Harry Potter and the Dreamer Awakened (Part 1)

Harry Potter and the Dreamer Awakened (Part 1)

It was quiet in the dark ruins these days. Occasionally someone would come back to retrieve something they had forgotten, or even to just walk around, but he kept his distance. It was livelier in Hotlands, where some chose to stay because there were few other places suited to their temperature requirements outside Mount Ebott, but he never visited there either. He didn’t understand the ones who just visited their former prison. He also wasn’t sure he understood why he kept his own promise to leave them alone. He had been in a different frame of mind when he made it. Before, he might have called it an idiot’s frame of mind.

Right now the yellow flower was gazing at a tree before a small house. Gazing at the blanket of leaves that encircled it on the ground, and remembering when he would roll around in them with his best friend. He still expected something to emerge from his core. He yearned for it. Feeling that, that warmth, after so long was indescribable. Even though it had only been for a few hours what must have been months ago, he thought of it constantly. Remembering the unexpected and undeserved hug...he found if he really thought hard, even if he could only remember the feelings in an abstract form, it was almost like actually feeling. It still wasn’t the same thing, but afterwards he could almost understand his promise again.

While that worked on this occasion, today it also brought forth genuine feelings. Frustration, mostly. He marvelled at how something so pretty could only accommodate anger and fear and despair when given voice. It was a cruel joke. One he’d been more than willing to laugh with for a long time. That too was almost like feeling. Although to laugh at it now would be a lot more final than it had been in the past. His genuine fear, which could also come from concentrating really hard on...less pleasant memories, was another thing that could keep him in check.

As he moved through the silent ruins however, there was no fear to help him rationalise the promise. Just the frustration that it took so much effort. He couldn’t even commit to a name consistently these days. There was no need to hide his true identity while he was busy hiding the rest of himself along with it, but old habits die hard, and while he tried to call himself by his true name as a way of helping him remember why he promised to stay here, on days where trying hard didn’t appeal to him, he caught himself thinking of his assumed name. He usually didn’t care when this happened.

Eventually, he reached his destination. A bed of beautiful flowers, blooming in the few places he could actually feel the sun. He had come here before to see the sun, but that was out of curiosity. Now the barrier was broken, he could actually feel it. And usually it actually felt warm and physically pleasant. But there was a dissonance as his core remained unresponsive. With a sigh, he looked down at his silent companions.

"What would you have done, Chara?"

****

Meanwhile, far away from Mount Ebott, two friends were talking about a project that was not going well.

"All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magicks Most Evile - listen - 'of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak or give direction...'"

"Wow, Hermione. I can't believe the library let you down."

"Neither can I, Harry." She snapped. Her goto response having failed her was irritating, on top of the whole Ron situation. "There was one other clue in it however. 'Though accounts are of dubious source, the Wizards of Ebott stand accused of dwelling in the same realm as the Horcrux, but for causes much fairer.'"

"Ebott?" He adjusted his glasses. "What's...?"

"It's a country. Small and far away from here. Before you ask, I did look them up, and all I could find are historical accounts, no magical research. That won't give us any clues about Horcruxes either."

"Would one of the teachers know? Or, I don't know, somebody in the Order?"

"I doubt it, Harry. Don't you remember History of-?" She caught herself and, in spite of her irritation, she smiled. "Oh of course you don't. You remember Salem at least, don't you?" Harry nodded. "Well it wasn't the only impetus for Wizards going into hiding. Around the same time, all contact with Wizards from Ebott ceased. There were investigations, but the details are pretty sketchy. At the time they thought there was some sort of plague, but enough people cited Salem and claimed Muggles had caused a massacre. Seems unlikely when you could just apparate away from danger. But if that did happen, it's sort of sad, because when I was reading it seems that Ebott was actually the site of one of the greatest Wizard-Muggle alliances in the Middle Ages, though we don't know why they did that. Ebott is just full of mystery, it seems. Anyway, the arguments were still there when the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was signed, and Wizards have generally steered clear of Ebott since."

"Well, maybe they were trying their Horcrux-thing and blew themselves up."

"It's not impossible, Harry, but I don't see the point in speculating when we still have no idea what a Horcrux is."

