A/N: Hello! Sorry about the wait. I distract easily *blushes before spotting a butterfly and beginning to chase it* Thanks to everyone who leaves such wonderful reviews. I know the animal rights rant in the last chappie was a bit heavy, but I promise it's important to the plot. =) I can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter! Much love! xx-Kitten.


Little Do You Know

By Kittenshift17


Chapter 12: All About You


Draco spent the majority of his breakfast in silence with Granger seated between his knees and reading her book. Her arguments for animal rights and for the rights of magical creatures were clearly important to her. He'd known from his forays into her mind that she interested in them but he hadn't realised she meant to make a career out of them. He hadn't realised she was radical enough to wish an extinction upon humanity for the sake of other creatures.

He also hadn't realised her friends were such wimps that they were afraid of seeing her lose her temper. Bunch of cowards. So much for Gryffindor being the house of the brave. The rest of his friends fell to chatter about whatever bollocks suited them, working over and around their Gryffindor and Ravenclaw spouses like it was no big deal.

Which it actually was, of course.

He wasn't about to go explaining to Granger that within pureblood society this was a practice designed to make a betrothed couple work together. By having to sit with Granger between his knees or on his lap, he had to learn her dimensions. He was forced to interact with her. To make accommodations for her within his daily life. Having her in his space guaranteed he had to make room for her. He had to learn to make allowances for her. She didn't know it yet, but for the rest of the year – until their wedding, in any case – she was domed to days on end spent being manhandled into his lap or held captive in his arms at the most inopportune of times.

It was a recognised and taught practice within the pureblood community that a betrothed couple needed to learn to cooperate. Too often within arranged marriages couples simply 'tolerated' one another. Meaning they shared a mansion, they even shared children, but they lived entirely separate lives, interacting only when they had to and making no effort to get along with or enjoy the other person in the marriage.

It had been Goyle's suggestion this morning that they all begin implementing it. Not that Draco hadn't been thinking of doing it anyway. He knew he'd struck a chord with all of his friends yesterday when he'd pulled Marcus up for tormenting Katie Bell. There were standards and customs of pureblood society that ought to be upheld and, as barbaric as they might sometimes seem, they were effective.

Hence the fact that all of his friends had their betrothed witches in their laps and looking utterly startled, annoyed and otherwise confused about the arrangement. Pansy, Daphne, Tracy and Rosanna had been all for the idea of implementing the witches version of the forced interaction practice. Daphne had seemed only too pleased about the notion of climbing into Longbottom's lap again.

Just as Draco's presence with or around Granger forced her to get used to him, to accept him and make allowances for him to avoid them both looking like idiots, pureblood witches were taught that it was important to sit in the lap of their betrothed wizard as well. For the girls it was as much a requirement as it was for the boys. It was a learning curve to be sure, especially when not all the players in each equation new the rules of the game – like Granger didn't – and so were prone to complaining, grumbling and demanding answers as to why the game was being played.

By eating his breakfast around her, he was forced to be careful of where he put his hands. To work with her to reach whatever he wanted from the table. He had to watch where he put his elbows and how quickly he reached for an item. He had to be careful not to drop food all over her. He had to make sure she didn't go jostling about too much and risk having him spill his hot tea all over both of them.

In other words, he had to make sure that everything he did included a thought for how his actions would affect her. Similarly, Granger had to be careful too. She had to wait until he was good and ready to leave the table before she could think about getting up and storming off. She had to make sure she didn't wriggle around too much and risk bumping him in case he dropped food on her. She had to get used to having him inside her personal space, which he could tell she was furious about.

Draco didn't take it personally. She was taking it better than Katie Bell was handling Marcus's attention. Already she'd elbowed him three times and cause him to spill his morning coffee on her. The Weaselette seemed to have either accepted Blaise's company or had realised what they were up to because now that Granger wasn't liable to screech at her, she seemed calm enough. In fact she'd taken to sipping from the cup of tea Blaise had made for himself with the fiery red-head in his lap.

