CHANGE OF HEART. → wolfstar

nine

Sirius stared at his phone in shock. Romulus and Remus sounded similar. Maybe Rom was lying about his brother? Sirius was confused. There were only two explanations; one, it was a coincidence and mix-up and Sirius should call it a day and go home, or two, someone was lying.

Sirius had always been a nice person. Sure, he got angry when people didn't use common sense, he got upset when bullies were around, and he had punched his fair share of idiots in his time. But he knew that if you asked anyone who had met him, he'd be described the same way; a wannabe punk with a sweetheart attitude.

Sirius helped old ladies put their shopping into their cars. He helped elderly men walk across the road. He held children's hands when they were scared and couldn't find their mothers in supermarkets. He put all the clothes away in malls so that the workers didn't have to. He picked up his crumbs off the floor of James' house when he ate there, and he always took off his shoes when he went to someone's house. He tried so very hard to be polite, but what he hated most was lying.

And because Romulus' number had previously been the similarly named Remus' number, Sirius was having doubts of whether everyone was being 100% honest. That everyone being Romulus, who seemed more mysterious than Sirius had ever imagine a green-sweater wearing nerd could be. Maybe it was just Sirius' luck, he supposed. He always had trouble picking the right boys. The co-captain of his old soccer team, Max Flint, had been a terribly good kisser, and a terribly good rumor spreader, as Sirius had learnt the hard way. Being outed to the whole school by the world's biggest fuckboy was bad, but having your boyfriend cheat on you with your cousin's boyfriend was even worse.

Sirius would admit to having trust issues. He was usually an open person, prone to heartbreak because he loved too much too fast. He had always been open; that didn't mean he trusted blindly.

''Hey, mate, something was off about that kid, don't you think?'' Sirius asked James, who was downing a shot and staring at the door, waiting for Lily like a faithful lap dog.

''Um, yeah, I mean, he seemed pretty nervous.'' James said, shrugging a bit. Sirius knew James was a very loud and excited person, which meant his attention span was short. So Sirius just rolled his eyes at his best mate's vague response and decided to say something a little more attention catching.

''I think Romulus is actually Remus Lupin.'' James turned around quickly at that one, almost knocking over a shoddy looking girl who was sitting on a stool next to him. James' eyes were wide with disguised humor, meaning he would've laughed at Sirius if Sirius didn't look just about ready to cry.

''The fuck, man! You can't just accuse someone of faking their identity!'' James said, as always trying to look for the best in a situation. Sirius shook his head impatiently.

''You don't get what I'm saying; he's pretending to be someone else to cover up for being my ex-enemy.'' Sirius explained, and James just looked further amused.

''Sure, Pads. Like a wanker like Rem would ever care enough about his past to hide it. It's not like he's killed someone; if he had, Lily would tell me.'' James answered, and Sirius glared at him. Trust James to turn a serious moment into a joke. Sometimes, Sirius liked to be serious, pun intended.

''Just try to be serious, mate!''

James smirked, and Sirius knew he'd fucked up. ''What, and fake my identity like Remus? Pretend to be my best friend?''

Sirius laughed, briefly, before his stress fell back into play again. ''Yeah, whatever. But seriously, look at this.'' Sirius said, and shoved his phone under James' nose so he could see how the numbers matched up.