OMG! You guys totally rock!!! I've NEVER received this many reviews all in one chapter, much less, in my first chapter. Man, I've just gotta say, "Snaps for my reviewers!" WOOHOO!!! This is awesome!

Okay, you guys have just totally inspired me to write. However, as always, but even more so this year, I am way busy, so there will most likely be only one update a week, which is good because it keeps you in suspense, wanting for more, and you don't get bored of it really quickly because it's always there. Wow, talk about a run-on sentence.

Once again, a huge THANK YOU to all my wonderful reviewers! And, by the way, I'm feeling particularly smug and sexy with this new hair-style I just got at the salon, so, hopefully, I can incorporate that into this chapter for you guys.

I'm going to take the advice of one reviewer who told me not to have Draco outwardly flirt with Harry because that would, indeed, get him arrested. Also, I know I planned it out in my head, but with all the excitement of writing a new story, I suppose I forgot to mention in the chapter. So I'll put that in this chapter. Thanks, to the two reviewers who caught my mistake.

If anyone else catches any other mistakes or omitted pieces of information, please, don't hesitate to let me know so that I can try to put that into the next chapter.

Also, a HUGE thanks to the one and only, Gabrielle Potter Malfoy, for the idea of this story. Snaps for Gabby! snap, snap

Okay, enough chit-chat. I know you guys want some more story.

So here we go.

Chapter: 2

Confused Feelings


After Mr. Dumbledore exited the classroom, closing the door on his way out, Mr. Malfoy turned around to flash a breath-taking smile at the class. Girls sighed, stared with awe, and thanked the heavens above that they were sitting, for if not, they surely would have fallen from being weak in the knees.

Boys, however, growled, clenched their fists, and cursed the heavens above for making this girl-magnet a teacher, for if not, they surely would have beaten him for attracting the stares of their girlfriends.

Mr. Malfoy, however, simply let out a small chuckle. He was used to this type of behavior. He would make all the students like him soon enough, though. Especially the raven-haired boy who was currently seated next to a red-head.

Mr. Malfoy tried to make eye contact with the boy, but he stubbornly refused to meet his gaze. The blonde teacher decided to leave the boy alone for now, and move on to introducing himself to the class.

"Well, class." Mr. Malfoy began. "I'm new, and you guys are stuck with me for the rest of the year, so I say, 'why not make things as easy as possible?'"

This behavior from a teacher made some of the students stir, confused.

Mr. Malfoy continued to smile brightly, however. "Alright, well, I know I'm your teacher, but 'Mr.' always makes me feel so... old," he said with a grimace, raising a few giggles from girls, and even a few chuckles from a few boys. Everyone in the class was already starting to warm up to him. This was a good sign, he though to himself with a smile. "So why don't you guy just call me by first name, Draco, and I'll call you by your first names, too?"

A snort could be heard from the far left of the classroom. Draco turned to look at the red-head who he had previously noticed sitting next to his object of fascination.

"Was there something I missed? Something funny you would like to share with the class?" Draco inquired with a raised brow.

The read-head, also known as Ron, blushed. All the students in the class were staring at him curiously.

"No, sir." Ron answered. But he could not help himself and added," It's just that..." before he stopped, realizing that the following statement would only lead him into trouble.

"It's just that what?" Draco pushed further, almost daringly.

"Well, your name, sir. Draco. I mean, what kind of a name is that?" Ron asked, laughing, as Hermione gasped, not believing Ron had actually said that.

"Think my name's funny, do you? And what, pray tell, is your name?" Draco asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"It's Ron," He answered proudly.

"Actually, his full name is Ronald Weasley." Hermione added, hoping to anger Ron.

"Thank you very much,..." Draco said, as if asking for her name.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione answered, blushing, which only further enraged Ron.

"Yes, thank you, Hermione," Draco answered, flashing her a brilliant smile, before continuing. "Well, Mr. Weasel," He gasped dramatically, and covered his mouth with his hand, before saying, with a smirk. "Oops! I am so sorry. I meant... Weasley."