She was eating a bowl of cereal and though she looked slightly uncomfortable about it all, she wasn't complaining as he forked his morning feast of bacon and eggs into his mouth. All without dropping a crumb on her. Draco didn't doubt that if Blaise spilled something on her, she would lose her mind. He wondered if she knew what they were up to. Did blood traitor families like the Weasleys keep to the old pureblood practices?

He could tell from Longbottom's determined expression as he juggled Daphne in his lap that he knew what they were about. No doubt he'd share the information with them later. That or he'd lose his noodle at the way Daphne was carrying on a lively conversation with Pansy over the way they'd spent the summer, nattering on about spending a month on the beach on France. She was waving her arms about and making it difficult for Longbottom to drink his tea, but he didn't complain. He simply began timing his bites and his sips to whenever Pansy was talking. Which was effective, actually, considering how much Pansy liked to talk.

Meanwhile, in his own lap, Granger was still and quiet. Every now and then she nibbled at a piece of toast or had a sip of her tea, but for the most part she simply sat there between his knees, leaning ever so slightly to one side so that Draco could eat over her shoulder while she read her book. Draco could tell she was still annoyed about him being in her personal space but she seemed content enough to read her book in silence. He supposed that it might even be something of a relief for her as he carried on a conversation with Blaise about the stock market and Blaise's dislike for his newest step-father – who seemed determined to convince Blaise to go into politics, which Blaise did not at all fancy.

When Granger moved in his lap after a while, Draco watched what she did. He suspected that she'd tuned out his conversation and that she had all but forgotten he was there. She reclined against his chest comfortably enough, no longer sitting stiffly as though she were hyper aware of his proximity. She reached idly for the teapot sitting on the table in front of them both, without looking away from her book.

Draco shifted her cup underneath the stream of boiling water just before she could go filling up his cup when he wasn't in the mood for another. Blaise smirked at him across the table as he watched, looking amused by the idea of Draco paying such close attention to the little muggle-born witch. Draco would've flipped him off if it weren't for the expression of intrigue that appeared on Ginny Weasley's face as she watched Draco go about seeing to Granger's needs with patience and tolerance.

She clearly hadn't been expecting that he and Granger would be able to cooperate at all. She was also looking like she couldn't decide if she wanted to relax against Blaise's chest or if she wanted to kick Blaise in the face, get up and run away. He suspected the former was what she'd prefer to do but that she didn't dare, lest it be construed as her somehow betraying Potter. The two were no longer an item, he assumed, and Potter hadn't returned after fleeing Granger's potential wrath.

Draco would've very much enjoyed see her snap. The way they all reacted made him think she was like a miniature tea kettle, likely to explode or bubble over dangerously if not properly seen to. He'd wanted to find out what they were all so afraid of. Did she scream at them in a fury? Did she break things when she got angry? He knew she had a penchant for maiming him in particular when he did something to really annoy her, so he assumed her friends received the same – though most likely slightly less violent – treatment.

He knew she was prone to shouting too, given that he'd witnessed more than a few of the rows she and Weasley had before they'd been dating. Draco wondered what the two of them had sorted out in that regard. Just yesterday they'd been snogging each other silly in the middle of a Quidditch match yet today Weaselbee hadn't said a word about Draco not touching Granger and not sitting with her. He'd expected the git to punch him, if he was being honest, or at least to be on the receiving end of a vicious hex. Yet other than a bit of grumbling and being sick over the things Draco had described, Weasley hadn't complained.

And unlike Potter, Weasley hadn't been distracted by having a witch climbing into his lap and stealing food off his fork.

"What time is our first class supposed to start today?" Daphne wanted to do, now reclining comfortably against Longbottom's chest as though she belonged there. Draco supposed, given that they were to be married, that she kind of did.

"Nine," Lovegood answered without looking up from the Qubblier magazine she had her nose stuck in.

