10am
December 21, 2008

Zora Roh was smiling and light on her feet as she strode off the lifts and through to the Auror Headquarters.  Her long red cloak swept behind her, her black boots hitting the floor with confidence and a quick-driving rhythm.  She was on the rush of just coming in with Jack Spade, a man (well, kid) who they could directly link to Theodora Kingstreet, who they'd caught in possession of Runespoor eggs in the act of attempting to frame the Minister of Magic's latest fiancée.  It was all gold gold gold.

Auror Roh had just finished getting the little patchy-bearded blighter processed and into a dungeon cell.   The paperwork to inform his next of kin - whoever that was, or who he claimed it was, had been improperly filed in the Outbox where it would be mishandled.  Aurors were so terrible at paperwork sometimes, weren't they. 

It was all part of the job.  There were laywers and clerks to sort out all that ink, parchment and red wax.  Aurors had better things to do like bring down this smuggling racket once and for all and put Kingstreet back where she belonged: a giant black tower in the North Sea.

Perhaps the bust hadn't gone according to plan, but Zora wasn't a woman in love with plans.  She'd done what she'd had to do and fact that they'd even pulled it off had been her doing - her quick thinking.  Her guts and intuition and fearlessness.  She hadn't thought about Harcroft's threat to file an O.A.F. on her until now.

She had nearly reached her cubicle to collect what she needed to interrogate Spade when she heard an unwelcome voice call her name.

“Roh,” called the unwelcomed voice. Not a shout, but not very pleasant either. Not that most people considered Tamis Raynor a pleasant individual on a regular basis.

It was too much to hope that everything could have gone smoothly on this Sunday of all Sundays, the heralding of Yule. It was likely too much to hope that another Runespoor incident had happened today, one the fifteen year anniversary of the murder of the Auror that had quelled the activity of the Runespoor Smuggling rings all those years ago. It had been too much to hope that everything would have gone smoothly in apprehending the mysterious Jack Spade. There sort of things never did and that buffer for error was incorporated into the investigation. But there were mistakes and then there were Mistakes.

This had been a Mistake.

Finally, the petite Head Auror caught up with the speed and travel of her voice, appearing between two cubicles with a coarse set purposely straight for taller woman and her make of long black hair. Expression as unreadable as ever, there were, however, notable lines of tension on Raynor’s face that did not, exactly, have anything to do with Zora Roh. The twenty first of December was never a good day for Tamis Raynor. Certainly not a good day to irritate her.

Normally, Raynor took Harcroft’s O.A.F reports with a grain of salt. She entirely believed the man was in a competition with Ackerly Fox on who could get more of their co-workers in trouble in the shortest amount of time. With Zora Roh, the complaints were expected. The woman was a bloody headache most of the time, but she got the job done and done well. This was one of those rare exceptions.

“Was it entirely pertinent to ‘knee’ your suspect in the…” she checked the O.A.F in hand for the politically correct terminology, “...‘Pelvic region’?” Just one of the many details outlining the Abusive Force reprimand.

Zora closed her eyes while her mouth formed the beginning shapes of an inappropriate interjection.  Not now.  The veteran Auror turned to see her diminutive superior striding at her with the same cuddliness as ever: none.  Either it was a quiet day on Level Two, or Raynor was taking Harcroft at his every word and this was a bigger deal that Roh hoped it would be.

She tried to look respectful.  A dressing down from Raynor was always harrowing; worse if you respected the witch, and Zora always had. Tamis Raynor's praise was hard won, and her disappointment weighed even on the Madam Maelstrom Zora Roh.

The hypothetical question cast into sharp light her misstep, and it'd be no use convincing Raynor that the kid had sassed her.  No use lying either. 

"The suspect had it coming, ma'am," she said, trying to keep her voice down.  "You try talking to him, see if you don't want to do exactly the same thing.  And frankly this hardly calls for an O.A.F., right?"  She nodded at the distinctive red form.