The class erupted with laughter at Draco's supposed "mistake". Even Harry couldn't help but let out a chuckle, as he saw Ron's face turn red as a tomato. Whether from anger or from embarrassment, Harry didn't know.

"Anyway, Mr. Weasley, thank you for your assessment of my name. Now, Ron, do you mind if I call you by your first name?" Draco asked.

Ron simply shrugged, refusing to meet his gaze.

"Alright, Ron, I was thinking of having everyone introduce themselves to me by stating their name, if they're alright with me addressing them by their first name, and a little something about themselves. Since you've been the first to give your name, let's start with you. Tell me something about yourself."

Ron gave a grunt before grudgingly mumbling, "I like watching football."

"And girls," One of the boys from the back added in with a laugh, earning several snickers from the boys, and a disgusted "ugh!" from several other girls.

Draco coughed to cover up his laughter before saying, "Very good, Ron. Very good. Next person, behind Ron." Draco said.

Three students answered differently after that.

"My name is Susan Bones. No, I don't mind if you call me Susan, and I like to help my little sister fix her hair."

"Terry Boot. Don't mind, and I guess I like playing basketball."

"Thomas Reynolds, I suppose I don't mind, and, well, my favorite food is pizza."

Next was the raven-haired boy. Draco watched eagerly, desperate to know a bit more about this student, who so intensely grabbed his attention.

"Erm...my name...is Harry." Harry mumbled, feeling rather uncomfortable under Draco's intense gaze. "Erm...Harry Potter. It doesn't bother me if you call me Harry, I mean, everyone else does." Harry continued with a nervous laugh. "Erm...something about me would be...I guess it would be that, erm..." Harry struggled desperately to think of something, anything! It didn't have to be something big. It could be his favorite sport, his favorite food, the day of his birthday, anything! But he couldn't say anything.

"What's your favorite type of flower?" Draco asked, helpfully, although he had intentions other than just helping Harry with an answer.

"Oh, um... tulips." Harry answered, with a blush.

"Interesting..." Draco murmured aloud, but was interrupted from his musings, as the next person continued. Several other students continued, until they had finished.

In the end, there was a very angry Ron, whose girlfriend, Hermione, had shot constant flirtatious smiles at Draco. The rest of the class, however, was getting along great, and definitely enjoying Draco's company as a teacher, over their old teacher's.

"I suppose I'm supposed to assign some homework, eh?" Draco mused aloud, which earned him several groans from around the classroom.

"Oh, don't worry. It's my first day, and trust me: I want to be liked. So your homework will be easy. For your homework assignment, I want you to go home and look at something, someone, or... anything, really. Then, I want you to come up with one simile or metaphor to describe it's features.

"Now, I want this to be a fun assignment, so you can describe the object or person, in whatever way you want. It can be as nice as, 'her eyes shone with the beauty of a tropical sea,' to as wickedly evil as, 'his embarrassed, red face was like that, of a baboons butt.'"

His last comment received laughter from everyone except Ron, who simply glared, loathing Draco with each word he said.

"Alright, class dismissed," Draco said with a chuckle, as the bell rang.

"I hate him!" Ron growled as the trio joined up after school to walk home together.

"Really? I think he's rather...charming, don't you, Harry?" Hermione asked, ignoring Ron's irate glare at her comment.

"Yeah, I guess." Although Draco had freaked him out at first, Harry had to admit that Draco really was a rather cool teacher. This entire sophomore year, he had yet to start liking a teacher.

However, Draco definitely made it on Harry's good list. With the way Draco treated all the students as though they were equal, Harry honestly felt as though Draco was 16, as well.

Perhaps Harry had just gotten the wrong first impression of Draco.

Harry was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts, as Ron's angry yells rang through his ears.