Harry frowned. She was right, of course. But it was still something interesting to think about. If Professor Binns had thrown out a few more mysteries like that, maybe he wouldn't have failed History of Magic. Also, it had been useful for distracting Hermione from her anger over the bezoar in potions.

"Maybe..." He ventured, unsure of why he was even doing it. "Maybe when Voldemort is defeated, we can find out what happened there?"

"Wh-what? Why?"

"It's a mystery. Isn't that our speciality?"

"Oh Harry," she playfully tutted at him ", it would actually be interesting, but try not to think about it too much. Voldemort is the priority, and then we'll probably have to study for our NEWTs and get jobs."

"Wow, somebody's confident."

They laughed. In these troubled times every now and then you needed a laugh. One of their troubles made themselves known with a nauseating squeaky "Won-won!" echoing down the corridor, at which Hermione shot off in the other direction before Harry could follow, so instead he turned to his friend's mop of ginger hair trying not to comment on the less than pleased look on his face.

****

"It troubles me too, but I don’t think we should do anything just yet."

Two pairs of large furry hands rested around cups of tea on the kitchen table. A third pair, much smaller and hairless, was busy drawing a picture.

"Well then when shall you act, Asgore? You are the king, after all."

"I know, Tori-*AHEM*-el." He was getting better at catching himself. "But after our initial foray has gone so well, I don't think we're in a position yet to broach such questions."

"And I appreciate that, I really do. But those of us who entered the Underground are feeling restless about this. How come we have not seen any humans use magic? Where are they? Could they return? What if they disagree with the peace and try to reimpose their sentence?"

"I haven’t gone unpetitioned either, Toriel. But you saw how nonplussed people were when Doctor Alphys dropped that hint. If we start probing about human magic in earnest, we invite more questions about the barrier, and while I am willing to explain-"

"No. The discussion you had with the Governor was perilous enough in that matter. It was more of a confession. I still cannot believe they were willing to look past it in the preliminary agreements." She smiled at the young child drawing the picture in gratitude. "We are nowhere near ready for a public discussion of it. In the meantime, you are right. The best we can do is continue to build relations with the humans we have met. At the very least, we will have defenders should they return."

Frisk contributed to the discussion by fishing for a red pencil for Papyrus’ scarf and Undyne’s hair. Not that they weren't interested in what their parents were talking about, but they had contributed what little they knew on the subject long ago, and it was pointless to repeat themselves. Mostly old stories that were probably just superstition. Or at least they thought it was superstition before proof of magic came across their path. They had helped Alphys do research, but the stories were centuries old and there was nothing recent to add to them.

"Speaking of Alphys, she had broached a theory that human magic and monster magic were connected, and to seal one was to starve the other. Is that possible?"

"You know better, Asgore. There are other creatures besides monsters and humans with their own connection to magic, and humans usually required tools to channel their own magic. Few could do as we do. I have instructed Frisk since we emerged, and they have shown not one spark." Turning to Frisk with a slight dip of the head. "I am sorry my child, it appears you are magically inert."

Frisk reached out a hand and rested it on Toriel's, an amusing reversal. They had long accepted they had no magical potential, but they had persevered because Toriel had hoped she would have someone to teach once again. It was sad she appeared to have reached acceptance on the matter, especially while Frisk was struggling with acceptance of their own, something that gnawed at them.

"It's strange we haven't encountered any other magical creatures, either."

"Well this land never had much diversity. It was mostly monsters and humans."

"Hmm, that is true." A mighty hand gently stroked his beard. "However it means we are ultimately in limbo until these questions are answered."

"I do not like it, Asgore. Such questions could be key to our success, and for something beyond our control or knowledge to appear and undermine it would be unbearable. But you are right. Thank you for coming to discuss it."

A knock at the front door. It was soft but urgent. Toriel stood up with grace and headed for it, closing the kitchen door behind her to keep a wintry breeze from chilling the room. Asgore's posture shifted to appear slightly less tense.

"So, um, Frisk. Are you looking forward to this weekend? I had thought we may go to the lake. Perhaps even rent a boat?"

"Are you sure you can fit? I'd hate for us to capsize, Mom would get mad."

"Don't forget, we monsters are a lot lighter than humans think. As long as there's one long and wide enough I should be fine."

"Well, I was thinking of inviting a friend from school. At least on the Saturday."

