Over Time: First Friends

(WARNING: While technically not getting into more detail than 10pm+ tv or a lot of R movies, this last chapter does have people engaging in the -horizontal- tango. If this is a problem, run away when the required phrase is said. This is your only warning.)

Muggle London. Ginny and Draco make an excursion into Muggle London (featuring Ginny's favourite movie? Or maybe Draco's?)

Required item: A hot dog.
Required phrase: 'This is a seat belt, not a chastity belt!'

"To my brother Percy, who takes international magical cooperation very seriously indeed, and to my new sister Etoile, my greatest matchmaking failure, I wish long life and great happiness." Ginny lifted the glass of champagne to her lips as the room broke into applause and good natured laughter. Her eyes met Draco's and she smiled slightly before leaning down to whisper in Percy's ear. A moment later she had slipped away, and Draco detached himself from listening to one of the Delacours butcher the English language in order to follow.

He found her in a small ante-room near the restrooms. She looked him over and executed a perfect Malfoy smirk. "I know I'm the one who asked for a date, Malfoy, but you didn't really have to show up in a dress."

"Bite your tongue, heathen. A Malfoy would no sooner arrive at a formal family occasion in muggle clothes than they would wear underpants on their head whilst singing 'God Save the Queen'." Draco fastidiously straightened the sleeves of the dress robes that had been impeccably tailored for him.

"Ah, I see someone has forgotten that night he tried tequila for the first time." Ginny snickered and handed him a bundle of clothing. "We're going into muggle London, so you'll need to change. I'll meet you outside with the car."

Draco slipped into the clothes provided, slacks and an oxford shirt, and wondered what it was she had planned. It wasn't something ultra casual, or she'd have put him in jeans, but it couldn't be anything too formal if she hadn't provided him with a tie and jacket. That she was still unpredictable after all these years was one of the things he loved best about her. Now to dazzle her with every ounce of the Malfoy charm. He grinned at his reflection and swaggered out to the car.

Ginny swallowed hard as she watched him walk towards where she waited at the wheel of her beloved convertible. He knew how good he looked, but damn if that helped her stop drooling. But no, she needed to concentrate. Woo him. Jumping his bones the instant he came into reach was not exactly the way to find out whether there were options besides the strictly platonic or the boff-and-go. Especially since she still wasn't sure which one she'd choose.

"And where are we off to, my dear Weasley?" He grinned as he slid into the passenger seat, putting a distinct weight on the side voting for immediate hormone gratification. "As the girl, you realize my only duty is to sit back and look pretty, right?" Damn, he had to be funny. Now there was an equal weight on the stay-friends side.

"Dinner and a movie's fairly standard, isn't it?" Ginny winked as she steered the car out of the parking lot, and Draco felt a bit relieved that he wasn't the one who had to concentrate enough to drive. Not when she was still wearing the top of the gown she'd worn, only matched with a skirt so mini that it barely missed being classified as a belt. Focus, Draco my lad, he thought. You're being charming, suave, witty. Licking the back of her knees will have to wait until later.

Both were caught up in their thoughts, and conversation during the drive was fairly stilted, when it happened at all. They pulled up to a restaurant and Ginny made a production of walking around the car to open his door, which broke the odd sort of tension that had been building. They were laughing with each other again as they entered the restaurant and were seated fairly quickly.

As they were looking over their menus, Ginny felt an imp of mischief take over her tongue. Before she quite knew what she was about to say, she had said, "You realize, of course, that if you order the lobster, I'll expect you to put out."

For his grin to be any broader, he would have had to have more face prosthetically attached. "Well, I was considering the prime rib, but I do believe I feel a sudden craving for lobster."

"You're going to be one of those high maintenance dates, aren't you? Swilling caviar while I subsist on a hot dog and beans on toast." Ginny sighed theatrically, which Draco thought was a wonderful thing in conjunction with the already obvious benefits of a halter top.

"Of course not." He put down the menu and gave her his best imitation of affronted dignity. "I would also need crème fraiche and toast points, so you'd have to eat your beans directly out of the tin."

