A/N: This fanfic is based on Kenji Miyazawa's story of the same name. There are many notable similarities with the key difference being that Miyazawa's story is about friendship and this is about love. It will be a two- or three-part story.
Night on the Galactic Railroad
„Now then, class, before I dismiss you, can you tell me how Milky Way is called in the northern hemisphere?" spoke Professor Sinistra, circling the room. Several hands shot up, including Hermione's. The teacher looked around, ignoring the school's star pupil and finally decided on one of the Ravenclaw students. "Yes, miss Patil?"
"Well, many countries in the northern hemisphere call it the Milky Way, like we do" answered the students smartly. "But another very common name for it is the Bird's Path. But whatever the name, it usually has some origins in the mythology."
Satisfied with the answer, the professor finished the lesson and the students started returning to beds. Hermione packed her books and slung the bag over her shoulder. She was one of the last to leave, her eyes glued to the starry sky. Today's lesson had been short and quiet, mostly because her usual tormentor was absent. When the professor had decided to assign partners and she had been paired with none other than Draco Malfoy, she had even considered dropping the class. The blonde Slytherin was insufferable, taunting her constantly and challenging all her ideas.
The Gryffindor witch arrived at the dorm in 15 minutes, but she didn't climb to the bedrooms immediately. She sat down in front of the fireplace, took some notes from her bag and begun to copy them meticulously. It was cozy and quiet, but soon, she found herself yawning and staring into the fire. She moved with her notes to a nearby window where she could look at the stars. The air was cold and crispy. Her gaze kept going back to the white expanse. No matter how many times she had heard that it was just a cold, empty space up there, it looked magical. In fact, the more she looked, the more she could recognize the warm glow of the past. She could hear a train somewhere in a distance and quiet laughter. They must still be up, she thought about the Gryffindor boys who sometimes liked to hang out and play games with new candy from the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
When she closed her eyes, it was supposed to be only for a moment.
"Galactic station! This is Galactic station!" echoed the sound from an unknown direction. Hermione rubbed her eyes and looked around. She could only discern that she was still in Gryffindor dorms, when she was blinded by a bright greenish light. Suddenly feeling awake, she did her best to keep her eyes wide open, as a swarm of what seemed to be made of millions of fireflies ambushed her.
Miss Granger found herself sitting in a train car of a locomotive speeding through space. Perhaps she had always been riding this train, relaxing into the black velvet seats. She glanced out of the window and almost fainted. The silver and gold linings on everything in the compartment extended out of the train, slithering into (or from) the stars they passed.
Hermione turned her and noticed she wasn't there alone. There was a man sitting in front of her. He seemed to be her age. His blonde hair looked familiar, but she could not tell who it was without seeing his face. The man's head was out of the window and he seemed to be oblivious to her presence. The Gryffindor witch was contemplating on putting her head out of the window too to satisfy her curiosity, when she felt the man looking in her direction.
It was none other than Draco Malfoy.
Just as Hermione was about to ask him how long he'd been sitting there, Malfoy spoke: "Everyone came running after me, but it was already too late. Zabini ran the hardest, but he still couldn't catch me."
Hermione wondered what he was speaking about, when she remembered. Malfoy didn't come to class, because he and another Slytherin prefect were supposed to keep an eye on several first and second year students serving detention in the dungeons.
"Oh, right, you two were supposed to be together," she said vaguely, looking out the window again. She appeared indifferent, but in reality, she was waiting for the snake to attack and bite with its venomous fangs into her flesh. But the shock and hurt didn't come. "Should we wait for him somewhere?" she added tentatively.
"No. He already went back to the dorms. Professor Snape came to get him." Hermione could have sworn Draco's face got even paler than it was before, if that was even possible. His gray eyes looked pained, giving Hermione the impression she was forgetting something important. Afraid to say something stupid because of her lack of knowledge, she kept quiet until Malfoy smirked and said: "I forgot it was possible for you to shut up! Well, I guess it doesn't really matter though… Soon we'll be arriving at Boötes station."
