FYI: There will be an increasing amount of song references moving forward. As always, anything you recognise is not mine.

Please take note that the songs I've chosen for inspiration are largely by American artists, but I've chosen them for the lyrics and the message the song sends. I imagine Hermione's voice to be very feminine and sweet, sometimes powerful and sometimes breathy (and sometimes both). I think she sings with strong emotion, and that can change a persons tone and delivery. Like all things she puts her mind to, my Hermione is a perfectionist with her music, and I imagine her having some serious control over her vocals and an impressive range (keeping in mind she had lessons as a child, and always aimed for perfection in all of her classes as a general theme). If it matters to you, imagine her singing in her natural accent, although a lot of artists sing with an American inflection regardless of their origin. Feel free to substitute lyrics/songs with your favourites if they fit the narrative. Hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy it!

When Draco woke up after lunch, the first thing he did was grab the new laptop computer and Denim CD's, and take them into the green parlour. It was a comfortable room with great acoustics - it was where they kept the grand piano his mother so loved to play. Casting a couple of Auror level magic-dampening charms on the room, he got to work setting up his new muggle electronics. He swore he'd never tell another soul just how long it took.

His old nanny elf, Moppy, bustled about the room while he worked, bringing in refreshments (despite Draco's insistence that it wasn't necessary) and fluffing the cushions around him. At one point he'd physically pulled Draco from his chair in order to make sure his young master was most comfortable. Many of the elves, Moppy included, refused to leave Malfoy Manor after the war. The Malfoy's had given them all the choice, considering whom they'd been ordered to serve over the years, but only a couple had actually left. It was quite sweet actually - all of the remaining elves had willingly re-pledged themselves to the family, even accepting a small wage from the Lord of the Manor. Draco accepted their fussing with a smile most days. He was glad they were happier now.

With one last charm to power the device, everything was ready to go and Draco placed the first of the discs - The Phoenix - into the little slot and watched as the machine ate it up. It took a few moments to load (moments in which he panicked, thinking he'd broken it somehow and he'd have to go through the entire process again), but then a screen popped up saying that it was a music player and did he want the tutorial? Yes.

A few minutes later, music was coming from the built-in speakers. It sounded tinny and dull, but he continued to click away at the machine until the volume was as high as it could go and what does 'equalizer' do? Oh yes. That sounded much better. He started the music again from the beginning and sat back to listen.

The first album was certainly emotional. He could recognize a couple of the songs that had been performed on stage the night before, but many clearly hadn't made the cut for the live show. Draco supposed that was because the tour was for her newest music. He vaguely recalled someone talking about it at the pub after the concert - that artists usually performed their most popular songs mixed in with the newest ones to appeal to more people.

Narcissa had heard the music from the garden and had joined him part-way through the second song, and his father had come in looking for her two tracks after that. They listened together as Hermione - Denim - sang about love, pain and healing in equal measure. There were a few songs he thought might've been about Potter, although he'd have to ask to be sure. The songs about Weasel were sometimes sad and sometimes brutal, and so very obviously about him that the two men shared a look after each one. Draco hoped he'd never be the inspiration for such lyrics. Lucius wished he could be a fly on the wall when the youngest Weasley heard them. Narcissa on the other hand, well, she had stolen her husband's handkerchief by the end of the fourth song and her son's by the start of the seventh.

All in all, it was clear that Hermione was incredibly talented at finding the right words to pull the listener right into the music with her. Even her sparing use of expletives was delightfully surprising and fit the context. Of course there were some lyrics they couldn't make out clearly or misheard, and more than a few muggle references they didn't understand, but with some more click-clacking on the laptop Draco was able to look them up easily. With all three Malfoy's crowded around the small device they had many conversations about Hermione's music, the messages she was sending through song and their individual interpretations. By the end of the album (many songs replayed at the request of someone or other) Lucius was rather impressed by the clever way in which she had 'muggle-ised' her lyrics in a way that could be interpreted easily enough for both worlds to understand, and Narcissa and Draco were both still blown away by the sheer amount of emotion that bled through every song.

After a bathroom break and a request for dinner to be served in the green parlour, Draco prepared the second disc. The one that was supposedly named for him. The Dragon.

This album was something else. This was undoubtedly their story. From the very first track Draco was thrown right back into the memory of New Year's Eve of 2002, when he and Granger had moved from friends to something more. He could basically follow their entire relationship from song to song, and Merlin how he missed her.

This, the lyrics and the beat and the piano and the backup vocals - it was a love letter to him, he was sure of it. If there had been any doubt that the naming of the album was inspired by his name, by him, it was evaporating by the second.

She sang about their nights, the early ones, when they were just dipping their toes in the water, so to speak. About the surreal feeling of them being together, becoming some kind of item - Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, who would've ever thought!? She sang about her feelings growing and evolving and he could hear it in each song. She sang about the future she wanted with him, the future she hoped he wanted with her (and oh, did he want that future she sang about so beautifully). The most important question now, one that he desperately needed an answer to, was: why did she let things end?