"Oh. Monsterkid? Snowy? Bob Junior?"

"Um, a human actually. Her name is Jane."

Bushy eyebrows raised, partly in surprise, partly in suspicion. "Are you doing this because you're friends with her? Or it because you feel the need to try and soften up the next generation to make friends with us?"

"Oh, she's definitely my friend! I mean, not my absolute favourite, but..."

Asgore sighed. Frisk always seemed to be trying to hit two birds with one stone. At least they had taken to friends their own age. And they weren't wrong, making human friends was important.

"Well, okay then. Perhaps the lake is a bad idea for a new friend, just in case we would run into difficulty. Maybe we should just go to the cinema?"

"But then you really won't fit there! And you can't use your weight as an excuse."

A gentle laugh. "True. But I have no problem standing. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see?"

"Well..."

Frisk tried to think about what had been advertised, but something distracted them. They realised there was a breeze ticking their ankle. The sort of breeze Asgore's fur would have concealed from him. This then led to the further realisation that Toriel hadn't come back yet, and the front door must still be open. Come to think of it, they hadn't heard anything. Even if they couldn't make it out surely someone would have said something.

As if on cue, someone did say something. Frisk couldn't make it out, but its familiarity sparked a few precious memories that froze them dead, hyper alert for the next sound. Even Asgore raised his head, more curious than anything, though sparked by similar memories coming from a much deeper place.

The next sound was Toriel, and it was clear as day.

"ASRIEL!!!"

Asgore blinked. Then as Frisk began to pull away from the table, there was a clatter as his chair toppled over and the table was shoved two feet back, and the kitchen door opened with a bang by the time Frisk had actually gotten off their chair. Entering the hallway, they found their path blocked by Asgore. He was as frozen now as they had been a moment ago. Toriel's heavy sobbing could be heard clearly. As it transpired, the best angle to get a view was between Asgore's legs.

Toriel stood surprisingly steady, continuing to face the front door and the snowy street beyond. Her head and chest trembled as she continued to sob, and over her shoulder rested a head, smaller than Toriel or Asgore and missing horns, but with fur just as white and fluffy, and ears just as long and floppy. Eyes closed in contentment, not sobbing, but with tears of his own. Green and yellow striped arms ending in fuzzy white hands wrapped tightly around Toriel's chest. Eventually, the smaller head opened his eyes, the glint of green appeared overbright.

"Dad!"

Despite how tight she had been holding him, Toriel hadn't expected to be interrupted, had completely forgotten the others in the house. Asriel's exclamation surprised her enough that he didn't need to wriggle as much as he might have to get clear of her grasp. Dropping lightly to the floor, he darted round her and towards his father. Frisk was currently unnoticed, but they watched as the furry paws lept up, and Asgore caught him mechanically. For a moment, he was still frozen. Then Frisk watched as he slowly guided Asriel's head onto his chest, his entire body finally loosening up. Where Toriel had trembled, he began to shudder with each breath.

"..." He said. It seemed to convey everything.

Half-hearing and half-feeling footsteps, Frisk looked ahead to see Toriel had closed the door, turned around and was bearing down on them. Not wanting to get accidentally trampled on, Frisk made a coordinated withdrawal as Toriel embraced her husband and child. The last time such a union had occurred was a century ago, but for everyone involved it felt like yesterday. Frisk felt content being a silent witness to something so deeply personal. It took several long minutes, but Toriel finally stepped clear as Asgore carefully put his son down again.

"M-my...my child." She stammered, one hand over her heart and the other on the wall to steady herself. "W-what are...how are-?"

"Oh, Frisk!"

Dashing between his father's legs, Asriel raced towards the bottom step Frisk had sat on. Despite the lack of warning, Frisk was on their feet and ready to catch him. It was even tighter than their last hug, and Frisk could hear the magnificent shattering sound the Barrier had made as Asriel had rent it asunder. They could feel their own regrets surrounding the child in their arms dwindling away. For a brief moment, there were no other concerns.

"Ha ha..." said Frisk. "...now *I* don't want to let go."

Asriel shook with a chuckle. Then he noticed Frisk was fidgeting a little.

"Hmm? Oh." He released Frisk and reached under his sweater. Before long he extracted something golden which had been pressing between them.

