(no subject)
Fin awoke in the middle of the night, as she seemed to be doing more and more often lately, only to find her bed already half-empty. Not that that was especially out of the ordinary, as Alfred did often stay up late (far later than he ought to, considering how early he had to wake up) when he was working on something. But it was exactly that frequency that worried her. He only stayed up when something was giving him trouble.
Quietly, she padded out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where a faint light was flickering. As she'd suspected, Alfred was sitting at the kitchen table, wide awake. However, instead of working on something, as she'd guessed, he was simply twirling his wand in circles around his fingers, seemingly deep in thought.
"Alfred?" she asked gently. Alfred looked up, startled. His wand was immediately in his hand, tense, but he relaxed somewhat when he realized it was her, going back to twirling it around his fingers.
"Fin! What're you doing up?" He sounded slightly frazzled.
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Fin lit her wand as well, adding some extra light to the dim room. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. Go back to sleep, I'll be there in a minute."
"Alfred." She frowned, taking a seat beside him at the table and laying her hand on top of his. "What's wrong?"
Alfred slipped his hand away.
"I know you got up to pee."
"I can hold it."
"I just-" Alfred sighed and cast his eyes away. "I was just thinking about stuff. About the baby." He sounded apprehensive, and something inside Fin twisted. Apart from the jitters they both felt about not knowing what they were doing, Alfred had never expressed anything but unabashed excitement about the baby since the beginning of her pregnancy. Was he suddenly having second thoughts?
"…What about the baby?" she asked hesitantly.
"You never knew what your parents were, did you? I mean, if they were magic or muggles?"
At those words, Fin's expression hardened. "I didn't think that mattered to you."
"It doesn't! It's just-"
Fin pushed her chair back and stood up. "I thought that's what you're fighting against, Alfred. People who want to make things all about blood-"
Alfred leapt up as well, sending his chair clattering to the floor. "That's what I'm worried about! Fin!" He reached for her hand, but she drew them in toward her chest. "Fin, these people- you could be a target. The baby could be a target. Fin." He reached for her hand again, grabbing it and pulling it toward himself. His eyes were wide and clearly full of concern. "What if the baby doesn't have magic?"
For a long moment, Fin could only stare at him. Had he really just…?
She found her tongue again and wrenched her hand away, resting them on her hips as she glared at him. "Alfred, you are a complete idiot." And she turned on her heel and left. Behind her she heard Alfred's wand clatter to the floor, followed by a muttered oath, but she didn't turn around.
She was still awake whenever it was that Alfred finally came to bed. She rolled over when she heard him at the door, curling in on herself and scooting closer to the edge of the bed. Alfred undressed and crawled in beside her, tentatively putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Fin?"
But she feigned sleep and didn't respond. After a moment he sighed, pulling away and rolling over to his side of the bed.
"Well… g'night."