Hi all! So this is my first fanfic, although I've been reading them for awhile. As always, I have no rights to the characters, everything cannon is JK Rowling's and if I were her then I would be writing another Harry Potter book- not posting stories to the internet. Anyways, read and review! There's some of the annoying author blah blah blah at the end of the chapter so that if you don't want to bother reading it, then you don't have to. ENJOY! :D

D.M. POV

This is going to be a great year, Draco thought to himself as he walked along the train searching for Blaise. He stopped for a moment to admire the scarlet steam engine. When he had heard that he and the rest of his year were invited back to finish their 7th year at Hogwarts, he was elated. Just as much, if not more so, than he imagined bloody Granger would be. He chuckled, imagining the look on her face when she had gotten her letter. That girl was an endless source of amusement, no doubt, you could always count on Granger for a good argument and a laugh. So was it really all that bad that he didn't mind being around her? And with his father locked away in Azkaban, who was to stop him from seeing a bit more of her this year. But did he really want to see more of her? Hanging around with Granger would make it obvious to the population of Hogwarts that he was no longer Slytherin Prince, sex god, bad boy, before Draco had the time to go even further out on this tangent, a pair of pale arms and perfectly manicured fingers were being thrown around his neck.

"DRAKIE!" Pansy shrieked, pulling him into a bone crushing hug. Jeez, who knew such a frail girl could be so strong? She eventually released him, and began to drag him down the corridor. He barely listened to her chattering as she led him back to the usual Slytherin compartment. His mind preoccupied with other things, such as the beautiful Gryffindor Princess.

He stopped walking suddenly, as if his feet were suddenly unable to move from the ground. Beautiful? Since when do I, of all people, use that word when referring to Granger?

Pansy stopped too, turning around.

"Draco?" she asked, with a confused look.

"Sorry Pansy, let's go," he started walking again, throwing an arm around her shoulders as he did so. This caused her face to immediately light up. Draco suppressed a groan. Pansy is pretty too, he thought to himself. It will be good to spend some more time with the Slytherins. He hadn't seen them much during his sixth year, and it would get his mind off that m- Draco stopped himself. He couldn't even think that word anymore. Muggleborn, he amended before stepping into the compartment.

"DRACO!" he was inside for no more than a second before he was pounced upon.

"Hey campfire,"

Blaise grinned. "For the 6,783,001st time, and yes I am counting, my name is spelled B-L-A-I-S-E, not B-L-A-Z-E."

"Well I'm not Latin and neither are you but does that mean you aren't going to call me Dragon anymore?" Draco smirked.

"Of course not," Pansy replied, plopping herself down in between the two boys. "Honestly, the train isn't even moving yet and you guys are about to have a row."

"Relax Pans; we were just fooling around,"

"Please, in your dreams Malfoy," Blaise winked, causing both boys to burst out laughing.

Pansy however, was not as amused. "EW! Let's not talk about my boyfriend being gay!" she squealed. Draco winced at the word "boyfriend," but made no objection to it.

"Well if he didn't have you, he just might have to be!"

Draco could see the gears spinning in his friend's brain, but after a second of thought, he took the bait willingly. "For your information Zabini, I could have any girl I wanted."

"Really? You sure about that? Any girl?" Now there was a definite mischievous glint in Blaise's eyes, but Draco wasn't about to back down.

"Yes, of course," he replied confidently.

"Want to bet? I pick the girl; you get her to fall for you… of course as long as Pansy here doesn't mind." Blaise quickly turned his eyes from Draco to Pansy, silently pleading.

Draco willed Pansy to get him out of this, to say no, of course she minded. But instead, she giggled. "Sure, this sounds like fun,"

"Oh guys, you are true Slytherins," Draco drawled.

"And?" Blaise asked hopefully.

"And, you're on." Draco raised his eyes up to meet theirs with confidence. "So, who's the girl?"

Blaise paused for dramatic effect, causing Draco to rolls his eyes and Pansy to shriek with laughter. Draco motioned with his hands for Blaise to continue. "Spit it out Zabini,"

"Hermione Granger," Blaise smiled, looking immensely pleased to see Pansy's jaw drop and Draco's eyes pop out of his head. Great, just the witch he had wanted to avoid. Draco glared at his friend before muttering an almost inaudible

"Fine."

H.G. POV

Hermione Granger looked around in amazement. She couldn't believe she was actually standing here. They were going back to Hogwarts. She hurried inside to get a better look at the train, having to stop on her way to remind herself that she had walked these halls and compartments dozens of times before.

