It was a tall, old man. His greyish hair and beard were so long he had tucked them into his belt, she realized with a short widening of her eyes. He also wore the most peculiar clothing – a long, turquoise cloak and heeled, black shoes. He was smiling brightly at her.

Sirius Black had sprung to his feet lightly only a few feet from her, and was watching the mess of shattered plates and food strewn over the remains of the table, a proud look on his handsome face. Beside him, his messy-haired friend was laughing, giving him a high-five. 
Carolyn was still wrestling with the horror inside of her.

Carolyn wondered whether she should call for Madam Pomfrey, but then an idea struck. An idea so crazy and insensible that she simply had to act on it.
She hurried back into the office. No one was there. She crossed the room swiftly and entered the lab once more.
She felt at home instantly.

Fear. Sickening fear flooded her, and her experience with the Slytherins came back, making her tense. But still her anger at everything, particularly at herself, at herself because she kept doing things wrong, because she wasn’t good enough for Sirius, was stronger, making her raise her eyes to his, blazing with fury.
“Don’t you threat me,” she hissed.

“You might want to weigh them up carefully,” she mumbled, clearing her throat. “They have to be the correct amount exactly, otherwise the whole potion will be ruined.”
For a moment, he was still. Then he turned to her with an expression that made her recoil slightly.
“And what -” he said through clenched teeth, “would you know about it?”

They had reached the Great Hall. Lily stopped and her brilliant green eyes pierced Carolyn’s. “Look,” said Lily, “I don’t know you. It’s your life. But I’d hate to see a brilliant potion-maker like you never get credit for her work just because some idiotic seventeen-year-old was unfairly singled out by nature.”

Slughorn made to open the door, then turned around again in the doorway, winking at Lily. “And bring Miss Cassidy, too, will you?” 

Checking her watch, she groaned. It was only six in the morning. She was about to lie back down when there was a knock on her door and a hushed whisper through the key hole.
“Carolyn! Please, it’s me, James, open up!”

“Okay,” Carolyn said, “the thing is, I just got a letter from St Mungo’s.”
“You are sick?” Lily said, aghast.
“No, of course not. They’ve invited me for a – a job interview.”

She suddenly felt like she was floating, and her vision blurred oddly, focusing only on Allan. And seeing him, she felt a new, unexpected sensation wash over her; she couldn’t think clearly and was unable to recall who and where she was, but it didn’t bother her – all she felt was that new sensation spreading through her; and she stared at Allan, and felt she was truly seeing him for the first time.

He held her like that for quite a while but at some point he seemed unable to keep quiet any longer.
“Carolyn,” he whispered, and his voice was still rough with panic, trembling slightly, “Carolyn, what’s happened to you?”

My plan of before seems to have worked so perfectly that you really do hate me, and I’ll stay out of your life just as you want it. But I will keep protecting you from dark magic, or rather, anything. Don’t worry, I’ll be able to do it without you ever noticing. My guess is that you want me to disappear completely and leave you without protection. But that, you cannot ask of me.

And when the first rays of sunlight crept into the room she knew that she never wanted to go back.

She sighed, gripping the table with one hand, her face scrunched up in concentration as she fought to keep herself from allowing memories and images to resurface. And yet she couldn’t prevent herself from saying quietly, “I did have fun … once.”
Tomas leaned forwards slightly, his brows furrowed. For a long while, he just stared at her, saying nothing. Then he exhaled slowly. “Well, who is he?”

It was getting dark.

I hope you enjoyed "A Sirius Problem", and thanks so much to those who reviewed. Thanks for sticking with Carolyn, Sirius and me. 

Until the next story!