Lorin Finch

[Adrianne Finch]

Adrianne was sat in one of the chairs in her cramped little home.
Larissa was upstairs with a load of school books, preparing to go back to school within the next couple of days.
She had been staying with Adrianne for two months now and Adrianne had had to contact Mrs. Gellantara to inform her of her daughter's whereabouts.
Adrianne's bump had grown considerably. She was sitting alone in the living room with the daily prophet open in her lap and Ted, Larissa's raven, sitting on the arm rest.
That was when Adrianne felt something thump loudly.
She doubled up in pain and let out a loud gasp.
Adrianne stood up to stumble to the doorway where she stood in shock, leaning on the doorframe for support as her waters broke.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa was upstairs, her head buried in a book of Arithmancy- She wanted a head start for the up and coming year.
It was then that she heard Adrianne give a loud gasp.
Larissa dropped her book into her back and headed down the small and twisty staircase.
She was just in time to see Adrianne's waters break.
Larissa was suddenly panicking. "We need to get you to St. Mungo's.." Ioan wasn't there. He had gone out for the evening.
Larissa supported Adrianne to the front door. Larissa was really concerned- She wasn't sure whether or not Adrianne was in the right sort of condition to make her own way to St Mungo's.. But it was only a short way along the road- They just had to get out of Bleak street and into Obsidian.
"Come on, Adrianne." Larissa said, getting Adrianne to use her as support as the two of them stumbled through the front door and out into Bleak Street.

 

[Adrianne Finch]

Adrianne managed to make it to St. Mungo's, waddling with Larissa supporting her along the way.
But the moment Adrianne stepped inside St. Mungo's, she was screaming.
A group of Healers quickly led her and Larissa to the nearest room with a bed where Adrianne lay down, screaming.
"Give me something!" She shouted angrily at a male healer who stood almost idly.
Adrianne received a calming draught and something to relieve the pain which she quickly took as she felt a sudden movement.
She reached out to squeeze Larissa's hand.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa had followed the group of healers to the room and she watched as Adrianne was given something for the pain.
She was surprised when she suddenly felt Adrianne grab her hand to squeeze. "Ow!" Larissa yelped as her fingers cracked loudly.
"Someone remind me to kill Ioan." Larissa groaned as Adrianne squeezed her hand once more.
One healer- who seemed to be in charge- was at the end of the bed where Adrianne lay.
It took Larissa a moment before she realized what the healer was doing- She was delivering Adrianne's baby!
Larissa gulped as the woman asked Adrianne to push.. This meant Larissa had her fingers crushed once more.
This time, a loud crack informed Larissa that her left index finger was now broken.

 

[Adrianne Finch]

Adrianne could feel beads of sweat running down her face. She was cold and hot both at the same time.
Her eyes shut as she gave a final hard push, truly crushing Larissa's fingers and wishing it was Ioan there instead.
There was a moment of bright white pain striking Adrianne's head and she was temporarily deafened.

Adrianne awoke to an odd scene. She could hear first of all- a couple of people were talking nearby, a cool palm rested on her head. It was this which seemed to be helping her to open her eyes.
It was Larissa's hand.
Adrianne's eyes slid to where Larissa sat and she gave her a weak smile but Larissa didn't seem to be watching Adrianne- Her eyes were on a shallow cot in the corner.
Although Adrianne was now fully conscious, she remained silent.

 

[Larissa Sedgwick]

Larissa's fingers had been healed during the half hour Adrianne had been unconscious.
She was resting her cool hand on Adrianne's forehead and was staring at the newborn baby.
Now she would have to leave Adrianne's house and go home or there would not be room for the baby- She had, after all, been sleeping in its room.

Larissa felt a twitch beneath her fingers but did not turn, instead she continued to watch the baby as she spoke softly.
"It's a boy." Larissa said emotionlessly, "six pounds, five ounces."
Larissa then turned to face Adrianne.
"You're going to kick me out now, aren't you?"

 

[Adrianne Finch]

Adrianne sighed.
She had got used to Larissa being at her house but there wasn't enough room.
Adrianne knew how much Larissa didn't want to go home and so she replied, her voice a little weak, "I will help you get a room at the Leaky Cauldron... Thank you."
She tried to nod in the direction of her newborn baby, "Thank you for watching him."
Her eyes were pale and Adrianne managed to mutter "Little Lorin Finch", smile and fall asleep.
She didn't doubt Larissa would be gone by the time she next woke up.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Hours after he left, Ioan arrived back home. "Adri...I'm back" he called loudly, but heard no answer. Walking into the sitting room, Ioan looked around and wondered where she was. He made his way through the entire house, not seeing a sign of anyone. Where the hell is she? Ioan thought a little annoyed at the fact that he had no idea where either her or Larissa were. Just then another thought hit him as he realized how close Adrianne was her to her due date. "No, it can't be" Ioan muttered as he left the house again.

