Ackerly had an excruciating weekend since that article had been released. Those records were supposed to be sealed- and Ackerly had no idea how the prophet had found out, or what person had blabbed. He was angry about it, and to make things worse he had been receiving some nasty owls from people he didn't even know. Those dumb werewolf rights groups, the people who thought that they knew better than he- people who had probably never even been face to face with a werewolf.

Early Monday morning he had found himself with a summons to Raynor's office- a summons he was sure was only going to lead to trouble. The article was going to be hard for her to work damage control on. Even if you claimed what was discussed wasn't true, the damage was done not only to his reputation- but to the auror office as a whole. And although Ackerly knew this- he was a very logical man after all- it did nothing to make him feel any better about the entire situation.

It just seemed to be one thing after another- especially in reference to this werewolf crap. It had started with Kurby this time. The argument over case files, just because he had made some conclusions about purebloods... Regardless of what Bagnold or Raynor said or thought, Ackerly knew that he was right on that front. There were stereotypes against purebloods for a reason.

Either way, despite how he felt or how worried he was over this article- Ackerly made his way to Raynor's office with his head held high. He was not going to buckle under pressure- he was better than that, he always had been. Ackerly was damn good at his job, and damn good aurors were hard to find. He knocked gently on the door to her office before entering, giving her a respectful nod of his head. "You asked to see me?" he began, stepping fully into the office- standing by an empty chair, not sitting until she bid him to do so.

The picture-perfect image of Ackerly Fox blinking seriously up at her the front cover of the Daily Prophet  was not the ideal poster boy advertisement. The well sculpted and chocolate-colored Auror certainly drew the eye, but the blaring red headline was somewhat lacking as an encouraging slogan. That had not stopped the slew of choicely worded fan mail from littering the Head Auror’s desk all weekend.

Slapping Friday’s evening edition of Wizarding England’s most read newspaper back on her desk, Tamis Raynor pinched the bridge between her eyes in frustration, giving the semi-animated document her best gray-eyed glare. The words “Auror Investigated for Werewolf Deaths” continued to mock her with daring petulance.

Returning from a two week unplanned vacation, Raynor knew there was going to have to be some damage control.  Order had not completely wasted away under Edward Pratt’s care (it best for her sanity to pretend she had not heard a trainee the other day catching himself calling Pratt “His Majesty”) and the paperwork in the interim time had been miraculously well filed (she would have to thank Malone). If there had been a mutiny, the Men were carefully concealing all evidence. But hearing that the fragile truce between the Werewolf Capture Unit and the Aurors Office had been threatened, especially considering current events, was concerning.

And now this.

The Head Auror’s gaze lifted in unison to the knock on the open threshold to her Office. Ackerly Fox entered without hesitating, standing at his full height. He was not quite as large as Radley, but still formidable in his own right, and quite traditionally towered over the petite woman leaning against the side of her desk.

She had indeed asked to see him. The reason why still remained to be determined. Fox was a good Auror and a good man. He was calm, logical, and even tempered – and that made him far more unpredictable than Adon Eleor could ever be.

Ignoring the newspaper for now, she held up one of the many letters piled on her desk. “This one is quite elegantly put,” she said. “‘Boarish display of Abuse of Power.’ Has a certain ring to it.” 

Ackerly's nostrils flared as she picked up the letter, quoting a phrase from it. His facial muscles twitched- ever so slightly- further indicating his agitation with the situation. "Better than the ones I've received," he commented coolly. The last thing that Ackerly wanted to do in this situation was lose his temper- but it could be an easy thing to do. He was not accustomed to others questioning his effectiveness as an auror. Ackerly brought in criminals like the rest of them, and he even managed to be successful when he was forced to work with the aurors he disliked most in the corps. There were many adjectives that could describe Ackerly- boorish, however, was not among them.

"The general public has no clue what goes on in these halls," he told her. "That is something you know as well as I do. The information in that article is missing the important facts- facts which should have been sealed, facts that only you would have access to." Accusing Tamis of ratting him out to the press was a fine line to walk. Ackerly did not think that she would do it- it would compromise her own position, as well as his, but if she had let the information leak to anyone else- he wouldn't put it past them.

There were a lot of hard feelings in the auror office. Since his promotion to senior auror he had heard, seen, and experienced a lot of bitter rivalry from the others in level two. They lumped him in with the likes of Harcroft- and Ackerly resented it. He was more competent (in his opinion). The only mistakes he had made was not being able to go undetected with his werewolf cases. Even so- with those kills- they had been good kills. They had not been entirely malicious- there had been a legal reason for each and every one of them, which was why he hadn't been kicked off of the force.

