Chapter Ten

Ginny tugged Draco towards the Hogwart's Great Hall. There was a roar of a ruckus from behind the large oak doors. Draco looked a bit confused at all the commotion as Ginny swung open the door. All the students were talking ninety miles an hour while frantically checking their foreheads for writing.

Ron spied Ginny as she came in and focused immediately on her hand clasped with Draco's.

He pointed and shouted at the top of his lungs, "AHHHH HAHHHH! Look at his ferrety-forehead! I knew….it?" His eyes popped open wide and his slack jaw hit the floor, as the words on Draco's forehead permeated his beleaguered mind.

Ginny smiled smugly at him as she reached up and brushed Draco's silky silvery-blond hair aside so that could be no mistake to the words written there. Every eye in the common's room was riveted to a four inch section of skin above his silvery eyebrows.

"The One" was written in lovely script upon the young man's skin.

Ron's face turned ashen, then it turned beet-red and you could almost see the steam beginning to roll out of his ears like little side-ways nuclear blasts. Draco just looked sorely vexed by the whole affair. Why was all this attention being directed at his perfectly chiseled forehead? He absently rubbed at it but could feel nothing out of the ordinary on the surface of his impeccably smooth, Malfoy complexion. Then he remembered that the little camera freak Creeley kid in the hallway had something on his forehead. He flinched when he noticed Longbottom did as well. What was with all these "friend want ads" going around? He didn't have time to ponder it any longer because Weasley, the crazed lunatic brother of his fake girlfriend, was coming at him with his wand drawn and a murderous look in his eye.

Draco hurriedly pulled out his wand but before he could muster up an incantation Ginny had already taken care of the situation. Ron's wand was hurled through the air with the same ease that it had gone flying yesterday in the dungeon. Then he got to gleefully watch as Ginny started to give Ron the riot act up one side and down the other!

"Ron Weasley, you have caused quite enough trouble for one day, AND, look at what his head says! You can't deny what your own cockamamie spell is telling you! (Draco rubbed his head again at this remark and started to look for a mirror in trepidation) You are an egotistical pig and your big overprotective head has gone totally overboard this time! I can't believe…."

Draco could no longer concentrate on the words of the drama going on in the middle of the room. He was looking at his forehead in the reflection of a silver goblet. What did that say? The backwards letters were a bit distorted, but it definitely didn't say "friend." He was looking for something with a better reflection when a small compact was stuck a few inches in front of his aristocratic nose. He followed the arm and saw that it was attached to Her…Her, what was that goody-two-shoes name again? He called her so many names that her given one was escaping him at the moment.

"Thanks" he mumbled as he snatched up the compact and popped open the lid to see the little mirror inside. "The One"…what in the name of a diseased hippogriff did that mean? He stared at the letters and tried to wrap his mind around what they meant. He realized that Hermione, oh yeah, that was her name he thought vaguely, was staring at him as though she was waiting for him to say something. Her brows were raised up so far they were almost touching that huge bush-mop that she had for hair. In addition to that lovely expression, her mouth was so slack she could have caught a bludger in it quite easily. She raised one brow even higher and motioned her head in the direction of the mirror. Yeah, he wasn't an imbecile; he could read, he just didn't have a clue…oh, wait. No, he immediately dismissed that thought. It didn't mean he was Ginny's "One" as in only, as in soul mate type-material and all that, did it? Of course it didn't.

He glanced across the room where Ginny had her nose practically pressed into Ron's. Her pretty face was flushed and her fists were clenched at her sides; one had a death grip on her wand. Her eyes flashed as she hurled insults at her brother and her hair whipped around like an enchanted living flame. He suddenly had a huge lump in his throat. His stomach felt like it did when he swooped really fast and low to catch a snitch. He realized that he wasn't breathing and found himself gasping for air. It was then he realized that that annoying mudblood was still staring at him. "The One" took off like bat out of hell, heading for the nearest exit without looking back.

Hermione was rooted to the floor as she watched Draco's mad dash out the back door of the hall. She didn't have a clue as to what was going through his mind, but judging by the expressions that had just passed over his face, he was terrified! She hadn't seen anyone look so stricken since Harry had lost Sirius. She glanced over at Ginny and saw that she was wrong. Ginny was watching Draco as his long strides carried him out of sight. Her face was so crestfallen that there was almost a tangible hurt emanating from her. Even Ron was suddenly quiet as he stood scuffing his toe against the marble floor.

Ginny quickly turned on her heel and left just as swiftly as Draco had, in the opposite direction. The trio was left in the great hall with nothing to do but shrug their shoulders at each other.