Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Update 11/29/2010

Chapter Fourteen

Birth

Harry was standing outside of the Minister of Magic's office feeling a little nervous. He wasn't sure why Kingsley wanted to see him and why he was making it seem so professional, but he knew that this wasn't going to be anything he would like.

"Have a seat," Kingsley said in a grave voice.

"What is it?" Harry said wanting Kingsley to get to the point quickly.

"I need you to start working on more cases Harry," Kingsley said, still gravely, but he had to be firm about this.

"You're taking me off Ron and Hermione's case," Harry narrowed his eyes at the Minster.

"No, not off the case," Kingsley sighed. "But I can't have you working on it like you have been for the last eighteen months."

"Kingsley you know I only took this job so that I could find them," Harry said fiercely.

"And I'm not telling you to stop looking for them," Kingsley said. "But I don't see how you working on this all the time is going to help you find them any faster. They're in the Muggle world, it's not like you can go out into the streets and knock on everyone's doors to see if you can find them. And you still don't even know where they were placed at the beginning of this whole thing and it's been almost two years. Harry how much good is it doing you working on this nonstop? If you can tell me that you honestly think that it's going to help to be on this full time, I'll back off. But if you can't, Harry we really need your help!"

"I can't just leave them out there; I can't give up on them!" Harry shouted. "I don't care if it's going to help or not... I can't do anything else..."

"Do you honestly think that they would want you to do this... to waste your time on this when you could be doing something the help our community?" Kingsley said. "Harry, I don't know if you've noticed this or not, but there are still great dangers here... the world is getting better, people are really starting to live their lives again, but there are still Death Eaters out there that are threatening our progress, not to mention the new threats that are starting to crop up... I need your help with this. They would want you to help me."

Harry glared at Kingsley, knowing that every word that he said was right and hating him for it.

"I'm not telling you to give up on them," Kingsley sighed, seeing the hate and pain in Harry's eyes. "And if you get a real lead on them, you should pursue it... I'm just saying that you can't put all your energy into this. Please Harry."

"Fine," Harry hissed and got up to go, he knew if he stayed there longer he was going to say something stupid and he really didn't want that. He was too upset to even go back to work (luckily it was only ten minutes until his shift ended so it didn't matter that much) so he went to the spot where it was safe to Apparate from and went home.

"Harry, you're home early!" Ginny beamed as she ran to him to give him a kiss. They had moved in together two months ago. Getting the flat wasn't as easy as Harry had thought it would be; it had taken him three weeks to find this place and another week to work with Ginny's now very busy schedule so she could see it too. He was really pleased that she had loved it almost as much as he did, and she was just happy that he had picked something cozy and quaint seeing as he really could have picked some kind of mansion if he wanted to.

"Yeah," Harry sighed and she looked at him warily.

"What's the matter?" Ginny frowned.

"Kingsley just told me I have to work other cases... I have to put Ron and Hermione's case on hold!" Harry spat out still rather upset.

"Oh," Ginny frowned.

"You don't seem upset about that," Harry glared at her.

"I thought this might happen," Ginny sighed and lead them to their living room and sat them down on the couch.

"You might have mentioned it to me," Harry huffed but not really angry at her at all. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"I don't know," Ginny sighed. "But we're not going to stop looking for them."

Harry smiled at her; he could see it in her eyes, her determination to do this. "Thanks love," he said kissing her head as she rested it on his shoulder. "I really needed to hear that."

Ginny sighed into his chest and they just sat in peace as he held her closely to him. They both knew that no matter what, neither one of them was going to give up on the search for Ron and Hermione, even if they had to work on it all by themselves; they were going to find them somehow.

O

Matt really wished that he could have stayed at home with his new wife, and just thinking that made the biggest smile come to his face, but he was scheduled to meet one of the recruiting officers at the police station on the Friday after they had gotten married and Jean had pushed him out the door before he could even try to protest. The meeting went well, at least Matt felt comfortable in the fact that he understood everything that Aaron Thomas said and was able to answer with confidence the few questions he asked. However, he was feeling more nervous about the actual exam that he would be taking in a few minutes because he knew that he really was only going to get this one chance at this, knowing that he wouldn't have time to study all over again.

