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Merrill Piper

Well-Known Member
Messages
860
OOC First Name
Sammy
Blood Status
Mixed Blood
Relationship Status
Seeing Somebody
Sexual Orientation
Heterosexual
Wand
Knotted 13 1/2 Inch Sturdy Black Walnut Wand with Hippogriff Feather Core
Age
5/2030
Set in March 2046 a few days after the trial.​
Merrill nervously fiddled with her hair as she walked through Brightstone with Jesiah. Just a few days ago she was testifying against her parents at court, and now she was meeting the man who would be taking her in until she was of age. Merrill only knew a handful of things about him as her parents had cut off contact with all of their extended family years ago. He was her uncle on her mothers side, he owned the family farm in Wales, and he had no spouse or children of his own. What if they didn't get along? Surely a man who spent all of his time alone on a farm wouldn't be the most friendly person. What if he wanted her to transfer to the Hogwarts in Scotland? It would certainly be easier on him, but all of her friends were here in New Zealand. She wanted to graduate with Anthony, and Solomon. She wanted to keep dating Chacen. Merrill continued to worry as Jesiah led her into The Three Broomsticks where they were to meet. As they entered she scanned the crowd. For what she wasn't really sure as she had never seen the man before, but maybe he would look familiar to her anyways.​
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Merrill's situation was different than any of Howell's prior cases. Most didn't involve couples who killed people together. With both of her parents to be locked up in Azkaban, it left the young girl alone, an indirect victim of their crimes. She may have had the safety and stability of Hogwarts, but it didn't constitute a real home, or a real family. It was lucky for her that the Ministry had managed to contact her uncle, and luckier still that he'd been willing to take her in, and travel from Wales to New Zealand to meet her. There'd been an initial concern that he, much like his relative, held the same anti-lycanthropic sympathies, but his background was clean, and there was little more they could do that they hadn't already. It was the best course of action for the girl.

Arriving at the inn the man was staying at during his time in the country, Howell lead Merrill inside. He'd had little to say on their journey, inexperienced with how to deal with children, particularly those who'd gone through the trauma she must have, to be subjected to all of the danger her parents had put her through, and to further endure the trial that would put them away. The auror spotted the girl's uncle in one of the booths and made his way over, greeting him with a brief nod of his head. "Mr Langtree, I'm Auror Howell - and this is your niece, Merrill Piper."
 
It had been a simple, quiet, normal day on the farm when his life had changed. Brandon hadn't had a lot of contact with most of family in some time and so, out of the blue, to receive correspondence from someone he didn't know, about a family he'd had nothing to do with since adolescence, to say the least, was distracting. He'd spent a couple of days even deciding if he could do it, let alone would. In the end, he'd realised that he couldn't possibly throw the young girl out in the cold like that, he was clearly the only person fit to be her guardian and that had to say a lot. He'd never been a great fan of children, small or not and he much preferred his time spent with his animals than with any other people. He couldn't guarantee that he and the girl would get along at all, but he at least knew she would be cared for with him. He didn't know much about how the magical world worked in these situations, but he imagined it couldn't have been much different to the non-magical world and he'd seen enough of that in his years.

New Zealand, was nice. That was putting it mildly. It was a gorgeous place and Brandon could see why Merrill's parents had wanted to live here. There was so much green and the weather was amazing, not the cold and wet he was so used to in Wales. That wasn't to say he would ever want to leave Wales though, as he dearly loved his farm. He'd only had to wait a few minutes when he was approached by a man who had clearly seen a few bad days in his life and the girl he could only assume was his niece. He could see the resemblance. Brandon nodded at the man - an auror, apparently - and looked over at Merrill. He couldn't believe what she had been through, so young and to be subjected to something like that. The thought mad him both angry and hurt. He'd never thought he could be related to someone so careless. It was disgraceful. "Hello Merrill, it's lovely to meet you." He said before turning to the Auror. "Thank you, Auror Howell. Will you be staying for now?" Brandon didn't really want him to stay, he wasn't sure he would feel comfortable with a man who was essentially the military, staring over him as he tried to get to know his niece.