"What's it supposed to be focusing on again?" Ginny asked, frowning as though she'd forgotten.

"It's a lecture on the full implications of the new law and all that's expected of us, followed by a getting-to-know-you type exercise," Blaise answered the girl, offering her a strawberry with his fork, having moved on from bacon and eggs to a helping of pancakes with strawberries. Draco himself was still tucking into a stack of pancakes.

"Oh how delightful," Ginny grumbled though she accepted the strawberry. Draco smirked at Blaise's expression of amusement when she plucked the fruit off the fork with her fingers to eat it rather than allowing him to feed it to her – as Blaise had clearly wanted to do. Draco couldn't tell if she did it out of indignation over not being fed like a toddler or if she just didn't want to put the fork Blaise had licked into her mouth.

"What's the matter Weaslette?" Millicent piped up, sitting further down the table and tucking into her own hearty breakfast, "Worried about sharing your personal life with your new fiancé?"

"I loathe the getting-to-know-you games," Ginny retorted, "They're all such boring things you're expected to know about each other but should learn without having to ask. Like, I'm not going to go blurting out my favourite colour and making this easy. You want to know my favourite colour, you pay attention to me and work it out for yourself."

"That's hardly fair Ginny," Granger piped up from between Draco's knees, "Given that in all the time I've know you I've only ever see you wear your favourite colour once."

"Well it doesn't go with me hair, does it?" Weaselette retorted, "But that doesn't mean it's not still my favourite. I just enjoy it in ways that don't involve clothing."

"You're going to make this really hard on me, aren't you, love?" Blaise asked, looking amused. Draco recognised the gleam Blaise got in his eyes when he was interested in wooing some new bird who'd heard of his reputation and didn't want anything to do with him. He adored such a challenge. Blaise would pit his entire will against anything that stood in his way of discovering every one of Ginevra Weasley's secrets if it meant he'd be better able to sweet-talk her into bed with him.

"I'm going to be your worst nightmare, Blaise Zabini," Weaselette confirmed, grinning cruelly.

"I wonder if they'll do a quiz?" Lovegood mused, looking like she was daydreaming as she twisted a section of her blonde hair around her fingers. She looked entirely at home in Theo's lap, not at all seeming to notice the way her fanged-geranium crown of flowers was trying to take bites out of Theo every time he leaned around her so he could see what he was cutting on the plate in front of them and so he could feed himself.

Draco hid his smirk when Theo turned the page of Luna's magazine, clearly having stumbled on some kind of article that was intriguing him and wanting to read on. Lovegood didn't seem to mind.

"A quiz?" Granger's ears perked up at that and she nearly wore maple syrup and soggy pancake batter when she tossed her hair over one shoulder while Draco was forking food into his mouth.

"Now, Hermione," Ginny held up her hands, "It won't count as failing if you can't answer every question about Malfoy. I promise that, to me, failing will be what you'll do if you're able to answer the questions correctly given that until very recently, Malfoy was the enemy."

"You say that as though he no longer holds that title," Granger retorted and Draco smirked wickedly at her words. It was clear from her tone that she still loathed him, despite their camaraderie yesterday in the Quidditch game before he'd invaded her mind.

"My mistake," Weaslette grinned nastily at Draco over Hermione's shoulder and he narrowed his eyes on her the slightest bit, suspecting she made the slip of the tongue on purpose. No doubt to remind him that just because the little witch was currently sitting calmly in his hold didn't mean that she would continue to be so placid in his company.

"We should get going," Tracy pointed out from where she was still sitting beside Draco despite Potter's departure, "The class is on the fifth floor and it's already quarter to nine now."

"Already?" Granger asked, glancing over at Tracy in surprise before looking at her wristwatch.

"Oh no," she said, "I meant to get to the library this morning before classes began to collect some more books on this mess."

"I thought we established that you were going to desist researching loopholes for the sake of avoiding Tivorllo's Clause and the notion of becoming a breeding sow?" Theo asked before he suddenly hissed.