He then produced a large, round map and placed it on a small table between them. When Hermione took a look at it, she noticed it was the spitting image of one of their star charts. Certain stars in the Milky Way were connected with a silvery line on which a dark green dot kept moving forward. There were golden spots, marking the stations of the train. The Galactic station had been the last. By the train tracks, a white dash kept shaping itself to draw pictures of what they were passing by.
"Where did you get this?" she was in awe. "It's very fine witchcraft. It would take enormous amounts of magic to keep this running." She eagerly reached her hand out to touch it but Draco flicked her hand away.
"It was given to me at the Galactic station. Didn't you get one?" The way he said it sounded like he already knew the answer.
"I don't even remember being there," admitted the girl in a soft voice. The Slytherin boy was looking out of the window again. The train was slowing down and a shrill voice announced through the loudspeakers that they had arrived at Boötus station. Malfoy stood up and walked towards the compartment door.
He tilted his head backwards to look at the young witch and sneered: "Come on then, Mudblood!" Hermione felt a sting in her heart, but got up with a sigh nevertheless. She followed him out of the train.
There were fields of golden rice all around them. They were swaying in the galactic wind. Malfoy grabbed Hermione by her wrist and pulled her after him. The girl stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet, as they rushed past the shabby station building. People were getting on and off the train.
"The stop is only fifteen minutes," muttered Malfoy as if apologizing. If he had faced Hermione, she would have noticed his cheeks turning pink by the second.
They turned around the corner and walked into a field of flowers. Pink, white and lilac cosmos glimmered in the setting sun. Forgetting who she was with, Hermione rushed into the mesmerizing scene. Suddenly, the young man only had eyes for her. The witch's hair reflected the rays of sun and as she laughed happily, he realized why she was here. He wiped the tears that threatened to spill and called her back to return to the train which had to move on.
"That was absolutely gorgeous," she gushed, when they were back in their compartment. Draco refused to look at her, lest he does anything inappropriate or even worse, said something that would hurt her.
Outside the window the scenery changed. They could now see a riverbank covered in silver forests, shining and glimmering. It was the only light in the dark night.
"Look, the trees are glowing in the moonlight," he only said it to break the silence.
"That's not the moonlight," Hermione whispered excitedly. She didn't dare to speak loudly, afraid of breaking whatever spell her companion had fallen under. He had never been so nice to her. "That's the glow of Milky Way!" She leaned out of the window and reached out with her hand. She could almost touch the trees. Only a little more, she thought and rose to her tiptoes, when someone put their hands on her hips and pulled her back in.
"You shouldn't do that." Draco's voice was full of irritation. He didn't look at her. "If you fall off the train, who knows what will happen to you." He turned his eyes to the river the train was riding on. The water (or cosmic magic?) was transparent and every now and then, his eyes caught specks of red and purple and blue. As they passed different signposts, it grew quiet in the compartment. Draco and Hermione avoided looking at each other. The girl was analyzing how this strange situation made her feel. The boy was trying hard to think of what to say.
Just as the silence began to be unbearable, the door opened.
"You're in my seat," declared a small girl to Hermione. She had a piece of candy in her mouth that she kept sucking on. Before she realized what she was doing, Hermione stood up and gave her seat to the girl. "You can sit there!" pointed the girl at the empty seat next to Draco.
Draco Malfoy couldn't decide if he was in heaven or in hell, when the Gryffindor sat down next to him, her thigh pressing up against his for a moment. He could feel a twitch between his legs and he hoped Granger wouldn't notice. He glared at the small girl who showed her tongue in response. She was as blonde as Draco, but her eyes were brown like Hermione's.
"I'm Lyra. I'm four years old." she enlightened them, showing her age with fingers. "My mom is going to be so upset. She told me not to get this candy, but I couldn't resist." She rolled the sugary sweet around on her tongue. They could hear it clicking against her teeth.
"I'm Hermione." The Gryffindor tried to sound friendly, but it came out awkwardly.
"You're so lucky," smirked the kid mischievously. "You get to say goodbye." She wasn't looking at Hermione, when she said it. Her eyes were on Draco who stiffened, hearing her words. He glanced at the woman next to him to see if she noticed. He almost smiled, seeing her gaze into the trees in the distance with admiration in her eyes. She must have been wondering what enchantment had been used to achieve this. Or maybe she was thinking it was all just a dream.
