Chapter Text
Reading the news is a necessary evil for Hermione, whose job writing legislation requires her to stay on top of current events. Her longstanding hate/hate relationship with the press is a carryover from her overexposure as a youth, which has bled into nearly a decade in the reluctant spotlight. After the war, she is lauded for her accomplishments, which, while entirely too much, are at least about something of merit. These days, the press cares much more about her love life than any of her actual work.
She hates the press even when her love life is going well, but after a breakup, she is always especially sensitive to the vultures. Her breakup with Oliver Wood earlier this month is headline news, and as usual, Hermione is painted as the problem. Headlines scream her greatest insecurities: “Heartbroken Hermione,” or worse, “Why the Golden Girl Can’t Keep a Man.”
Oliver’s schedule has played a factor in the breakup, but more so than the time apart, it is Hermione’s lack of desire to remedy it. She likes her space and independence, but she longs for a partner she would want to wrap her entire world around. A true partner in the way Harry and Ginny are, or Ron and his wife, Susan Bones. Hermione has certainly tried with her share of men, but never finds the right fit. Perhaps she is destined to be alone.
Her friends can sense her melancholy mood and are making an effort to spend more time socializing with her to keep her mind off things. It doesn’t quite replace the hole left by a failed relationship, but it is soothing to know that her friends turned family will always be there for her.
It is exactly this smothering, well-meaning pity that makes the media's obsession so exhausting; she cannot even seek comfort with her family without the specter of a headline looming over the table.
Sunday morning, she meets them all at Grimmauld Place for breakfast. As if on cue, Harry and Ginny leave a copy of Witch Weekly on the kitchen table, which Hermione looks over with thinly veiled disinterest. Thankfully, this edition seems free from mentions of her. Instead, the press has finally found a new target to dissect. On the front page is a large photo of her childhood bully, Draco Malfoy, accompanied by the headline:
Stripped Bare: The Raw, Revealing Music and Poetry of Draco Malfoy
By Parvati Patil
Hermione scoffs. Draco Malfoy a poet? Parvati has no doubt been fooled by his disturbingly handsome face. As much as Hermione loathes to admit it, time has been kind to him. He looks much fitter than she remembers. She has not seen Draco since his trial, when he looked like a starving, broken shell of the cowardly, pompous boy she once knew. The last photo she recalls seeing of him was when he was released, looking much the same. He has been notoriously reclusive since then, and she has never seen him out in Diagon Alley, at the Ministry, or anywhere else.
She continues reading:
Legacy is nothing new for Draco Malfoy. As the sole heir to both the Malfoy and Black fortunes, he was destined to inherit the largest estate in wizarding Britain. With the dawn of the Second Wizarding War, he was thrust into taking his place in a darker lineage, becoming the youngest marked Death Eater in history. He was convicted of the use of Unforgivables and facilitating a Death Eater onslaught on Hogwarts, serving a two-year sentence in Azkaban.
Following his 2020 release, the youngest Malfoy began a quiet life away from the public eye. The public did not hear much from him until a year ago, when his band, Heir Abhorrent, dropped their debut album, announcing his rebirth as a musician.
This is news to Hermione. “Did you guys know Malfoy is in a band?” she asks the room.
“Merlin, Hermione, have you been living under a rock?” Ginny gasps, turning around from the counter to face her. “His music is incredible. You have to hear it!”
Harry nods. “It’s shockingly good, actually. Dead brilliant guitar work, and the words... well, they aren't what you'd expect from Malfoy. They make you think. You’d like it, Hermione.”
Hermione quirks an eyebrow in surprise, but keeps reading:
Now, Draco Malfoy is the lead singer and guitar player for the most popular band in Wizarding Europe. He has channeled his difficult life experiences into songs known for their breathtaking poetry.
“When I was in Azkaban, songs started to appear in my head from seemingly nowhere. With nothing else to do, I guess my creativity began working on a subconscious level. Several songs came to me nearly fully formed. I knew how to play the piano, but had no experience composing. All of a sudden, music started pouring out of me. I didn’t have any parchment in there, and despite my slipping mental faculties, for some reason, my brain held onto every song.”
“When I got out, I taught myself the guitar and started practicing with my friends. Blaise, Theo, Greg, and I formed the band, kept composing, until we felt ready to record and start playing live shows.”
His songs cover the weight of family expectations as well as his time in Azkaban in tracks like “Prison for You” and “News of the Outside.” He openly grapples with the things he’s done and the person he was forced to be in songs like “Endless Sin” and “Unmake a Monster.” Most of all, his songs are haunted by a desperate, unrequited love, with breathtakingly heartbreaking lyrics:
“I’d kill myself tomorrow if I knew / In the next life I’d have a chance to be with you”
and
“The Dementors can’t hurt me because she already has my soul.”
When asked about it, Draco explains that, “She has no idea how I feel, and that is for the best. I could never be worthy of her. We do try to be careful in our songs not to give away who she is, to her or anyone else. The band obviously knows who she is. I’ve definitely written some drafts that give too much away, but the band is great about helping me edit to keep things intentionally mysterious.”
Draco invited me into his home for this interview, a sprawling central London townhouse. The place is much cozier than you might expect from a boy who grew up in Malfoy Manor. Generous natural light pours in through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Thames, illuminating floor-to-ceiling bookshelves covering nearly every available wall and comfortable furniture in light, soothing tones.
“Is this place, like your music, inspired by your muse?” I ask.
Draco looks at me seriously: “Everything I do is inspired by her.”
Draco Malfoy has lived a life of many titles: Heir, Death Eater, Prisoner, Musician. But perhaps the most fitting of all is a hopeless romantic.
Catch Heir Abhorrent at Cloak and Dagger this Friday, May 11th. Doors open at 7:00 P.M.
“We were actually discussing going to the show next week. Do you want to come?”
Hermione’s initial instinct is to make an excuse. She isn’t sure she is up to seeing Draco Malfoy or his merry band of Slytherins right now, preferring to wallow in self-pity out of the spotlight.
Harry, of course, predicts Hermione’s response before she can even get the words out. “Hermione, don’t you think it might be good for you to have a night out? Do something fun, drink too much, remind yourself you are a young woman with a full, exciting life?”
Hermione sighs. Harry has a good point.