"It's my locket. Sorry if it was pressing on you. You know, part of the set I got for me and...Chara..."

For the first time he looked sad. It would have been fitting if Frisk could have pulled the matching locket from under their t-shirt, but it was currently lying in their room upstairs. Still, they continued to beam.

"Asriel!"

The current streak of forgetting who was there was kept alive. Both children now looked up at the parents, whose expressions were a perfect blend of shock and confusion.

"Asriel, you know Frisk? Frisk, YOU know Asriel? What is going on? How can this be? Is...this just a dream...will I wake...?"

The question died in Toriel's throat. Asgore placed a hand on her shoulder, and she made no effort to shake it off. A long moment passed.

And then Asgore slapped himself. So hard he nearly fell over. The others gazed at him.

"Well, that hurt." He stated as a matter of fact. Everyone laughed.

****

"And then you caught me trying to hurt Frisk, and then I m-manipulated Papyrus to bring everyone to the castle, because I w-wanted to...absorb all your souls..."

It had been a long story, but Asgore and Toriel were patient, even as their emotions seemed to swing wildly with each development. Reawakened grief at the reminder of the last time they saw their son. A mother's fury and a father's horror at the results of the experiments in the True Lab. Anguish at the circumstances their son had found himself in and some of his new hobbies. Surprisingly, none of them really dwelled on his revelations. The fact of his own survival seemed to act as a talisman, numbing the effects the story would have had if it had been anyone else recounting it alone, and they all continued to bathe in the miracle of this reunion. Asriel didn't dwell on Flowey either, which was odd to Frisk, but perhaps their own forgiveness had allowed him to move on as well. It could all be left behind in the Underground.

Now, they sat with wonder as the last battle in the Underground was recounted. Learning that Frisk had reawakened the good in their son, and that he had sacrificed that to set them all free, was almost too much to bare. Gratitude to Frisk for entirely new reasons, fresh grief as he talked about his self-imposed exile and how he struggled with losing himself again, it mixed with everything else. And finally...

"And then this morning I was thinking about when I said...goodbye to you, Frisk. I felt sad, but there was something else. A warmth I didn't recognise at first. And then I remembered when you hugged me, it had been so unexpected after everything I did, and the warmth filled me. I...I realised I was happy. I wanted to see you again! I felt dizzy, and I suddenly realised I was taller and I could feel my arms again and I yanked on my tail to make sure it wasn't a dream and it hurt and I knew what I wanted and I ran and ran until I found someone and asked where you were and..."

His voice seized up with emotion. He scratched his ear absent-mindedly. Everyone had tears now. A deep breath, and he could finish.

"I think by focusing on those happy times, I finally could feel as Flowey, and that was enough. I think I have a soul again!"

"Oh, Asriel!" Toriel was bearing down on him. Asgore however remained where he was, his joy equal to Toriel's, but a hint of something else was staying his hand. If Frisk had to guess, it was the implications of Alphys' experiments and his role in them.

"I'm happy for you, Asriel, but..." Gently prodded Frisk. "...is there a way to make sure you're okay? Like, get your soul checked out or something?"

Asriel looked over at Frisk from his mother's grasp, appearing intensely uncomfortable at this suggestion.

"That would mean going to D-Doctor Alphys." He said with a small tremble. "And I don't blame her for what happened but-"

"No." Asgore had re-entered the conversation. "I appreciate your concern, Frisk, but I will not subject Asriel to anything like that again unless it's absolutely necessary. Whatever comes, we can deal with it as a family."

"Th-thanks, Dad." Said Asriel. Toriel nodded at Asgore's decisive manner. Frisk could see no point in pressing the point, and they didn't want to undermine what was happening anyway. They had just as much of a desire to move forward. And they would be by their family's side if any of them needed help. They were determined to.

"But," Asriel started up again. ", can you ever f-forgive me? I mean, I tried to hurt Frisk, and then I took all your souls and tried to hurt them again..."

"Of course!" Asgore was now taking charge of the discussion. "The way you described it, you had lost your way. You had forgotten how to feel. I doubt any of us could have emerged from your position much better. And then you made it up to us. You made it up to us in the greatest way possible. But you couldn't have done it without help. Frisk," he looked towards his child sitting on a sofa, beaming with pride. ", it appears we owe you even more than we had thought, and we already owed you everything."

