Mutually assured destruction Freddie seemed to have a knack of making everything everyone did his business. Theodore had done his best to steer clear of the other boy. He didn’t like him. That was why it was very frustrating when, as he settled down to try to study, there was a knock at the door, and he found that the older boy standing there.
“A little bird tells me you were magazine shopping earlier,” Freddie grinned, letting himself in and shutting the door behind him. He crossed to Theodore’s bed, flipping up his mattress and retrieving the publications in question. “Very original hiding place,” he complimented. “Mm, and classy choices too.” This last point was less sarcastic than the first. Theodore, embarrassed at finding himself purchasing such material, had at least gone for the higher-end publications. The kind with articles that he could pretend he was interested in reading.
“If you’re here to steal my damn magazines, you got what you came for,” he grumbled. He knew, by reputation, that Freddie had most people in the palm of his hand. He was incredibly well connected, and knew how to play every advantage that gave him. Theodore just wanted him out as quickly as possible. He could always buy more magazines. Or not. He was vaguely disgusted with himself over the purchase anyway. It was base, and unworthy of him. The whole thing was thoroughly undignified. It was just, Liliana had given him a taste… And it was very hard not to want more. Summers had, in the past, been hard enough with his far more limited opportunities to see her. The first weeks of September were always explosive bliss. But now he had starved through summer only to find a desert on the other side. He was at a new university, with all new classmates - with girls whose names he barely knew, let alone which were the more adventurous types and how he could get into their good graces (or their pants). He had tasted almost all the sweet things that life had to offer, and now they were gone, and he ached.
“Tsk tsk. How dare you. I’m no thief. But it seems you and I have a common problem. I thought you might have had your head too buried in your books to notice girls but it seems I was mistaken.”
“So?”
“So Pureblood girls are stuck up about this kind of thing. We all know that. And no one wants to touch a Muggleborn.”
“And you have some magic solution to this?”
“Who did you room with back at Sonora?”
“Leo Bennett. What?” Theodore asked. Freddie was looking at him as if he had just answered his own question but he was still in the dark.
“You had the perfect set up. Two Pureblood boys. That’s like winning the lottery.”
“I don’t follow.”
“Oh come on. The girls of Sonora wouldn’t give you touch. Are you saying, that through your frustrated teenage years, you and Bennett never-”
“Of course not! I’m not gay!”
“Nor am I,” Freddie said, with such evident scorn that Theodore felt embarrassed for suggesting it. “But over the years you get bored… You find someone else who’s bored, and who can help you out… If you room, just the two of you, that’s like being handed it on a plate.”
Theodore didn’t try to explain that, whilst at Sonora, he hadn’t really wanted for action. He had a feeling Freddie wouldn’t believe that he’d had a girl perfectly willing to satisfy his needs. Well… willing to wind him up, and knowing just how. And besides, he didn’t exactly want to claim association with Liliana now. She was dirty. And so he couldn’t use that… And, as Freddie’s hand slid up his thigh, he wasn’t sure how to protest, other than by saying again that he wasn’t gay, but that didn’t seem to be a relevant factor in the other boy’s calculation. Surely though, his body just wouldn’t respond, and then maybe Freddie would get bored and leave him alone…
“Just close your eyes and pretend I’m whoever you want me to be.”
“What if I don’t. What if I say ‘no.’ I… I could tell everyone.” He sounded pathetic and about five years old, even to his own ears, and he knew Freddie wouldn’t believe him.
“But you won’t. You’d be too embarrassed to mention to anyone that this even happened to you,” Freddie smirked. He’d been playing this game long enough. Most Pureblood males were homophobic enough that even telling anyone another man had been in their room, making lewd suggestions had them squirming with the fear of being tainted by association. “And if you did, it would be your word against mine, and I have ever such a lot of friends. That’s what’s on offer… mutually assured destruction and sexual gratification. So now you have a choice… Get some or don’t. But you’re not going to tell anyone. So I suggest you just lay back, close your eyes and enjoy…”
Why was he closing his eyes? Why wasn’t he just pushing the other boy away and telling him he wasn’t interested. Freddie was right, he probably wouldn’t ever tell a soul about this, whichever way it went, and it frustrated him that the other boy had got him so easily. But it was still another level to sink to to actually go through with it. To let Freddie unbutton his pants… Eyes closed, the familiar action which promised so much pleasure, he found his body perfectly willing to betray him… He should say no. Instead, he was running through a list of girls... He knew Liliana’s touch well enough not to be able to fool himself. But then there was Portia… He’d always thought she was hot. He’d thought about her quite a few times since Liliana…