Easier to Lie
Part II
Chapter 1
"The secret of success is constancy to purpose."
~ Benjamin Disraeli
Ever since Damocles could remember, had always gotten what he wanted. It didn't mean that it didn't take some work, but somehow his diligence always paid off. In other words, when Damocles Belby set his mind to something…or should he say someone…the results were always favorable.
So when it came to Remus Lupin, Damocles thought it would be just like any other case. But this was more than some conquest to be had. He actually liked Remus.
Genuinely liked the man.
Now when this whole project started at the beginning of the year, Damocles wasn't thinking about any of that. He didn't know Remus personally but he had seen him around quite a bit. That was inevitable seeing as they were in the same year and the fact that he hung around with the Mar….Martyrs….? Marauders? Yeah that's what they called themselves. Stupid name. Regardless, all Damocles had ever learned about Remus in the seven years they'd been at Hogwarts was that he was a sharp bloke, constantly sick, and, of course, shy as all hell.
Before the project Damocles would've never spared the tawny haired boy a passing glance. But as soon as they had gotten to work, scouring over dark creature texts in the dusty isles of the library, he couldn't help but notice all of the unique and attractive qualities that Remus held…which no other man had ever possessed, as far as Damocles had found. Remus was indeed sharp this was true… spend ten minutes in the library with the bloke talking about dark creatures and you'll feel like you've got the knowledge of a first year DADA student. But more than that, Remus was passionate about learning; Not just subjects they had to study but…just learning for the sake of knowledge itself. And it was contagious. Damocles couldn't wait until the next moment he got to spend deliberating with Remus over the latest wizarding issues or discussing the most recent discoveries in charms and potions.
Sure, Damocles had dated a lot of people, both guys and girls, over his years at Hogwarts. Anyone could take one look at his popularity, generic attractiveness, inherent charm and see that that wasn't much of a secret, but he had never in all his years of pursuing relationships found someone as pure-hearted, intelligent, or grounded as Remus Lupin. And there was no one out there that Damocles had ever come across who was as easy to talk to as Remus. And yes, Remus was shy as all hell, but his biting wit, choice words, playful banter made up for any awkwardness that Damocles would have expected.
All in all, Damocles found himself fancying this guy that he had scarcely known for more than a few months.
Yes, he was being a bit of a ponce about it all but... he really liked this bloke.
Like…really, really liked him.
Like 'I wish I could watch him all day and make him laugh all the time' kind of like.
That's why he had asked Remus to Hogsmeade.
Of course, not as a date-date, but more as a day with friends.
Though... towards the end those intentions fell apart and the day had turned into something else entirely.
See, Damocles had notice something else about Remus that perhaps no one, not even his obnoxious, havoc-wreaking friends had seen, and that was that Remus had 1. Never once fancied a girl he dated, 2. Blushed furiously every time Damocles flirted with him, and 3. He flirted back. Albeit this was much more subtle and probably half of it was subconscious, but this point was supported by Damocles' fourth point which was that on a number of occasions he had caught Remus staring at him…or more pointedly at his arse. This had obviously happened way to many times for it just to be coincidence and Damocles knew enough about relationships to recognize when two people liked each other as more than friends…even if one of them still hadn't fully acknowledged what his true feelings were.
Actually, that was exactly why Damocles kissed Remus. (See it just came back to the whole Hogsmeade thing again…) He knew that it was a risk, but it had been a calculated one. He was in Ravenclaw after all.
All in all, this had the potential to be the best, or possibly the worst, risk he'd ever taken in his life. But the only way Damocles would ever find out was if Remus talked to him.
And, at the moment, Remus was pointedly ignoring him.
Ha! It seemed Black finally got what he wanted, hadn't he?
...the lousy, no-good, git...
...he was probably having a field-day over this.
Oh and what about Black? Why did the prat hate him so much?
No seriously, where the hell had that come from?
Give the bloke one detention for setting a toilet on fire and suddenly he was a…oh what was it Remus said they called him…oh that's right, a pretentious know-it-all goody-goody… whatever that meant...honestly the whole thing was a load of bollocks.
Pretentious? Damocles was far from that.
Plus, pretentiousness was Blacks specialty, not his.
All that aside though, the dark haired fellow still had a major attitude problem. Even when Damocles tried being nice to Black the other day in the Great Hall he just sneered…literally sneered at him…for no apparent reason. In fact, Black had done a lot of sneering at Damocles as of late, and always in relation to Remus.
That had to be it then. Sirius was mad a Damocles because of Remus. But why?
Remus said something about how he spent all his time in the Library with Damocles and not enough time with the Marauders.
Curious. He figured that Black and Potter had plenty of other friends to keep themselves entertained well enough. Was it really that hard for them to find things to do that didn't involve Remus Lupin?
Then again…Potter had yet to give Damocles the cold shoulder. Black was the only Marauder who had taken to reacting in such a way. So maybe the problem wasn't between the Marauders and Remus, maybe the problem was really between Sirius and Remus.
Well if that was the case then there was only one way to explain Black's attitude towards Damocles.
Jealousy, pure and unadulterated.
Talk about heavy implications. If Black was jealous of Damocles spending time with Remus then what he wanted for himself was time with Remus. He wanted what Damocles had: Remus' time and attention.
Curious…
Did that mean that Black was…? No…no… that would be mad.
Sirius Black….womanizer of Hogwarts and unofficial sex god…was…dare he say it?
Yes that had to be it. Sirius Black fancied Remus Lupin. In the same way Damocles fancied Remus Lupin. In precisely the same way, in fact.
Well that little revelation just opened up a whole new can of Flobberworms didn't it?
Then again, Damocles reasoned, maybe Sirius wasn't yet aware of the feelings he harbored for his best-mate. Yes, the idea seemed quite plausible now that he thought of it. It would explain why Black hadn't made any moves, unless they counted Sirius' failed attempt to coax Remus to Hogsmeade with him. It would also make sense for Black to block out his feelings since he was pretty damn close to being a self-proclaimed homophobe. Enough said...
Sure, now it was all starting to make sense. But if in fact this were all true and Black was in love with Remus, then it would mean Damocles was in big trouble. With Damocles currently removed from the picture, Remus might just walk into Sirius' waiting arms…even if Sirius didn't yet understand why he was there waiting for Remus to come back in the first place.
Well that was just unacceptable. Damocles couldn't possibly allow anything like that happen. Sure, he would be patient for a few days, give Remus sometime to mull over all the things they discussed in Hogsmeade. But if Remus didn't come back to Damocles by the end of the week, then Damocles would just have to take drastic measures, make the tawny hair man realize what he was missing out on. After all, Damocles wasn't the only one who enjoyed that kiss back at the bookstore. It may have caught Remus off guard, but he was just as committed to that kiss as Damocles was.
The point?
Remus liked Damocles. And Damocles liked Remus.
This was obvious. And no one, not even the "Great" Sirius Black, was going to get in the way of that. And if he tried to get between Remus and Damocles, well then Black was in for one hell of a ride.
After all, Damocles always got what he wanted, and nothing was going to change that.
