Growing
Chapter 21:
A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed for last chapter! Hopefully I'll break 300 before this story is over :D
Matthew was in an absolutely euphoric mood when the Potters left from the hospital; a mood Harry and Hermione hadn't seen in a long time. As they walked to their vehicle, Matthew ran around them chasing a dragonfly, either having not been effected by his chemo or just choosing to ignore its aftermath. Harry didn't know what Dr. Regina had said to his son-he would never really know-but he knew that her words had done just what he had hoped they would: they had given Matthew a newfound joy and hope that he had been desperately lacking.
As Hermione watched him, she could practically feel a motherly glow emanating off of her complexion, so happy was she that the first son of her womb was acting like he had before cancer. She could practically feel the child inside of her give a cry of triumph in the knowledge that its brother would live to meet it when it breathed its first breath of life. True, there was still a long road to remission, but Hermione felt so sure of her son's survival that defeat was absolutely no option in her mind.
While their yellow SUV stopped for a red light, Harry looked lovingly into the rearview mirror at Matthew, singing his lungs out to a Sesame Street tape. Harry's eyes clouded over with tears and the sound of his son's voice; it had been such a long time since he had sung without a care in the world. Hermione, who had been watching Harry's face, gently slipped her hand into his and squeezed it reassuringly.
When the family got home, Matthew ran upstairs at mach speed, carefully carrying two pieces of paper that his parents knew not of their content. They only shrugged and went hand in hand to their bedroom and silently shut the door. After a long, passionate kiss and a loving embrace, Harry performed a tricky little spell to determine the sex of their second child. When the results were clearly shown, Harry, crouched down in front of his wife's stomach, began to cry with joy. When he looked into her face, he saw tears flowing freely from her eyes, too. They shared another kiss before going hand in hand again up to Matthew's room. When they reached their destination, they found their son sitting on the floor, animatedly playing with a tub of plastic dinosaurs.
"Matthew, sweetie," Hermione knelt down beside him, smiling at the realization that in a few months she wouldn't be bending down with such ease. "Daddy and I need to talk with you." The three of them moved to comfortable positions on his racecar bed. They advanced to tell him whether he was going to have a little brother or sister and what to name it. When they told him of a possible name choice, he could do nothing but smile serenely.
"It's going to be a lot different around here with a baby in the house," Harry said. "And it will take up a lot of our time. But if you ever feel lonely or if you just want to spend time with us, just talk to us, son. You're going to be an excellent big brother, and you'll have to be a good example for your sibling in all things." Matthew couldn't have been more excited at the prospect of being a hero in someone else's eyes.
The hospital made a way for Matthew's monthly chemotherapy to be scheduled on the same days of Hermione's check-ups. The months went by, and as Hermione's belly began to grow with increasing rates, Matthew began to grow better. Harry was absolutely amazed. There was absolutely no way that Dr. Regina's speech could possibly have miraculously improved his son's health, but there was no use denying the fact that he had taken a turn for the better since that day.
When Hermione had her three-month check-up, Dr. Powers took a sample of Matthew's blood to see how things were looking. The results were absolutely amazing. The same blood that had been composed almost completely of cancer cells was so much better that the amount of cancer had been split in half. Because of this result, his chemotherapy was reduced to once every two months. When Hermione had her seven-month check-up, the amount of bad blood cells had been halved from the half. The cancer was still there, but it was being beaten. The little family who had so desperately needed hope half a year earlier was getting not only hope, but the beginnings of a true-life miracle.
One evening near the end of Hermione's third-trimester, she and Harry had tucked a hyper Matthew into bed and gone to their bedroom to talk. Hermione's huge belly was preventing her from getting in a comfortable position. She lay on her back, her head supported by Harry's chest. He sat absent-mindedly stroking her bushy hair as they lay in silence.
"God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams," Harry whispered, almost as though afraid to speak the words that had been impressed on him since Hermione had gotten pregnant.
"Our life really hasn't been too easy, though."
Harry sighed and licked his lips. "I know. I've been orphaned and left with my heartless relatives, forced to watch people I've loved die, been abandoned by friends, and battled the most evil wizard in the world, but all that is nothing compared to these last two and a half years."
Hermione's eyes pooled and she nodded slowly in agreement, having been with her husband through most of his hardships. "But you want to know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think Matthew's cancer has brought our whole family closer together and made us stronger. Things would have been so much easier if he had never had cancer, but I think all the things that have happened have made him stronger, made us stronger. I just know that even though Matthew's seen so much heartache, felt so much pain for one so young, that all this is a part of God's plan for his life. God will bring beauty from my baby's pain, and because of this suffering, he'll go so much farther than the plans we made for him when he was a baby."
Harry couldn't have said it better. "What do you think he'll be?"
Hermione shook her head. It was so nice to talk of their son's possible future. "I don't know. But, Harry, I was thinking…"
"About what?"
"I think I know what I want to do for the rest of my life."
"That's great, honey! What is it?"
Hermione hesitated for a moment. "I want to go back to school and become a…healer."
"At St. Mungo's?"
She nodded. "Seeing Matthew, I want to be able to help people who are sick. And I might not even be a healer, but a muggle nurse."
"Really?" Harry said in shock. "Why possibly muggle?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to help both muggles and magic folk alike."
As they sat there in thought, the baby gave a great lurch from inside its dark shelter. Hermione pulled the hand that Harry held down, bringing him with her. The two of them softly held her stomach, feeling the life that they had formed move around.
"It still amazes me," Harry whispered. "You'd think after the second time, the amazement would have dimmed a bit."
Hermione giggled. "It' is amazing, isn't it?" They sat again in a soft silence. Finally, Hermione voiced the fears that had been running through her mind.
"What if this baby gets sick, too? What if Matthew doesn't go into remission, and then this baby gets sick, too?"
"Oh, baby," Harry whispered and turned her chin towards his. "You can't live in fear. I know it is terrifying to think of either of our children ever being hurt, even the one who isn't here yet, but we've just got to live. This whole experience with Matthew has strengthened my faith and showed me the important things in life. If it be God's will for this child to be sick, He'll bring us through it, together."
"I'm also kinda scared that this baby will be a holy terror."
"Why?" Harry was completely off-guard by the sudden topic change.
"Well, they say siblings are opposite each other, and Matthew's such a good kid…"
Harry laughed and kissed his wife softly. "With you as a mother," he whispered to her mouth, "The kid could never be bad."
"You're not too bad either, Potter. I just hope Matthew will be all right once the baby is here."
"I bet he'll be just fine. He is a Potter, after all. Plus, I don't know what Dr. Regina said to him that day, but I bet that's only part of the reason he's fighting. He wants to live to be a hero to his little sibling."
Hermione smiled, in spite of herself. "I know it sounds absolutely insane, but he's already a hero."
"To whom?"
"Me." When Harry gave her an odd look, she explained herself. "Even though he's my son, and only five years old at that, he has shown me more than I could ever imagine about love and life in general. He's shown me just how much it is possible to love someone, and he's shown me that life is a gift, taken away in an instant or a blessing to be given another day. He's my little warrior, and other than his father, the bravest hero I've ever had the privelege to know."
Harry agreed wholeheartedly, but said nothing, as he was too busy kissing his beautiful Hermione.
A/N: Review, Review!
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