"Relax son," Aaron said, he was a middle aged man and he had taken a liking to the kid (he hadn't met many kids Matt's age that seemed to care as much as he did). "I've already seen that you've got a good understanding of this... you should do fine."

"Thanks," Matt smiled at him as the door opened and he, and about a dozen people, walked in.

"Now, I just have to say that we only have opening here for two detectives," the examiner said. "So you all have to be at your best in order to make it."

Matt sighed as he looked around the room noticing that most of the people seemed to already be officers and were obviously trying to make it to the next level. However, there were two other people that looked like they were like him, going out for this for the first time, though they looked a good five years older them him (in fact he knew that he was the youngest person in the room). When he was handed the exam he opened it up and noticed that he knew the first question at least, which made him relax considerably. By the time he finished, he was confident that he got most of the questions right and he had explained himself well.

The next part of the exam was of a more practical nature, it was another interview, but this time with analysts about what you should do in certain situations. He was only allowed one minute to answer each question and he really had to think on his feet. He was feeling really confident after he caught the impressed look on his examiner's face; he was always good at thinking on his feet. However the next thing he knew, he was getting fingerprinted for a background check and being asked about personal things that he couldn't really answer. When he told them of his memory loss, they all looked at him warily and he knew that that was likely going to count against him, but he wasn't going to let that happen if he could help it. He used all of the passion and determination that he had, and by the end, it looked like he had convinced them (though it might all be in vain if he had some kind of criminal record he didn't know about, he thought bitterly).

"Well Matt, that wasn't so bad now, was it?" Aaron said after all the testing was done.

"I guess not," he smiled.

"Now's the hard part... they're not going to get back to you for another month in a half," Aaron chuckled. "I remembered how hard that wait was..."

"Gee thanks," he said nervously.

"Sorry," Aaron chuckled again. "Let me calm your nerves a little."

"How?" he eyed him suspiciously.

"One of the open positions is to take over for my partner," Aaron smiled. "He's retiring in a little over a month... anyways, that's why they had me there. I'm going to have to train the new guy... er... or he's going to be my partner. I just thought you might like to know that you're my favorite."

"That is nice to know," he smiled.

"I just have to ask you this now," Aaron said taking Matt to the side and made sure no one was around. "In there you said that you were just married and had a kid on the way..."

"Yeah," he said frowning.

"I just want you to make sure you know how dangerous this job can be... not everyone gets to retire, if you know what I mean," Aaron gave him a sad look; he had lost many good friends on this job.

"I thought of that, but my girl... er... wife," he said smiling brightly at saying that. "She told me that I wouldn't be the man she fell in love with if I didn't try to do this; that I shouldn't give up on my dream just because it might... er is dangerous. She wants me to be happy..."

"You got a good one there," Aaron smiled. "Well good luck Matt, I'll be pulling for you."

"Thanks," he said as he shook Aaron's hand and then left the building and made his way home as fast as he could.

"So how did it go?" Jean asked as soon as he came into the bedroom, she was on bed rest for her last stage of pregnancy and she found that she didn't like it one bit.

"I think it went well," Matt smiled and kissed her before he changed into something more comfortable. "I like the guy that might be my partner if I get the job and more importantly, he likes me. The only thing I'm worried about is the psych test they made us take. I'm not sure if I did it well and it really wasn't good when they found out I didn't know who the hell I was, but I think I gave them a good enough reason to take me anyway..."

"Well they better not let that affect their decision because we know a few good lawyers that are willing to take your case," she smiled and he chuckled.

"I have a good feeling about this," he smiled. "But I'm not going to know anything for another month at least, so I guess we don't have to worry about that now."

"Well that's nice at least," she smiled. "The little guy should be born by then so you don't have to worry about that."

"I know, but if I do get the job I'm going to be really busy," he sighed. "I might not be there for you as much as I should be."

"Don't worry about it love," she smiled. "You know that I'm taking the next few months off at work on maturity leave so I should be able to take care of everything."

"I know, but that doesn't mean that I didn't want to be there too," he sighed. "Come on love, let's go get some dinner."

"I'm not supposed to move around that much, remember?" she said.

"I know, well go to Kate's," he smiled; it was this nice little restaurant that was just down the street from them that they both liked. "We've been married for six days already and I haven't taken you out once. Now do what your husband says and let's go."