"Umm… Grang-Hermione?"

She pulled out of her thoughts and turned around in shock, recognizing the voice that had called her name. "Y-yes…" she trailed off, unsure whether to call him Draco or Malfoy.

"You're sort of creating a traffic jam," Hermione glanced around in surprise to find that she was standing in the middle of a corridor, a line of slightly annoyed yet bemused students piling up behind her. Before she had a chance to move and apologize, she realized that Malfoy was talking again.

"I know you're probably just ecstatic to be going back for another year of learning, but some of us actually have lives you know, so if you could just-"

Hermione cut him short. "Excuse me," she started indignantly only to stop herself when she saw the expression on his face. He was grinning like mad and obviously suppressing a laugh. Oh. Had Malfoy simply been teasing her? It was doubtful, but before she had time to give it another thought, he was rolling his eyes and pushing past her.

"Hey! I wasn't finished speaking to you!" she cried out, unaware that her thinking had actually taken up a bit of time.

He abruptly turned around to face her, their bodies much closer then they had been before. "Alright then, by all means, finish" His voice was deeper now, still taunting but different from his normal tone. Hermione's mind raced, and screamed at her to speak but all she could think of was how close they were standing. When she replied only by her haughty pout, he smirked. "See you around Granger," he said, winking before turning away.

Hermione stood rooted in her place with shock. Did Malfoy just wink at her? Was he FLIRTING with her? Hermione quickly shook her head to clear it. No, it was impossible she decided, perhaps her brain was being affected by the joy of returning to the castle. She un-stuck her feet from the floor and hurried off to find Harry and Ron

Five minutes later, she almost wished that she hadn't found them. The boys were sitting with Ginny, or rather, she was sitting on Harry. They were so obviously lost in their own world, and that left her with…

"Ron, honestly, do you ever stop eating?" she asked him, trying to hide her disgust.

"Hmm?" Ron had only half heard her, too busy trying to transfer as much food from his grubby hands into his mouth as possible. Gross. Hermione hoped those hands would stay where they belonged- a long ways away from her. Why she had ever thought that she'd been in love with this boy… well it was beyond even Hermione's mental capacities. At first she had attributed it to the fulfillment of her school girl crush. But then she wondered why she had ever had a crush on Ron in the first place. He had just been so mean…

FLASHBACK

Hermione crammed her books into her bag as quickly as possible, so she could catch up with Ron and Harry. She tore after them, finding them in the midst of a crowded corridor. Just as she was about to make her presence known, she realized Ron was speaking and thought it was best to let him finish his thought.

It's no wonder no one can stand her," he was saying to Harry. Who were they talking about? Hermione wondered, practically everyone she had met was perfectly lovely.

"It's Levi-o-sa not Leviosar." She's a nightmare honestly! It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!"

It took Hermione a moment to register that he was talking about her. She immediately burst into tears. She had thought they were on the road to becoming her friends. She thought they knew she wasn't some annoying know-it-all! Apparently not.

"I think she heard you," she heard Harry mutter. As she pushed past them and rushed to the girl's bathroom.

END FLASHBACK

Hermione sighed to herself at the memory. They had all eventually become friends, and she was so thrilled when, last year, Ron finally fell for her too. But now when she looked at him, she simply didn't see the boy she had been pining over for seven years.

She didn't even see her best friend anymore. All she saw was a guy who was making her unhappy. She knew that she shouldn't stay with him any longer but Hermione just couldn't bring herself to break up with him. She had just wanted him for so long...

"Hermione? Earth to Hermione!" Her train of thought crashed when she heard Ginny calling her name.

"Sorry Gin, what?"

"See what I mean! Harry, she didn't even hear me!" Ginny exclaimed to her boyfriend, who could only nod. It took all he had not to burst out laughing at his girlfriend's extremely annoyed face. Hermione knew this and scowled at him. That wiped the smile off of his face, she thought smugly

"Hermione, we need to talk NOW." Ginny jumped off of Harry's lap and grabbed Hermionie's hand, pulling her out of the compartment.

"Hermione Jean Granger, we are going to get one thing straight right now. Are you happy?"

This simple question caught Hermione off guard. It was a simple question, wasn't it? No obviously not, it took her mind for a spin. Was she happy? Well of course she was! What was there to be sad about! The war was over, she had her parents back, and most of her friends had survived, though not completely unscathed. Her thoughts momentarily went down a darker trail, thinking about Fred. Yeah, most. It should have been all of them, together, alive. Hermione tried to get her mind back onto happier, lighter thoughts. They got to give their last year at Hogwarts another go, and she had Ron… And there in lied the problem. Ron.

