A/N: Here's another chapter! Hope you guys kinda like it! And thanks for the reviews!

-------------------------------------------------------------Confusion----------------------------------------------------------------

Draco's POV

I wasn't denying it anymore. Yes, I fancied Hermione Granger. And I was trying to gauge whether she liked me too. Even though I was practically a mute, it didn't mean I couldn't indirectly charm her. Many have fallen prey to my charm, but that mainly happened whilst I was speaking. So now I resort to subtle charm. And by subtle charm I mean casually leaning over her, like last night's incident, or looking at her in a certain way where she knew exactly what I was thinking.

And I was starting to get the feeling that she returned the affection. Why else would she blush whenever I looked at her that way? Why else would her breathing stop when she was near me? Why else would she try to look everywhere else except at me when she went silent near me, and hadn't the faintest idea of what to say next? Did she really think that all of this had gone unnoticed?

And I enjoy every second of it.

I love the fact that I have some sort of affect on her. Sadly, I haven't a clue why I have such an affect on her. Surely she would rather go for Potter? She's known him far longer than she's known me, and for that I envy him. And the other one? I believe that she and Weasel had a fling of sorts, but that fizzled out. So who does that leave?

Hopefully me, right?

Merlin, I sound so desperate.

Today's Sunday, thankfully. Hermione wants to do more research with me, and to that I am not complaining.

I got out of my bed and stretched. Walking over to my mirror, I yawned. I slept quite late last night. Hermione had gone off to bed at around midnight, but my turn only came two hours later. I just cannot find any solution to my problem! It is so frustrating!

Will today be the day? This thought buzzes through my head almost every morning when I wake up - since the incident. I hope that today will be the day when I can speak properly. Without insulting anybody. Especially those that I love. An image floated through my mind: deep brown curls, and chocolate-y eyes.

Woah. Where did that come from? I shook my head, trying to clear it. A shower was what I needed.

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I spent the rest of the morning in my room doing a bit of extra homework. Hermione hadn't come back yet from wherever she had gone to. The clock in the Common Room displayed the time when she'd be here: twelve o' clock midday. Lovely.

At about a quarter-to-twelve, I took up my usual spot on the couch in the Common Room, leaving my sketches in a neat pile on my desk in my room.

I rested my head against the back of the couch and closed my eyes. Ah, it was so peaceful. My thoughts were comforted by images of Hermione. Hermione laughing, Hermione thinking, Hermione writing, Hermione sleeping ...

"Um, Draco?" a timid voice asked.

I smiled. Ah, Hermione saying my name. She was here.

I opened one eye, and saw her. She decided to wear casual clothes today, not her usual robes. I had to open my other eye to fully appreciate her. She was wearing a deep blue jersey, one that hugged her body; and jeans. My heart sped up a bit, and I wasn't too sure whether she knew that I was, what my friends in America would say, "checking her out".

I cleared my throat with difficulty, and tried to produce what I thought was a dazzling smile. It seemed to have worked, because she blushed and looked down at her toes, and at that I smiled wider.

She took a step closer to me. "I think I, um, might have possibly got your answer." She bit her lip, and nervously looked up at me.

My heart raced at the thought of a solution being right at my fingertips. But then confusion settled upon me. Why would she be nervous?

And so she paced, her hands gesturing wildly as she talked. "So I went to Professor Flitwick this morning after breakfast. I kind of told him about your situation - " she broke off as she looked at me, noticing the startled look on my face, "-but I didn't tell him it was you, specifically, I just told him that I read about it somewhere. Of course he wanted to know which book it was, but then I had to say that I didn't remember, because obviously it wasn't a book, was it?" She paused to breathe, and if the situation weren't so serious, I would have laughed.

She plunged on. "He asked me to explain exactly what I read, so obviously I had to explain all your symptoms." I cocked an eyebrow. Symptoms? She seemed to understand. "Well, you know what I mean. But anyway, he came up with two solutions. And I think the one is really unoriginal, it usually occurs in books you know? So I suggest the other solution."

I looked at her, waiting for her to go on.

She bit her lip again, her brown eyes looking everywhere else except at me. "Well, the one that I think that you should do, as it's more practical, is to sort of wait until the next full moon, and the person who put the spell on you is to, I don't know, do something to you, or say something, and voila-"here, she clapped her hands, but somehow I thought she was faking her joy, "-you'll be fixed."

I narrowed my eyes. We just had a full moon last week. I'm supposed to wait a couple of weeks until I can get cured? Absolutely not.

I tilted my head, waiting for her to tell me of the other solution.

Thankfully, she understood my silent wish.

She shifted from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. "Well, as I said, it's pretty unoriginal. And it might even take longer than the other one, or maybe you might already have someone you ..." She trailed off, and cleared her throat.

She sat down and carried on, "Right, now you don't have to do this." I wondered why she was taking so long to tell me about this solution, and why she was so nervous and uncomfortable.

Her cheeks turned pink, and she said at top speed, "When-the-feeling-is-real-and-you've-realized-it-you-need-to-confess-your-love-for-someone-to-that-same-someone."

A moment of silence hung in the air as I tried to process what she just said.

She said, "It's stupid, I know. Why you and not Ron? Or even better," she added with a slight laugh, "why something as random as that? I suggest waiting for the full moon. The process would be effortless you know."

Somehow, for some strange reason, the idea of the second solution appealed to me more than the other. I felt confused. I knew I liked Hermione, but love? Love was an entirely different concept. Love is too powerful a word. It's too strong. It's too serious.

Thing is, was what I felt for Hermione powerful? Strong? Serious?

It sure as hell felt that way.

I couldn't do that though. I wouldn't know how to say it, even though what I might feel for her isn't love. Perhaps it's something else? More than liking her, obviously. I couldn't do it. Even if I did love her, what if it came out all wrong? I've never intoned those fatal three words to anybody else except my mother.

I couldn't do it.

I held up my index finger.

She understood, and I'm quite sure a flash of dismay crossed her beautiful features. It passed a moment later, and she said, just to clarify, "The first option?" was it me, or did her voice have a slight quiver in it?

I nodded, not once taking my eyes off her.

"Okay," she said softly. Then as if recovering, she brightened a bit and said, "Well that's what I told you to do! It's just a few weeks more; don't worry!"

Her smile, beautiful though it was, seemed forced.

I didn't know if I was doing the right thing or not. And I really hoped I wouldn't regret the full moon option.

I just couldn't accept the fact that I might be in love with Hermione. And even if I that was the case, I could never bring myself to say it just to unbind me from a curse.

---------------------------------------------------------to be continued------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hope you liked it! I was getting MASSIVE writer's block for this chapter, which would explain the delay. So maybe that's why it's not as great as my other chapters? But anyway:

please review?