A/N: Hello, all. Here's Chapter 2, Matthew's Birthday. I hope this story is good enough, and I really, really hope that as this story advances it will get inside you and touch your heart as it did mine.
Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me. I am just the girl who is putting in words the beautiful and tragic story of the real life Matthew.
Chapter 2:
Harry and Hermione woke up with the sun, refreshed by sleep and excited about Matthew's birthday party. They got showered and dressed before walking hand in hand down the hallway to their only child's room. The sun, now steadily rising in the sky, sent a beam of heaven onto Matt's sleeping form. His black hair was rumpled like his daddy's, and his little arm curled up to rest beneath his chin. He looked so peaceful and perfect that his parents could do nothing but watch him for several minutes. Finally, they walked as one to his little racecar bed and knelt beside it.
"Matthew," Hermione said. "Baby, wake up! It's your third birthday!" Matthew's eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked for a few moments before sitting up abruptly.
"My birthday! Do I get cake?"
Harry laughed and ruffled his son's hair even more. "Yes, you'll get cake later at your party! Uncle Ron and Aunt Luna are coming with Scarlett and Rhett, and Aunt Ginny and Uncle Neville are coming with Maureen and Jacob. Then we'll eat cake and you'll get to play and open presents and eat more cake and-"
Hermione laughed. "Harry, it's Matthew's birthday, not yours." She smiled, secretly adoring his childish enthusiasm. "Come on, Matthew. I'm going to make pancakes just for you this morning."
Matthew's eyes widened. "Will you make pancake people?"
"Of course I will." Matthew stood up in his bed, excited. Harry picked him up and swung him around. Matthew laughed and Harry put him down between him and Hermione. He took each of his little hands in their big ones and looked at them, waiting to go to breakfast. Hermione's eyes, however, were riveted to Matthew's arms.
"Mommy, what's wrong?"
"Matthew, what did you to your arm? Omigosh, Harry, he's bruised all around his arm!"
Harry knelt down to examine. He gently pulled back the long sleeved shirt that Matthew had slept in and gasped. There were several dark, purplish bruises in various places on his arms.
"Matt, what did you do to your arms?"
"I dunno. They don't hurt that bad. Can we go eat pancakes?"
"Hold on just a bit." He pulled the shirt off Matt and found three small bruises; one near his neck, one near his belly button, and one on his back. Upon relieving him of his pajama pants, he discovered a small spread of reddish rash area on his inner thighs. "Son, what happened to you?"
"I dunno. The only thing I've done is fly and eat Lucky Charms and play with Gromit and took a bath and played hide n go seek with you and mommy. Why?"
Hermione spoke up. "Are your hands and knees still hurting you?"
"Uh-huh."
"Sweetie, I don't know how to help you! Let's go down and get you some food and then we'll figure out what to do."
"Do I have to skip my birthday?"
"Oh, heavens no! No one will make you miss your birthday."
"Good. I like cake."
Hermione laughed and hugged Matthew gently. "Let's go make pancake men."
They walked hand in hand to the kitchen, but Harry stayed in his son's room. He pulled himself from the floor and sat on the little blue car bed. Something was wrong with his precious son, that was for sure. But had there been any sign previously that things were wrong? Matthew had been getting worn out easily, but Harry had just attributed that to the results of being a two year old boy. And Matthew's gums had been swollen to the point of bleeding if brushed too hard.
Harry sighed and put his hand on his hands, raking his fingers through the hair that he shared with Matthew. He felt horrible. If something was wrong with Matthew, he should have realized it earlier. But, surely… He hadn't noticed before now, so apparently Matthew was okay. Harry was a good daddy; he would know in his heart if something were wrong. Reassured by this thought, he went down to the kitchen to help in the pancake making.
When he reached the stovetop, Hermione was standing in front of the stove with an apron on, holding little Matthew up to let him pour his batter into a human form with a hat. Harry came up beside them and watched Matthew and his look of concentration. Harry smiled at the lopsided little man. Hermione put Matthew back down and smiled feebly at Harry.