One or both of their parents had talked about their debt to all monsters at least once a week. Frisk usually took it in stride. This time, with the last puzzle piece in place, they let the words sink in. Eventually they choked out a small "Thank you."

"Now." Said Asgore, clapping his hands together as he got down to business. "My son, are you hungry? Have you eaten since you, er, became yourself?"

"I haven't thought about it, but yeah, I'm starving!"

"An early dinner it is, then." Said Toriel, finally releasing her son and rising to her feet. "Asgore, would you..." This was awkward. "...Would you care to stay?"

The looks on their faces were hard to read. Right now Frisk got a strong sense of duty, first and foremost.

"Yes, Toriel, I'd be delighted." Asriel gave a squeak of joy and accompanied his mother to the kitchen. "Frisk, perhaps while your mother is cooking, do you need any help cleaning your room? It appears you'll be sharing it for a while."

"It shouldn't be too bad. I need to clear some stuff over to my shelves and drawers. Bob Junior didn't make the guest bed though, despite Mom asking him to."

"Ah yes, I remember the Temmie Flakes he left over the bed in my house." He chuckled. "But that is for this weekend. Speaking of which, perhaps we should re-examine the lake idea?"

"Yeah. Jane can wait for another time. Oh, and maybe we should look up at the stars too! He...he told me how he likes stars."

****

That evening, after a slightly awkward family dinner and instant ratification of the weekend plans by Asriel, Frisk toyed with trying to find time to speak to their friends in person about what had happened before they found out by other means. Especially Alphys, because otherwise she'd be wondering why Toriel would suddenly be glaring daggers at her for the foreseeable future. No such luck as with a quick tap on their shoulder they looked around to a flash of light. Asriel had snuck Frisk's phone off the table, and just taken a selfie.

"Now how do I send this to Mom and Dad? Is it 'Send All'-?"

"Wait-"

Beep.

"Um...oh."

Frisk looked at the photo. A white fuzzy face beaming with happiness, with a tanned hairless face looking stoic. Before long, their phone was vibrating every other minute. Deciding to let the fallout settle before glancing at it, eventually most of their contacts had sent one or two messages, while Alphys had sent a dozen. Oh well, no time like the present. Or tomorrow at least.

Introducing Asriel to their friends, or in some cases re-introducing him, took the order of least complicated to most. Since she had been so insistent, Frisk had taken him to Alphys first, while Toriel had been busy with a School Budget meeting. They kept the meeting at her house, not near the lab where she now worked. Asriel had insisted on the point, and Frisk wasn't about to defy their parent's wishes on that front. It had been difficult to lay out the whole story, as Alphys kept connecting dots and running away with conclusions and they had to keep her focused on the here and now. Somehow, Asriel's insistence that he forgave her only strengthened the horror on her face. Frisk was reminded of how Asgore had reacted, only much stronger. After the conversation they didn't see much of Alphys for a while. Whether she was wrapped up in guilt or their parents had found out and ordered her to keep clear, Frisk never learned.

The others were pretty predictable. Asriel was uncomfortable around Papyrus to begin with, but he needn't have worried. To Papyrus Asriel was a bonus friend, on top of the flower who had been so nice to him. Best to just go along with that was the final conclusion. Undyne had already learned much of Asriel from Asgore, but since she never had a connection to either Asriel or Flowey before that day at New Home, she had no real preconceptions to draw on, and the fact her mentor and girlfriend were so eager to get along with him definitely softened her up. It was a pretty neutral, almost formal introduction, except for the impromptu cooking lesson and the noogies and the guarantee that they'd be sparring when he was a little older, to learn what his dad had taught her. Perhaps a little too intense, but her passion was infectious.

Mettaton was surprisingly indifferent to the son of the King, a playful pat on the head and an autograph, but little else. To be fair, he had been busy. His local shows with Napstablook and other monsters were a smash hit, but whenever he tried to push for a record deal, no big labels seemed to return his calls. It was weird, as he had developed a small but passionate online following. He wasn't the only one. While most Monsters hadn't strayed too far from town, those that had travelled to other towns or even countries discovered surprisingly little reaction beyond those they personally met. There were no newspaper reports or anything. And despite regular meetings with the Governor, Asgore never seemed to be approached by politicians from other countries. The monsters were here, and it was almost like nobody cared. A much better reaction than restarting the war, but still an odd one.

