One of my favourite dates to write, and it was inspired in parts by Ash. All my cricket knowledge is because of her; but unlike Hermione, I do listen to her when she talks about it lol
Hope you all enjoy it!
"Are you telling me you got all freaked out about the guy at the coffee shop being married with a child only to find out that it was his little sister?" Ginny asked Hermione.
"Pretty much, yes." Hermione nodded, not wanting to go into details while they were shopping. She didn't mention to Ginny that she was now texting Theo and getting to know him better. "Can't you let it go? I don't want to discuss my life where anyone can hear me."
"All right, I won't say anything… for now." Ginny smirked at Hermione. "Where did you say you were supposed to meet your date again?"
"I'll only tell you if you promise not to appear out of nowhere," Hermione said, knowing how her friend's mind worked. "Promise me you won't stalk me on my date."
"Gee, great to know you trust me," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at Hermione, who only stared at her pointedly. Ginny sighed. "Fine, I promise I won't stalk you. Besides, I'm going to meet Percy here. He said something about needing my help to buy Mum a Christmas present."
"Good, Percy is the one that can reign you in, and he won't let you rush into things." Hermione smiled at the expression Ginny was making even though Ginny knew that Hermione was right. "I'm going to meet him at that coffee shop near the bookstore."
"That sounds like an amazing place. Hope you have fun today!" Ginny hugged Hermione before turning around to leave. "If you have any trouble, call me, all right? And I'll come running."
Hermione chuckled. "I'll keep it in mind, but I don't think I'll need it."
"Suit yourself. I'll be here if you need me!" Ginny waved and left while Hermione smiled at her protective friend.
The truth was that Hermione was a little worried about this date. She didn't think Oliver was a psychopath or anything like that, but after so many terrible dates, Hermione was starting to get a little sceptical. Taking a deep breath, Hermione decided to face this date with her head high and hope for the best.
It didn't take long for her to arrive at the coffee shop and choose a table. While Hermione was looking through the menu, she heard the chair in front of her scraping on the floor. She looked up to see a tall, brown-haired man smiling at her. His smile was really pretty, but Hermione couldn't help but compare it to Theo's slightly crooked grin.
"Hermione, right? I hope that I'm not late." He sat down in the chair opposite her. "Oliver Wood, your date for the day."
Hermione smiled, feeling like this was a date that could go right. The man seemed nice enough—she could only hope his personality matched his face. "You aren't late. I just got here early."
"Nothing wrong with being the first here, good thing you didn't order without me." Oliver's smile was contagious; Hermione felt herself smiling back. "Ready to order?"
Hermione nodded before she and Oliver ordered sandwiches and coffee. Hermione felt herself relaxing in Oliver's presence. They had received their orders when they started talking about some of his interests.
"Do you like any sports?" Oliver asked while Hermione was eating her sandwich. "I like football and rugby, but my real passion is cricket."
"Really?" Hermione asked, swallowing her food and looking at him. "I don't think I've ever watched a cricket match before."
"How could you not? It's one of the best sports in the world!" Oliver was getting incensed, and Hermione didn't know how to react to it. "When the players are batting and hitting boundaries and sixes, it's like something from out of this world. I know I should be cheering for England, but I can't help but love South Africa."
"South Africa? Any special reason why you chose them?" Hermione was almost afraid to say something based on the looks on Oliver's face.
"How could I not choose South Africa? They have Aiden Markram, David Miller, Quinton de Kock and of course, my favourite player"—Oliver stopped to create some suspense—"Faf du Plessis. I would do anything to see Faf playing."
"So you've never been to a live match?" Hermione took a sip of her cappuccino and watched Oliver continue freaking out about cricket matches.
"I've been to some but not one where Faf was playing. And since he isn't a regular these days, it's even worse," Oliver said with a pout, which Hermione thought was adorable. "Or KL Rahul—he plays for the Indian team. He's absolutely amazing! I wish I could see him play in person."
"You do seem to like cricket a lot," Hermione said while Oliver chewed on his sandwich. "What else do you like with the same passion—"
Oliver interrupted her, "And the Indian team is like a well-oiled machine, you know? It's like they can read each other's minds and anticipate each other's moves when they're on the field! It's amazing!"
Hermione hummed, realising that she wouldn't be able to get in a word between Oliver's excited rambles of how great his favourite cricket teams were. She finished her food, thinking if she should order a brownie while Oliver continued to talk by himself.
She was contemplating her desire for something with chocolate when Oliver stopped talking, his mouth agape. She turned to see what had caught his attention. Entering the coffee shop, Ginny and Percy seemed to be talking, and Oliver couldn't seem to take his eyes off them.
"I just had a case of bi-panic," Oliver murmured and stared, transfixed at the pair of redheads. "How can two people be so beautiful like that?"
"It runs in the family. They're all beautiful like that," Hermione said off-handedly. Oliver turned to look at her with a glint in his eyes. "What?"
"Do you think you can introduce me to them? They look so fit. I definitely shouldn't say what's running through my mind right now because I don't want to sound creepy." Oliver started to blush, and Hermione couldn't help a chuckle to escape her. "I ruined our date, didn't I?"
"It's not ruined, but I don't think we're meant for each other, don't you agree?" Hermione was smiling at Oliver. This date hadn't gone the way she had intended, but at least, Hermione was enjoying it. "The girl isn't up for grabs in a way, but I know Percy's single."
"Oh, that's great!" Oliver straightened his back, looking at her expectantly. "Do you mind inviting them over here?"
"No problem at all." Hermione stood up and walked towards where Ginny and Percy were waiting for their orders. "Hey, whatcha doing?"
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on your date?" Ginny asked, looking at Hermione with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, about that..." Hermione faltered, not knowing how to explain. "We weren't going to work, and after he saw you two walking in here, he now wants to meet you."
"Are you kidding? How are you all right with this?" Ginny asked, getting mad on behalf of her friend.
"Because he didn't stop talking about cricket since he sat down, and I don't think a relationship can work on that." Hermione shrugged, not bothered in the least. "Come on, just say hi to him. You don't need to marry the guy."
Hermione led them to their table and introduced Oliver to Ginny and Percy. It didn't take long for Percy and Oliver to lose themselves in a conversation. Ginny and Hermione took that as cue to leave.
"I could never have imagined your date would trade you for my brother," Ginny said as they exited the coffee shop. "And if it was a brother, I would never have imagined that it would be Percy."
"The heart wants what the heart wants." Hermione shrugged, smiling at the outrage on Ginny's face. "I'm not even sad about it; this was the first date that wasn't a total disaster, you know?"
"That's good then," Ginny said with a smile. "How about we go and grab some ice cream? Blaise texted me that he'll be coming here to buy something for his mum and wants help."
"Sure, ice cream sounds nice," Hermione said, walking towards the ice cream shop. "But don't let Blaise bully you into helping him buy a present. I came here with him a few days ago and he already bought every present that he needed."
"Oh, I know that. But I can bully him into buying me something nice." Ginny smirked and Hermione only laughed at her friend. "I know he's already bought me a present, but I can always make him buy me another one."
"Sometimes I forget how scary you are and then you remind me," Hermione replied, seeing Ginny's wicked smile. "Come on, if he gets here while we are at the ice cream shop, maybe he can buy ice-cream for us."