𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒; 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

Chapter 6

Chapter Six - Like A Child

Harry walked away aimlessly from The Burrow. His friends had left him to think and contemplate his feelings for a certain Slytherin boy and he quickly decided to get some fresh air to calm his mind.

The boy realized that he considered Draco more than a friend. But still, he wasn't sure whether he could think of Draco as his lover. And moreover Draco never told or did anything to indicate he has feelings for him.

He had wondered why Draco had kept his disguise when he knew Harry would be angry with him. But then, he found the answer to that once he asked Ginny the meaning of the words in Draco’s letter. Now, said words kept echoing inside him as he walked, feeling the cold wind against his face.

Aishiteru, Harry… I love you, Harry...

Draco loved him, despite the fact that they were of the same gender. Despite all the harsh words thrown to his face, despite how he had gotten hit and beaten by the Gryffindor boy. Draco loved him nevertheless.

Motto soba ni itai... Want to be with you a little longer...

That was why Draco continued wearing the disguise. As Dakota, he could be with Harry, could touch and kiss him without fear of being rejected.

Harry never thought love could be so strong. It was love that made Draco willing to wear girl clothes just so he could be with him. It was love that made Draco take care of Harry’s fever, although he was hurt himself. And it was love that made Draco leave Harry, not wanting to hurt him.

As he walked, Harry felt his eyes sting and the road before him became blurry. He recalled the week he had been with Dakota. Dakota never demanded or asked anything from him. The girl had been happy just to have him with her, and whatever Harry wanted she would give it to him. If Harry wanted her caress, she gave it. If Harry wanted her kiss, she gave it. If Harry wanted her love, she gave it. She gave it without asking for anything in return.

Harry knew he loved Dakota. But did he love Draco?

A cry snapped Harry from his thoughts. He looked around and saw a little girl crying. His feet had unconsciously brought him to the park where he and Dakota played a week ago. He looked at the girl and felt déjà vu as he watched someone squat in front of her. The person was wearing a black sweater, which Harry recognized as his. The person's back was facing him, so he couldn't see the face.

Harry stared at the squatting person, who was patting the girl's head now. The girl stopped crying and smiled a bit at the person. Then a woman shouted and ran towards their direction. The girl's face brightened and ran to meet the woman, who was her mother. He saw the woman smile her thank you to the person, and the girl waved her little hand as her mother took her home. The person waved back slightly and then stood up. The snow had fallen down again, leaving the person and Harry alone in the middle of the playground.

Actually, without looking at the face, Harry had known who the person was. The gestures and the way the person moved were too familiar for him not recognize. But still he held his breath as the person turned his head to the side, revealing one side of his face. The nose, the lips, the eyes, and the deep gray-blue eyes that turned silver-blue. They belonged to Dakota, to Draco...

“You are Dakota, an independent, kind, smart, gentle, brilliant, and tender girl, who has captured my heart.”

As Harry heard his own voice inside his mind, he watched the Slytherin boy gaze towards the swing. The eyes seemed so far away, as if the owner was not inside the body. Slowly, the thin boy approached the swing, eyes never leaving it.

Harry didn't know why, but he could feel the loneliness and despair encompassing the boy as he lowered himself on the swing and rocked it slightly. Draco looked like a lost child with his shoulders slumped down and his head bowed like that. Like a child who never expected to be picked up by his parents. A child who knew he was left there, abandoned and alone.

“I will not leave you, Dakota. Never.”

His own words stabbed him in the heart. He wanted to go there, to comfort Draco, but still he found that he couldn't move a muscle. Something was stopping him and he didn't know what it was. He could only watch as Draco rocked the swing faster and faster. It went higher and higher and then Harry saw Draco let go of the swing. The thin boy was thrown backwards by the momentum of the swing.

If this scene had been the scene on the second day Harry met Dakota, there would be a pair of arms that would catch the flying body and hugged it tightly and protectively. But then, this was not that day so there weren't any arms that would catch the flying body. A thud was heard as Harry watched Draco land on the snow covered sand pool, back first.

For a moment, time seemed to stop still. Draco didn't move and neither did Harry. Inside, Harry screamed, ordering his body to move and look to see whether the small boy was hurt or not. But something seemed to nail him to the ground still.

The tanned boy didn't know how long he had stared or how long Draco had lain there. Finally, Draco moved and sat up. Harry watched, as Draco once again walked to the swing and sat down, rocking it slightly as if repeating the previous action.

No, Harry didn't want to see it again. Draco was hurting himself, trying to convince himself that everything that had happened in that week would never happen again. It was merely a dream.

“I love for who you are, not what you are.”

The swing rocked faster...

“I love the person inside of this beautiful body.”

And faster...

“Dakota. I love your spirit and your personality, not your physical body.”

The last sentence snapped at Harry. Yes, he loved the person inside. The spirit and the personality was most important, not the body. So what if his Dakota was a boy? It was still Dakota nevertheless. The spirit and the personality were still there, inside a small boy named Draco Malfoy. The clothes and hair were an illusion, but Dakota was very real, closer to the truth than the Perfect Slytherin. Did he love Dakota like he had claimed, or just her face, like Draco had said? Dakota and Draco were one. She was who he couldn't be, but was. He was what she didn't want to be, but had to be. They were the same person.

The swing went higher...

No, Harry would not let misery and regret rule the rest of his live. He was going to get his happiness now. The happiness that he would share with Draco, the person he loved. The person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

As Draco let go of the swing once more, Harry leapt forward. His fear, his ego, and his pride, which had stopped him earlier, had been flown away. Damn those stupid feelings, he would not let them prevent him from getting his true love.

The small boy was flown backwards from the swing and Harry, who had arrived behind him, spread his arms, receiving the flying boy squarely in the chest. Never. He would never let go again.

Harry could hear a soft gasp from the boy in front of him as he hugged him tightly from the back and rested his chin on the boy’s right shoulder. “Welcome back...” Harry murmured, nuzzling the slender neck and feeling the familiar sensation of being so close to his love. “...To me.”