And in the mix of it all - sometimes subtle innuendo, a line or two out of a whole song, and sometimes blatantly obvious - was sex. Lust. Want. Need. It grew more and more difficult to remain seated and not run to her as each song ended and the next began.

It was phenomenally uncomfortable to listen to while sitting alongside his parents, hearing lines like 'hard to think when I'm under you' and 'kiss me and take off your clothes'. He tried his best to just focus on the music, but his mother's seemingly permanent blush and his father's equally permanent smirk were hard to ignore. He wished they would put him out of his misery and vacate the room but it seemed that they were still just as invested in their impromptu listening-party as he was.

One song had just ended (it was relatively tame on the sex front, thankfully), and the next was about to begin when Draco noticed the title - '34+35'.

He frowned slightly as he remembered Ginny's reference and each of the Potter's facial expressions before they apparated away earlier - was it really only that morning? It felt like a lifetime ago - and before he could look up the lyrics, the song was starting.

By the fourth line his mother was blushing. By the ninth she was delicately clearing her throat. When the chorus started she simply excused herself without a word and all but fled the room. Draco was exponentially pleased that he no longer had to sit with his mother as his lover sang words like 'can you keep it up?' and 'fuck me til the daylight'.

Lucius on the other hand, had no intention of leaving and looked about as proud as Draco had ever seen him. As the song came to an end, Draco had reached a level of red that would put a Weasley to shame and Lucius looked like he'd just found out that his son had been elected the new Minister for Magic.

"Well," coughed the older man, choking down a laugh. "That was enlightening I'd say."

Draco groaned loudly, covering his face as he slouched into his seat. "Don't, Father."

"What? She sounds very... satisfied."

"Are you serious right now?" Draco looked at his father, incredulous and still incredibly flushed. "I do not need any comments from you, Father!" He'd never admit it, but he was privately chuffed that his, er - performance, was so noteworthy. She definitely hadn't performed that one last night, that's for sure. He was positive he would have remembered that!

Lucius raised his hands up in the universal sign of surrender as he chuckled quietly, although it was clear that he was struggling to hold back full-blown laughter. "Alright, alright, son. I won't say any more." He mimed zipping his lips as his shoulders shook.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Lucius cracked, and the laughter that filled the green parlour was full and loud and completely drowned out the sound of Draco groaning in embarrassment and no small amount of annoyance - again.

While Draco and his parents were listening to the Denim albums in Wiltshire, a very different conversation was occurring at the Granger's family home in Belgravia.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ginny asked quietly as she stared around the room with a combination of shock, awe and disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She was in one of Hermione's sitting rooms, although it was the size of the entire ground floor of the Burrow. It was mind blowing really, seeing that this kind of wealth actually existed. Obviously she knew it did, theoretically, but to sit on a lounge that probably cost more than all of the Weasley children's Hogwarts tuition combined... Well, it was weird. That the lounge in question was Hermione's was weirder.

"Honestly Gin, it was never an intentional slight against you or anyone really. It's just that I had a few unfortunate experiences as a young kid-"

"Like what?"

"Like kids just wanting to be my friend because we had money, or because their parents wanted them to be famous, or their parents wanted to be famous themselves. Mum and Dad were well connected enough to "put in a good word" even then." Hermione rubbed the bridge of her nose, hoping that Ginny would understand and wouldn't start shouting - apparently she'd ripped Harry a new one and declared that she wouldn't listen to anything that didn't come from Hermione herself. "So about half way through primary I moved schools and my parents just told me to tell people they were dentists or doctors or something. Something not so... cool, I guess." She snorted in derision, "Not that it helped me make any genuine friends anyway."

"That still doesn't explain why you didn't tell us. At Hogwarts, I mean."

"It's not like I intended to not tell anyone, it had just been years of me telling people that my parents were dentists so it just came out and then I didn't know what else to do but go with it."

"You could've-"

Hermione cut her off firmly. "Ginny I was twelve. I was a kid, being exposed to this magical new world and when someone asked what my parents did, I told them what my answer had been for years. I was nervous and I didn't think about it - I didn't stop to think that things could've been different. And then I didn't want to be known as a liar! You know how fast gossip used to spread at school. What would've happened if I'd told the wrong person? It would've been all over the school that I either lied about what my parent's fake job was or supposedly lied about what their real job was. Not to mention I didn't have any friends the first two months - why would I make a point to tell anyone what my muggle parent's jobs were? Half the kids wouldn't know what it meant anyway. And then if I told people and suddenly had friends, they wouldn't be genuine friendships then would they?"

Ginny could see her point. "So once you'd said they were dentists you just stuck to it. I get that, okay? But for this long? Honestly, Hermione, we've been friends for over a decade now! You couldn't have come clean sooner?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? So you weren't keeping massive secrets from your best friends!" Gin was getting angry now. Her complexion was starting to pinken, although in a much more attractive manner than her brothers.

