Don't like your tilted stage.
Sirius shoved open the door to Mary’s coffee shop and practically threw himself down into his favorite plush chair. The spot in the corner had the perfect view of the street outside the large window it was pushed up next to and let him watch the entire room without fear that someone would come up behind him.
Mary watched him stalk in and noticed the pissed look on his face and started making him a latte.
She walked over to him and sat in the large red chair next to him, gently setting her hand on his knee. Sirius jumped a little and smiled at her. “Hey.”
“What’s wrong?” She asked gently with a tilt of her head.
Sirius just sighed and shook his head, his curls bouncing around his face. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Mary nodded and stood, returning to the coffee bar to finish his coffee as he looked around the room. Her cafe was bright and warm, the calming atmosphere exactly what he needed right now. With the mismatched chairs and tables and nothing quite belonging, it cultivated a delightful vibe.
When his friend and boss waved him over, he shoved himself up with a groan and walked over to the counter to pay. As he pulled out his card Mary shook her head and pushed it away, her own kinky hair moving into her face. One of her hands moved to shove it back behind her ear as the other shoved the drink towards Sirius. “It’s on the house. Considering what you're going through right now.” Sirius forgot he had told Mary about what had been going on.
Sirius smiled at the blonde girl as he slid the coffee across the counter. “Marlene, I swear, if you drink that entire 24-ounce in less than a minute again, I will get Mary to ban you for a week!” He joked as Marlene held the straw to her lips with a Cheshire cat grin on her face.
“That sounds like a challenge Sirius.” She raised her eyebrows at him. They had met at their boarding school years ago when his parents had sent him off for a few years just to get rid of him and keep him from having a “bad influence” on his younger brother. Not that sending him off had changed anything, he and Regulus had sent each other letters and emails as often as they could. Even after he had left the school and his parents sent him back to his French private school he and Marlene had kept in touch, it was pure coincidence that she and her new girlfriend Dorcas had moved into the same town as Sirius and his other friends.
“It most definitely is not!” Sirius said with a laugh as he turned to the sound of the doorbell. “Welcome to The Rose Garden, what can I get for...” The words died in his throat as he saw who had walked in.
The man in the doorway looked around and smiled wickedly at Sirius when his eyes finally landed on him, standing shock still behind the till.
His hair was colored to be the same midnight black as Sirius’ own but sat in James’ length and curl pattern, behind his round glasses that looked just like James’ sat a pair of startling grey eyes that ran deep into the Black family gene pool. He had to be wearing contacts, Sirius thought bitterly to himself.
He hadn’t even noticed he was shaking until he looked down at his hands hovering over the screen of the POS. He turned to face Mary and whispered something in her ear before darting through the curtains blocking the employees-only area from the guests’ view. The last thing he saw before he ran into the break room was Barty’s snide smirk.
Sirius backed himself up against the wall and slid down it, clutching his phone in his hands like his life depended on it.
His breaths came quick and shallow as his hands shook. He happily sighed when James finally picked up the phone. “Jamie-”
“Hey, what’s up? You okay?” James’ calming voice filled Sirius’ ears as he held the phone to his ear.
“Jamie- He’s- Fuck.” Sirius took in a shuddering breath.
“Who? Where are you? I thought you were at work.”
Sirius nodded before realizing that James couldn’t see him. “I am. I am.”
“Siri, Pads, take a deep breath. You’re okay, love.” James guided Sirius’ breaths and helped him calm down. “Okay, now. Who’s there?”
Sirius took another deep breath. “Barty. He just- He just walked in. Fuck. He looks like us. Like a combination of the two of us, it’s creepy.” The line went dead after a few moments of them both sitting together.
James’ gasp cut through the silence when the words finally registered. “He’s what?”
“Uh huh,” Sirius muttered, shock still running rampant in his body. He could hear James pulling on a jacket and grabbing his keys.
“I’m on my way, you need to tell Mary what’s going on.”
“Okay yeah, yeah.” Sirius nodded and hung up the call just as Mary walked through the curtains and came up to where Sirius had backed himself into the corner of the break room.
“What was that, Sirius? You haven’t had a panic attack like that in months.” Mary sat down next to him and reached a hand out to place it gently on Sirius's knee as he buried his face into the dip between his knees.
“Don’t remind me of that. I thought my parents had walked in.” He chuckled at the memory, it had been horrifying at the time, but he and Mary had turned it into an inside joke.
“You’re deflecting, come on. Tell me.” Mary said in her no-nonsense tone as she fixed him with a serious look.
“You remember that guy I was telling you about? The one Reggie was with? The weird one?” At Mary’s nod, Sirius continued. “That was him. He’s been showing up at places he shouldn’t be able to. Just last week he somehow was at Reggie’s recital.” Sirius groaned at the memory. “It was a sold-out event Mary and Reggie made sure he didn’t have a ticket. There’s no way he could’ve even known about it!” Sirius shook his head, lifting it just slightly from where he was hiding.
Mary’s eyes were wide when he did look up and meet her gaze. “You need to tell the police or something.”
“Yeah, that’ll go over so well.” Sirius’ tone was full of sarcasm, then genuinely, “We’ve tried, James and I have. They won’t do anything.”
Mary gave him a gentle smile before standing and ruffling his hair. “Well, I’m going to head back out there before the Karens start a mutiny over espresso. Come back out whenever you’re ready.”
Sirius nodded and spent the next few minutes collecting his thoughts before standing and bushing dust and floor fur off himself. When he did go back to the floor, he saw James standing at the counter and smiled. They would be okay, even if it took some time.
Sirius shook his head, pulling himself out of the memory as he slipped a 20 into the tip jar. “You may not let me pay, but I’m going to make sure you get your fucking money.” He said with a smile and a roll of his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Mary smiled as she turned around and started working on another order. “How is all that going?”
Sirius sighed and tilted his head as he looked at her. “Honestly, I’m not sure. James and I had to tell Reggie and Remus what was happening-”
“You mean they didn’t already know?!” Mary looked at him over her shoulder, a glare painting her features.
“We didn’t think it was a big enough deal to worry them over!” Sirius set down his drink and held up his hands in a defensive stance. “But then he got my number, yes the new one, and told me he had my IP and we had to.”
“You mean James said you had to.” Mary’s tone was flat, and Sirius could tell she was frustrated with him.
He nodded before muttering, “Yeah... I didn’t want to worry them with it! I thought he would get bored and fuck off after a few weeks.”
“Sirius,” He grimaced when he recognized he was about to get a stern, but loving, talking to from one of his best friends.
“Yes, Mary?”
“This has been going on for years, if he was going to get bored and leave you alone, he would’ve by now.”
“True,” Sirius muttered, sounding like a kicked puppy. Before Mary could continue the door chimed and Sirius turned to see who had walked in and was face to face with the one person he really, really didn’t want to see, Barty.