Merwyn Déonté/Profile

## Merwyn Elena Petukhova-Déonté

Merwyn Alexandrovna Petukhova
Мервин Александровна Петухова

> "I hope that I can step outside one morning and be the person I could have been this entire time. Until then, it's one step at a time, one day at a time."
>  ― in a letter to Ricky Brown
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## Appearance

Merwyn has somewhat messy, short blonde hair, that she used to cut and dye on a whim. She also has grey eyes that appear to change from grey to blue to green depending on the lighting in the environment. She is 5’8 and appears to have lost muscle, due to loose fitting clothes. (FC: Ryan Simpkins)

## Personality

Merwyn has an intense loyalty to her friends and (chosen) family, and is willing to throw aside her personal morals for them or even put her own life on the line. She throws herself into relationships, giving others what they need but ending up neglecting herself in the process.

Merwyn’s extreme love and loyalty to others can be self destructive if she doesn’t receive what she expects from a relationship. If she doesn’t get the approval she seeks, she will overwork herself to attempt to receive any positive attention. When she eventually does not get that, she turns to self-hatred, blaming herself for any rejection.

Merwyn feels emotions incredibly intensely, exasperated by her fear of abandonment due to childhood emotional abuse and neglect. She can go from a state of mania to depression in a mere minute, based on situational changes or how someone reacts to her.

## Background

Maria and Alexander Petukhov had been married for four years before they decided they were prepared to have a child. They had stable jobs, as well as a home in Scotland. Shortly before she found out she was pregnant, Maria met a woman, Nora Déonté, in a bar, and found herself attracted to her, yet did not want to damage her relationship with her husband. As such, Maria, Alexander, and Nora had numerous discussions until an agreement of a poly relationship was reached. From the time she was born until the age of 2 and a half, life was uneventful.

One day, however, Alexander left for a conference in London. As he was crossing a street, he was hit by a driver who was texting and was killed instantly, leaving Maria widowed. Unable to cope in the Scottish home, Maria moved to Ireland along with Merwyn, to live in the Déonté cottage. During this period, Maria and Nora grew even closer together and Merwyn naturally took to Nora as another mother. Due to Nora's presence in her life, Merwyn has never thought anything of it. She never even noticed they weren't married, nor that Nora was not her "real" mother, at least until they brought up that they were getting married and Nora was adopting her.

Merwyn was constantly surrounded by magic as a child. She often would beg Maria, who worked in the Ministry’s Department of Magical Education, to bring her to meetings at Hogwarts, and was certainly not ignorant to the odd things that occur there. Even with the knowledge of magic, Merwyn had no desire to actively use it. Instead, Merwyn focused on adventure and exploring; going outside and playing in the dirt, and taking things apart. There have been numerous near-misses, such as falling off of things and almost getting hit by things, but none of these events have 'triggered' any magical sign.
It wasn't until an almost certainly catastrophic accident occurred, that Merwyn revealed her magic. Merwyn was with Nora at the muggle law firm she works at. She noticed people talking on the floor below her mother’s office and leaned further out from the upper floor railing to try and hear them better. Merwyn lost her balance and screamed as she fell, only to suddenly stop a mere foot away from the ground. Obliviators were called, and she was grounded for a month.

When it came time to join Hogwarts herself, Merwyn couldn't wait. As she had taken private tutoring in Hogwarts subjects, and “assisted” (more like nag to follow them to work), her mothers on their duties, she already had a basic understanding of the education. When it came to her sorting, the sorting hat took its time, finding her a curious subject. Despite Merwyn sharing multiple traits in all four houses, it decided on Slytherin, due to Merwyn's high ambition, determination, and resourcefulness.

Since she joined as a student at Hogwarts, Merwyn started a side business of tattooing, joined the Quidditch team, and became prefect. She became Ed Sark Jr's legilimens student during her 5th year. During the summer of 2029, Savannah Rey invited Merwyn to be the Slytherin Quidditch co-captain.

Merwyn was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) over 6th year and spend the fall term at St. Mungo’s psychiatric wing. Upon return, she met Professor Genet Ali, who Merwyn would eventually view as her mother figure. Genet heard from Merwyn that she thought that Maria did not even want a child, and the woman confronted Maria about it. Maria confirmed this, and later had her wife sent adoption information to Genet, which screamed *yes, please take this child from us.*

At the end of 6th year, she nearly strangled another student, Jacob Barclay, which led to her prefect status being stripped and the ultimatum that she go back to Mungo’s psychiatric wing for the following fall or be expelled. She was admitted to St. Mungo's from September 1st to October 28th, being released due to an agreement between the psychiatrist and headmaster Newman that Genet's home environment was better than inpatient.

With Genet taking Merwyn in, it was a stable environment that allowed her to work on her own mental health without outside stressors. Merwyn grew more attached to Genet, eventually calling her *Mom*. The adoption order, which was filed in early July, was granted December 23, 2030.