Oliver frowned when he realized James's elbow had lurched too close to Emma's nose, but she was already protecting her face and telling him to watch it. Oliver couldn't help the grin that sprung up at that. He wasn't sure if he'd ever met a girl (who didn't play Quidditch herself) who could sit in a crowd of drunken athletes and not complain. Hell, this is what he'd meant when he told Rose he couldn't date in season. He'd never been able to bring a girl to the pub like this. She'd always complained, or begged for him to take her home.
Not Emma. Emma was quick with an 'Oi' and shoving away whatever bothered her. Emma was drinking pints, and not complaining over the lack of wine or girly drinks, was talking Quidditch (as well as she could) and taking him out... on dates? No, she didn't mean it like that, but it got Oliver thinking that Emma seemed the kind of bird he wouldn't mind taking. She wasn't frilly and clingy like the last few girls he'd gone on dates with, and he quite thought he'd enjoy dates with a girl like Emma. He expected she'd enjoy the things he'd propose to do, and hell, he liked the idea she proposed to him.
And she was pretty and funny. Oliver was kind of overwhelmed by it, really.
"Yeah, but it was mid-season," he begged her to see his point. "Season's about over now, and then I'll have too much free time. I'll be so bored and depressed that you have to drag my arse out," he teased. "But if it's a date you want, I'd be happy to go." And that might have been the cleverest turn of phrase he'd ever made. Quite honestly, he was surprised the words had made it out of his head and down through his mouth. He didn't regret it though. The idea of dates and Emma had now popped into his head, and he wanted to know what she thought about the idea... without the awkward turning down nonsense. She could play that off if she didn't want to, at least he thought she could.
"Don't Stop Me Now," he added. It was about the only song he'd dance to, to be honest. But that was a secret people learned about him when they were all three sheets to the wind.