McKinly
A/N: This is a Harry Potter fanfiction story that I wrote in memory of McKinly Rischette who was called to his heavenly home on May 11, 2003.
God saw the little boy was tired and a cure was not to be
So He put His arms around him and whispered, "come to me"
With tearful eyes we watched him suffer and saw him fade away
Although we loved him deeply we could not make him stay
A golden heart stopped beating, a peaceful mind at rest,
God broke our hearts to prove to us He only takes the best.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Or the above poem.
I have a story to tell, its about the strength to move on, to be able to keep going even after something so terrible happens that you want to die yourself. To tell you what happens you will have to try and follow along as I'll try to explain this as clearly as possible. Before I begin this I must tell you that this is a sad story and the ending won't be as happy as you'd like it to be.
I think another thing must happen before I begin this tale. I need to tell you a bit about myself and why I'm telling this story. My name is Lynsey Little. But at the time this story takes place my name was Lynsey Weasley. My parents names are Luna (Lovegood) and Ron Weasley. I have two older sisters and an older brother.
You see my life is about to change forever, but in a good way. My husband Jack and I are about to have our first child. We know that it is going to be a boy. We were discussing boy names, sitting together on the couch. He was holding the baby name book while I was leaning against his shoulder looking at the names with him. We had only spotted a couple names that we liked as we entered the M's and it was at the beginning of the M's that I spotted the name McKinly.
"How about the name McKinly?" I asked Jack.
He looked at me and saw that the name really meant something to me, "That's a nice name, I'll put it down on the list." He reached for the quill and parchment that was lying on the side table and scribbled the name down.
We continued looking and added a few more names like: Robert, Ross, Sean, and Tyler. Jack closed the book and picked up the list of the names we collected. As I looked at the names there was only one that really stood out to me.
"McKinly," I said at exactly the same time that Jack said,
"Robert."
We looked at each other and smiled a nervous sort of smile. I knew the reason he wanted the name Robert was because his mom always liked that name and if his younger sister would have been a boy she would have been a Robert. Jack always liked that name and was jealous of the child inside his mother's stomach but the child was a girl and got the name Merri instead.
He knew I knew this so he asked me, "Why do you like the name McKinly?"
And that question would lead me to why I am telling you this story. You see my dad is best friends with perhaps the most famous witch and wizard in the past century. If you haven't guessed yet it is Harry and Hermione Potter. I need not spend much time explaining their history. But I suppose a brief look back won't hurt.
Harry and Hermione began dating in their 7th year at Hogwarts, which coincidently is the same year my own parents got together. At the end of their 7th year Voldemort tried to kill Harry for the billionth time. But Voldemort was finally conquered once and for all and the 'power he knows not' was the love that Harry and Hermione shared. Within in the next year Harry and Hermione got married in a double wedding with my parents and my parents had their first child, Elane Weasley. About a year and a half later both of our parents had a child, Velia Weasley and Alessandra Potter. My parent had another child two years later, Bart Weasley and then me three years later, Lynsey Weasley. The Potters had a son about five years after me, McKinly Potter, which is who this story basically revolves around.
I suppose this begins quite a few years ago. I'm 26 now and this story begins before I went to Hogwarts. You see my sister, Velia, and Alessandra Potter were really good friends, so Alessandra was over a lot. (Even if Velia and Alessandra weren't best friends I suppose we would have seen a lot of anyway since our parents are best friends.) I remember McKinly always tagging along behind Alessandra and always calling her 'sis' which I found strange because I never referred to my sisters as 'sis'. Being the little sister of Velia, I often tagged along with her too. Now I was probably 10 or so around this time, so he was about 5. I was jealous of him a lot because his parents always spoiled him and bought him basically anything he wanted. But having Harry as a dad, who didn't have anything growing up, couldn't not spoil his only son. We always got along pretty well and stuff. As I got old enough to babysit him, probably a year or two later, I would babysit him over the summer when I wasn't at Hogwarts. I never liked babysitting though, it wasn't him I didn't like, I just didn't like to babysit. One day he wrote me a letter and it was the sweetest thing in the world. I had a hard time refusing babysitting offers from them after that.