But Hermione was simply lost in the beauty of the road. Even though she cared a lot about the practical aspects of life, she appreciated the beauty of things. She cared about flowers (not that she received them often), cared about her secret reading places (by the lake near the Forbidden Forest), cared about all the magical and non-magical beings. But she had never experienced anything so mesmerizing.
As if catching her train of thought, Lyra spoke up again. "Hermione," she addressed the girl directly. "What's your favorite flower?"
Hermione thought for a moment. "Cornflower," she confessed. "My grandmother has a house in the country. When I was about your age, my mother would take me to the fields. We would pick cornflowers together and later, she would make them into a beautiful crown." She smiled fondly at the memory. Something had prompted her to speak honestly, even though she was sure Malfoy would find a way to use this knowledge against her one day.
"I like roses," claimed the kid enthusiastically. "Especially pink ones. My daddy has a huge garden of roses, but he doesn't let me play there."
The train stopped and allowed new passengers to enter. The scenery had changed to a wintry landscape. Snowflakes floated from the abyss above them. It wasn't cold though. Hermione called the cold and crispy air from what felt like another life.
The compartment door was opened again and a young man with two children entered. "Everyone else is full," he apologized. "I'm Garret. I had agreed to take these two, Alphie and Alice with me to the sea. But there was a storm…" He let the sentence die out, assuming the others understood what had happened to them.
"Hi!" Alice took the seat next to Lyra and held out her hand. Lyra shook it hesitantly. Soon, the two girls were talking excitedly about their hopes and dreams. Alphie sat next to Hermione, taking the last seat in that row. "You look familiar," he whispered in the witch's ear. "Are you related to Hermione Granger?"
"Yes!" whispered the Gryffindor back, a curious smile on her face. The snowfall outside thickened. The river of stars below them shone colder now.
The compartment door opened again. It was the conductor. He was wearing an elegant uniform. He looked young, but the look in his eyes made him seem much older. They were the eyes of a man who had seen all kinds of passengers, talked with them and carried their memory inside his head.
"Tickets please," he requested politely. Lyra and Malfoy pulled out their ticket almost simultaneously. Garret and his two children had no trouble with it either. Hermione, however, realized she had never even thought about needing a ticket on the train. It had seemed so natural to be there. Nevertheless, she reached both of her hands into the pockets of her robes. She could feel Malfoy watching her.
"I only have this," she said, embarrassed. She pulled out a large piece of paper that didn't resemble the tickets others had. The conductor took it from her and smiled.
"Oh, miss, this will do!" he said cheerily. He looked around the compartment at the other passengers with a lively glint in his eyes. Draco exhaled sharply and realized that he had been holding his breath. "This is a special permission. This means you can leave any time you want." He gave an encouraging smile. "Now, is there anything I can get you?" He looked around. Lyra kicked Malfoy under the table and nodded towards the conductor. Sighing, he motioned the conductor to come closer, because he couldn't climb over Granger and the kid, and whispered something in his ear.
"I understand, sir," he nodded with a conspiring grin. "I wish you all a good journey." He left the compartment. Lyra and Alice continued their chat from where it left off.
"I wonder if my mother will be able to forgive me…" Malfoy blurted out clumsily. Everyone turned to look at him. "I'd do anything to make her happy… but what would bring her true happiness?" It seemed he was fighting back tears. During the war, he had done everything to secure the safety of his family. His parents had both sacrificed their wands, so that Draco could have his.
"Is she that upset with you?" worried Hermione, somewhat alarmed.
"I don't know…" Draco sighed. "But I think people are happiest when they do something truly good. So I think she'll forgive me." This didn't sound like Malfoy at all. Hermione frowned. What could have brought on this change of heart in him? He had been helping younger students a lot, even though he remained hostile towards many students of his own year. He had been appointed as head boy, so it was his job to help them, but it sounded like he actually enjoyed it.
The compartment door opened – the conductor was back. He was holding a small parcel. "A present for you, milady," he passed it to Hermione with a small bow and exited the scene. Malfoy pretended to look out of the window, as the witch untied the string and started unwrapping the brown paper. She lifted the lid off the box inside and almost dropped it.