"As far as I am concerned, this is a non-issue that will blow over whenever the prophet has some new victim to terrorize. Things like this always blow over." There was less conviction in his tone when he said it- but he desperately wanted to believe it. Ackerly didn't want his career to be prematurely ended by some idiotic reporter who didnt' even have the whole story.

“I am sure,” the Head Auror replied indifferently as the man admitted to receiving fan mail of his own.

She pretended not to notice his passive aggressive tone. Or the way his shoulders stiffened just slightly or how he seemed to gain a few more inches as he defensively straightened into his full height. Tamis Raynor had been serving as the Head of the Corps for nearly half a decade now, her promotion had stirred a lot of hostility having been promoted over many more experienced candidates, and many of those candidates had yet to forgive her. She strongly suspected Ackerly Fox was one of them.

Whether the words in the article were true or not were irrelevant. If Fox was half the greasy creature the Prophet was libelling against the man, he would no longer be an Auror in her employment. But the public would believe it, whether it had backing or not. That was the problem.

The gray of her eyes steeled as he continued his defense. It was very near an accusation.  The day Tamis Raynor sourced the Press would be the day the world ended. “That would be why those facts are missing.” She released the letter, letting it float back down on top of the pile consuming her desk, and straightened. The pointed look she gave him lacked any mirth, “Your closet had skeletons, Fox. It does not take documentation to find them, anyone with a half competent memory could have produced that information.” Her tone did not grow more hostile, but she spoke purposefully, “I would be careful about proclaiming accusations of your own, if I were you.”

However much Raynor was aware she was not exactly Ackerly Fox’s favorite individual, she would not discredit him. Level Two’s numbers were dwindling enough for that reason without needing assistance.

“Five years ago it would have blown over,” she agreed. “Gawain Robards was murdered by an imperioused Auror. The blame for the murder of a seventeen year old boy is on our hands. There is an entire organized crime movement out there that, in the eyes of the public, is making a laughing stock of this department. The debate of werewolf legislation has thrown England into a political battlefield and according to that article the Aurors are tolerating immoral conduct towards lycanthropes.”

She crossed her arms.  “Yes, I am quite sure it will “blow over”.”

"I haven't accused anyone of anything," he said flatly. Technically he hadn't. "I would assume you are intelligent enough not to further the incompetent reputation of your department by discussing details of my past with a reporter." If Ackerly had been the head auror, however, they would not have such a reputation. He was a very skilled auror, he did a good job, and even if he did have some prejudice against werewolves, it had no bearing on his ability to do what he was supposed to. Ackerly did not kill every werewolf he came into contact with. But if they were breaking the rules, attacking the public, they deserved a just sentence.

Her little tirade did nothing to improve his opinion of her. "There is nothing immoral about dishing out justice for a rogue wolf who has attacked an innocent person. Every werewolf I have killed has deserved it. And I will stand by that even if you toss me out into the street on my arse. If a lycanthrope doesn't have enough decency to register and ensure the public is safe from their disease, then I can hardly be blamed when it becomes my job to put them down because of that. Besides- I haven't even killed a werewolf since 2007, and that werewolf killed a five year old little boy."

"Since this debate has become a real issue- since I've been promoted to senior auror, I haven't harmed one nasty hair on their filthy, half-breed heads. I've let the WCU deal with them- I've even tried to work with those over-glorified dog catchers. And we see how well that has turned out. Bagnold railroaded me- and we were on to something. Those daytime attacks aren't normal- that's a serious case, that is something that needs cooperation of multiple departments if we're going to keep the people of our world safe. But apparently he's too full of himself to grasp that concept. When more people die the blood is on his hands."

There was more he wanted to say- but Ackerly knew his hostility was going to put him on thin ice with the woman. Challenging her authority was likely not very wise, but somebody needed to make sure she didn't answer just to the press. "You don't answer to the prophet, Raynor. Even if the entire wizarding world hates every bone in my body and would see my head on a pike- my job is to protect them. And that is exactly what I do and what I have been doing since I graduated Hogwarts."

Ackerly fell silent for another moment before letting out a quiet, genuine sigh. "I have a son out there, Tamis," it was not often he brought him up. Ackerly knew his parenting skills were lacking- but he still loved Baxter. "He's only thirteen. But do you think that matters to a werewolf who hasn't taken the proper potions if they happen to run across him?"