In their circle of adult monster friends, that left Sans. Asriel was nervous and tried to put it off, though Frisk had trouble understanding this. Frisk had a few less than glowing judgements from Sans on their tally, but he was so laid back and Frisk had been shamed enough to turn over a new leaf pretty quickly. When pushed, Asriel eventually admitted that when Sans had told Flowey what he suspected of resets, he had heavily implied he knew everything that happened in past timelines. That would explain it. Someone other than Frisk who could really understand the true depths of his actions. Whatever Frisk's sins, Sans never seemed to need to do that, and it hadn't come up in what little time they had spent discussing it with him. Still, Frisk was determined to clear the air, so at a nice public spot at Grillby's for everyone's protection, they submitted themselves to his judgement.

"nah."

The two children looked at each other a moment.

"Huh?"

"nah. the whole 'i know everything' shtick? all i ever had was data readings, gut instinct and some guesses. that sans probably made it up. guess you musta pissed him off, bucko."

"S-so." Squeaked Asriel before coughing and starting again. "So you don't remember when-?"

"gonna stop ya from leaving any im-prince on me." Interrupted Sans. "i don't want anything that technically never happened to prejudice what i think. the kiddo's learned that in the end, only you can really judge yourself for what you did. you gotta do that too."

"So, so you're okay with me?"

Sans' sockets lost their light. "well...i never said that."

Asriel's chair seemed to be sinking, as his chin approached the table.

"one thing i can be annoyed about is you using resets. sounds like you did that a lot. put us in a loop for a long time. tuesdays are bad enough even when you don't have to go through several in a row, and when you do...i'm not a fan of that."

A long floppy ear was being twisted.

"but," Continued Sans, his lights returning. ", that's all done now. no point in getting mad. sounds like you couldn't do it again even if you wanted to, and the kid hasn't been able to do it either. unlikely you'll be able to get my goat anytime soon. besides, sounds like no harm was done."

"Uh, y-yeah." Breathed Asriel. The twisting was downgraded to scratching.

"don't get me wrong, cap, i ain't sure i trust you. but frisk here's pretty good at calling it. pretty sure i can trust them at least. they did get you to break the barrier after all. can't complain when you grab a problem by the horns like that."

Frisk breathed easy as a smile spread across their face.

"Hey, I don't have horns yet!"

****

Sometime later, the friends' project had advanced by bounds, and they were ready to prepare for the next phase of it.

"Couldn't we make some more?" Ron asked Harry, ignoring Hermione. "It'd be great to have a stock of it...have a look in the book..."

Harry pulled his copy of Advanced Potion-Making out of his bag and looked up Felix Felicis.

"Blimey, it's seriously complicated," he said, running an eye down the list of ingredients. "And it takes six months...you've got to let it stew..."

"Typical," said Ron. ", nothing useful comes easy."

"That's life, Ron." Replied Hermione with a slightly haughty tone. "Shortcuts only take you so far. Eventually you have to put the work in."

The barb clearly aimed at Harry bounced off. As far as he was concerned, that was a settled matter. Still, it wouldn't hurt to deflect the issue.

"So, do you think maybe I should do some training? Like in the Tri-Wizard tournament, brush up on spells that might be helpful?"

"If you had all the free time in the world, I'd be inclined to agree." Said Hermione. "But between revising for exams and your Quidditch practice, you can't afford to."

"You'll be alright, mate." Said Ron with a lazy shrug. "You remember the stuff we practiced back then? And what you taught us at the DA?" Harry nodded. "Well there you go. And remember, you're going with Dumbledore. If he thought you needed to learn anything, he'd have taught you by now, wouldn't he?"

It was a good point. Neither Harry or Hermione could think of a response. Harry was grateful for his contribution, as Hermione's mention of Quidditch reminded him of a conversation with Dean Thomas in his future he was not looking forward to. More to prevent Quidditch coming up as a topic again, he once again thought back to everything he had learned in the last twenty four hours. And it was while doing this that he found a loose thread to pull on...

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Ebott!"

Both of them looked nonplussed.

"Remember when we tried to figure out what Horcruxes were on our own and the only hint was something the Wizards of Ebott were doing?"