"Charming!? Please! He gets off on making fun of innocent students! I mean, honestly: 'Mr. Weasel. Oops! I meant, Mr. Weasley.' Please! He did that on purpose! And he was referring to me when he made that metaphoric joke about the baboon's butt, I just know it!"

"Oh, Ron, for the love of God, stop your whining!" Hermione exclaimed, exasperated.

"Oh, you're one to talk! You were hanging all over him! I swear there was drool hanging out of your mouth at one point!" Ron yelled back.

Hermione gasped indignantly. "How dare you! That's not true. Besides, even if it was, that's one to the hundreds of girls you've ogled at while dating me!"

"That's entirely different! He's a teacher!"

"And they're slutty whores!"

"Well, at least..."

Harry laughed to himself as the two continued to argue.

Honestly, those two were never going to change.

It was time for eighth period again.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all walked to class together this time, which definitely made Ron jealous. Hermione always came for class at the very last minute so that she could spend as much time in the library as she could before class started.

However, for eighth period, Hermione made sure to skip the library and drag the two other boys with her straight to literature, and Harry and Ron both knew exactly why.

Harry raised a curious eyebrow as he saw the grimace on Ron's face while the three walked closer and closer to Draco's classroom. It was odd. Ron was actually...well, jealous; it wasn't even just a normal jealous that Ron could just shrug away, either. He hadn't even stared at passing girls during lunch with the rest of the guys that day.

Instead, he had actually spent it with Hermione, sitting in the library.

Harry had accompanied Hermione, as well, not feeling much like ogling at girls. He hadn't read any books, but he had learned plenty as he watch Ron try to converse with Hermione and even pretend to be half interested in the things she was saying.

Perhaps Ron really did care about Hermione as a girlfriend.

Harry didn't get to think anymore about this subject, however, as he heard Hermione say, "Hello, Draco."

Harry stepped into the classroom just as he heard Draco's reply.

"Hello, Hermione. What brings you to class so early? It doesn't start for another five minutes." Draco asked with a friendly smile, although he had been looking at Harry the entire time he'd been speaking.

"Oh, well. You know, we all love literature, so we like to get in as much as we can." Hermione answered with a slight blush.

"Speak for yourself, woman," Ron muttered irately.

Hermione shot him a glare before turning back to Draco with a smile.

Draco wasn't paying much attention to Hermione, though, as he watched Harry with fascination. "Harry, do you really enjoy literature?"

"Erm..." Harry began nervously, before deciding to simply look Draco in the eyes. After all, it wasn't that big of a deal. Draco had proven to be a cool guy yesterday. "Yes, actually, I do. It's my favorite subject."

"Oh really?" Draco asked, returning Harry's gaze; refusing to break it now that he had finally gotten it.

Harry was beginning to wish he hadn't decided to try and be brave about the situation. Eye contact with Draco definitely wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Now that he'd looked into Draco's eyes, he couldn't seem to look away.

They were even nicer than he'd though them to be just yesterday. They seemed brighter, and simply...mesmerizing.

Harry gulped, inwardly begging for someone to say something and ruin their eye contact. He was beginning to feel a little faint.

"Erm...Draco. You know, I just finished reading a book titled Flowers for Algernon, and it's really quite fascinating. Have you read it?" Hermione asked, struggling to keep Draco's attention focused on her.

"What? Oh, um, yes, actually. It is quite an interesting book; sad, though." Draco answered, putting on a weak smile as he tried to cover up his disappointment. He certainly hadn't wanted to look away from Harry's dazzling green eyes, but he also didn't want to cause any suspicions

"Oh, yes it is. I mean, poor Charlie." Hermione replied, shaking her head. "I mean, what must it have been like to go from mentally challenged, to a genius, and then slowly back again to being mentally challenged? I'm sure he wished that he had never taken that operation to become smart, in the first place."

"Well, actually," Harry cut in, recovering from his previous staring contest with Draco. "I think it was good that he got to experience being a genius. I mean, yes, afterward, he wished to be smart again, but at least he knew what it was like to be a genius; at least he knew a little more about having intelligence."