Once he had reached St.Mungo's, Ioan asked a healer whether an Adrianne Sedgwick had come in and he was directed to her room. Ioan walked to the room slowly, knowing that Adrianne would be furious with him for missing the birth of their child. He conjured up a bouquet of flowers, partially as a congratulations but mostly as an apology for missing this. Just before he reached the room, another thought hit him. I'm a dad now, Ioan thought and then began to laugh as he shook his head in disbelief.

Finally composed, Ioan stepped into the room. Adrianne had her back to him, so he couldn't tell if she was awake or not. Frankly, Ioan was a bit afraid to call out to her and wake her up. Instead, he looked around to see if their child was in the room as well. Ioan saw a cot in the corner on the other side of Adrianne and he quietly tried to walk around her bed so that he could see the baby within.

 

[Adrianne Finch]

Adrianne was just waking up once more.
Larissa was gone as she had expected but she hadn't expected to see someone where Lorin babbled happily.
She sat up and forced herself to wake up. "Oi-" She said, still unable to completely tell who it was by her son but slowly her eyes focussed and she saw Ioan.
"Ioan.." At first, Adrianne's face seemed to glow with happiness to see the man, then she remembered he had missed the birth and so she quickly changed her expression to one of annoyance, folding her arms across her chest.
"He's called Lorin Conor Finch. He weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces and he doesn't have my blood red eyes."
Adrianne didn't have her wand with her. Fortunately for Ioan she'd left it at home.
"Larissa had to hold my hand.. I broke one of her fingers and gave her some serious bruises... It's a pity it wasn't you there instead or I could have given you three broken fingers."
Adrianne smiled darkly to herself.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan stared into the cot at the baby, but didn't touch because he was afraid that he would make the baby cry. As he did so, he heard a stirring behind him and turned to see Adrianne wake up. He watched her warily as she at first seemed happy and then quickly became annoyed. With a sigh, Ioan listened to her without comment as she told him their baby's name. Lorin Conor Finch, Ioan thought with a sense of pride, that does have a nice ring to it.

When she began to tell him that she wished he would have been there just so she could have hurt him, he shook his head. "Must we always fight?" Ioan said in exasperation and picked up the bouquet he had placed on a chair. "These are for you" he said with an eyeroll as he held them out to her and added, "I'm sorry, ok?" Ioan thought that with the birth of their child, Adrianne's anger toward him for getting her pregnant would also disappear, but it seemed that he was sorely mistaken. He brushed one hand through his hair and turned to look at little Lorin again as he cooed quietly in the corner.

 

[Adrianne Finch]

"Well.." Adrianne said, receiving the bouquet, "I suppose as you've turned up I shall have to forgive you.." she was not smiling but neither was she frowning. Adrianne was deep in thought.
"Where have you been these last few days?" Adrianne watched Ioan. He had been absent a lot lately and some nights he didn't even come home... Adrianne thought she knew why but in her heart of hearts she had come to like.. even love Ioan. She didn't want to believe something like that even if the facts were staring her in the face.

Adrianne stood up quickly. She appeared to be wearing a long white hospital gown and she had no recollection of changing into it. But Adrianne floated along the floor to her newborn son who she swept in her arms.
He continued to babble happily.
Adrianne kissed the top of his head before turning to Ioan, "would you like to hold him?"
She handed Lorin to Ioan.

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan stared at Adrianne as if he had no idea what she was talking about. " What do you mean?" he asked her and then added,
"I've been with friends trying to enjoy my last few days of not having a kid" he finished off sounding a little defensive and realizing that he had a ready made excuse staring him in the face. In truth, he had been going out a lot, especially as Adrianne's mood swings grew worse. He had grown to really like Adrianne, but he still needed time on his own. Ioan sighed because he knew that Adrianne would eventually begin to ask questions, though he hoped it would have been a while longer before that happened.

When Adrianne stood up and walked toward Lorin, he assumed that the subject was closed at least for now. He watched as she picked the baby up and then kissed the baby. It created a stir in his stomach, and Ioan found himself more attracted to Adrianne then he had ever been. He smiled as he watched mother and child interact. When she asked whether he wanted to hold Lorin, Ioan didn't know what to say. Before he knew it, Lorin was in his arms and Ioan could do nothing more than stare at the baby.

The baby wriggled, and Ioan nervously shifted his grip to adjust his hold on Lorin. A second later, the baby's cooed shifted in pitch and Ioan looked up at Adrianne quickly. "Is he hungry?" he asked nervously.

 

[Adrianne Finch]

Adrianne cast a sideways look at the baby.
She then smiled and looked up at Ioan and into his eyes. "No," she said softly, "He likes you."

---

 

[Ioan Finch]

Ioan stared down at Lorin, who had his eyes closed and his fist in his mouth. He smiled back at Adrianne and they shared an unusually warm moment with each other.

After a few moments, he walked slowly over to Adrianne, trying not to jostle the baby too much and then held the baby out to her. "Here you go Adri" he said softly.