"Wait, what's Ebott?"

Harry had actually forgotten Ron hadn't been there for that conversation. With Hermione actually aware of what he was talking about, they clued Ron in.

"So...what do you reckon they were working on?"

"Well, if Horcruxes are about manipulating the soul, maybe they were working on the soul as well?"

"But what can you do with a soul, Harry? I've never heard of magic like that."

"Well we know one thing you can do with it..." He muttered darkly.

"Come to think of it," Ron piped up ", my Dad talked about death curses being really popular in the Middle Ages. You know, you cast a spell, and you literally channel your soul into it. Of course it kills you, but whatever you were doing is now really powerful and difficult to undo. I don't think anybody's done that for centuries. I wouldn't even know how. If you're that mad at someone you may as well just kill them."

"That doesn't sound right. The book seemed to think they were doing it for good purposes. Or at least better purposes than a Horcrux. Maybe...they were trying to retrieve a soul from death?"

"Not a fruitful avenue, I'm afraid." Said Hermione. "Necromancy is both one of the oldest branches of magic and the single least fruitful. Wizards are clever at avoiding death, but reversing it is still beyond our reach."

Again, conversing about something not so particularly heavy as the mystery of a vanished community was surprisingly relaxing for Harry. He almost gave voice to the half-baked idea to visit Ebott when-

"Well, what do you reckon when Harry beats You-Know-Who we go and find out what happened there? We're good at mysteries, aren't we?"

Taken aback at how in tune they were with each other on this, Harry laughed. Hermione joined in. Ron looked a little offended.

"What, are you going to insist we do our NEWTs first?"

They laughed even louder.

****

Over the past few months, things had been going pretty well so far.

The trickiest hurdle had been talking to the Governor about Asriel. His death had naturally been a big part of the story of why the Barrier had broken, so explaining why he was alive was difficult. To Frisk's surprise more than anything else, the Governor had waived it aside with the same air as Asgore's confession regarding how the Barrier had broken. Was the mining agreement they had negotiated really so lucrative that he wouldn't risk jeopardising it? Another curious aspect of the meeting was that the Governor had asked about certain aspects of the Barrier, aspects all three were convinced they had already explained to him. But Asgore and Toriel were grateful for the repeated questions rather than new, awkward ones, so they let the matter drop.

Toriel had assessed Asriel, and while he knew a lot of things, he didn't necessarily know how to do a lot of things. Not much less than an average child, but he was full of facts, not techniques. Also his knowledge was understandably entirely oriented towards Monsters, so he was completely remedial surrounding human knowledge. All this balanced out so that when he started school, he was in Frisk's class. A little timid, as he had always been, but he was happy to be there, greeting them with a "Howdy!" Surprising no-one, he quickly joined up with and ran around in Frisk's group. Jane, who it transpired had been the one asking Frisk if she could meet the king, soon had the next best thing at lunchtime. Asriel was perhaps a little more timid of her than of the average stranger, but that didn't stop them playing on the swings before long.

Frisk had finally been released from the occasionally tedious routine of breathing exercises and stances. Not only had everyone concluded it would not lead to magic, but Toriel at last had a personal student that could actually benefit from it. And he did. He had fine control of his magic as Flowey, but the practice with his mother was to reacquaint him with his original magic, which initially was a little clumsy from non-use. Before long he was trying to help his mother with cooking. He had burnt everything so far, but Toriel was pleased anyway. Frisk caught themselves doing the breathing exercises anyway. Turns out they were surprisingly relaxing.

With Asgore, the three of them spent a lot of time outdoors. Not necessarily in gardens, but at lakes and in forests and on hiking trails. Asriel didn't seem too interested in just watching TV or anything like that. He could have done that in the Underground, but he couldn't lie back on a boat and watch the clouds float by. Frisk's suggestion of stargazing had been a perfect choice. The first time they did it, Asriel didn't even bother to use the telescope they had brought. He just stared up at the night sky directly. It was almost like he didn't blink. When finally brought back down to Earth, the two kids realised their father had been gazing too, possibly even more awestruck than his son. It was an interesting contrast in Frisk's opinion, one who was seeing it for the first time, one who had lost it for centuries and was trying to catch up.

Life was good. It looks like they had managed a happy ending. The weather agreed as Spring approached its conclusion.

