A voice from overhead asked, "Do you want a refill?" The waiter was wearing black trousers, a white shirt and a name tag on his chest. Sirius nodded. He poured a fresh cup of coffee.

There was an old man two tables away from him reading a newspaper, and Sirius could see what was on the front page this morning. The big and bolded headline was similar to the one he read the other day, or maybe it was the same one. It was an article about the real estate tycoon charged with insider-trading who went missing before the trial. The reporter was so convinced he was guilty that he ran away to one of his beach house on Cayman Islands to avoid the sentence.

Sirius was reminded of a man lying on the fake bear-skin carpet. The victim's eyes were wide open and his head was half-smashed. The cause of death was one blunt force trauma to head. The weapon was crystal Obelisk on the black marble table beside him. That, however, was wiped clean so it was impossible to find any fingerprints or blood traces. It was a staged accident and very good one. The victim was on their suspects list for months and one of the very close lead to Voldemort.

"What's with this rain today?"

Sirius gathered the thoughts as James slid into the other side of booth. Sirius looked outside the window. It was all wet and blurry; streets were hardly visible for hours of heavy rain. It hardly ever rained this much. He remembered hearing the multiple car accident on the London Boulevard. No casualties, just few injured, they were all carried to the nearest hospitals and stabilized. James took out paper napkins to wipe off his hands and face and threw them away. He grumbled a few words about the weather. Sirius told him the rain would not stop until tomorrow, but he doubt James listened.

"Didn't you order anything?"

"I'm not here to eat."

"Well, I am." James said, waving his hand to the server. He ordered a cup of coffee and a roast-beef sandwich. The server wrote down the order and went to the kitchen. The order was served soon after. James said thanks and smiled a little. Server smiled back to him and left, saying asking him if they need anything else. James grabbed his sandwich right away.

"Wow," He muttered after one bite. "This is amazing. Why didn't you bring me here before?" His voice was cheerful. James seemed to like the food here. Sirius stirred his coffee with spoon, just watching him eat.

"So," said James after he devoured the plate without crumbs. "What can I do for you today?"

Sirius drew out a notepad. The cover was worn out. He made a mental note to buy a new one. Chocolate and silver would do. He ripped off the marked page and handed it to James. James took a quick look. It was scribbles with small numbers and names, not much to read. It was his usual, new assignment.

"When do you need this?"

"By this week."

James folded the note into half and took it in his hands. When he held it out, it was gone. It was a fancy but simple trick. James once said he learned it few years ago and it always worked for ladies and Sirius retorted, "Adorable.". He didn't really mean that, of course.

The coffee went cold and bitter. Sirius put down the cup and looked at James, a cup of coffee in his hand and over his shoulder. A guy was sitting at the back. It was a nice spot, having a clear view of entire diner. He came in behind two more than James, ordered a cup of tea and picked up a paper. He was pretending to be absorbed in crosswords, but Sirius knew he hadn't took a sip of his drink or written a single letter into the puzzle.

"How are you?" asked Sirius.

"Alright, I guess." James shrugged. "It hurts days like this, but fine."

"Good." said Sirius. "We've got company."

"My two o'clock," Sirius added. James turned around, asking for a refill his coffee. The waitress came, took the empty dishes and refilled the cup.

"Saw him," said James, after she left. "I don't know him. Are you sure he didn't follow you?"

"No, he's yours."

"Shoot," James swore. "Do you know how many tubes I took on the way here?"

"Any guesses?"

"Four, but none of them are paranoid enough to put a tail on me."

"In other words, you have no idea."

"I can find out."

"You do that."

Sirius stood up. He put on his coat, took the money out and put it under pepper castor with a check. Glancing, the tail was rolling his eyes, leaning over the table, and thinking the next move, whether they leave together or James stays - if so, who should he follow next?

Sirius picked up an umbrella. "Let's go."

James emptied his coffee and rose up, rather reluctantly. The server standing at the counter said good-bye. Sirius opened the door; James passed him and went out first. The rain was in between, but still. Sirius wished it would stop until he got to the Yard. He shook off raindrops from the umbrella.

"It's a shame." said James as he put his leather gloves on. He didn't bring anything to avoid the rain, obviously. "I really wanted to try breakfast here."

"Well, that's your fault." answered Sirius. Then, James leaned on, just close enough to –

Sirius could know what kind of coffee James had. It was black with lots sugar, not really his taste of coffee. James' mouth was slightly opened and Sirius noticed as he lightly grabbed his neck to shoulder, that James was, in fact, smiling. Odd, but he understood. The guy behind the glass door, near the counter, seemed obviously confused now. He wasn't professional, after all. Then it wouldn't be hard to ditch him whoever he followed. Sirius took a step back.

"Just for the future reference, next time, run." said Sirius, almost growled. James was still close, too close. If Sirius breathed out, it would cloud his glasses. But neither of them had intentions to back off. James' hands slid down from Sirius' shoulder to forearm.

"Or, take a cab."

"Yes. Yes." said James. The leather felt cold. It was spinning around the wrist for a little bit, and the next moment, James snatched the umbrella from him.

"I'll charge you for the cab."

James put the umbrella and walked into the rain. Sirius watched him go and went to his car.