The City of Love

A/N: So this is just an idea that sprung on me one day while I was sick and I wrote it down. There is definitely more to come but for right now I'm still trying to figure out which direction I'm taking this. Eventually this will all tie in with the GOF but some stuff will diverge from canon but not too much to have drastic changes to the series at all.

June 10th, 1994

Paris, France

The day was hot but not humid and with a slight breeze of wind, it made it more bearable to the young man sitting on a empty bench by the Eiffel Tower. He watched as tourists fell for the scams that the people so eloquently construed to take money from people like candy from a baby. A gypsy claiming they found a golden ring and offering it to a tourist or pickpockets in large crowds admiring the history and culture of France, it's a shame that the 'City of Love' could be a place of such trickery and deceit.

Tucking his long, fine, brownish-blonde hair behind his ears; Merrill let out a sigh of complacency for the tourists. He had been here for about two days now as his father; once a professional Quidditch player turned Ambassador for MACUSA has business to do with the French Ministry of Magic. But he wasn't alone though, his father had his assistant/chauffeur, Pierre keep an eye on Merrill as he would be in meetings all day and didn't know what time they'd get back to the hotel. Pierre was a rather tall and balding man with a warm complexion. The two of them didn't talk much but Merrill knew that if something were to happen and he was in danger, Pierre would sort it out.

Crossing his legs, he got comfortable on the bench as he watched a gypsy just con someone out 5 maybe 10 euros. When he had first arrived and saw what was going on he didn't believe it until a pickpocket at Notre-Dame robbed him of 20 euros. He spent the rest of the day trying to warn tourists about the scams as Pierre had warned him earlier that day but Merrill didn't heed the advice. His efforts were fruitless to say the least. He was too optimistic for his own good and always tried to see the good in others despite wrongdoings. Whoever robbed him of his money, he hoped that whatever they needed it for they got it.

Pierre took of his suit jacket and checked his watch for the time which displayed 12:32pm. Walking over to where Merrill was he sat beside the younger man. "Monsieur Wilt are you getting hungry?". Merrill shook his head "No not really, but if your hungry we can go to a cafe if you want.".

Pierre clasped his hands together and watched the elevator rise higher and higher in the tower "I've been watching you for ze past half hour now, your observations of the con-artists in ze area is surprising, you've been able to figure out which ones are going to scam and which ones will be ze unsuspecting victim, you observe more than you act. And while not acting isn't necessarily a bad thing, you are missing out on living and learning.". Merrill locked his greenish-blue eyes on Pierre's brown eyes but didn't say anything and allowed him to continue.

Pierre cleared his throat before continuing "You remind me of myself when I was a little child, I would always shy away from action and never partake in life, merely observing with the perspective of an outsider. If you don't partake in your life, it's going to pass you by in the blink of an eye. It happened to me. But I'm making up for it now. Now yesterday you tried to make a difference but you didn't succeed, however those people that got scammed, will now heed your warnings ze next time they are traveling. Ze smallest actions can have ze biggest outcomes. So your efforts were not entirely to no avail mon ami."

Merrill gave him a small smile as his words were comforting "Merci Pierre, I think I needed to hear that than getting chastised by my dad for losing money.".

Pierre patted the young man on the shoulder "Sometimes comforting words can do a world of wonders, he may not be ze best at showing it but your father loves you, he told me just yesterday that he was proud that your house at school had won ze schools quidditch house cup and you were voted by your peers as keeper of ze season. It's a nice accomplishment, I was never good at ze sport myself." Pierre let out a chuckle "Maybe you'll play professionally one day.".

Merrill shook his head as he had a chuckle of his own at Pierre's statement "I don't think so, I like working with plants and animals. Maybe I'll be a writer or a magizoologist I don't know. I mean I love playing quidditch but to go professional I don't think I'm that good enough, maybe like an amateur league or something.".

"Don't doubt yourself, ze world is a mysterious place mon ami." Checking his watch again and noting that it was rolling onto 12:40pm, Pierre got up and slung his suit jacket over his shoulder "You are what 16, 17 years old?".

Merrill climbed up to his feet and dusted his hands off on his shorts. Thanks to Pierre mentioning food earlier he could use a bite to eat "I'm 17." Merrill answered. The two of them started walking towards the busy Parisian streets.

"Then you have time to figure it out my friend." Pierre said as they made their way towards an intersection to cross the street. They waited for the cars to pass as they were out a rather busy area of Paris. "Your father tells me you like playing the guitar and piano?" Pierre attempted to restart the conversation they were having as it was the most he's got out of the boy since they arrived.

