"Who said I was miserable?" she snapped at him. "I said I was bored. Pay attention."

“Oh, right, no,” said Nigel. “I was thinking of myself when I said that.” How self-entitled could someone get? What, just because she was bored, and Nigel was there, it automatically became his duty to entertain her? He was not a house elf. No one was going to get him to do anything that he didn’t want to do. And he didn’t want to entertain her. He wanted to get through his Charms homework, take some of the Dreamless Sleep that he had gotten from Nat, and fall into his bed. Did he expect her to assist him in any of those matters just because she was there? No, he did not.

"You have plentyofroom to breathe,"

“I do not.” He said, making a choking noise. “I would have, except that every time I move away, you come closer.” Could she not take a hint? He wasn’t moving away in an effort to trek across the common room on his bottom, chair by chair, or because he was hot and wanted to move away from the fire. He was moving away because she was too close to him. How hard was that to grasp? “Maybe I need more breathing room than some people. Never just assume that someone has enough room.”

"I have an eidetic mind, Nigel. Just telling me once and I'll remember it."

Nigel eyed her in suspicion. Why was she laughing? He was being as unpleasant as humanly possible and insulting her at every opportunity. That was not laugh-inducing behavior. It was walking-off-in-a-huff-and-giving-him-the-evil-eye-from-across-the-room behavior. He didn’t like it. It was off-putting. “Well, then remember this: I am not your house elf, and whatever it is you want from me, I’m not going to—hey!” he protested, rubbing his arm where she hit him. That was clearly uncalled for, and he scowled at her.

"Youshoudl just stop resisting,"

Yeah, like that was ever going to happen. Resistance was a matter of habit for Nigel, and he rather thought it was entirely necessary. If he just stood back and let things happen, life would be uncontrollable and horrible. If he didn’t resist, he couldn’t complain about the way things turned out because he hadn’t tried to stop them. It was just logical. “Stop that!” he exclaimed as she pressed closer against him. There was definite touching, and it was completely unsolicited. “What are you doing?”