Hermione looked at him with a frown, disagreeing with him entirely.

Draco, however, seemed to favor Harry's opinion. "I think you've got a point there, Harry. After all, it's as the saying goes. 'It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.'"

The three of them all stood in a thoughtful silence for a moment, while Ron simply stared in bewilderment thinking only one thing: What the bloody hell are they talking about?!

Hermione opened her mouth to voice her disagreement just as other students began walking into the classroom.

"We'll have to continue this conversation another day." Draco said with his famous, seductive smile, as he walked to the front of the classroom and grabbed his plan book from his desk to begin the day's lesson.

The bell rang and the rest of the students quickly rushed in, sitting at their desks, as a boy from the back began telling Draco about his homework assignment.

"Hey, Mr. D." He began, earning an amused raise of the eyebrow on Draco's part. "I came up with a really cool simile last night. My sister is as ugly as a hippo..."

School ended, and Harry closed his locker and swung his backpack over his shoulder to walk over to Ron's locker, where they would then proceed to walk to Hermione's locker.

As Harry turned around, however, he came face to face (well, more like face to shoulder, considering their height difference) with none other than his literature teacher, Draco.

"Oh, um... Hello, Draco." Harry greeted, both surprised and, once again, a bit nervous.

"Hello, Harry. I very much liked the ideas you had on Flowers for Algernon. You think outside of the box, and I think that's a great attribute in a young student such as yourself."

"Thank you." Harry said, with a nervous smile. It was quickly becoming harder to breathe as he realized just how close Draco was standing next to him. He took a quick glance to his left and right, and noticed that there were barely any students left in the hallway.

He had to move away from Draco now. He didn't like the way his teacher was looking at him, almost...hungrily. Harry gave an inward shiver at the thought. Even worse than that, however, was that although Harry couldn't see himself, he didn't doubt that he was growing that same look in his eyes, as well.

"Draco, I have to go. My mum will kill me if I get home late again. You know how mothers are. She's really over-protective."

"But, of course," Draco answered smoothly, before forcing himself to pull back. "I'll see you tomorrow, Harry."

"Yeah, see you." Harry answered, before quickly walking away, and outside of the school. He didn't have time to go walk to Ron's locker. He was going straight home.


RING! RING!

Harry lay, sprawled across his bed and buried his head underneath the pillow as heard the first ring of the telephone. He didn't want to deal with civilization at this moment. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget the events of the day. Things were just much to confusing. Could he possibly fancy his own teacher, and a guy, at that? He couldn't be...gay, could he?


RING! RING!

Ugh. He was trying to go to sleep in order to avoid his current choice of sexuality dilemma. Couldn't the caller see that? Perhaps, if he let the phone ring long enough, the caller would give up and just leave him alone.


RING! RING!

Then again, maybe not.


RING! R-

Ah. Finally. The caller had given up. Harry let himself slowly drift off into dreamland before..."Harry!" his mother, Lily Potter, called from downstairs. "Ron is calling!"

Harry let out a desperate groan. He begged his muscles to pull him out of bed, but they simply would not budge. There was only one solution.

Harry slowly rolled over once, twice, and... THUMP.

He lay there, on the floor for a moment. Perhaps his sweet, kind-hearted mother wouldn't make him move any further. Perhaps she could use her "Mummy Power" to realize that her son was in dire need if some solitude and could not be bother with forcing his muscles to pull himself up and pick up the phone, which so tauntingly sat on his bedroom night stand.

"Harry! Hurry up! I can't stand here all day long, you know!"

And once again, maybe not.

Harry raised his head slightly to stare intensely at the see-through, cordless phone for a few seconds before letting his head drop back down onto the floor in reluctant resignation.

Obviously, God had not gifted him with the power of telekinesis.

