A short but rather eventful chapter this time- enjoy!

"Hey Granger, wait up a second!" Hermione paused to wait for Harry as the rest of their class headed back to the Castle from their Herbology lesson, Ron had disappeared with Lavender as soon as the bell had gone, and Harry had done the decent thing of making a show of tying his shoelace so that he and Hermione didn't have to walk with them.
Hermione had her Arithmancy class next, and Harry a free period, "You should get started on that reading for Professor Sprout," she advised him, "I know you have Quiddich practice tonight."
"Will you be okay by yourself?"
"You mean will I be okay stuck in the Common Room with Lavender while you and Ron train?" She forced herself to smile, "I'm sure I'll survive, I'll go to the library or something."
Really she was hoping to bump into Draco, she still had the potion book in her bag and was hoping to be able to apologise for how things had gone yesterday. As it turned her the opportunity to see him came a lot sooner, as a large group of Slytherins were gathered in the Entrance Hall by the giant hourglasses that kept track of the House Points. She wasn't sure why they were loitering between classes, but she instantly spotted him by his pale hair and thought quietly that he looked awful; there were huge dark circles under his eyes and his smile looked tight as he chatted to Crabbe and Goyle. She felt her heart give a painful squeeze as Pansy Parkinson slithered over and ran a hand up his arm, pulling herself close to his side and whispering in his ear. There was a moment as she prepared herself to pass them on her way to the main staircase when he glanced up and caught her eye; she could tell he was still angry with her, especially as his eyes instantly zoned in on Harry and narrowed.
Before she could decide whether or not to attempt to approach him, even with all of his friends around him, Pansy got annoyed with his lack of attention and reached up to tilt his chin so he was focused back on her. Only somehow as he turned and she stretched up their lips ended up meeting and several of their group whistled.
Harry snorted, "Would you look at that, toxic people attract apparently."
Hermione didn't think she could speak, Draco hadn't pulled away from Pansy, in fact he seemed to have pulled her even closer. She drew a steadying breath and forced herself to look away, only at the top of the stairs Ron and Lavender were saying a passionate goodbye as they were forced to go to separate classes.
Something must have shown on her face, because Harry suddenly asked with a note of concern, "Are you okay Hermione, it's just you look kind of, well, mad."
"You know what Harry, I was mad, but I just remembered an excellent piece of advice I recently received and I think I'm going to take it. I'll see you at dinner."

Later than evening Hermione arrived in the Great Hall for dinner, studiously ignoring Malfoy as she walked past him, before sitting down next to Harry at the Gryffindor table. He had been talking to Parvati who immediately stopped talking to beam at her; usually falsehood wasn't something Hermione bothered with, but tonight she made herself smile back just as brightly. "Hi Parvati! Are you going to Slughorn's party this weekend?"
The other girl looked extremely disappointed, "No- I don't have an invitation, but I'd love to. You're going… aren't you?"
"Oh yes," Hermione said happily, "I'm meeting Cormac and we're going together!"
Harry almost choked on his pumpkin juice and Hermione deliberately ignored him in favour of turning her smile on Ron who had removed himself from Lavender and was wearing a dumbfounded expression, "WHAT?"
"Cormac, Cormac McLaggen you mean?" Parvati asked a little too loudly.
"That's right, you know- the one who almost became Gryffindor Keeper?" she felt a little guilty putting so much emphasis on how close Ron had come to losing out on the team, then again the only reason McLaggen hadn't made it was thanks to Hermione.
Lavender and Parvati were practically salivating for information, "You really like your Quiddich players don't you?"
"I like really good Quiddich players," she corrected them. "Pass the potatoes?"
As she tucked into her dinner, coyly refusing to answer any more questions, she glanced up and met Draco's gaze. She was glad he'd been listening, and she smirked as she raised her goblet to her lips to take a drink, he had been right, getting even was far more satisfying that staying angry.