"Well?" Ginny stared at Hermione expectantly, trying not to get irritated. "Are you going to answer?"

"Ginny, don't be rude. Of course I'm going to answer, it's just… well what's the definition of happy, exactly? Happy how?"

"That is another discussion altogether Hermione and you know it. I'm sorry if I was being rude, but I did ask you a rather important question." Ginny saw that Hermione had opened her mouth to argue, but didn't let her talk. "However, I'll rephrase the question. Are you happy with my brother?"

"No." The answer was immediate. Hermione looked down at her shoes, slightly embarrassed. After all the worrying and wanting him and crying, she realized that she had fallen out of love with him a long time ago. But she had loved him, so her heart kept clinging on. Painfully, yes. But still hanging on.

"Then it just might be time to let go." Ginny spoke almost as if she had heard Hermione's thoughts. "I know its hard Hermione, but when you know you're not happy… You have to do something about it. I'll leave it up to you as to what you're going to do, but you have to promise me that you'll do something. At least talk to Ron."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Me and Harry will just leave you guys alone for awhile, ok? Talk to me later tonight." Ginny smiled, and hugged her comfortingly. "I promise it's going to be ok."

Hermione and Ginny turned and looked into the window at their two boys, laughing together. While Ginny smiled and felt only love, Hermione began to feel dread. They pulled open the doors and both boys turned to smile at them. Harry's eyes were of course first for Ginny and then he turned them to Hermione.

"Mione, what's wrong? You seem-" Harry's voice was cut off by Ginny placing a hand over his mouth.

"Come on Harry, why don't we go get our own compartment. You and I have stuff to talk about too," she giggled, causing Hermione to roll her eyes and Ron to snort in disgust. They both strongly doubted that the couple would be doing any talking whatsoever.

As Ginny pulled Harry out of his seat and away from the others, her voice trailed off and Hermione's eyes turned to Ron.

"Ron?" she wasn't looking at him, she couldn't. It would make this too hard.

"Hermione? What's up?" Hermione could feel his eyes on her, questioning and willed herself not to look up into them.

Not five minutes later, a smashing of glass was heard throughout the train. As the poked their heads out to see where the sound had come from, they saw a frightened Hermione Granger running down the hallways and a rather angry looking Ron Weasley.

"What do you mean you can't stand me?" Ron roared. "I'm your bloody boyfriend!"

Hermione could only squeak in reply. It had been a mistake to try and explain. But he had just made her so annoyed! It made her want to hurt him. The old Hermione would have never done it. But this one had been changed for the war. She had decided that telling people the truth was a lot more important than lying to keep people happy.

Whilst remembering this, Hermione also decided to stop running. She spun around suddenly, the action surprising Ron enough to make him halt.

"Look Ron, we're just not as good together as we thought. We gave it a go being together and it's just making us fight more. I'm not happy and you aren't either. So is there any chance we can go back to just being friends?" Hermione waited nervously for his response.

"Not good together! But we're best friends! I thought you loved me!" Ron was obviously still angry.

Hermione tried to reason with him, but to no avail. The anger just kept flowing till their supposed to be simple breakup turned into a full scale fight.

The pair were so wrapped up in their argument they didn't realize whose compartment they had stopped in front of. Or whose blue eyes were watching them intently.

So that's the first chapter! Thank you all for reading! A couple things, first of all, I hope I didn't make Ron sound like too much of a jerk in this chapter, because I really hate those stories where Ron goes ballistic and HATES Hermione and never talks to her again. Because I really don't think Ron is that kind of person. On the other hand, he does have a bad temper and I wanted that to be reflected as well. Similarly, sorry if you were disappointed with the lack of actual break up scene but I'm HORRIBLE at writing those. Also, if anyone wants to help me learn how to better write the intensity of Draco/Hermione scenes, please let me know. I had a rather good one in an earlier version of this story but it didn't really work for this one. OK, last thing I promise. I don't know how much I will be able to update, because while this story is mostly finished, I am always re-writing and scrapping entire chapters just when I go back to proof read. I like this version of the chapter as of right now, but I might want to play around with the order of some things in the future. Let me know if you would like me to leave it as is, or if you have some ideas on how to make it better!

Thanks for reading and make sure you review! They really are helpful you know, it's why a lot of writers don't post until they get a certain amount of reviews. I'm not going to do that though, I find it slightly annoying.

Anyways thanks again! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of "A Simple Dare"!