Merrill's eyes flickered with interest "Yea well it's more of a hobby, I think to make up for the fact that it's just us but I do play, I'm not any good but maybe one day I'll be able to make some money from it."

The cars came to a stop as the two of them along with a small crowd of others crossed the street. "Thanks for mentioning food earlier Pierre now you've got me hungry." Merrill commented once they got to the other side. One the crowd that had surrounded them dispersed about their day Pierre looked around for a alley. "So am I, I know a place pizza place, it's about a 10 minute walk from here, I thought about apparating but figured since it is a nice day out why not take a walk."

"Sure that's fine." Merrill fell instep beside him as they walked down the side of Avenue de la Bourdonnais. The two of them talked about how nice the weather was, about Paris and about Pierre's life growing up. Upon reaching the pizza restaurant, they got a table and ordered two small personal pepperoni pizzas. Pierre had handled the orders, translating to Merrill what the waiter was asking and vice versa. And now they sat there in silence enjoying their lunch. Neither one realized just how hungry they were.

"You know." Merrill said as he finished up his pizza "That might just be the best pizza I ever had, it wasn't overly greasy nor was there too much sauce or too little cheese.". Pierre finished up his pizza as well, wiping his mouth of any tomato sauce "Oui, it's why I come here when I'm in Paris. So what would you like to do now?" Pierre asked, taking a sip of his water.

"You mind taking me back to the hotel?" Merrill wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"Certainly."

The door to the hotel room opened as Merrill's dad stepped in. Merrill had been watching the sunset behind the streets on the balcony. The sun hadn't disappeared behind the treeline just yet. It was going on past 7:30pm as his dad came out and looked outside on the balcony with him. His dad, much like Pierre had a little to no hair on his head yet his dad was always a professional but he did like to make jokes with his sarcastic dry sense of humor. Taking off his suit jacket he leaned against the railing. His father always had a stern aura about him but much like Pierre he had a kind looking face.

"I've been invited by Jean-Baptiste Delacour to have dinner at his house and he's extended the invitation to you and my assistant Pierre. So wear your formal clothes and remember to act polite. Dinner doesn't start till 8 but he invited us early to show us around the property and to talk politics. He has two daughters, one is your age and the other is I think 8 or 9. So get dressed and freshen up. And I'm sorry about yesterday, I was hoping to get out of the meeting early and explore Paris with you but things weren't looking good and I had to stay late, today though things are better but the meeting didn't adjourn until a few minutes ago.".

Merrill kept his gaze on the streets below "I understand. I just wish mom was here to experience Paris with us."

Letting out a sigh, his father looked him, his blue eyes softening at the mention of her "I know, I miss her too. She always dreamed of coming here, and at one point we wanted to move here. Those damn bastards took her away from me when you know who sent some of his followers to the U.S. I was playing in a match at the time against the Fitchburg Finches in Massachusetts and wasn't home when she was killed, do you remember that night?". The question might have sounded abhorrent but it was a question that in a way caused the both of them to have a heart to heart moment and Merrill knew that being here caused his dad to get sentimental and reminiscent and that it had rubbed off a bit on him.

Merrill nodded "Yea, I remember the blinding green light and watching her fall before the death eater disappeared. I was 3 at the time, it's what made you get out of Quidditch all together. And what bothers me is that's the only memory that I really have of her. it was nothing good, just the night she died."

Letting out a sigh his father looked at him "I know, and nobody will ever replace her, she saw my flaws and accepted me for everything I was and wasn't, you have her eyes, optimistic outlook on life, and her kindness and generosity I think it's why she made a great nurse at the hospital because she genuinely cared about all of the patients she treated."

A car honking on the street below caused the two of them to snap out of their reverie and back to the matter at hand. "Right well I'll make time for us to explore Paris before we leave. You should take a shower and I'll pick out your clothes. Now go get ready."

Merrill nodded noting that the moment they just had was gone and headed into the hotel room towards the bathroom. He wasn't sure what the family was like or what their house was like but maybe they had exotic animals and a large garden or forest surrounding their house. All he knew about Mr. Delacour was that he was man of some power in France. And if what his father told him, tonight should be very interesting as it'd give him a cultural difference to compare his American way of life to that of a European and to practice his French.

A/N: So that was the first chapter. I'd love to hear what you guys think. I'm gonna try and keep the chapters long but some might be a few hundred words shorter than the others. Feedback is appreciated. I'll try and update every two weeks.