 
Howell shook his head as the girl's uncle questioned whether or not he'd be staying around. He'd done his part, and it wasn't necessary for him to be involved in their long overdue catch-up. It would have been uncomfortable for all of them if he hovered around during a no doubt personal conversation. "No, I have to return to the office. She's in your hands now." He stated, turning to face Merrill and reaching into his coat for a small vial of green powder. "I'll leave this Floo with you, in case you need to contact the Ministry. You can ask for myself or Auror Shaw." It was likely the end of her troubles, but whether she needed to discuss anything regarding the case, her parents, or her new guardian, he was available. With that, the man bid them a good afternoon and departed the inn, disapparating as he stepped back onto the street.
 
The inn was busy, but that wasn't surprising. It was a Brightstone weekend, and the place was packed with students who wanted their fill of butterbeer before heading back up to the castle. The loud noise, and the crowd was starting to overwhelm her a little. It was an odd feeling. Merrill had never had an issue with crowds before. In fact the best feeling ever was the rest of her house crowding the quidditch pitch in celebration after a winning match. This was different though. It all felt like too much. This wasn't how she was supposed to be meeting her extended family for the first time. Thankfully Jesiah quickly led her to a booth that was a little tucked away, and quieter. A man was sitting there who could only be her uncle Brandon. Even without knowing who he was Merrill would have been able to recognize him as family. He looked very similar to her mother, but a little rougher. She nodded when Brandon greeted her. She was about to return the niceties, but then Jesiah was speaking to her again. "Thank-you" she said as she quickly pocketed the green powder. She didn't know how useful it would be at school, but it was nice to have anyways.

Now that they were alone Merrill slid into the booth across from the man. "It's nice to meet you too." Merrill finally was able to say. It really was. She had always wanted to know her family, and this was the first step. "So what should I call you? Uncle? Brandon?" Merrill asked. She had been wondering about that for a little bit now. Addressing an adult so informally felt odd, but then again so did uncle. Before he could answer a waitress came over, and asked if she could grab them anything. Merrill ordered a butter beer. She wasn't hungry, but she at least wanted something to sip on.
 
Brandon looked at Merrill, she was so young, this was all such a horrible situation, Brandon really didn't know what he was supposed to say. He knew that his siblings would agree with him that Merrill had been dealt a bad hand, but they hadn't been the ones to put their hand up and agree to take Merrill in. Maybe there were other reasons that he was the most suitable one, but he still thought it was going to be hard for both of them to adjust. Brandon sat back in his booth and nodded at Merrill again. He'd never been great with kids, but Merrill wasn't exactly a kid either. "Sorry, how old are you?" She had to be in her teens at least, he was sure of that much. But anything beyond that was a complete guess at this point.

She slid into the booth and he tried to think of something, anything, to say to her. He didn't want to bring up her parents, though he was curious, he didn't want her to think that was all he was interested in. He wanted her to know that she would be safe with him, but he had no idea how to portray that in a way that would be obvious to her. He was well out of his comfort zone here. Brandon waved the waitress away when she came to him, he could have done with a whisky, but now was not the time to be drinking. This was important."Uh, I'm quite fine for you to call me whatever it is you feel most comfortable with." He said, nodding again for lack of anything else. He assumed this was just as strange for her as it was for him, but he really wasn't sure anyone was more awkward than he was. "How is school?"
 
Merrill was a little surprised when Brandon asked her how old she was. Had he really come all this way with so little information? It was kind of touching actually. "I'm fifteen, but I'll be sixteen in May." Merrill told him. It seemed a little childish to add the last bit, but she was excited anyways. She was planning to drag Solomon, and Anthony along to have a sweet sixteen party at Madam Puddifoot's. Merrill nodded when Brandon said she could call him whatever she wanted. That made things easy enough. "Brandon it is I guess." she replied with a smile. It still felt strange, but less so the more she said it. Soon the waitress was back with her drink, and Merrill thanked her before taking a long sip. She shrugged as she set the drink down in response to his next question. "I mean it's alright I guess. I've never really done amazingly. I'd just rather practise quidditch than study." Merrill admitted. There was no point in hiding how she really felt. He was stuck with her now after all. "So you like own a farm? Do you have animals on it?" she asked.​
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