Zora stood away and crossed her arms, and took a look over her shoulder before continuing.  The last thing she wanted was for anyone else to think there might be an opening to get in on her suspect interview.  Spade was hers.  She'd... kneed him fair and square...

 "This is Kingstreet we're talking about.  I went in blind."

Oh the Head Auror certainly did want to give Devlin Matthews a swift kick where she knew it might endanger the future of his fertility. Imagine her surprise when she heard that the boy that was being brought into custody that fit the description was the very same one Fauna Blake had confessed not very many days earlier to have been dating. She would have loved to march into that interrogation room, rough the lad up a bit, and then threaten to ruin him should he ever so much as look at Fauna Blake again, let alone look at her wrong. But as it was, she had to maintain a certain level of professionalism. As it was,

“Wanting to do something does not mean that you are supposed to, Roh” Raynor stressed, exasperated.

The petite woman liked Zora Roh. She had an excellent intuition, one of those Aurors gifted with “gut instinct” and often she was correct. The woman had spunk and spirit and a certain perseverance that was admirable. But she also had a tendency to make Raynor’s job… interesting.

She pointed a finger at the taller woman’s nose. “You stun him. You give him a chance to run and then trip him in pursuit. I do not care how you seek your vengeance but you do so in a way that when it comes time for the paperwork it is justifiable.”

Operating from Raynor’s position was a delicate balance of power. It required making sure certain regulations were met, certain procedures followed, and the right paperwork turned in. At the same time it required giving the Aurors enough breathing room that they could trust themselves as well as her and do what was necessary to actually bring the bad guys in. The law often left little leeway to make both happen, Tamis Raynor made sure it did. But that trust and understanding of boundaries went both ways. It required common sense.

“We are about to get out arses handed to us about mistreating the Kyle Gibson case.” A new developmental horror thanks to a discovery made my Edward Pratt, “We do not need this boy to go free due to a technicality and jury sympathy over misconduct from this Office.”

Taking a step back, the Head Auror put her hands on her hips and stared up at Roh as if calmly deciding which method of murdering the woman would be the easiest to cover up. The truth be told, they would not even have Matthews in custody if Roh had not broken protocol and trusted that infamous instinct. As a result, they were one step closer to catching Theodora Kingsteet at her own game, so she added, holding the vibrant red reprimand in the air as emphasis, “You better get that boy to sing his confession, Roh, or this OAF will be the highlight of your career for the next month.”

(Oh my gosh! I missed your reply! Very sorry, Dawn. I've been looking forward to this thread, believe it or not!)

Zora kept her mouth clamped tightly shut and her gaze straight ahead as her boss laid into her, in textbook-perfect subordination.  Tamis Raynor did not mess around and she had the power to follow through on any threat she laid out.  Zora wouldn't admit it, but this was likely one of the most reckless things she'd ever been caught at and had the most potential to damage her career and their case. 

She raised an eyebrow in a flicker of surprise when Raynor relayed suggestions on how to go about circumventing regulation in a way that could be...handled.  But she shouldn't have been surprised, not with Raynor.  She knew the rules and had a strong sense of justice.  But she was also a politician, whether she liked it or not, and playing the system was a requisite skill for her post.

"But, Raynor-," she started to protest but shut up. 

The with was in her face, wrathful for the shitstorm she and the whole Department were in for concerning the Gibson case - a case Zora hadn't even touched.  How was any of that her fault? But the similarities were hard to ignore.  Two troubled youths out of Hogwarts allegedly associated with Theodora Kingstreet committing crimes against the Ministry of Magic, both boys allegedly 'mishandled' by Aurors.

Raynor brandished the red O.A.F in the air and Zora looked at it hatefully.  It was the last thing she needed in her file.  But Raynor - she wasn't taking her off the case! She was letting him make a run at Spade after all.

"Yes, ma'am," she said, firmly, with a touch of pleasure.  She could handle getting called to task, she could bounce back. 

"And I'll keep my hands to myself."