"Ginny, I love you but you're not stupid." Hermione held up a hand to stall her friend's next outburst. "Harry was living in a bloody cupboard for most of his life and was unable to access his inheritance until he reached his majority, at which point we were at literal war - there were more important things to worry about. And Ron! Do you remember how he reacted any time someone spent money in front of him? How he would turn green with envy at Harry's new broom, or at Neville's new robes each year? There was no way in hell I was ever going to suddenly reveal that my parents were wealthy - it would've sounded like I was bragging no matter how I said it."

"It wouldn't have been that bad," replied Ginny unconvincingly. Even she looked more than a little dubious at the words she'd just spoken. "Sure, Ron would've been jealous but Harry had - has - his own money, so why would he care?"

"But that's the thing Gin, it's not just about the money. It's about the way we live. Harry was locked in his room with bars on the windows, while I was sleeping in a super-king bed and attending industry parties with my parents! How would that have sounded to you? Sorry your home life is shit Harry, but at least you don't have to hide your school things from your muggle butler!" Hermione spoke sarcastically. "And don't even get me started on Ron. All I had to do was breathe the wrong way and he'd get angry. He ignored me for months over that stupid broomstick. He would've either hated my guts or sucked up to me - and neither option was appealing to me at all."

"But -"

Hermione cut her off again. "Or say he did take it well at first, it would have only been a matter of time before we fought again and he'd throw it in my face or shout it out for everyone to hear," she sighed heavily. "I loved your brother once, Gin, in more ways than one. I know what he's like, or what he used to be like at least. At that point in our lives it would've been more trouble than even this much money is worth. Maybe if our relationship had lasted - if it had been different. I'm sure I would've had to tell him eventually. But it wasn't, so I didn't."

"Okay so what about me? Why didn't you tell me Hermione? I've never cared about that stuff! I was never jealous the way Ron was! And I'm not greedy," huffed Ginny. She was starting to understand but she was still annoyed, not to mention hurt. "I never buy anything at full price even though I can afford to now. It's not like I would've taken advantage of you or acted any differently."

"And I love you for that Ginny. Truly." She grabbed Ginny's hands in hers, squeezing gently. "I don't really have a reason. It was just easier not to tell anyone. And after a while it didn't even matter anymore - at least not to me. I probably wouldn't have even told Harry if he hadn't shown up at Hogwarts when he did. I was emotional and thinking out loud when I spilled the beans - I didn't even mean to! I just told him I couldn't go to Grimmauld and started thinking about everything I needed to do before my flight to the US, I didn't even realize I was saying it out loud."

Ginny snorted, pulling her hands free but leaning her shoulder into Hermione's. She bumped their shoulders gently, "He told me he was so angry."

"More hurt, I think."

"That too. But he told me the other day, when he was explaining things before your show - that he felt super guilty for not being more involved in your life. He'd always asked to come to Burrow over hols, and never your place… I think he felt like a shit friend, more than angry or whatever."

Hermione smiled fondly, "He's an idiot."

"True, but he's an adorable idiot." Ginny looked at Hermione beside her and smirked impishly. "Do you have a pensieve? I'd love to see his reaction." The girls broke into giggles and Hermione admitted that it had rivalled some of Harry's more memorable teenage tantrums.

"I'm still the same person, Gin. Money or not, famous or not. I'm still just me. I'm sorry I didn't tell you… I just," she searched for the words. "I was just scared I guess. I didn't want anything to change."

They were quiet for a minute, before Ginny spoke quietly, "I forgive you." And she meant it. While Hermione had been away for the last six or so years, they still saw each other when she visited from the States every other month, and she'd been Ginny's maid of honour at her wedding to Harry. She was still hurt, having been kept in the dark for so long (Harry would never hear the end of it!), but at the end of the day she loved Hermione. She'd forgive her, and they'd move forward together.

Wriggling to get comfortable next to her friend, Ginny jokingly asked, "Can I put my feet up on this? I don't want to ruin it."

The solemn mood sufficiently ruined, Hermione snorted. "Be my guest, Gin," and they settled in for a long overdue catch-up, with Ginny filling her in on the latest Quidditch gossip with the Harpies, and Hermione telling Ginny stories about her life in LA and the entertainment industry.

A while later it was time for Hermione to get ready for that evening's show. It was Denim's second and final night at the O2, and while she had Sunday and Monday free, the tour really kicked off after that and she'd be off to Ireland and Scotland before jumping across the channel and beginning her European leg.

The girls hugged each other tightly by the fireplace. "No more secrets," demanded Ginny. "I mean it Hermione."

"No more secrets, I promise."

"And I fully expect to come around tomorrow and we can listen to both of your albums - start to finish - and you can tell me all about them, okay?"

"Ugh, I hate listening back to them."

"'Mione -"

"Yes! Yes, okay, fine. Come over at about 9, we can go through them all before your lunch at the Burrow."

"And I want to hear all about Draco, too!"

"Yes! Fine, just get out of here already," Hermione laughed, extracting herself from Ginny's iron grip.

"Alright. Tomorrow then. 9 o'clock." Ginny waved as she stepped into the floo, shouting the address for Grimmauld Place.

The second the flames died Hermione apparated away, back to her decoy suite at The Rosewood, just in time to hear a knock on the door. Her team had arrived - it was time to get ready for night two.