"Hey, Frisk." Asked Asriel one night.

"Hmm?"

"I've been thinking. You know where we should go someday?"

"Where?"

"Britain."

"Britain? Why?"

"Well you know we were studying it in school last week, and it looked like there was lots of cool things to see. London sounds enormous!"

"I didn't think you were a city type. There'd be a lot of humans there. More than in all of Ebott. Would you be, um, okay with that?"

He looked a little apprehensive. "Hmm, that's a good point. But I'm gonna have to meet a lot of humans someday. I know I'm still nervous, but maybe I should just dive in."

The rest of the conversation was talking about all the sights and maybe there were nice forests to walk around in too - not in London anyway - and Frisk had such a good time talking about it, they were almost tempted to suggest it for a holiday in the summer tomorrow. Both went to sleep happy.

A slightly odd dream where Frisk stood in front of the Queen introducing Asgore in his most flowery Hawaiian shirt was cut short by screaming.

Looking across the room,  Asriel's eyes were shut tight as he continued to scream and flail around wildly, tangled in his blanket. Frisk wasn't sure how to approach without being accidentally struck, but before they could move, Asriel fell out of his bed entirely with a loud thud. The flailing stopped, and the screaming was now replaced with crying. Frisk approached and carefully unwrapped Asriel. The fall had awoken him, and his face was buried in his hands.

"As-?"

More thuds. Heavy footsteps. The door swung open and the light clicked on. It was Toriel, achieving the impressive feat of looking pale under her white fur.

"My child!" She exclaimed with anguish. "What has happened?!"

She scooped him up and he buried his face in her chest. She patiently let him sob for several minutes before gently placing him back in his bed. Frisk was glad she was here. They had thought Asriel might have a nightmare about what had happened or what he had done, though it was a long time coming. Frisk had had nightmares for a while after leaving the Underground. A lot were about their less than friendly behaviour down there, but there was also the recurring one with an outstretched green and yellow striped arm, that they reached out towards but could never reach, and watched helplessly as it was enveloped in vines...

"Was it a nightmare?"

He was taking huge breaths, trying to force himself to be able to speak.

"Y-yes. " He spluttered. "I-I was at a castle, and it was night, but there was a green light in the sky, and I looked down and there was an old human lying on the grass and I felt so sad and I r-realised he...he was d-"

It was Frisk's turn to go pale. They hadn't expected this. The only castle any of them knew was New Home, and it had no sky. And of the humans Asriel had met about town, few were particularly old. This had come out of nowhere. Toriel was clearly not analysing the implications of this story, only bathing in the emotion of it.

"Oh, Asriel!" She cried, sitting down on the bed and hugging him once again. There was another long silence, gently punctuated by sobs.

"Is, is this something you could have watched on television? Or perhaps Papyrus or Undyne showed you something inappropriate?"

"I don't think so, Mom." Said Frisk. "We haven't had a movie night with them in weeks."

Toriel pursed her lips. Frisk knew she would be broaching the subject of movie choice with them regardless. "Hmm. Perhaps we should have a late supper. I still have some pie from dinner. Would you like that?"

The watery green eyes looked up at her, and Asriel nodded. Frisk followed Toriel out the door and Asriel brought up the rear, gently holding onto his locket.

It took an hour, but by the time they finished Asriel was a lot calmer, though understandably withdrawn. Frisk looked on sympathetically. It was bad enough if he had dreamt about stuff that happened to him, but total strangers? When Toriel suggested they try sleeping again, Frisk took charge. They both gave her a good night hug, Frisk took his hand and led him upstairs.

He twisted his ear nervously. "Can I tell you something? Don't tell Mom yet though."

"...Okay."

"I wasn't finished describing the dream."

"What else did you see?"

"It..." He looked like he regretted this. "It wasn't what I saw, it was what I felt. I saw the...the old man and felt really sad, but I felt something else. It was like it came from somewhere complete different. That's what really scared me."

"What did you feel?"

"...Triumph. Satisfaction. Like I was glad he..."

Frisk covered their mouth in surprise, and regretted it as Asriel looked away in shame.

"I'm sorry, Asriel." They reached out to offer a hug. He ignored it, and climbed into bed. Fortunately by the next morning, he was feeling a lot better.