Yor watched as her husband paced around their bedroom in Prince Manor. They were visiting for Eamonn's birthday and given that it landed on a Saturday, he'd asked the whole family to come and join him for the entire weekend. Of course, they'd easily agreed to come but Loid had gotten an urgent call from a friend and well, let's just say, his reappearance in their room had caused Yor some shock. She had been sitting waiting for him on this Friday night with a book and by the cosy, roaring fire when it happened. Instead of his usual blonde hair and blue eyes, an older man with long red hair and brown eyes had walked in through their private floo. The one only they, Anya, and Eamonn, as the head of the house, had access to. The one that led directly to the sitting room connected to their bedroom.
"So, you're a metamorphmagus and you had to help your friend with an emergency that necessitated a disguise? Are you working for the Order?" Yor asked, pronouncing the last word in disgust. She may be willing to have Dumbledore as her boss for the sake of the children but she was utterly disgusted with him and his desire to raise children to be his soldiers. Especially after what he had done to her and her friends.
"No, not quite. I work for WISE. We occasionally work with the Order but we would never follow Dumbledore blindly and we're not in the business of training children to be soldiers," Loid spat out, as disgusted with Dumbledore as his wife was.
"Good," Yor nodded, wanting to do as little as possible with the manipulative old man, "So then what happened?"
"Well, Sylvia, who is actually a friend, ssked me to tail some suspicious meetings that were going on," Loid began but Yor cut him off.
"Wait, Sylvia Sherwood?" she asked, vaguely remembering the older, red-headed woman. If she recalled correctly, she had been a Ravenclaw about a year above Loid and one of the few people he hung out with during his time at Hogwarts. The very reminder of her made her feel a little jealous but she tried to tame it down. "How has she been?"
"Yes and she's doing well. She has a lovely daughter a couple years older than our Anya but sent the girl to Beauxbatons so she could be with her cousins," Loid said dismissively. Yor internally sighed a breath of relief and couldn't stop her heart from fluttering at him calling his daughter "theirs" even if she legally was. His wording was endearing and reassuring.
"Well, we had to confirm if they were planning something. Whether they're recruiting or making political moves, they're both equally dangerous. As you know, there has been an increase of stricter anti-creature laws going on," Loid continued, unaware of her inner turmoil and subsequent relief.
"And I'm assuming that your unique skill makes you their greatest spy. I'm also assuming not many know about it," Yor said.
"Yes, apart from you, only Eileen, Frankie, Sylvia, and Fiona know. Of course my parents knew but they're gone now, so they don't count. Anya knows, obviously, but she doesn't know that I'm a spy and neither does Eileen," Loid replied.
Yor nodded. It made sense that the only people who would know were his cousin who he adored as a sister, his best friend, his former roommate, and his daughter who could've inherited his power. But did Anya inherit his power and who was Fiona and why did she know?
"And did Anya inherit your abilities?" Yor asked, recalling the pink hair the girl had sported for months.
Loid sighed and sat beside her on the love seat, "We're actually not sure. She's been able to change her hair to a few colours but they never lasted long excepting the pink and with everything else going on, we haven't been able to try other things to check. There is a chance she may have just a bit of the metamorphmagus ability or that it was simply some accidental magic."
"I see," Yor nodded before prompting, "And Fiona is?"
"Oh, Fiona Frost. She went to Durmstrang so you've probably never met her. She's my partner in most of my missions so of course she knows. I do trust her obviously, have known her since we were kids. My dad and hers were good friends," Loid explained.
Yor looked at him, that feeling like bitter jealousy growing on her chest and the pit of her stomach again. But more importantly, she thought about Loid and his mission and all of the children that could be saved by his actions.
"I want to know more about what you do as WISE and your missions and I want to join but I will never work for Dumbledore again, at least outside of Hogwarts," Yor said seriously. She would do anything to protect the children but especially Anya and if she had to join a secret organisation for it, she would. Loid looked at his wife curiously, desperately wanting to ask about the last bit she had grumbled out but given he had may secrets he still kept from her, he didn't think it wise. It was clear that there was plenty about his wife that he didn't know yet.
"So, the wifey finally caught you, huh?" Sylvie said, a slight smirk on her face. She almost sounded like she was teasing him.
"Yes, she did. She knows everything now and wants to join," Loid said, not falling for her bait.
"Well, that's good. She's an excellent defence master and has good stamina. She was one of the best beaters the Hufflepuff team ever had," Sylvia added.
"How do you even know that?" Loid asked with a raised eyebrow. He'd never paid much attention to other students at Hogwarts that weren't either in Slytherin or his year mates and unfortunately couldn't remember much about Yor back when they were students.
"Because some of us actually paid attention to the "worthless Hufflepuffs" as we were also the "boring, nerdy Ravenclaws"," Sylvia said mockingly.
Loid rolled his eyes, he had nothing against any of the houses, he just liked keeping to himself and focusing on school more.
"Very well, bring her to our next meeting. I'm sure we can find something she can help us with by then," Sylvia added with a chuckle at his antics. Loid simply rolled his eyes once more and nodded.
"Also, if you ever wish to let Eileen in on the loop, we could definitely use the help of one of the most proficient Potions Masters the United Kingdom has ever known," Sylvia added. She remembered the older talented woman from her own days at Hogwarts and if she could recruit even more talent into their team, the better.
