Chapter 23:
Celebration Again
The life that had once seemed like a constant roller coaster was now finally beginning to get on level ground for the Potters. Their lives grew into a constant state of normality after they brought Jeremiah home. By Dr. Powers's orders, Matt hadn't had chemo since a week or so before Jeremiah was born. Because they didn't have to go to the hospital weekly, the family was now able to have time to be a normal family. Every morning, they woke up, Matt with an unnatural amount of energy, and sat down at the table together for breakfast. Jeremiah always sat in his little high chair and watched his family with his big brown eyes.
Life went by quickly, and soon Jeremiah was three and a half months old and Matt was celebrating his 6th birthday. This birthday seemed so much more special than any other preceding it: Matt was feeling fine, Ron was back in their lives, and Jeremiah was there. Matt had never before felt better. And he knew he was getting physically better, too. He hadn't had chemo in months, and Dr. Powers had told him that he thought remission was just around the corner. Matt hoped the doctor was right in his hypothesis. Matt couldn't wait to get better so he could get back to doing things normal kids did.
Harry and Hermione were ready for June 28th to come. That day would tell them if Matt was finally in remission or if he had to continue with treatments. The whole family was so confident that Matt would get a clean bill of health, but Harry was scared to death that the cancer might have increased instead of decreasing as they had thought. He knew that it was up to God whether or not to cure his precious Matthew, but his heart was wary, wondering how he would cope if remission was not a part of God's plan.
Hermione, on the other hand, had no doubt in her mind that Matt's remission would be announced. As she saw him holding Jeremiah carefully, talking to him like he was a grown-up, she felt certain there was no way that his fate could be anything but life. But despite her motherly instinct, she was anxiously awaiting June 28th, not knowing whether it would be as she thought or not.
When the awaited day finally arrived, Matt felt a sense of destiny. He knew that this test would determine his fate, but for some strange reason, he felt no fear or worry. He only felt the same contentment that he had felt for a full year.
The family walked into the hospital the same way they had for the past three years. They took the same elevator to the same floor as always. They met Dr. Powers, but seeing he was busy, they situated themselves in the waiting room, Matt playing with Jeremiah and making him give his adorable baby laughs. Hermione knew that the two were already forming a strong relationship that would make them inseparable as time went on.
After waiting for quite a while, Dr. Powers came into them.
"Good morning, Potters. Are you ready to get a blood test, Matt?" He shrugged and Dr. Powers laughed. "I don't like needles either, but this may be the last time in a while that you'll need to have a blood sample taken. Come on, let's go." Matt followed him cheerily to the hospital room and reached his arms up to be lifted onto the table. Dr. Powers went to the cabinet and extracted a strip of rubber and tied it to the upper part of Matt's arm. He withdrew a long, slender needle, and, after having Matt ball up his hand, plunged it into his vein. Harry squirmed to watch the blood go into the tube as he looked at his son. This boy who had been so deathly afraid of needles three years ago now sat quite sedately, talking calmly to the doctor as the needle was still in his arms. In a way, it was amazing, but then again, it wasn't too miraculous. This boy had faced sickness, tragedy, and death, and now a needle was as scary as a bowl of fruit.
Before long, the necessary amount of blood was extracted and Matt was free to go to the waiting area with his family. The time dragged by at an abnormally slow rate for Harry as he sat listlessly staring at the clock. He wanted to know what would happen to his son, not sit in a room.
Finally, a nurse came into the room and called the family into an examination room. As they walked towards the room, Harry's heart pounded and he felt sweat form on his brow. This hadn't been his battle, but he felt like he had fought right along with the real warrior.
As soon as they got situated in the room, Dr. Powers came in, his eyes downcast. Harry felt a hard lump form in his throat from the fear of what he knew Dr. Powers would say. He felt Hermione tense beside him, but he was to numb to reach out and hold her hand.
"Matt," Dr. Powers said. "Come over here, please. I want to show you something." Matt tilted his head curiously and hopped off of the table and went to Dr. Powers' side. He smiled down at Matt calmly and pulled a chart out of an envelope.
"This is what your blood looked like three years ago when you first came to us." The picture was completely covered with little x's that the lab must have created. "All the x's were your bad cells." Dr. Powers pulled out another picture and turned it over slowly. "This is your blood now." Matt looked it over carefully, his eyes widening with what he saw.
"Does this mean that I'm…" Matt asked, crossing his fingers hopefully.
"You're cancer-free." Dr. Powers said as he held up an x-free paper. Hermione cried out and ran to hug Matt. Harry blinked at the picture, barely able to believe what he was seeing. His heart felt like it would burst with the joy that he felt.
"Doctor, thank you so much." Harry some how found the movement to shake his hand. Dr. Powers smiled and nodded.
"Your son fought for all he was worth."
Harry smiled and knelt down to pick up Matt as he ran into his arms. Harry held him tightly and began to sob openly into Matt's hair. The hardest thing that Harry had ever had to do was to watch his son battle cancer. But now, that cancer was gone… he couldn't even describe his joy. Getting his letter to Hogwarts, winning the war against Voldemort, marrying Hermione… All were wonderful times, but none so wonderful as this moment in time.
"Doctor…" Hermione had stood up and was looking at the man with a misty, pale look in her eyes. "Will it come back?"
Dr. Powers shrugged slowly. "There's always that risk. If you guys notice any signs that Matt may be feeling bad, bring him in to us. Otherwise, he'll need to have a check-up every six months for about two years. If he's still in remission, his chance of ever getting cancer again will be the same as any other person."
She nodded, glad to know of the chance but even more thankful to know that for the moment, her son was okay.
When they found Dr. Regina and told her the news, she began to cry uncontrollably and hug Matt as tightly as she could.
"Jeremiah would be so happy," was all she could say.
As they walked out of the hospital, everything seemed brighter to Matt. He had survived against all odds. He felt so content, but there was one idea that he couldn't put out of his mind.
"Daddy," He said from his seat atop Harry's shoulder. "Do you think we could stop somewhere on the way home?" He told Harry of his idea, and Harry nodded slowly.
"I think that would be just fine."
A/N: Did anybody really think I would kill Matt? I might have killed Jeremiah, but there was no way in heaven or earth that I would have let Matt die! Also, sorry that this chapter took a while to write, I had brain freeze-up. I know it's really not the greatest chapter, but my mind has been on other things lately, and I apologize. The last two chapters will be greatly improved.
-->