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Draco sighed tiredly to see his beloved son's room falling apart again with all kinds of dolls and toys scattered on the floor.
After tying his long blonde hair, he then took a large plastic box in the corner of the room and then started tidying it one by one, putting all the scattered dolls and toys.
His eyes suddenly stopped on a doll lying helplessly under the bed, an old doll in Doraemon form, the blue cat robot. With trembling hands, Draco grabbed the tiny doll, looking closely.
Countless memories were flashing in his head with just that tiny doll.
Memories... All the memories of his teenage years.
With Harry Potter, his first love.
It was a doll similar to the one Harry had given him the first time they were together.
In the past, they loved each other. In the past, the world seemed to only belong to Draco and Harry. Harry will always be beside him wherever he was, and vice versa.
Before things got complicated.
Draco couldn't understand what was wrong with himself. He does not understand. Draco has tried to be a lover who understands and forgives all the flaws that Harry has.
He had been trying to keep his heart for Harry alone even though many men were trying to win him over.
Draco had tried to be loyal, to keep the only love he already had.
But he was wrong. It turned out that he was too naive.
Draco was devastated, devastated when he saw Harry Potter, the lover he trusted so much, sending private messages to a girl he said was just a close friend.
Bullshit. Draco knew she was the girl who had rejected Harry in the past. When Harry was already Draco's, the girl came back to get Harry back, whatever the purpose.
And what made Draco more devastated was that Harry opened his heart back to her and instead made Draco his number two.
It would be a lie if Draco said he wasn't depressed. He's heartbroken. He cried for a long time, not knowing whom to hold on to because only Harry had his heart, and he had him lean on it at that time.
Even after he got into a relationship with Blaise Zabini, one of his close friends, he still couldn't get over his feelings for his first love.
And the same thing repeats itself like a cycle that never ends. Draco's relationship with Blaise finally has to run aground because Draco has not been able to forget everything about Harry.
Draco didn't know why, but deep down inside, he just couldn't completely let go of Harry.
Till one day, Harry came back. He said he was sorry. He regretted everything and wanted to start over. Harry wanted to be a better man and make Draco happy.
It was his promise when he asked Draco to come back for the second time.
And Draco wanted to open his heart again to Harry. Because he realized, even after three years had passed, he still had many feelings for him.
Everything went well at first. Harry kept his promise to change into a better man, to take care of him, to make him happy.
But just like Draco said before, things keep happening like an endless loop of repetition.
Harry repeated his mistake. He got back into a relationship with his other former lover.
Harry James Potter… Draco thought he knew him very well. Everything about Harry, Draco thought he was perfect until he had to repeat the mistake and fall into the same hole a second time.
Every time, every day, the pain in his chest came. It reminded him of the good times he and Harry loved each other.
But Harry wasn't there when Draco was in pain and crying. He wasn't there when Draco was struggling to maintain their relationship with all his might.
Everything feels so empty. Draco's feeling is drained. It hurt so much that his heart started to numb.
Honestly, Draco was used to being someone Harry loved.
And with all this, Draco thought for a moment, could he survive without Harry by his side like he used to do?
Can Draco get through everything without Harry with him?
But reality hit him hard.
At that time, Draco realized that no matter how hard he struggled for his relationship and bond with Harry, they would never be together if the universe didn't want it.
Draco was not sorry about everything that had happened. Instead, he felt grateful. Because with all that he went through with Harry, he is now a strong person. He became a person who could survive alone, without any support from anywhere.
Harry asks him back, Draco's feelings numb enough to turn him down - he uses the excuse that his parents were preventing them from restarting their relationship because he knows that the same cycle will repeat itself.
Perhaps Harry did think of him as home, as a comfortable place to return to after wandering too far. But Draco had learned to love himself by not letting his nearly dry wound continue to be sprinkled with salt by Harry.
Now, he has learned to understand that not everything he thinks is good will always be good and will not hurt him. Draco had begun to volunteer to let go of what he had always dreamed of; Harry wants to change and be a better man to be with him.
Maybe he and Harry weren't meant to be together.
Maybe it should be like this. Perhaps Draco and Harry should have taken different paths and parted ways with all the happy and sweet memories that remained at the bottom of his heart.
"Darling?"
A hug woke Draco from his reverie. The beautiful blonde turned his head and found his husband behind him.
"Cedric," Draco whispered softly.
"Are you okay?"
Draco nodded and smiled. But then Cedric's large hand reach out to his face, wiping the tears that rolled down his cheeks.
"You're not okay," Cedric muttered. "I'm always here for you."
With that, Draco's cries finally broke out. He sobbed, with a doll in the shape of Doraemon in his arms.
Cedric understood. Draco accidentally reopened the old wound he had been keeping so deep. Cedric understood that the wound was still there today.
He understood that Draco had felt immense pain because of someone. And even now, he's trying to heal himself.
Cedric understood it was a difficult thing. So he would always be by the side of his loved one, assuring him that he wouldn't hurt Draco as Harry had done before.
And he's sure, someday Draco will realize that there is still Cedric who wants to love him with all his heart, take care of him, and make him the happiest person on earth.
All Cedric had to do was wait for that moment to come. And he will be waiting for him because he sincerely loves Draco, who has become the mother of his children.
Real love comes to those who still hope after disappointment, who still believe after betrayal, and who still love after they have been hurt.