Then one day in middle of the summer before my 5th year at Hogwarts, Hermione flooed our house to see if McKinly was at our house as it was getting late and she was getting worried. We told her that we hadn't seen him at all. I got to admit I was worried, both of our families lived in a muggle area, about four houses apart from each other. I walked quickly over and could tell Hermione was a nervous wreck, she was talking to the police on her driveway. I spotted Clayton, a two-year-old foster child that Harry and Hermione took care of and I had often babysat, in a playpen in their garage. I went to him and entertained him as I figured he was getting lonesome considering he had no idea what was going on.
Eventually the Police found him, turns out that he rode his bike to a friends house and lost track of time. All he could talk about was how cool it was getting to ride in a Police car, he didn't seem to care that he had nearly scared his mum into an early grave. I supposed that summer night was the beginning of the end. None of us saw what happened, coming, None of us could have guessed. When it happened, it happened fast, not so fast in where you blink and it's gone, but where everything is perfect and then everything slowly falls apart until you feel like you're in a living hell.
Both of our family's live in a Muggle town to avoid media as best we can, because Harry and Hermione track a lot of attention and my parents are famous in their own right, my mother for the magazine the Quibbler and my father is a famous keeper for the Chudley Cannons. You need to understand that parts of this story I didn't myself witness, many things I was told later my someone else.
The new school year started and I was a 5th year at Hogwarts this year. McKinly was going into 5th grade at a nearby muggle grade school, he actually had the same teacher that I had along with Velia, Alessandra, and Bart. The year started like any new school year for both McKinly and I, and continued like normal for the first few weeks or so.
And that's when more stuff started to happen. McKinly didn't hand in some assignments, he said he didn't care. This was not like him at all, sure he could be a spoiled brat, but he was still a good kid. He started acting up in school. He just didn't care anymore. I remember my mum telling me once that Hermione came over one day and they were talking about McKinly.
"What did I do? Is something I did?" cried Hermione, "Did we spoil him too much, give him to much freedom?"
My mum didn't know how to respond. After all, we all thought he was spoiled, "Maybe he's just looking for attention," my mum replied.
"I just don't understand it. Why is he now causing disruptions at school? Why this year? He's never done anything like this before."
"I don't know," my mum had no answers for Hermione. I know it was hurting them both not being able to help or figure it out.
Then one day he started threatening teachers and students. He got into trouble and became suspended. I didn't realize what was going on at the time, I was busy with school and was only informed of this later on.
Then one day I got a letter from my mum.
Dear Lynsey,
How are you? Hope schools going okay. Your dad wants to know if you are going to tryout for keeper for the quidditch team. I've got some bad news. McKinly is sick. No not the normal wizard's flu or something that can be fixed with a few potions, he's terminally ill.
Terminally ill terminally ill terminally ill, it just kept repeating in my head. McKinly's going to die. I just broke down crying and could barely finish reading the letter.
I really wanted to tell you all this in person, but I don't really know the next time we'll see you. If you want to come home this weekend I've arranged it with McGonagall so that you're aloud to leave. I'm really sorry to drop this on you, but I know you would have wanted to know. Send me a letter back as soon as you get a chance. I'm sorry. I love you very much.
Love your Mum
I couldn't stop sobbing. I didn't know what to do. He was dying and I was devastated. Why did a boy, not even 11 years old have to be taken form this world. I still don't understand even to this day. I had to decide whether or not I wanted to go home and see him. It took me awhile, but I finally decided.
Dear Mum,
That's absolutely terrible! It's not possible. I'm still totally in shock. I don't want him to die. He can't die. I don't think I can come home. I don't want to see him, well I want to but I really don't at the same time. I don't think I could look at him without bursting into tears. Maybe someday soon. Tell him I love him, and that I'm thinking of him. I love you too.
Love, Lynsey
My mum wrote me back later to ask if I was sure. And to say that just because we know he is sick, doesn't mean that he looks sick or any different. She told me to make sure that I wouldn't regret later in my life that I didn't go visit him.
I just didn't want to see him any different in my minds eye if I saw him. I wanted to remember him as the full of energy, active, funny kid that I knew him to be. My mom seemed to accept this when I told her my reasoning.