Inside the box, there was a cornflower crown, tied together with a string of starlight. Hermione took it out and discovered a smaller box hidden under it.
"Put it on!" demanded the girls instantly.
"Let me help you," muttered Malfoy, taking it from her shaky hands and placing it on her bushy hair. "You look beautiful." The sincerity in his words shocked her, so she didn't answer. Everyone praised it. Only Alphie reached his hand into the parcel and took out the small box.
"Don't forget this," he said, forcing it into Hermione's hand. Draco was surprised – he had only asked the conductor for a cornflower crown, hoping selfishly to see this witch smile again. However the conductor had accomplished it, he didn't care as long as it made Hermione stay with him a little longer.
The witch opened the small box. The second gift was a silver ring. Hermione inspected it from every side, before putting it on. It was very simple with no special design, but it fit her perfectly. Then, she turned to face Draco, acutely aware of all the eyes observing them.
"Thank you," she said gently. "They're very beautiful." For the first time during this trip, she looked him straight in the eye. Draco felt uncomfortable, baring his soul to her, but it was impossible to look away. He wanted to etch this memory into his brain.
"You're welcome," slipped the words from his mouth before he even realized he was speaking them.
The train stopped. Garret and his wards stood up. "This is where we must part," he said kindly. "I wish you the very best."
"Would you like to go out?" asked Lyra, glancing at the map Draco had forgotten to put away. "It says we are stopping here for half an hour."
Hermione peeked out and exclaimed in surprise. There, right across the station, stood a building she had never dreamed of seeing ever again: the Notre Dame de Paris. She had cried, when the wizarding world had refused to help rebuild it.
"Come on, Draco!" she squealed, pulling the man along. She never realized she called him by his first name, but he did. It sent butterflies flying in his stomach. His fingers intertwined with Hermione's all on their own, his shock too much for him to handle.
The cathedral was as beautiful as Hermione remembered. Draco, however, didn't care much for it.
"There's a cathedral at the family estate." His lips brushed briefly against the girl's ear. "It's even more beautiful. I hope you get to see it." Hermione shivered. Draco decided not to give a damn any longer. Right at that moment, she was pushed. "I'm sorry. For everything."
It was warm. There were hands wrapped around her. Draco had inadvertently caught her. He could feel her heart race in her chest. He wondered if she could feel his too.
"You're too cute!" giggled Lyra. "Just like mom and dad, when they…" she shut up, her eyes glinting in clear amusement of knowing something they didn't.
"Sorry." Draco was afraid Hermione would be upset with him, so he tried to smooth it over.
The witch laughed. "Malfoy," she stressed his name."I should thank you. You saved me from a pretty nasty fall." She honestly hadn't expected that. The man laughed too, although a bit awkwardly. He noticed Hermione realize they were still holding hands and the moment she tried to remove her hand, he tightened the hold. He looked at her with pleading eyes. All they had was this one night and he finally understood what he wanted. Sending all caution to the wind, he reached his other hand out to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face.
"We should get back," murmured the girl, looking away. "The train is going to leave any moment now." She was right and they rushed back. Lyra was already waiting for them at the compartment.
"Next stop is mine," announced Lyra, looking meaningfully at the pair. None of them talked for the rest of the ride. In the next stop, after the loudspeaker had announced the arrival of station Draco, Lyra left quietly, kissing them both on the cheek. She never looked back. Hermione tried to catch a sight of her on the platform, but couldn't. All passengers faded into the light of Milky Way.
Draco turned towards Hermione and took her hands.
"Listen to me, Granger," he said, ignoring the part of him which told him to run, to escape, to avoid getting hurt at any cost. "We don't have much time." Hermione sat still, finding it hard to comprehend. Why was Malfoy behaving so nice?
"Listen," he shook her back to reality. "There's so much that I want to tell you." His voice broke. "But this is what you have to know. Ask Blaise for my journal. He knows where it is."
The train moved from the spot and he kissed her.
This is definitely a dream, Hermione thought, or I'm so going to regret this.
But before she could even kiss him back, he had disappeared.