Chapter Two - Distant Diamond Sky
The time had come. Hermione pulled her parents into King's Cross Station, dodging other travelers with her luggage in tow. She'd elected not to bring a pet with her, as she wanted time to focus on her studies and settle in. Her mother gasped. "Hermione, please slow down; I can't possibly—"
"She's going to be late!" her father interjected, laughing with exasperation and shouldering a duffel. Jumping above the crowd, Hermione spotted her target: Platform Nine. "Come on!" Her grin stretched wide now, her heart pounding as she made her way towards the brick wall.
"Hermione, sweetheart, I don't see a three-quarter platform anywhere." Her mother trailed off, looking around quickly. Her father had realized this as well, and he began to pace back and forth, craning his neck as if another platform would appear at any moment.
Hermione laughed. "No, Mom, of course you don't. It's not supposed to be easily accessible. All I need to do is run through that wall, and I'll be on my way. Although..." She shifted her eyes downward. "I don't think you and Dad will be able to follow me. I think this is goodbye."
Her parents crouched down to look up at her. Hermione's father cupped her face in his hand, and her mother stroked her bushy hair. "You know we love you more than anything, right?"
She smiled, her eyes watering. "I love you too."
The three Grangers embraced, and the patriarch let the duffel fall from his shoulder onto his daughter's trolley. "And you have everything you need? Clothes, books...wand?"
Hermione giggled. "Yes, Dad." She turned to her mother. "I'll write you every week, I promise. And you'll see me for the winter holiday. By then, I'll be a real witch!" Her face shone like a thousand stars, filled with glee, and her parents couldn't help but smile in return. "Of course you will," her mother sniffled. "Now get on that train, and don't be late."
Hermione placed her belongings on the trolley and turned to give her parents one last wave. Just as she was ready to careen into a solid brick wall, her father shouted over the noise of the packed station. "Hermione! Your flower!"
She gasped and whipped around to accept her most prized possession from the outstretched, calloused hand of her dad. The mountain aven, still pearly white and still sunshiny gold in the center, was promptly placed in her jumper, and she breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Goodbye Mum! Bye Dad! I'll see you at Christmas!"
With that, Hermione Jean Granger ran headfirst into her brand new life.
Draco and his parents had ascended directly onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters. With very little pomp or circumstance, his things were grasped by the gnarly hands of a house elf, who disappeared in a flash. The elf would deposit his luggage at Hogwarts, along with many other bags belonging to the richer Pureblood families. This tradition stood for many years before him, and he doubted its disappearance anytime soon.
Draco ran a sweaty hand through his slick hair. The platform groaned with the weight of Hogwarts students and their families, many corralling first-years with their various pets, some engaging in tearful goodbyes, some practically jumping for joy at the prospect of a peaceful autumn season during which their precious children became someone else's problem entirely.
He idly wondered what these parents did with their free time—of course they worked; who didn't work? But what was life without children? Calm, he figured, and reasoned with himself that he didn't want children anyway, so what was the point of wondering? He would never do to a child what had been done to him, and therefore he would never say a goodbye of any genre to his offspring on this platform.
"Draco," his father said, flicking his eyes down at his son. "When you sort into Slytherin, you'll want to associate with the following individuals."
Draco tried his best to focus, and Lucius pressed on. "Blaise Zabini. I believe you met him a few months ago. His father engages in the wand construction business and has quite a few friends inside the ministry. It would serve you well to make an acquaintance with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle; their fathers are influential. I've heard good things about the Nott family as well."
"Yes, sir," Draco responded, desperately trying to hold on to the names and his wits.
"Your owl is already on the grounds," Lucius said, not even pretending to look at him. "We'll see you at Christmas." He took his silent wife by the arm and applauded, leaving Draco alone in the milling crowd.
He began to inhale deep, long breaths, his eyes flicking about, and Draco backed up to a nearby wall, panting. He clutched his wand and tried to slow his lungs and heart. His father was gone. Lucius was essentially months away, and Draco looked up to the ceiling of the station and felt a bit of warm sunlight trickle down from its home in the heavens to his flushed cheek. He closed his eyes and steadied himself.
I'm going to Hogwarts, he said to himself, walking up to the train.
I'm going to Hogwarts, and no one can tell me otherwise.
Hermione made her way to the front of the train, near the engine. She wanted to see the grounds of Hogwarts rise up to meet her as soon as she could, an effect not achieved by a carriage in the back.
Ducking her head into a seemingly suitable compartment, she saw a pudgy boy with a toad in his lap. She reasoned that he looked sweet enough and slid the glass door open, sticking her hand out. "I'm Hermione Granger."
