Chapter 1
There were many ways Loid Forger felt his mission, Operation Strix, could end, but he never imagined it would turn out like this. Not in a million years could he imagine that he would be here today, about to give away his beloved daughter -who was most certainly not just part of the mission, hadn't been almost from the start, if he was honest- to the man she loved. As he paced the hallway waiting for the ladies to finish prepping and the ceremony to commence, he just hoped he could put his years of spying into good use and not make an absolute fool of himself by weeping through the whole event.
"Anya, darling, are you almost ready?" Yor called out from the hallway as she made her way in. She was followed by the perpetually elegant Narcissa, carrying her beautiful young daughter, Hyacinth, in her arms. The young Lady of House Malfoy had insisted on joining Yor as soon as she had arrived at Prince Manor. At the centre of the rose, cream, and white room stood Anya staring at the full-length mirror. Beside her, her Maid of Honor, Becky, and Lily and Rory, two of the lucky Bridesmaids, fluttered about, fluffing her dress and making small twitches here and there.
"Oh, my dear Anya, you look beautiful," Yor gushed at the sight of her daughter in off-white. The dress the girl wore was covered in delicate lace detailing and pretty little pearls and diamonds that sparkled when the light hit them just right. She was truly a vision of a bride.
"Indeed," Narcissa remarked non-committedly, her daughter hummed softly beside her as if in agreement with the previous statements. This prompted Cissy to fuss over Hyacinth’s soft blonde curls, the same shade as her own, and rearrange the little girl's flower crown, a mix of white and spring green. It was not that Narcissa disagreed with her aunt's statement, for her younger cousin looked beautiful, but she had been feeling pretty discombobulated about this whole affair and the sight before her seemed to make her grow more anxious. It was almost a mirror-image of Anya's own reactions to her wedding, not that Cissy realised.
"Where are Emma and Pandora?" Narcissa asked instead of bringing the matter up as curiously looked around for them. Although Anya had offered Bridesmaids positions to herself, Andromeda, and even young Genevive, all girls had declined for different reasons. Although both Cissy and Andy agreed to let their daughters play flower girls as they would walk down beside a bridesmaid each. Even so, Narcissa knew she would have her hands full controlling her husband Lucius and helping WISE, which she had recently joined with Andromeda after much protest from Yor and Loid. Likewise, Andy would be busy gathering intel too, and taking care of her rambunctious and mischievous daughter, for she couldn't expect any of the Bridesmaids to be able to fully control her wild-child.
As for Genie, she was still embarrassed around Reynauld Blackbell and preferred to stay as far away from the spotlight as possible. Especially knowing that he would be there with the wife he loved so much and risked it all for, the former Diana Greengrass. That whole disaster with their broken engagements almost got blamed on poor Andromeda for "putting silly ideas in their heads". It had required the intervention of the Forger-Princes and a few others to convince the families to allow the marriage and dissolve the previous engagements.
Thankfully, once the Heads of their Houses realised that the partners they had chosen for their children were avid supporters of Tom Riddle even when everyone knew the man was nothing more than a lowly, orphaned halfblood, they had easily agreed to break the engagements with their respective partners and allow their marriage. Of course, knowing all this just made Genevive more eager to hide from his presence or risk further embarrassment for her previous behaviour.
"Making sure the boys are getting ready," Anya replied as she messed with her veil, trying to reposition it.
"I see," Cissy added, as she placed her wiggling daughter down to let her explore the room. The toddler moved around and Narcissa stepped forward to help Anya as the other girls kept busy with the dress and Yor announced she'd look for some hairpins to help. Clearly years of marriage to a halfblood had made her become more accustomed to doing some things the Muggle way but Narcissa appreciated the opportunity this offered her now.
"Are you certain about this?" Narcissa whispered in Anya's ear. Although she had willingly sacrificed for her family, and thankfully through the years, been able to not only mould her husband into a better man but actually make him help her make the kind of changes to wixen society she dreamed of, she had to make sure Anya knew what she was doing.
"Of course," Anya squeezed her cousin's hand appreciatively. The older blonde was more like a big sister to her now. "Although this will help our families and plans, it's not why I'm doing this. I truly love him, Cissy."
"Then, I wish you all the happiness," Narcissa replied with a genuine smile on her face.
Damian sighed as he messed with his jacket collar once more. He couldn't help but feel anxious. And it wasn't even about the actual act of getting married. No, marriage to Anya was a life-long dream coming true but unfortunately he couldn't avoid being forced to follow Desmond nuptial traditions on this day, forcing him to have his horrible brother, Demetrius, as his Best Man. At least Becky knew how to manage him after decades of having to deal with her terrible cousin.
"Ready, Boss?" Emile joked as he patted Damian on the back and thankfully distracting him from his cynical thoughts. It had taken many years but slowly, surely -and through Anya's continued insistence and resistance- Emile had actually grown into a decent person and friend.
"You guys really still call him that?" Severus snorted. Beside him, Regulus gave out a chuckle as he fixed his cufflink.
"Of course, he's our fearless leader," Ewen joked too, as he placed his arm around Damian's shoulders to lock him in place as a joke.
Anya moved softly but nervously, her skirts swaying about her. She was on her way to the door separating her from Damian and their guests and the rest of their life together. As she got closer, she saw her mama fixing her papa's tie. Seeing her approach, Yor smiled softly and turned her Loid to look at their daughter. The moment his eyes saw the beautiful bride in front of him, Loid froze. Who would have thought a chance encounter over a decade ago would lead to this moment? He felt his throat close and he almost choked on air. His little girl, his beautiful green-eyed baby, was all grown up. He wasn't ready for this.
"Anya," he breathed out, "You look, you look like a vision, sweetheart," he added, genuinely.
Anya felt the tears forming in her eyes, especially as she caught a glance of his thoughts and memories. If just this was going to make her cry, then the wedding was already off to a bad start. Her makeup would definitely not survive the night.
"Oh, Papa," she breathed out and reached to hug him, grateful Becky was still on duty to take care of her bouquet.
"Oh, my little girl, why did you have to grow so fast?" He whispered, tears forming in his eyes as he hugged her once more.
"Ready?" Becky came back, and handed Anya her bouquet. She frowned as she carefully took in their faces and tsked at Loid, "Really bad form, Professor, making her cry like that."
Waving her wand, she quickly refreshed Anya's make-up. Anya thanked her but before she could add anything else, the nuptial march began and Becky moved forward, ready to walk in with her least favourite cousin.
"Ready, my darling girl?" Loid asked, squeezing her hand.
"As ready as I will ever be," Anya replied, squeezing his arm back. Once the rest of the wedding party made their way in, they stepped forward towards the double doors separating the hallway from the aisle she would walk down in moments. As they stepped closer, the doors that separated her from her new life, her new forever, opened one last time and with a deep breath and holding tightly to her father, she took the first steps into her new journey.