Draco looked over to see that one of the fanged geraniums in Lovegood's hair had just taken a bite of him. The entire crown of flowers dragged from Lovegood's long blonde hair to dangle from Theo's ear.

"Oh, are you alright Theodore?" Lovegood asked vaguely when she noticed that her wreath was missing.

"No more fanged plants, woman," Theo warned her as he snatched the entire wreath away from himself, threw it to the ground and set fire to it with his wand, watching the flowers writhe in agony before thy shrivelled and died completely.

"But they're so pretty," Lovegood said, not at all looking amused, despite the way all the Slytherin's were laughing. Pansy collected two sickles from Daphne, apparently having betted Theo would be bitten by the flowers. Draco watched the way Theo's left eyes twitched with the urge to call Lovegood a liar about the ugly flowers. He began to laugh when, instead, Theo took Lovegood's bag from her and slung it over his shoulder before draping an arm around her shoulders and leading her out of the hall towards the classroom.

All without saying another word.

"Are you going to let me up now?" Granger asked, having ignored Theo's question while she stuffed the book she'd been reading back into her overstuffed bag.

"Are you going to be difficult about everything?" Draco retorted as he nuzzled his nose into her neck to see how she would react.

She tensed and jerked away from his as best she could. Draco smirked, storing the bit of information away that if she was distracted by a book or conversation she didn't pay nearly as much attention to what he did to her person and even relaxed in his hold. She'd gone back to being tense and snippy now that her book was back in her bag.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded of him when he pivoted around her and got to his feet before reaching down and lifting her up to her feet as well, "You and I are not friends, Malfoy. We never have been and frankly it's unsettling to have you suddenly clogging up my personal space in addition to my life as a result of this ridiculous law."

"How else are you going to get used to having me touch you?" he asked her, staring down into her face seriously.

"With time and less disconcerting ways would be appreciated," she informed him, "I don't take kindly to being manhandled, Malfoy. I'm not a child or a doll to be played with and manipulated at will and I don't like not having elbow room or being touched constantly."

Draco simply stared at her with a smirk on his face, enjoying the fact that she was clearly trying to remain civil whilst still stating her case firmly and in such a way that brooked little argument.

"You'll get used to it," he promised, slinging his bag over his shoulder and strolling towards the exit while Granger made a sound of frustration very akin to a canine growl.

"I will not get used to it," she retorted, "And if you think you're going to make me get used to it by ignoring my wishes and continuing to manhandle me, you might find yourself needing to get used to being publicly humiliated and otherwise injured."

"You're a feisty little thing, Granger," Draco informed her, smirking sideways at her as he strode through the halls with his friends trailing around them. Being that there was such a large number of matches affected by this law, they'd been divided into groups of those who knew each other somewhat and those who didn't. All of his friends had been put into a group together for the smaller classes sizes needed for efficiency. He could see Blaise chatting to Goyle and Marcus while Draco spoke with Granger. Pansy, Millicent, Tracy, Daphne and Rosanna also walked together, with Stacey trailing behind and looking awkward. Weaslette, Patil and Brown walked with Katie Bell and Angelina Johnston, while Finnigan, Longbottom, Dean Thomas and George Weasley all moved in another group together. Ahead of them in the corridor Draco could see Theo and Luna, Theo's arm still wrapped around the blonde Ravenclaw.

"Oh trust me Malfoy, you've never seem me when I'm feisty. Furious, perhaps, and scathing with utter loathing certainly. But you've never seen me feisty," Granger assured him cattily.

"I will though," Draco grinned lasciviously, "I hope you're feisty in bed."

She made a sound of outrage and stamped her foot indignantly, looking at an utter loss for words even as her cheeks darkened to an appealing shade of pink with embarrassment over his crass and bold statement. Draco wondered if he'd ever enjoyed riling anyone as much as he enjoyed riling Hermione Granger.