The days continued to go by just like, any other school year. I made the quidditch team for the keeper position, my dad was really proud of me. Meanwhile McKinly got sicker. His vision was getting much worse and he was on a lot fo medications to keep him from having seizures. For Christmas break he and Hermione stopped by to give us an ornament, but they couldn't stay long because we all had been just getting over colds and they didn't want McKinly to catch anything that could possibly worsen his condition. The days continued to pass, snow melted and Quidditch season was upon us once again. One day in May we had a game. My parents came which wasn't unusual because they always come to my games. We won, but I don't remember who we played that day. All I remember was meeting up with my parents after the game and my mum saying that I wasn't going to school the next day.
"Why?" I asked with dread filling me.
"McKinly passed way yesterday," my mum said.
"No! No no no!" I cried. He can't be dead. I think somewhere deep in my mind I felt as though he was going to miraculously recover and all this was going to be something of the past. But he was dead. Truly gone. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. My mum comes to me and hugs me.
"Let's go home. I've got it all arranged with McGonagall" my mum says.
We went home and my family was there, everybody was so sad and quiet, I just went to my room and laid down in my bed and cried. A little later my sister, Velia, came into my room and laid down next to me and we cried.
I think that night, and the next day was the longest of my life. In the morning my whole family climbed into our van for a 2-hour drive to where the funeral was. We were traveling like muggles because a lot of Hermione's extended family was going to be there and there was going to be a quite a few muggles from our neighborhood that were going to be there too. When we arrived we sat in the van for a while, gathering our resolve, knowing that this was going to make it real and that this would be the last time we ever saw McKinly. All of us sniffling, grabbing lots of tissues, we started to get out. But then my brother started to cry and I remember my mum going "Oh, Bart," and him crying made the rest of us start back up.
My pockets stuffed with tissues and one in my hand I gathered my courage to enter the funeral home. Entering the funeral home was a very difficult thing to do. I knew it would make it so much more real. I followed my mum through the church and down the aisle where the line was waiting to be able to pay their respects to McKinly. Standing at the front of the line was Harry, Hermione, and Alessandra, greeting people and sharing memories of good times. I remember bursting into tears again as I hugged Hermione. She whispered in my ear that she had something for me that McKinly wanted to give me and that she would give it to me at my birthday party. This made me cry some more. It's amazing how the body seems to have an endless amount of tears.
Seeing McKinly laying in the casket is permanently burned into my eyes. It was hard seeing him there so still. He was always so energetic. After we were done looking at him we went back up the aisle. We looked at pictures they had of him. There were ones of him surrounded by his favorite quidditch team. Pictures of him throughout his very few years. It was difficult not to cry some more.
I don't remember a lot of the funeral. I do remember feeling I was going to run out of tissues and that they played the Lion King song, " A Circle of Life." It took a long time before I was able to listen to that song again.
After the funeral was the reception. There was the typical food, ham sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, and vegetables. My family sat down at a table together and we were joined by Mr. Champeau, a teacher that worked with McKinly at his home while he was sick, probably a minute later. We talked about average stuff, like what we are up to. Then Harry and Hermione joined us at the table, it got a little quieter, none of us quite knew what to say. So my dad, being the typical guy by putting his foot in his mouth, asked Mr. Champeau how old his sons are now. My dad catching what he just asked in front of Harry and Hermione, who just lost their son felt quite embarrassed. Mr Champeau answered the question but the topic was quickly dropped. Looking back now, I can find that moment sort of amusing, like a little ray of sunshine on a very cloudy day. We finished eating, said our last goodbyes. It was a long journey home.
I remember night after night I would lay in bed thinking about him, how he should have had a longer life, and how little kids shouldn't die. I remember promising myself that I would never forget him. Before I knew it, school was out for the summer. It was so hard to walk by their house and not hope that McKinly would come running out to greet me. My birthday party came and we had the whole Weasley clan came over along with a couple of close friends. The Potters came over and Hermione gave me what McKinly wanted to give me which was his collection of the weird sister's merchandise which I was totally obsessed over. It brought a sad smile to my face and I thanked her. I then gave her a drawing of McKinly that I drew with angels in the background. In the hospital, when McKinly was almost gone, he saw angels. He saw seven of them. I think McKinly seeing those angels helped ease Hermione's mind.
"So that's the story. That's the reason I like the name McKinly." I wiped my eyes as my story made me become teary eyed.
"So, how about the name McKinly Robert," Jack suggested. He was looking straight into my eyes when he said this. I could see the love in his eyes and how serious he was and see how much he knew I loved the name McKinly.
I threw my arms around him and said, "I love you so much."