Come What May

Chapter I

An Unexpected Visitor

There may never be a sign

No flashing neon light

Telling you to make your move

Or when the time is right

“Why Not” Hilary Duff

“There’s a lady outside, Roma, Roma, Roma!” a girl of about five said as she ran into the room. Roma looked up from the book she’d been reading and stood up.

“Don’t call me that, Selena,” she retorted, smirking at the outraged face of the small girl. She was petite for her age, with pale skin and long, light brown hair. Her large green-brown eyes were fringed with dark lashes that stood out against the ivory color of her skin.

“I won’t call you Roma, Roma, Roma if you won’t call me Selena. It’s Selly, or Sel, or just about anything but Selena,” scowled the young girl. She pulled Roma along the hallway to the front door. Selena was a carbon-copy of Roma; they both had light-brown hair and the same green-brown eyes. Even the pale shade of their skin matched.

“Who is it at the door, Sel?” Roma asked curiously. She didn’t often have her daughter answer the door without her being there; she was too protective for taking risks like that.

“A lady, a tall lady with black hair and glasses. She doesn’t look very nice, but she doesn’t look mean...just strict, I suppose. She’s wearing a long... dress thing. Like dark green robes, or something,” the younger girl explained. She had a very large vocabulary, and a colorful one at that, that could rival that of a sailor’s or a scholar’s. She had an unusually high reading level for a five-year-old; her last book that she read had been Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and she had hardly needed any help with it.

Roma froze at the description of the woman. She knew exactly who it was, and bit her lip nervously as she opened the door to greet Professor Minerva McGonagall. The stern Transfiguration teacher nodded her head coldly to Roma.

“Hello, Romula,” she said with a hint of an accent that Roma couldn’t quite place. She hadn’t seen the woman since eight years ago, at her mother’s funeral. That was the last contact she’d had with the magical world. The only witch or wizard she’d heard from in all those years was her brother, who contacted her by muggle post only.

“Please, Professor, call me Roma,” she said, cringing at the sound of her given name. She gestured for the witch to come inside. She nodded and entered the medium-sized house.

“Selly, honey, why don’t you go into the office and watch Moulin Rouge?” Roma said, leaning down to her daughter’s height so she could look her in the eye. Selena nodded and ran off to watch their favorite movie.

“What brings you to California, Professor?” Roma asked politely as they sat on the couch.

“I must be frank with you, Romula,” McGonagall said shortly. Roma winced at the use of her full name but overlooked it. “Dumbledore sent me here to offer you a position as one of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. We need two this year; one for dueling, that’s you, and we also have one for the regular subject. Term starts in a week, are you coming?”

“Um... I-I... what about Selena?” she stuttered. “I can’t bring her, can I?”

“No, you can’t. I suppose you would have to have her stay with someone.”

Roma nodded; she knew that her friend Lydia would watch her daughter, she already did at least two nights a month anyways. And she would love to stay at their house. Roma knew that she’d be able to visit Selena at least every other day by apparating... this could work. She did need a job, after all...

“I’ll do it,” Roma said quietly. McGonagall started; she hadn’t been expecting the young woman to accept the offer. The older lady recovered from her shock quickly and got up to leave.

“Fine. I’ll tell Dumbledore that you’ll be coming on September 1st. Good Bye.” With that she left as quickly as possible.

Roma stood up and went into her office, where her favorite part of Moulin Rouge was playing: the Elephant Love Medley.

Selena looked up as her mother entered and stood, singing along with the song that was playing.

“Love is a many splendid thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love!” Roma smiled sadly and said Satine’s line: “Please, don’t start that again.”

“All you need is love!”

“A girl has got to eat.”

“ All you need is love!”

“She’ll end up on the street.”

“All you need is... love.”

“Love is just a game.” The song continued but Roma decided to take that time to pull Selena aside and explain to her the situation.

“Sel, hon, I have a job. I’m going to be a teacher, but my work is far away, so I’m not going to see you that much. I’ll try and visit at least every other day, though, and I’ll spend time with you on weekends, okay? Lydia will stay with you here,” Roma said, choking back tears. She really needed this money, but she didn’t want to leave her only daughter.

“Okay,” Selena said quietly, her large, olive-green eyes searching Roma’s face. Roma pulled her into a tight embrace. They watched the rest of the movie together and sang along with their favorite parts.

After it ended, Roma took the DVD out and put it into its case. She handed the case to Selena and smiled.

“Keep this while I’m gone. I’m going to take the soundtrack with me, to remind me of you. I love you, honey, ok?” Roma said, tears streaming down her face. She knew that she was just being overemotional, but she couldn’t help it. She was very protective of her daughter and couldn’t stand the thought of leaving her. But she knew, deep down, that she needed this job, in more ways than one. She needed to become reacquainted with everyone from her past, and that the students needed this knowledge in their fight against Voldemort. Also, deep down, she wanted to see James Potter’s son...

“Come what may, mommy,” Selena said, reciting their favorite line and song from Moulin Rouge. She smiled and hugged her mother.

“I will love you, until my dying day.”