He looked surprised, although his mouth had been hanging slightly open before, giving her the sneaking suspicion that this may be his default appearance. "N-Neville. Neville Longbottom. Are you looking for someone?"
"Not in particular," she admitted, tugging her trolley of luggage into view. "Mind if we share?"
"Sure," the strange boy said, scrambling a bit to make room for her. A thought suddenly smacked her upside the head.
"You weren't waiting for someone, were you?" Hermione asked, her face flushing in embarrassment. She'd already made a fool of herself!
He hurried to clear the haphazardly stowed bags for her, ushering her into the compartment. "No, no, you're alright. I just didn't think anyone would want to sit at the front of the train." Neville held out a hand for her things, and together they got the luggage properly stowed under her watchful instruction. She informed him that he had a lack of efficiency he should consider working on, and after a beat of silence, she carried on. "I like the front of trains," Hermione said, settling onto the cushioned bench across from him. "I get to see the view before anyone else."
She gave a long exhale, fogging up the window pane, allowing herself a small smile.
Finally.
Neville felt terrified of this force of nature seated across from him, groaning inwardly. He'd hoped to leave his grandmother at home, but it would seem that a piece of her followed him everywhere he might go on planet Earth.
"Hang on," he blurted, looking around wildly. "Where's Trevor?"
Draco let his head rest on the window, sitting cross-legged on his cushioned bench. He'd thought about pulling the shades down to keep the sun out, but he felt joy in his heart, and the sun shone warm and soft on his cheeks. Draco wanted to watch the landscape and enjoy these precious hours to himself.
In his mind's eye, a horse ran with the train, powerful legs flashing in the sunlight, mane streaming in the whipping wind, leaping over impossible crevices in the mountain range, racing with the train, the birds, and possibly time itself.
These daydreams lasted a long time until the trolley woman gently interrupted with her magical sweets. "Anything from the-"
"Yes, please," Draco groaned, and he selected samples of all the chocolate she had to offer, handing her four galleons.
"But sir, this is-"
"Please," Draco said, talking around the chocolate frog nestled in his jaws, "You deserve it."
She laughed. "If you insist."
As she left, Draco sighed with pleasure. He quickly realized, however, that he had not purchased a beverage of any kind, and after a look at his pile of sugary loot, he came to the conclusion that he would perish of heart failure if he did not pace himself with water.
To his sudden shock, four boys were suddenly occupying the suddenly small area where moments before he'd experienced quiet peace.
"Excuse me?"
The loudest of the four laughed, exiting the conversation between them to turn to Draco, who sat agape in the back corner. "Blaise said you were in one of the back carriages." He stuck a lanky hand out. "I'm Theodore Nott; that's Gregory Goyle; Vincent Crabbe's there; and you know Zabini."
The one called Vincent had chocolate surrounding his chin, nose, and lips. "Great stash," he garbled, displaying a chewed hunk of precious chocolate in his open maw.
Draco exercised every last bit of self-restraint he possessed and thus kept himself from pummeling Crabbe into a pulp on the hardwood flooring. "Thank you," he spat out. Draco gave a nod in Zabini's direction, who returned the gesture with a similar greeting.
I have to get out of here, even for just a minute.
As Draco exited his compartment, he was so engrossed in his own heavy breathing that he bumped into a bushy-haired girl who he swore wasn't there a moment before. "Good Lord, my apologies," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her.
She was a bit taller than he was, and she rested her honey-brown eyes on him. "It is entirely my fault; I was distracted by the trolley. I'm also looking for a toad; have you seen one loose and about?"
Draco shook his head, wisps of blonde hair falling over his brows. "I haven't. I wish you good luck, though."
"Thank you," she said, a smile ghosting over her no-nonsense lips. "If you'll excuse me, my friend is quite distraught over the loss of his toad."
Draco nodded, and before he could say another word, she'd disappeared into the next carriage. He stepped forward to the trolley and replaced a water bottle with a fifth galleon before returning to his now-rambunctious compartment.
He settled into his back corner with a sigh, trying to block out the hearty noise surrounding him as he gazed out the window into the orange sky. His horse had disappeared, but the sun was setting beautifully, so that was something.
She had a strong voice, he thought, like she already knew the answer to any question I might ever ask her.
As the Hogwarts Express neared its final destination, Draco found himself wondering if he would see this girl again and if they could, maybe, possibly…be friends.
Author's Note: Holy shit! I was not expecting this many people to fav and follow! Thank you so much. My PM's are open and if you'd like to review, that helps me so much. I also have an account on Wattpad (where this same story is posted) if that platform is an easier read - .edits is my account name 3
Private Author's Note: these people are expecting things from me now and i have to deliver oh god what have i done