The next morning, although Harley had stayed up all night, she still got up early. She grabbed some breakfast and then headed straight for the Headmaster's Office.
Hermione, however, wasn't nearly so energetic.
She wasn't used to sneaking around at night, and she didn't have a Demoness's impressive physical stamina, so she was still fast asleep.
In the Headmaster's Office, Sirius was wolfing down breakfast, while Peter Pettigrew lay unconscious on the floor.
"Ah, it's been so long since I've been able to enjoy a meal like this," Sirius exclaimed, stuffing another huge piece of bacon into his mouth.
"Honestly, what a disgraceful great-grandson," Sirius's great-grandfather, Phineas Black, declared loudly.
"Regulus would never have been so uncouth! He was a hundred times better than you in every way! He was the perfect Slytherin!"
Several Gryffindor headmasters raised furious objections, but Sirius didn't argue back.
"Regulus... is he really dead?" Sirius asked quietly.
Phineas fell silent, too. After a while, he nodded.
"Haven't you noticed? You inherited everything the House of Black owned, including its last House-elf."
"By rights, since you were disowned, you could only inherit through blood magic if every other male heir had died."
Sirius was quiet for a moment before speaking softly.
"He was an idiot. He was always trying to live up to our parents' expectations, and ended up joining the Death Eaters."
"Since he's dead, I'll mourn him, but I won't pity him."
As he spoke, Sirius took a huge bite of his sandwich and stuffed his mouth as full as he could, so no other sounds could escape.
At that moment, a burst of fire suddenly flared in the middle of the room.
Fawkes appeared out of thin air with Harley, then flew to the nest lined with Phoenix Feathers.
Sirius saw his goddaughter