He heard a loud, exasperated sigh escape his mother's lips as she walked up the stairs, making a loud STOMP with each step she took, to let him know she was angry. When she reached the door to his bedroom, she opened it with one hand on the handle, and the other on her hip.

She stared at Harry for a moment before rasing an eyebrow.

"Have I raised a child who is so lazy that he can't even get up to pick up his phone?" Lily asked, unbelievingly.

Harry gave a whimper as he stuck out his lip in a pout.

Lily rolled her eyes before walking over to the stand and grabbing the phone, and handing it to Harry, who still lay, helpless, on the floor.

"I'll let it go this time because it looks like you've had a bad day. But next time I'll pull you by your ear and drag you over to the phone. Understood, Mister?" Lily asked with a playful smile, as she leaned down and gave him a motherly kiss on the forehead.

"Yes, Mum. And thanks," He called out as she walked out the door, letting it close shut behind her.

Harry then stared at the phone, before raising it to his ear and listening quietly, waiting for his mother to hang up the other phone. When he heard the small 'click' he breathed in and asked, "Hello?"

"Well it's about time! What took you?" Ron asked, sounding a bit frustrated.

"Oh, sorry. I was almost asleep and I didn't feel like getting the phone," Harry answered, truthfully.

"Oh. Well, sorry about interrupting you, mate. It's just that I was wondering... why didn't you meet me at my locker after school, today?"

"Oh, erm... I was just sleepy, so I decided to come straight home. Sorry," Harry replied, partly telling the truth.

"You could have come to my locker really quickly and we would have walked home together."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter. You had Hermione."

"Well, yeah, but it's Hermione. I mean, come on. She's my girlfriend and all, but, other than that...she's sort of boring." Ron answered as if it were obvious.

Normally, Harry would have laughed at Ron's statement, knowing that Ron didn't really mean that. Today however, Harry was not exactly in the best of moods."Well that's not my fault." Harry answered dully.

"Well, no...but. Are you alright, Harry? You sound sort of angry."

"Yes, I'm fine, Ron. I'm just tired."

"Why are you so tired?" Ron asked , beginning to sound very much like Hermione with all his questioning, which Harry voiced aloud.

"You've been spending way too much time with Hermione. You're beginning to sound just like her. What does it matter why I'm tired? I just am!" Harry answered, a bit more harshly than he'd meant.

There was a silence on the other line as Ron simply took in this new side of Harry, which was much more angry than usual.

"Listen, Ron. I guess I'm just a bit grouchy because I'm tired. Let me call you back later, when I'm feeling better rested, okay?" Harry asked, trying to keep himself calm. He didn't want to ruin his friendship with Ron because of one stupid little incident.

Ron took a moment to answer. Harry had never behaved so hostile toward him, before. If anyone had ever gotten angry, it had always been Ron, while Harry stayed by his side to keep him stable. Ron scrunched his eyebrows together in frustration.

Feeling a bit hurt, and not knowing how to behave in response to Harry's words, he settled for just leaving Harry alone for the moment. Maybe it was something Harry needed to deal with on his own.

"Okay, yeah...um, sure. Bye, Harry."

"Bye."

Harry waited to hear the 'click' of Ron's phone, before clicking the 'off' button on his own phone.

-

A/N: Alright, dudes. This chapter wasn't exactly my best. It was a bit slow and dragging I think, but that's only because it's just the introductions to the tension, the people, and confused feelings, hence the title. So don't give up on the story please. REVIEW! REVIEW!

What to expect in the next chapter: Much more tension between Draco and Harry, Draco making Harry out to be his teacher's pet even though he doesn't want to be(as suggested by a reviewer), and some evil rumors that definitely upset one very lost Harry Potter.

You guys, I pretty much have the ending all figured out, but I'm open to all suggestions by you guys about what to put in between the story to help the story line stay interesting. So please make as many suggestions as you can, because believe me: I love using suggestions from my readers. Once again, please REVIEW!!!

xoxo Spideria xoxo