AN: I don't own Harry Potter. If only..

Thank you for the reviews, follows and favorites of this story, or me.

My muse returned for this just after New Year's, so here we go. Shall we hear Hermione's explanation, then?

Enjoy!

Hermione jumped and faced the direction of the person clapping. Her eyes widened in surprise seeing her best friend standing by the door, clapping but also with a look in his eyes she couldn't quite place. It was, as far as she could tell, a mix of hurt and a bit of anger.

''Harry.'' she breathed. She found her stomach was clenched with nervousness and a feeling he was going to be mad.

''That was quite a show, Hermione. Gotta hand it to you.'' Harry said in a neutral tone, but she could hear the tone of anger just below the surface.

''Umm..thanks?'' she said, more of a question than acceptance of a compliment. ''What..what are you doing here?''

''Funny story, actually. Sirius is a big fan of Velvet BlackBird. So, when he heard they were going to be doing a show, fairly close to home, he got enough tickets for everybody.''

''Oh?''

''Yeah. Me. Ron. Gin. Remus. Tonks. Bill. Fleur. Molly..'' he listed everyone who was at the show. Hermione felt her stomach tighten as the list grew. ''The only person missing was you. So, imagine my surprise when halfway through the show, who walks out? You, Hermione. And just like that, the gang's all here.'' Harry said, now in a full angry voice.

''I can explain.'' Hermione said.

''No need.'' he said, walking to stand in front of her. ''All these years, I thought you were the one person who didn't have secrets from me. The one person who didn't lie to me. You, Hermione, were the one person I knew would tell me the truth about anything. And here I find out that not only do you not tell me everything, but your secret? It's quite a big one. You lied about your childhood, Mione. Your life. How could you?'' Harry yelled. ''Don't you trust me?'' he asked in a hurt voice.

''Of course I trust you? How could you think I don't?'' Hermione asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

''Look around you! You never told me about any of this! Why would you lie to me all this time?''

''Because I didn't want you to look at me like you did Malfoy.'' she said quietly.

''What?'' Harry asked in a confused voice, cocking his head to the side.

Hermione turned and went to sit back on the sofa. ''When you learned how loaded Malfoy and his family were, you and Ron would give him the dirtiest looks. And that was before he started being truly nasty toward us. I just didn't want that look to be directed at me.''

''Hermione, we would never think of you in the same way we did him. Surely you know that?'' Harry asked as he sat beside her.

''Well, yeah. But, I was also ashamed.'' she said, wiping a tear from her cheek. ''I mean, with the way you grew up, and the way the Weasley's are. I always had more than enough of everything, and you guys barely had enough. I had the nicest clothes possible, while you and Ron wore hand me downs. It was hard enough getting you guys to be my friend the first time, never mind if you knew about all of this.''

''Hermione..''

''I wanted so much to tell you..all of you..about this, but I couldn't. I would start to, but then I'd chicken out. You and Ron would tell me about your summers, and when you asked about mine, I'd just..freeze. How was I suppose to say that while you were locked in your room at the Dursley's, and Ron was busy de-gnoming the Burrow, that I was with my parents on a beach somewhere, or in the Alps, or wherever their touring took them?'' Hermione asked, looking at Harry.

Harry sighed. ''Mione,'' he started, moving closer to her. ''You shouldn't be ashamed of any of this. It's not your fault your parents are who they are.''

''I wanted to tell you so, so many times. Especially after I met Sirius.'' Hermione said, smiling a bit.

''What does Sirius have to do with it?'' Harry asked.

''One of his tattoos is the band logo.'' she said. At Harry's confused look, she continued. ''It's on his chest. A V with a B on either side? Looks like a butterfly's been..''

''Cut in half, yeah. I remember it now.'' Harry nodded.

''Thanks, Harry.'' Hermione said quietly.

''For what?''

''Not being angry. Or, not as angry as you could have been.'' she said. ''I never saw this conversation going well.''

''Well, after all the crap through the years you supported me through, I was willing to give you a chance. It's my turn to be supportive of you. And, I meant what I said-you were really good out there.''

''Thanks, I guess.'' she said, smiling.