"She's still figuring things out," Loid replied, eyes narrowed. Ever since Severus started at Hogwarts, Eileen had felt more and more uneasy at the idea of remaining with her cruel husband and Loid was hoping to manage to convince her in the course of this school year to finally leave the odious man and return to the wizarding world were he and the Prince family could protect her. He definitely was not about to try and bring her into WISE as well.
"It was just a suggestion," she shrugged back. She knew her best friend too well to fight him on this. Loid simply nodded back and quickly left her to plan their next moves with their newest recruit.
"And that's pretty much what we do. I understand Loid explained the basics to you before coming here but I thought best to give you my own overview," Sylvia said with a pleasant smile on her face.
"I see," Yor nodded politely.
"Any questions?" Sylvia asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You do work with Order sometimes, correct?" Sylvia nodded so Yor kept going, grumbling, "Very well, I do hope, however, that does not mean I have to take orders from Dumbledore. I don't agree with that man and his child armies It's bad enough that I have to work for him."
She still remembered being young and naïve and sixteen and falling for his trap and going against her parents' wishes. She remembered her friends falling for his trap too and how dearly that cost them. She hoped that if she helped WISE and remained a professor at Hogwarts, she could avoid such a fate for other kids too.
"Anything else you want to know?" Sylvia asked.
"No, but I would like to make a request. If possible, I would like to be Loid's partner on his missions," Yor said, trying to stay cool and not show the annoyance she felt about Loid working with this mysterious Fiona.
"Yor?" Loid called out to her. They were both panting, trying to catch their breath after a close call with some of the DE.
"Yes?" Yor asked, holding her side where she felt a stitch.
"I think, I think maybe you should keep training Anya as self-defence only, of course,... and I think I might just join you," Loid said. He'd been impressed seeing how well she had held her own against those thugs and without her help, they would have been screwed. He could definitely learn some tricks from her. He hadn't wanted Yor to keep training Anya after the little incident she had had in Duelling Club with the Desmond boy but clearly it would be best to have their daughter well protected.
"Well, sure, but only if you promise to show us your tricks too," Yor replied with a smile.
"Oh, should we train Severus too, you think?" she added as an afterthought.
Loid nodded thoughtfully, "Probably should train Lily too. Given the state of affairs, that girl could be in serious danger."
Yor nodded with a soft smile. She always loved how thoughtful her husband was.
"Yor?" Loid called out to her once more. They had managed to apparate home now, and so they sat together, exhausted on their bedroom floor.
"Yes?" she asked again, now a little concerned. Loid rarely repeated himself so much.
"Thank you… thank you for trusting me," Loid replied, leaning his head against her shoulder.
Yor stiffened, even in the best of times Loid was not this affectionate. Something was definitely wrong.
"Loid, tell me what's wrong? Where are you hurt?" Yor asked in panic.
"Just, just my side, nothing too big," Loid said, slurring his words a bit. Yor twisted her neck as best she could and stared horrified as she saw blood staining his shirt and hand.
"Anya, Yor, No!" he screamed in terror before suddenly sitting up, eyes jumping open in fear and horror.
"Loid, Loid! Please calm down," Yor urged, jumping from her seat near their bed. She had been holding constant vigil of him through the night. As soon as she'd realised his injuries, Loid had basically collapsed in her arms and so she'd hurried to send a Patronus to Sylvia asking for help. She'd sent Frankie and an unknown lady who was a trained Healer that worked closely with WISE. Thankfully she was able to fix him right up but said he needed rest to recover and had dosed him with plenty of blood-replenishing potions as well as dreamless sleep but it was clear that the last one had worn off by now.
"Hey, hey, breathe, Loid, breathe," Yor said, climbing into the bed beside him and gently placing one hand on his shoulder and another on his chest to calm him down. "I'm okay and Anya is too. Once you've calmed down I'm sure we can Floo call the Blackbells so you can see for yourself."
Loid managed to calm his breathing down enough to answer, "No, it's okay, I don't want her to worry." The 'I don't want her to ask questions we can't answer' was implied. In fact, it was a stroke of good luck that Anya had gone to spend the weekend with the Blackbells for the 85th birthday gala of the Blackbell Matriarch.
"Well, we're fine, dear. It's yourself that you should be worried about. That was a nasty cutting curse. Why didn't you tell me you'd been hit?" Yor frowned, her face a mix of worry and annoyance at the fact that he hadn't told her immediately.
"I honestly didn't realise at first," Loid said sheepishly. The adrenaline had really overcome the pain, "It wasn't until after we apparated that I felt it."
Yor nodded. It wasn't the first time someone didn't realise they were hit until later, especially when pumped up in adrenaline and fear. But the fact that they had apparated with him like that, oh he could have been split or bled to death and the very thought frightened her.
"Well, promise me you'll be more careful next time, at least," Yor said, her hands still on his chest as if to make sure he was still breathing, that his heart was still beating. She couldn't lose him. She wasn't exactly sure when it had happened, how like Yuri before them, Loid and Anya had become the most important people in her life. But it happened and all she could do was pray that they remained safe through this mess. Because even in her naivety, she could sense a war brewing.
"I promise so long as you do the same," Loid said, grabbing a hold of her hands in his and leaning his forehead against her. He felt comfort and warmth as her presence surrounded him and that sweet vanilla smell she always wore engulfed him. He didn't want this moment to end. Didn't want to process the thoughts and feelings he was having because he knew he would freak out and screw it all up as this had never been part of the plan. Instead, he held her closer and let himself be encompassed by everything that was Yor Forger.