"Oh, of course. How silly of me not to realize." The joking continued in this vein throughout their dinner, very much like their normal conversations, just with a flirtatious element added. Draco thought smugly that things were going exactly as he wanted them to. Ginny, however, was somewhat scared by just how much she liked it. She had the sinking feeling in her stomach that dating anyone else wouldn't just be boring, it'd be stultifying to the point of suicide.

When they couldn't linger any longer over coffee, they walked out to the car park. Once they had slid into their seats and buckled their belts, Ginny turned to Draco with a bright smile and said, "So, my fair Malfoy, what kind of movie does your girlish heart desire?"

"We could watch a horror film, so that you cling to me in terror." Before she could retort, he shook his head. "No, terror isn't a good look for you, and I rather hope I'll need feeling in my hands for later."

"It all depends on what you make me sit through, Ferret." Ginny dipped her head and shot him an arch look from under her lashes, and he couldn't resist any longer, couldn't resist the way her lips were drawn up into that little pout she always got when she was deliberately being cute, couldn't resist the eyes that were dancing with laughter that he'd helped create.

"What if I make you sit through this?" And he kissed her, leaning over to brush her hair away from her face as his lips covered hers. He pulled away after a moment, trying to judge her reaction despite the handicaps of low lighting and her impassive face.

She was quiet for long enough to give him time to panic, form a new plan, panic again, rework the plan, embellish it, calculate how best to implement it, and come up with several contingency based alternatives. Of course, he was a Slytherin, so in objective terms it was probably no more than a few seconds before she said, "Screw the witty reply thing," and drew his head back towards hers.

Several frantic seconds later, her breathless and somewhat irritated voice could be heard saying, "Bloody hell, Malfoy, this is a seat belt, not a chastity belt."

"You can't prove it by me," he snarled.

The next thing she knew, London and the car park had disappeared, as had her car. Any protest over this, however, was cut short as she was tackled by over six feet of rapidly undressing male. His wand hit the floor along with his shirt, his shoes were a distant memory, and his pants were unzipped and riding low when his hands moved to her back and started roaming over her, his lips fused to hers as he kissed her intently, thoroughly.

They moved backwards until she was pressed against something, possibly a bedpost, and his lips and teeth and tongue were moving up and down her neck and her hands were on him, anywhere and everywhere, roaming his skin as if it would disappear if she didn't memorize its texture with her fingertips. He muttered, "God, how does this blasted thing come off?"

She reached back to work the zipper of her bodice as he knelt in front of her, pressing kisses onto her thighs as he pushed her skirt down. She made a whimpering noise in the back of her throat and fumbled the zipper, and then he smiled up at her devilishly and she heard cloth tear as she ripped the zipper out entirely, pulling the halter top from around her neck and sending it flying just as his breath hovered over the crux of her thighs and his fingers slipped into the sides of her knickers and pulled them down.

He pressed a kiss to the soft curls of her sex and she growled, actually growled, reaching a hand out to grab his hair and force him to look up at her. "Later." She leaned over to kiss him, her breasts pressing against his shoulders as she ravaged his mouth. After a few seconds she moved to bite his ear, gently, and whispered, "Fuck me now. Do that later."

Never one to need to be asked twice, Draco stood up, gracefully shedding his pants before picking her up by the waist and tossing her on the bed. Her squawk of protest was short lived as he climbed in after her, crawling over her and kissing along his trail, so that she was moaning and gasping by the time he reached her mouth. She spread her legs as far as she could and reached between their bodies to run her hand down his length before guiding him in. He bit down on his lip as he slid in and then exhaled harshly, his eyes boring into hers as if preparing for an interrogation.

Apparently her half-closed lids and gasps of pleasure were answer enough and he started to move, slowly, his mouth never still as he kissed her cheek, her eyelids, her temple, her ear and neck and shoulder, occasionally taking a small bite and then soothing it with his tongue. Her hands moved over his back and shoulders restlessly, pulling him towards her in a way that was greedy and welcoming and loving, all at once.