''Hermione? That reporter's here to talk to you.'' Crystal said as she knocked and opened the door. Seeing Hermione and Harry sitting so close, she asked, ''Should I tell him to wait, or..?''

''No, Crystal. Send him in.'' Hermione said, standing. ''You can stay if you like, Harry.'' she said, looking at him.

''Yeah, okay. I'll just sit over there, out of your way.'' Harry said, pointing toward her vanity.

''Hermione, this is Robert Selker, entertainment journalist. Mr. Selker, this is Hermione, daughter of Velvet BlackBird.'' Crystal announced as she walked back in with the reporter.

''Mr. Selker, hello.'' Hermione greeted, shaking the man's hand. He was tall and thin, and had shaggy blonde hair. He was wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans with a reporter pass around his neck.

''Miss, it's a pleasure.'' he said in a deep voice with a slight Scottish accent.

''Please, call me Hermione.'' she said, sitting as he sat across from her in a chair.

Hermione was ten minutes into the interview when Crystal knocked on the door again. ''Hermione, there's a bunch of people out here who say they know you. And your friend.'' she said.

''It's okay, Crystal. They're all friends. Let them in.'' she said.

''Um..okay.'' Crystal said slowly. She opened the door further, and Hermione smiled seeing everyone come in the room. ''Just wait over there until she's done, please.'' Crystal said, pointing to Harry.

''Now, Hermione,'' Selker said. ''What was it like growing up with two rock stars as parents?''

''They were just like any other parents, I guess. I mean, they had their job that they'd go do, and then come home and we were just a normal family. Granted, their jobs are a bit different from everyone else's, though.''

''Right.'' Selker said with a laugh.

As the group went to stand by Harry, they were fascinated by what they were seeing and hearing, not to mention where they were.

''Wow!'' Ginny sighed again. ''She looks gorgeous.'' she whispered to Tonks. Until now, none of the others had seen her close up, only on stage and the big screens.

''Yeah, she does.'' Tonks whispered back. ''I wonder where she got her boots?''

''I dunno, but I love them. They're at least five inches.'' Ginny said.

''I would definitely fall in those.'' Tonks said, making Ginny giggle. ''I do good in trainers.''

Meanwhile, on the other side of the group..

''How did I never notice she was the same little girl?'' Sirius asked, staring at Hermione.

''I don't know, Pads. Now, I can't un-see it, though.'' Remus said in a whisper.

''Why couldn't she be like this in school?'' Severus asked lowly.

''Like what?'' Minerva asked, arching her eyebrow.

''Not like that, Minerva.'' Severus said. ''Miss Granger's getting straight to the point in her answers.''

''Oh.'' Minerva said. ''Well, she's not being graded for those answers. Being graded always made her nervous.''

''Yeah. She's always rambled when she's nervous, Snape. Hermione knows how to get to the point.'' Bill said.

''Yes. She looks quite calm, really.'' Minerva said.

''Hmmph.'' Severus said. He noticed they were right, however. Hermione looked calm and collected, not nervous.

''I'm glad to see she's put some weight back on.'' Molly said, smiling. ''She was entirely too thin the last time I saw her.''

''I agree, Molly.'' Fleur said.

''Blimey. Has she always looked like that?'' Ron asked. This was not the best friend he remembered having for all those years.

''Miss Granger has always been quite pretty, Mr. Weasley.'' Dumbledore said quietly from behind him.

''Yeah, Ron. She just never showed it off, really.'' Harry said.

All conversation stopped when Hermione stood to escort Selker to the door.

''Thank you for agreeing to this interview.'' he said, shaking her hand.

''Well, thank you for not asking stupid questions, Mr. Selker. Have a nice day.'' Hermione said smiling, before shutting the door. Turning around, she waved at the group of people just staring at her.

''Hello, everyone.'' she said. Nobody said a word. Until..

''What the bloody hell have you done to yourself?''

''Ron!'' everyone shouted.

Review please.

Reviews make me happy, and wanna update quicker.

I hope Hermione's explanation was agreeable for you guys.

Til next time!

XOXO - Onyx Obsidian