The Foundation

The Foundation

By: Newshound

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and company are the exclusive property of J. K. Rowling. This fiction is entirely for entertainment purposes and no money is being made from it.

A/N: Again, thank you to all who read and all who review. I hope everyone is enjoying our journey, but we do have a ways to go before we reach our destination, I’m afraid. Miles to go before we sleep, as Robert Frost would say. Anyway, this chapter could fall under the category of “comic relief,” so enjoy it because things are going to get hot and heavy before it’s all over. Happy reading.

Chapter 9: It’s All About the Cherries

“Have you ever considered a career on the stage, Draco?” Harry asked smiling. He leaned against the wall crossing his arms and giving Draco the once over. “You’ve definitely got the skills for it.”

“I’m glad at least one of us can be so blasé about this,” Draco answered frowning.

“Come on, Draco,” Harry said grinning at him. “Don’t you think you’re over-reacting just a bit? I mean, my God, it’s not like the earth’s going to stop spinning or anything. We had sex, big deal; people do it all the time. Well, some people – the lucky ones.”

“I would hardly consider spending my entire weekend suffering the unrelenting pangs of anguish and remorse to be over-reacting,” Draco said. “Then I find out it’s you who should really be feeling guilty.”

“Guilty over what?” Harry asked back. “You make it sound like I force fed you that punch, then dragged you back to my place, tied you up and, uh, well, whatever people do when they tie each other up. Was it really all that bad?”

“I’m not particularly fond of hurting people, Harry,” Draco said.

“It was going to hurt anyway, Draco,” Harry said. “I meant was it bad for you, the sex in general I mean. Well, you know what I’m asking. You looked like you were enjoying yourself, but I just want to know how I did. Like on a scale from one to 10.”

“You’re joking, right?” Draco said. “I wasn’t really rating it.”

“Well, rate it now,” Harry said. “I did this so I could go out and meet people. Have more sex. Have any sex. I need to know how I can improve. Get some pointers.”

“You want pointers on how you can improve your sexual technique?” Draco said trying very hard not to grin, but failing miserably. “Well, my first bit of advice would be to tell your partner about your inexperience –”

“Won’t that be a turn-off?” Harry asked, genuinely curious.

“No,” Draco assured him. “Blank slates are extremely appealing, especially to a fragile ego, which, unfortunately, many of us seem to have. Not I, of course, but I assume I will not be your one and only.”

“Listen, I just want the crash course here,” Harry said. “How do I make sex good for someone?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Draco said. “That’s rule number one. Any sex is good sex. There is no such thing as ‘bad’ sex. Sex by its very definition is good.”

“Okay, what if I want to make it great sex?” Harry said.

“Well, that’s just lots of good sex,” Draco answered.

“But any sex is good sex,” Harry said a little confused.

“Exactly,” Draco said nodding.

“So great sex is just lots of sex?” Harry asked.

“That’s right,” Draco said.

“But I’ve heard people say, ‘the sex was incredible’ or ‘the sex was fantastic.’ What about that?” Harry replied.

“That falls under what I like to term my ‘hot fudge sundae’ theory,” Draco said. “Sex is like a hot fudge sundae, something, by the way, I happen to thoroughly enjoy. Being both a man and a fan of hot fudge sundaes, I consider it my duty to enjoy as many sundaes as I can during my life. Would you not agree that something so simple and satisfying should be enjoyed as often as possible? Say, maybe four times a week?”

“Sure,” Harry agreed.

“Okay, say I enjoy my sundaes four times a week for two years,” Draco said. “Do you think that after two years I’m going to notice the distinctive texture and flavor of the nuts – no pun intended? Or how creamy and smooth the whipped topping is – again, no pun intended? Or what color the sprinkles are?”

“Probably not,” Harry said.

“No, of course I’m not,” Draco said. “The only time I’m going to notice all that is if I rarely eat sundaes, say once a month or something. If I eat hot fudge sundaes only once a year, then definitely I’m going to savor every bite. Otherwise I’m just going to enjoy the experience of eating my sundae.”

“So, people who have incredible sex don’t have it a lot?” Harry asked.

“By my theory, yes,” Draco said. “There is one exception, though.”

“What’s that?” Harry said.

“Favorites,” Draco said. “You’ll notice if your favorite part is off, if you have a favorite part that is. Do you know what my favorite part of a hot fudge sundae is, Harry?”

“No,” Harry answered.

“The cherry,” Draco said staring pointedly at him.. “I love a sweet, juicy cherry. Now that’s something I’d notice.”

“Oh God, Draco,” Harry said blushing. “But what about feelings? Doesn’t being with someone you care about change things?”

“I don’t know why it would,” Draco said. “Your food doesn’t taste any different if you’re eating with someone you care about. Your sleep doesn’t feel any different because you’re with someone you care about. Why would sex be any different?”

