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“I hate them. I hate them all!” Holly said, flopping dramatically onto Artemis’s bed. He raised an eyebrow from behind the book he was reading, saying “Really.”
“Really,” Holly confirmed, “And I hate Trouble most of all. He’s the worst.”
“You’re getting mud all over my sheets.”
Holly glared at Artemis, who was still resolutely reading his book. “That’s completely irrelevant right now. I wonder if you’re allowed to rebel against the Quidditch Team Captain.”
“Avoiding excess amounts of uncleanliness in my immediate vicinity is never irrelevant.”
Holly moaned, rolling onto her back, and said “I’m not moving until you acknowledge my suffering.” Artemis finally put his book down, and regarded the Gryffindor girl. “Just yesterday you were saying how lucky you were to have such a good team.”
“That was before the captain of the team forced us to play in a literal thunderstorm.”
“I think ‘thunderstorm’ may be an exaggeration.”
Holly looked at him incredulously, and then got up, taking him by the hand. “What are you doing?” Artemis asked, but she didn’t answer. Holly dragged him through the common room, up to dungeon stairs, and up another staircase, pausing at a window. “This,” she said, pointing out the window, “is a thunderstorm.”
Artemis nodded, conceding the point, partially because it appeared that Holly had not exaggerated, and partially because if he didn’t agree, Artemis suspected that she might actually force him to go flying in this weather. The Slytherin had notoriously bad coordination.
“I am so exhausted,” Holly said, slumping against the wall. She was leaving a trail of mud everywhere she went, and part of Artemis wanted to tell her to go take a bath, but he could tell right now she needed a friend. Holly didn’t often complain, so when she did, he knew it was important.
“I could help you with your homework?” he offered, trying to take her mind off the disastrous Quidditch practice. Holly rolled her eyes, slowly getting to her feet. “Thanks, but no thanks. First, I am going to take a shower, and then you are going to help me do something awful to Trouble. Preferably with mud and/or frogs involved.”
Artemis grimaced, asking “And why would I want to help you?”
Holly smiled in what most people would consider a friendly way, but Artemis knew from experience that that smile meant danger. “Because you’re my best friend, and if you don’t do what I say, I’ll leave owl pellets in all your shoes.”