First time writing this! Hope I get the drill right.

Disclaimer: No one here knows me but I'm broke as hell. Seriously, I even reuse my tea bags about three times to make them last. I wouldn't have to if I owned Harry Potter so you get the point. I'm also not making any money or I would have started writing these long ago.

Warnings: This is a slash story as in boy likes boy an the boy likes him back. If you didn't already knew that then maybe you should start reading the information before reading the story. Like it, don't like it, read it or don't read it, I don't really care. I'm not gonna lose sleep over it even if you get scarred for life.

Also a little warning in regards to my language: english is not my first one so if I made any mistakes I apologise and would be most grateful if you could point them out.

Everything but Love

Draco Malfoy never thought Harry Potter could love him. If the Gryffindor even harbored such strong emotions towards him then it would be hate. Potter would never fall for a son of a Death Eater, morally questionable Slytherin that bullied him all the way through his school years. No, but he could almost certainly hate one.

"I don't hate you" Potter whispered a little breathlessly when Draco accused him of always having done exactly that, taken by surprise at being suddenly cornered by the brunette and kissed effusively.

So maybe Potter didn't exactly hate him but that didn't mean he loved him. Quick escapades in the Auror Headquarters' bathrooms hardly qualified as that. He could push Draco into a stall and snog him thoroughly, his breath hot and heavy while we pleaded for obscenities, but it was just lust. Potter could lust for him, after all Draco knew he was extremely good looking and he always gave his best to provide for mind exploding shags, but afterwards Potter always went back to his life. He wanted to have sex with him not spend time with him. No, Potter could not even like Draco.

"Go out with me" Potter asked him one day when they were too tired from the shagging and inadvertently ended up cuddled in the floor of the archives room "Please" he begged, his eyes earnest on Draco when the blonde didn't reply, too shocked to say anything.

Harry liked having him around. That was okay, Draco could admit to being wrong. Maybe they even enjoyed each other's company and became somewhat friends. Friends with benefits, that is. But having dinner or a drink most days and shagging afterwards wasn't the same as love, it was just liking and lusting. A few lunches on park benches didn't change that. It was not like Harry was crushing on him.

"Hey!" Harry yelled, his eyes bright with a spark of what Draco bewilderedly identified as jealousy "I thought we were having dinner at seven."

"We are" Draco replied with an amused smile "I was just waiting for you to leave."

Harry eyed the man leaning on the receptionist's desk with a wide white smile, his biceps showing through his tight shirt, and that had been previously flirting unabashedly with Draco.

"Right" Harry's gaze was still pinned on the man and a small muscle twitched in his tense jaw "We should leave now."

He pulled Draco by the arm in the opposite direction of the reception even though it was also the opposite direction of where they needed to go. Harry led him through a longer route and once they were outside he pushed Draco against the wall and kissed him desperately. Neither of them said anything about it.

Okay, Harry had a crush on him. Maybe he had become too accustomed to having Draco around, talking to him, snogging him, laughing with him, shagging him, pulling pranks on Zacharias Smith along with him. They spent most of the day together, they worked together, they ate together, they even slept together on each other's beds regularly. Draco could understand how such a relationship could cause a person to grow used to one another and be a little jealous at the thought of not being able to keep them around as usual. But that was because they got along surprisingly well and could have fun together, talk about Quidditch, understand each other and have great sex. That was still not love and being accustomed to someone was leagues away from becoming domestic. It was not like Harry was falling for him, not really.

"Move in with me, Draco" Harry said over his cup of coffee, one Sunday morning while they were having breakfast. His hands were shaky on the mug and his eyes looked at every surface on the kitchen of the flat Draco bought him a month ago, after Harry had destroyed most of the rooms of his old one on a nasty fight with the Weasley. Draco knew it had been about him even though Harry hadn't told him much.

"Okay" Draco replied, attempting to catch Harry's gaze even though his own hands were also shaking under the table.

They did grew quite domestic, Draco had to admit to that. They fought over curtain colours and who had let the milk run out. Harry always complained about Draco's excessive amount of bathroom products and Draco constantly lost his patience and casted Incendio on all the letters, howlers or Daily Prophet articles regarding Harry's life choices that the Gryffindor just wouldn't ignore.

Harry worried that Draco didn't have many friends and Draco would tell him to shut up even though he knew he only had Pansy and Blaise. Draco pestered Harry about his clothes, how they didn't fit and were the wrong colours and fabrics and generally made for poor people, and Harry would tell him to piss off because he was territorial about his clothes like he was with nothing else, except maybe Draco.

So maybe Harry was falling for him but that didn't mean he wouldn't change his mind halfway down. He wouldn't love Draco, maybe he would think he was beginning to but he would never absolutely, positively, set on stone love him. Because Draco just didn't have that kind of luck. He was bound to be hurt over and over again, always where it mattered most. He lost Severus and his mother, of course he wouldn't be given the chance to be loved and it definitely wouldn't be by the man he had been in love with for most of his life.

No, Harry could feel affection for him, he could like him and make him light-headed with promises of a future together but he wouldn't love him. Harry didn't just deserved someone better than Draco, he deserved someone perfect. Draco tried being everything he could for Harry but it would never be enough, not enough to make Harry love him and stay.

"What's that?" Draco suspiciously eyed the bags of decent clothing stores that Harry was carrying.

"Just some stuff" Harry tossed back making his way to their bedroom. Draco kept stirring the casserole, employing every ounce of skill he had in potions to make sure Harry's favourite dish would turn out perfect.

There was a lot of noise coming from the bedroom and it sounded like Harry was arranging or packing up a lot of things, Draco stiffened and warily approached the bedroom door. He looked inside at the piles of Harry's clothes tossed all over the place as he kept throwing them out of the closet and immediately thought that, as we was expecting, Harry had finally come to the conclusion that Draco wasn't enough for him.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked, his voice not sounding quite right.

"I'm rearranging my side of the closet." Harry informed him happily, not stopping what he was doing, "You are always complaining about how I need to have a decent closet and proper clothes. Well, I decided to buy some and I'm tossing out most of the rest. Don't worry though, I'm keeping those tight jeans and green t-shirt you love so much." Harry turned and winked at Draco but then noticed his expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, steeping closer to the Slytherin and letting a shirt fall down to the floor to grab Draco's shoulder.

"Nothing." Draco said weakly, meeting the bright emerald eyes and his heart clenching even tighter at the worry and warm in them.

Harry Potter would never love Draco Malfoy. Draco was not a lovable person. He could be a kissable person or a shaggable one, he could be likeable or crushable but never lovable. No, Harry Potter couldn't love Draco Malfoy. Except that he did, Draco was forced to recognise as Harry stood there relinquishing yet another one of his barriers to him.

Harry looked inside his eyes for a long minute. "You thought I was leaving you" he sounded a little hurt but his voice was still soothing. The arm on Draco's shoulder slid to his back and Harry's left arm snaked around his waist, he kissed Draco tenderly and held him close.

"I would never leave you, Draco." Harry said to his hair and then pulled back and looked directly at him "I love you."

"I know" Draco replied with a little smile "I love you too" and kissed Harry again.

Thank you for reading! This is my very first fanfic EVER so obviously I would love some feedback!

Have a really nice day and a chocolate :)