"You had me until that last sentence," she glared at him but nonetheless got up and got ready to go, it did sound nice and they had more than one reason to celebrate now.

O

"Matt... Matt wake up," Jean said, it was more than three weeks later and she was feeling pained.

"What is it?" Matt said groggily, it was four in the morning after all and he was definitely not used to being up that early.

"I think it's time," she said holding her stomach.

"Time?" he said confused as he looked at the clock and then back at her. "Time!" he added eyes going wide as he shot up and rushed to get ready.

"Matt..." she cried as he was leaving the room with the bag they had prepared for this. "I need a little help."

"Er... sorry," he said coming back to her and helping her out of bed. He helped her get dressed in a hurry and then they were rushing to the car (Josh had let them borrow his until the baby was born). Soon enough they were at the hospital, Matt frantically running around having no idea what to do, but even with that they managed to get into a room.

"Matt, you really need to calm down, I'm the one that should be panicking," she said as he continued to pace the room.

"Sorry," he moaned, though he didn't look any less worried. "It's just you're early and I thought we had more time... and what if there's a problem with the..."

"Sh... love," she said held her hand out to him and he immediately took it moving a lot closer to her. "It's only a week early... I'm sure everything is going to be fine."

"I know," he said and lean down so his forehead was resting on hers. "I love you," he kissed her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I see that this is the beginning of labor," the doctor said as she walked in the room, smiling at them. "Matt you might want to take advantage of this and call anyone that you want to know about this."

"Right," he said looking down at his wife, but he didn't move; he really didn't want to leave her side at the moment.

"I'll be fine," she smiled at him.

Matt sighed and left the room knowing that Jean really wanted Josh to be there if he could, so he called him and then immediately went back to being with his wife.

It was now hours later and Jean was in the middle of labor, crushing Matt's hand as she tried her hardest to push. "This is all your fucking fault!" she hissed as pain went through her body. "You are never touching me again!"

"Just keep pushing love," Matt said actually starting to tear up because of the pain that was in his hand, but it really didn't matter at all to him. "We're almost there."

"Hmph," she huffed as once again she was told to start pushing.

"I can see its head," the doctor said. "You're doing a good job Jean... I just need you to give me another good push..."

"You can do it love," Matt said, he could see that she was exhausted and didn't really want to push anymore but nonetheless did what she was told.

"It's a boy," the doctor smiled only a few minutes later as Jean collapsed on the bed, though her eyes never left her baby. "Here you go," the doctor said handing the baby to her as soon as he was cleaned and wrapped in a blanket.

"He's precious," Matt smiled as he kissed the top of his wife's sweaty head and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her head snugly against his chest as she smiled down at her baby boy. He was resting peacefully there with his red hair that looked just like his fathers. "Aren't you Arthur?"

"He's going to look just like you," Jean smiled proudly.

"Poor kid," Josh said walking into the room.

"What are you doing here?" Matt asked looking at him for a second before looking back to his son in his wife's arm, and he's never seen a more beautiful sight in his life.

"I was getting tired of waiting so I bribed a nurse to be allowed in," Josh smiled as he walked closer to the happy couple and looked down at newborn. "He seems to have your mouth Jean," he added at then touched the baby's hair. "And your curls."

"I think it's much too early to tell that," Jean smiled. "But it doesn't really matter... I think he's beautiful. My little Arthur."

"I thought I was your little author," Josh pouted, and she just rolled her eyes at him. "You did really good this time kid," he added smiling at Jean and the baby. "I guess I should leave you guys alone."

"Thanks," Matt said smiling at his friend before being complied to look at his family again, he just felt so complete as he held them in his arms. At this moment, it didn't matter that he didn't know anything about himself (or that Jean didn't either), he just felt like nothing in the world could make him happier than he is at this moment. "I love you Mine... I love you Arthur."

"I love you too," Jean said looking up at him kissing him briefly, she was feeling the same as him; she couldn't be any more content than she was at that moment.

A/N: The last scene here, with the birth wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. I really didn't know what to do with it, but it'll just have to do. Anyways if you haven't guess, I kind of like the name Arthur for Ron and Hermione kid (if you read my other story you would see that I named him Arthur too), but it just makes sense to me that that's what he would be named.