“Because in sex the connection is with the person,” Harry said. “When you dine with someone you’re not personally interacting with their food.”

“At least not at the dinner table or in public, I hope,” Draco said. “Seriously, do you think the other night would have felt any different for you if I loved you?”

“You’re the expert on sex,” Harry said.

“More food analogies, Harry,” Draco said. “Sex is like a baked potato, you can throw on all the toppings you want - love, affection, a little bit of kink, fetishes, whatever - but it’s still just a baked potato underneath.”

“I feel like I’m so far behind everyone else, Draco,” Harry said in a dejected voice. “I’ll never figure all this out.” He walked over to a large, comfortable arm chair which faced the fireplace and flopped down in it.

“It’s pretty simple, Harry. You’re making more difficult than it should be,” Draco said coming over to join him. He stood in front of the fireplace leaning on the mantle. “It’s basically going from point A to point B and back again. You know, soft – hard – soft. Like traveling to and from work each day. Now, how long that process takes or how long you remain at Point B, well, that might get a little complicated.”

“See, that’s what I mean,” Harry said. “Who wants someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing?”

“Harry, what they – and subsequently, you - are doing is trying to get off,” Draco said. “You got me off and all you did was lay there.”

“Oh, now that’s encouraging,” Harry said sarcastically. “You can’t imagine how embarrassing this is for me.”

“Harry, I really don’t see what all the fuss is about,” Draco said. “You’re acting like this is going to make some huge difference in your life. I don’t understand what the rush to jump into bed with people is all about.”

“You can say that because you’ve done it, Draco,” Harry argued. “People have expectations about me. They think I should be sowing my wild oats or settled down – with a few mistresses, of course. Or they’d trot me out as some kind of moral paragon – saving myself for the right person. Do you know what people would think if they knew the truth?”

“No one would care, Harry,” Draco said reassuringly. “Who wouldn’t want to claim you for their lover, no matter what your experience?”

“You know, Draco, all my life I’ve been different,” Harry said. “For once, I’d just like to be a normal person. Go out, get drunk, have sex with people I shouldn’t, spend all my money, get thrown out of a few pubs - basically make the same mistakes everyone makes.”

“And you think losing your virginity is going to enable you to do all that?” Draco said.

“It’s a start,” Harry answered. “I did some thinking after I got here and I wanted to tell you that I was sorry for what happened, for not saying anything to you. I just didn’t know what to make of it all. I like you Draco, and I had a good – no a great – time on the balcony, but I felt so guilty about taking advantage of you. I knew it was wrong to deceive you about being a virgin, but the truth is I didn’t care because it got me what I wanted. Then I got angry at you because here I’d spent the weekend feeling pretty awful and I thought it hadn’t meant anything to you anyway, you didn’t even seem to care. And I didn’t know what to make of your behavior, either. One minute you’re flirting with me, the next you’re making hurtful remarks and you’re mad at me – for what I don’t know.”

“I really didn’t know what to make of the situation either, Harry,” Draco admitted. “At first I thought you’d left because you’d realized I’d taken advantage of you, and then I thought you left because it had been just a casual fling for you. I was mad at you for the exact same reason; I’d spent the weekend feeling guilty and it hadn’t meant anything to you. I have absolutely no right to be mad at you for anything. I really wish you would have told me, but I certainly can’t fault you for doing whatever necessary to get what you wanted. I’m hardly the victim here. Although my ego wished it was my reputation and not just my proximity that endeared me to you.”

“And I don’t know what to do with all this,” Harry said, gesturing between himself and Draco. “That’s the thing, I really like you. I enjoyed being with you – flying together and talking on the balcony - and I’d like to do that again. I’m just not sure how to go about this.”

“You mean you want to go out on a date,” Draco suggested. “Start seeing each other.”

“Yeah, that and other things,” Harry said vaguely.

“You mean sex,” Draco said. He paused and gave Harry a serious look. “Do you want to go out just to get to the sex part? I need to know if this is just about sex, Harry. Because if it is, I can’t give you that, it won’t be enough for me. I like you too Harry and I’d like to get to know you better, without rushing into bed.”

“I can’t believe this,” Harry said. “You want me to wait until we know each other better before we can have sex again?”

“If experience is all you’re after, you’ll need to find someone else, Harry,” Draco said. “Here’s my offer, a friend has given me tickets to Puddlemere’s match against the Cannons on Thursday evening, and I’d like you to join me – on a date. If you’d like to see what’s between us, see what a relationship with me is all about, owl or Floo me. If I haven’t heard from you by Thursday afternoon, I’ll take that as a no with no hard feelings whatsoever.”

Harry watched stunned as Draco turned around, scooped some Floo Powder from the bowl, stepped neatly into the fireplace and Flooed away.