Sirius' tone stopped him from making it all the way to the door, and he turned back to face his friend. His friend had rarely been so serious as he was now, and the part of James that didn't want to believe in what was happening was starting to overcome his panicked desire to get back to his wife and son. He walked back towards Sirius, taking all of him in and seeing what he hadn't before.
Padfoot was...gaunt, was the best way to describe him. With shadows under his eyes and skin that looked like it hadn't seen sunlight in years. His hair was far from the luxuriant mane James was so fond of missing up, and most glaring of all were the lines of stress and age around his mouth and eyes. Sirius looked like hell, and older than he should be. It was hard to gauge how much older, but he was far from how he should look. How he had looked when James had seen him last.
He shook his head in denial when Sirius said Peter had betrayed them. "No. He couldn't have. It's Peter." It was a weak denial at best when faced with everything that had happened and this strange Sirius who stood before him. "Why would he do that?"