"Oh, God, Draco, harder or I'll kill you." Ginny's nails dug into his back, her feet braced against the bed for leverage as she met his thrusts.

He groaned and picked up her legs, folding them so her knees draped over his arms and he thrust into her harder, wildly, deeply, his breath harsh as he almost seemed to chant her name, over and over, a prayer and benediction and pleading as she moved her legs to wrap around his waist and flexed around him. He could hear her, feel her, and he knew she was close, oh God, so close, and he held on and held on and he heard her shriek, a small, hiccuped mewling sound and he couldn't stop, he couldn't, and he poured himself into her, her name almost a sob as he collapsed onto her, not sure if he'd said out loud or just in his head, "I love you, Ginny."

It must have been out loud, because she mumbled sleepily, "I love you, too, Ferret." Smiling, he nuzzled her shoulder and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out when he felt himself being jabbed in the ribs. "Get off, you elephant! You're on my bladder."

He rolled over and watched her as she scurried in the direction her bathroom would be if she was at home, only to stop and reorient herself once she realized she was in his bedroom at the Manor. He heard the door slam and then water run and smiled contentedly before the nasty thought occurred that he might have dreamed the mutual declaration of love bit, and she might regret what they'd done. Did he?

Hell, no. Apart from it being the best sex of his life, and he'd had enough to know that damn good sex was a rare and precious thing, let alone the explosive and mind blowing experience that had been Ginny Weasley in bed, he liked Ginny. Not just love, which he'd thought he felt for Tabitha, although love was part of it. He genuinely wanted to spend time with her, hell, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. And if she didn't feel the same, especially after what they'd just shared? What would he do?

Ginny sat on the commode, letting the water in the sink run as she contemplated the unalterable fact that she was in love with a prat who had a marble commode with a solid gold flush handle. Yes, she was completely top over teakettle bonkers for her best friend, and she wanted the whole nine yards. A wedding and kids and teasing him when he gained a pot belly and having him say she was beautiful even when she was old and wrinkled, and having sex like they'd just had all the time, well, that was by nature of a bonus. And why not? Why the hell shouldn't she grab on with both hands to a man she knew, inside and out, but who still managed to surprise her, to make her laugh, to make her spine threaten to melt into a puddle?

She turned off the sink, but reached over and turned on the faucet for the tub instead. Once it was going well, she walked back over to the door and cracked it open. "Malfoy? Come scrub my back."

He joined her in the large whirlpool tub, something he'd ordered after seeing an informercial late one night at her house. Of course, he'd had it made by a wizard, and in marble to match the rest of the bathroom. Grabbing a soft, fluffy washcloth, he moved close to her before sitting down and pulling her onto his lap. "So."

She moved her head to the side as he ran the cloth gently over her shoulders, then down her arms and across her breasts. "A needle pulling thread." She wriggled a bit and he moved his hand away briefly before resuming his ministrations. "Although that's not a needle poking into my bum."

"You know, I have this big speech all prepared about how much I adore you and getting married and having an entire quidditch team's worth of kids, but I can't think of it right now." His brow was furrowed as he looked intently at her tightening nipple, giving it one last pass with the washcloth before he rolled his tongue over it.

Ginny smirked as she turned to straddle him, sliding him inside her to the accompaniment of his pleased hiss. She bit his neck lightly and then kissed it better before saying, "How about we have sex first, then you see if you can remember any of it, and if I can remember what I was going to say about how much I love you."

His hands moved to her waist, his thumbs brushing the underside of her breasts as he held her up, supporting her as she ground down upon him mercilessly. He groaned and managed to pant, "I'm marrying a smart woman."

"Shut up and fuck, Malfoy."

Fin

(Good gracious. A short little ficlet in response to a challenge. No big deal, right? Fifty one pages later... There are those who would disagree with my characterization, but, frankly, that's why it's fanfic and not published with "J.K. Rowling" stamped on the cover. I believe that I did all right by the characters as they were originally written, and hopefully you did, too. Thanks for reading. :)