At Sirius's question, Vaughn paused, then shook his head with a chuckle. "You think I rescued you so you could kill Peter?"
He pointed at Lupin. "Then why wouldn't I choose Remus?"
"You must have heard of C. Compared with you, Remus is one of my own. I'd feel much more comfortable leaving something like that to him."
"Er..." Sirius was at a loss for words.
Lupin looked rather awkward beside him. He felt that made him sound like Vaughn's devoted lackey, though that was admittedly how outsiders saw him.
"Was that old man telling the truth, then?" Sirius suddenly asked.
"Old man?" Vaughn raised an eyebrow. "You mean Phineas?"
"I did make an agreement with him. He wanted to exchange the Black Family's inheritance for my help in rescuing the last of their bloodline."
"But that wasn't my main motive. I merely secured a few extra benefits for myself while carrying out my original plan." Vaughn's frankness left Sirius somewhat at a loss. Although he had broken with his family, he was still the sole heir to the old house and its estate.
This Mr. Weasley had actually admitted, right in front of the injured party, that he had appropriated wealth that should have belonged to Sirius.
For a moment, Sirius wondered whether someone who handled things the way Vaughn did could really go out without getting beaten up.
Of course, he had never cared about the Black Family's inheritance anyway.
"It seems Lupin hasn't told you yet. I need you to stir up a little trouble and give our dear Peter a sense of danger."
Vaughn spread his hands. "You know him better than I do. Without some outside pressure, he'd probably be happy to stay hidden in the sewers forever."
Lupin's face reddened again. The truth was,