanked by the statues of the winged boars, Draco leaned towards Harry and muttered, "We can't just go to the feast…we'd have to sit together…"

Harry nodded. "We'll just go straight to Dumbledore before the feast."

The Entrance Hall was already full of students, and Draco and Harry lost Hermione and Ron as they joined the fray. Students jostled and nudged each other, and at one point, Draco was dragged, by accident, away from Harry. Both both boys cried out, and Harry was almost blinded with pain. He groped his way towards Draco, who was doing the same, and as they stood, one pace apart, the pain showed no signs of ceasing.

As if by instinct, Draco reached forwards and grabbed Harry's arm. The pain flowed down his body and out through his toes, and he was left feeling shaken. Harry was breathing heavily, ignoring the multitude of students staring at them both. "We have to touch to make it stop? But…that didn't happen when I tried it before!"

Draco nodded. "Yes, it did. I stood up and pulled you back. Remember?"

The two pushed their way through the crowd and, instead of making for their house tables, went to stand in front of the Teachers' table. Looking up, Draco fell silent, so Harry, with a half-frown at him, took a deep breath and called out, "Professor.. Professor Dumbledore? Please may we speak to you?"

Dumbledore glanced at Snape on his left, who in turn glanced at Draco, and nodded slowly. Dumbledore stood up and made his way down to join the two boys. "Come to my office, if it is urgent."

Draco spoke up, "It's very urgent, sir,"

Dumbledore nodded. "Then we shall discuss whatever this ailment is during the Sorting."

He turned on his heel and the two adversaries followed him.

-

Dumbledore went into his office, and Harry made to follow, but Draco pulled him back.

"I can't do this." he said.

"Why not?"

"The..the mirror…my father…it's illegal, Potter! I could get into trouble! So will my father!" Draco flinched. "He…he doesn't know I broke it. He doesn't even know I go into the attic. No-one does. Well, except you,"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well I still say you both deserve it, but don't worry…look...we'll tell Dumbledore, he'll understand."

Draco was disbelieving. Harry turned and dragged a reluctant Draco into the office.

"So, boys, what seems to be the problem?" asked Dumbledore, seated at his desk, hands clasped in front of him.

Harry cast a sideways glance at Draco, who sighed once more. He bit his lip for what seemed like an age, and finally took a deep breath. He told Dumbledore everything… why he went up to the attic, what happened when he found the mirror, how he had looked it up.. he avoided saying that the mirror was illegal to own, but if Dumbledore noticed this, he said nothing.

"…so now, we can't walk further than five paces apart…or it hurts," Draco winced. "Badly."

Dumbledore twirled his moustache for a minute, and then he looked slightly amused.

"Well, I know that there is no magical cure for this…except…"

Harry leaned forwards. "Except what?" he asked eagerly.

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. "I daresare you would both be horrified if I told you. Now…seeing as you won't be able to sleep in your dormitories tonight….I will arrange for Mr Filch to make up a room with a bed for you both. And you will take your lessons on a two-week rota."

Draco and Harry looked at each other, aghast.

"We have to sleep in the same bed?"

A/N Whee! Nice long-ish chapter. What do you think? Keep reviewing, or I might not be compelled to write..muahaha… oh yes, and in the next chapter…a fight!