"Daddy, would you like to make a man?"
Harry smiled. "Sure! I'll name him Mr. Brown. What is your man's name, Matthew?"
"Shaun. Like Shaun the Sheep."
"That's a great name! Go on and sit down, and when Shaun's finished baking, we'll bring him to you to eat."
"'K." He trotted over to the table and wiggled into his little chair. Seeing some forks and spoons on the table, he began to stage a sculpture with them, his little innocent mind seeing them as dinosaurs, centaurs, and trolls; Hermione and Harry only seeing silverware. They smiled at him and turned back to the pancake people. Hermione looked down, fixated on the burner.
"'Mione? You okay?" Harry looked at his teary eyed wife.
"N-no!" She sighed. "I don't know what to do about Matthew."
"Something's wrong, I know. But today's his birthday, Hermione. I think we should let him have an excellent day and then we'll take him to St. Mungo's tomorrow."
Hermione flipped a person and looked at him. "Alright, I suppose. After he eats, let's get him bathed, and we'll look for anything else on him. Then we'll get him ready for his party."
"Sounds good." Harry leaned down and kissed Hermione soundly, only breaking away when a little pancake man began to smell overcooked. Hermione flipped the little man onto a plate and took him to Matthew's plate.
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After a nice breakfast, Harry took Matthew upstairs to give him a bath. When all Matthew's clothes were gone, Harry was relieved to see nothing worse than he had seen before. He gave him his bath quickly and got him dressed and ready for the day. Right as Harry pulled on a little blue shirt with a rocket on it, the doorbell rang. Matthew ran downstairs, followed closely by Harry. When they reached the landing, they found Ron and Luna standing in the doorway. Beside them stood their two children: Scarlett with her flaming hair, aged 5, and Rhett with his blond hair, aged 3.
"UnCA RON! AUNTIE LUNA!"
Matthew ran and threw himself at their legs as Scarlett and Rhett ran to Harry. Ron leaned down to Matthew and grabbed him in a hug. "Hey, Matthew! Happy Birthday!"
"We get to eat cake. Did you bring me a present?"
Harry stood up from his kneeled position. "Matthew, that's not nice to ask someone! Instead, say `thanks for coming.'"
Matthew nodded. "K. Thanks for coming."
Ron noticed a bruise on Matthew's arm and touched it gently. "Hey, little man. What did you to your arms? You're pretty beat up."
"I dunno. Come on, you get to eat cake! You too, Auntie Luna."
Luna smiled. "Thank you, Matthew. I can't wait. Scarlett, Rhett, come on!" Rhett and Scarlett came obediently to their mother's side. Matthew ran to his daddy's side and reached up to stick his hand in Harry's. They went into the kitchen where they found Ginny, Neville, Maureen, and Jacob sitting around the table. Ginny got up and went to Matthew, picking him up carefully.
"Happy Birthday, Matthew! You're getting to be a big boy!"
"We get to eat cake."
All the adults laughed. Hermione sighed and shook her head. "Ah, nothing can distract a child from their goals. Matthew, we'll eat cake in a little bit, but first you get to open all your presents! Don't you want to do that?"
Matthew's eyes shone in excitement as he saw the pile of presents on the table. He walked over to them almost in a daze and hopped into his little chair. He looked at the pile longingly before looking to Harry.
"Can I open them, Daddy?"
"Of course you can. It's your special day!"
Matthew looked at the presents again before speaking. "Thanks for coming." He averted his attention from his aunts and uncles to Harry. "Was that okay?"
Harry laughed. "Perfect."
Matthew nodded and began to open his presents. When he finished, he had gotten Wallace and Gromit action figures, a miniature flying broom (only flies four feet from the ground to assure the safety of your little wizard!), some plastic dinosaurs, a fake wand that emitted candy and bubbles, and a large array of sweets. He looked at all of his gifts in excitement, unable to stop fidgeting. Hermione cleared her throat.
"What do we say, Matthew?"
