Roger felt like he had been hit in the face. Again. He had only been teasing, but Alicia was going for gold. He exhaled smoke, a long string of grey from his mouth, and simply sat there.
Above all things, Roger was not the sort of person who liked to fight. Mess around, tease, sure. Fighting was not his forte, and his nose was an example of that. So, he simply said, "Fine."
It was not fine, though, and he said all the things he wanted to say in his head. In his imagination he lost his temper and rid all his frustrations from him, releasing them like a wild animal in his chest, and the release felt enormous and marvelous. In reality, he felt caged and trapped, the grudge festering there somewhere in between his ribs.
What Roger wanted to say included how he had never been the reason for her getting hit, whether she wanted to admit her connection to this event or not, and that the fight was mostly between two men and Roger's rigid body, and, most of all, that she could do much better than Eddie Fucking Carmichael. He looked at her - she was a gem, a humongous pain in his arse but a gem nonetheless, and could do better than some weedy little runt who would tell her a few nice things and leave it at that.
Roger smoked, drank his beer, and festered. Part of him wanted to make an excuse to leave the apartment so he could vent in some other way. Frankly, he felt like he could take on He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named alone, what with the substance brewing inside of him, but he couldn't just leave or they would know. The Gods were smiling on Roger, though, because there was a scratching from the window. Roger sprang up and opened it, and a familiar black Owl flew inside, dropping a letter for Roger.
"It's probably just about training," Roger tore open the letter, but paused - why hadn't the Owl left? They usually did. He read the letter, and his jaw fell ajar slightly with every passing line.
"Hamilton has gone missing," He muttered. Anthony Hamilton was one of their Chasers. Roger had gone to a party at his house once, met his mum. Anthony was Muggleborn, "They want me to - I'm Chaser."