"Thanks, Unca Ron and Auntie Luna; Thanks, Unca Neville and Auntie Ginny."
Hermione smiled and patted her son's back. "That's my boy."
Harry flicked his wand and conjured up a plate of hotdogs and condiments. "Now that we've gotten presents, it's time to eat!" The little party sat down together and ate, making small conversation about Quidditch, weather, and old times at Hogwarts. The children gasped in amazement as their parents told them of all the dangerous and exciting things they accomplished together. After the lunch was over Harry and Hermione went back into the kitchen area and came back with a large chocolate birthday cake, iced with the letters, `Happy Birthday Matthew!' in flashing icing. Three little candles were stuck in the `M'.
Matthew's eyes widened as a huge grin broke from his face. Hermione began to sing Happy birthday and everyone joined in. When they finished, Harry put his arm around Hermione and looked at Matthew.
"Blow out your candles and make a wish!" Matthew nodded and closed his eyes tightly. He balled up his fists and held them level with his chest before squeezing his eyes as tightly as possibly. With a huge breath, he blew out all three candles. Everyone clapped and Hermione cut the cake with a flick of her wand. The cake magically distributed itself evenly amongst everybody, and Matt was finally able to have his cake and eat it, too.
After the kids had had their share of cake, they started fidgeting crazily. The adults understood and moved the little party out to the patio to give the kids some running space. As Hermione watched Matthew running around and playing with his little playmates, she gave a little sigh. Ginny seemed to be talking, but she was too busy playing with her hair and watching her son.
Harry leaned over towards her. "Hey," he whispered. "You okay?"
Hermione nodded. The group of friends fell silent, watching Harry and Hermione. Ron cleared his throat nervously.
"Mate, what's wrong with Matthew?"
Ginny nodded. "I know! I saw his little arms and they're all bruised! And he kept rubbing his little hands as though they were hurting him! Is he okay?"
Harry looked down, trying to compose his answer. "We're not quite sure what's wrong with him. We're going to take him to St. Mungo's tomorrow." Hermione's eyes began to pool.
"We didn't notice anything was wrong until yesterday when Harry took him on his first flight. But know that I think about it, he hasn't been acting right for a while. I just feel so horrible."
Luna leaned over and patted Hermione comfortingly. "There, there dear. I'm sure Matthew will be all right. Don't beat yourself up over it; you two are the greatest parents I've ever met."
Hermione sighed and leaned against Harry's shoulder. "I hope you're right, Luna. I sure hope you're right." Nobody present knew quite what to say.
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That night, Hermione sat in Matthew's room after she tucked him in. He looked up at her from his pillow, curiously. "Mommy, what you doing in here?"
Hermione leaned up and touched the side of his face gently. "I'm just thinking of how big you're getting. You're growing up so fast." She took his tiny hands in hers. "Here in just a year or two you'll be going to the Magical Primary School and you'll be learning so many new things and meeting more people."
Matthew looked at his mother's eyes and then looked out the window above his bed. "I'm not going to school, Mommy."
Hermione looked startled. "What do you mean?"
"I will go to Hogwarts, but I'm not going to p-p-preemarry school."
"Primary, dear."
"Oh, okay. I'm not gonna go."
Hermione was speechless. "I-What? H-How do you know?"
Matthew just shrugged. "I just know." They sat in silence, staring at each other. "Mommy, I'm tired."
Hermione gave a weak smile. "Of course you are, sweetie. I'll turn off your light." She kissed him on the forehead. "Goodnight, love. Go to sleep, and may angels watch over you as you dream, my three year old." Matthew smiled.
"Good night, Mommy." He rolled over in his bed. Hermione watched him for a moment before turning out the lights and padding out of his room. She went calmly to the bathroom and closed the door. Only then did she let the tears she had been carrying all day flow down her cheeks.
A/N: R&R! Next Chapter will be Matthew's Doctor's Visit. Please keep reading this. Just a warning, though: Teardrops will fall (if not for you, for me, at least). Please just keep reading; I really think your heart will be touched.
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