It was unusual for Sans to be already home by the time Harry finished school, but he was that Friday. The short skeleton was seated on the couch, watching Discovery Chanel along with his dad as Harry walked into the house.

"You're back early," Harry greeted his older brother.

"Yeah. Parent Teacher meeting starts in an hour, so I took some time off at the lab," Sans replied.

Right. Harry had almost completely forgot Sans would be going to Frisk's PTA meeting instead of Toriel and Asgore, since the two of them had too busy schedules, especially with the press conference tomorrow afternoon.

"I suppose that means you and I are home alone today, Harry," Gaster said with a smile.
"Perhaps we can do something together? I'm aware that you quite enjoy science, and I was thinking…"

Harry felt guilty at the hopeful smile Gaster gave him. He'd been avoiding his adoptive dad a little since they had reached the surface, a little awkward with the whole having a dad thing. Still, he really did want to hang out more with the man and fix their strained relationship. Unfortunately, he already had plans for the day and he didn't want to let his dear friends down by cancelling those.

"I'm sorry. I promised Frisk to pick them up," he replied.
"I'm going to help them prepare their speech a bit more for tomorrow."

Gaster's face fell at this and he nodded in understanding.

"I see… Enjoy yourselves, then," he said.

Harry stepped up to Gaster and pulled the old skeleton in for a hug, making Gaster tense in surprise.

"Can I get a raincheck on the science stuff?" he asked, letting the man go.

"O-of course you can! I am here always if you wish," Gaster replied.

"Great! Thanks dad! I'll see you tonight then!" Harry said before stepping back out of the house along with Sans.

Sans pulled the door closed and walked next to Harry, grinning widely.

"I think you just made the old man's day," the older chuckled.

"Huh? How? I refused his offer to bond," Harry replied upset.

"Yeah, and you told dad you'd take him up another time," Sans replied smirking.

Harry tensed and started blushing. That's right. He'd called Gaster dad… That had to be the first time he did it by accident. He chuckled and started walking again. Maybe he and his dad could really become a family after all, that was good.

They soon reached Frisk's school, a few minutes before the day ended for the students there, so they walked to where some of the other parents were huddled together and sat down on an empty bench. Several human parents were staring at them, either in curiosity or disgust, but they ignored them.

"So, how is everything going at school for you, kiddo?" Sans asked.

"I'm doing fine," Harry replied.
"Toriel estimates I only need to do two more years and I'll graduate."

"That's awesome! I'm proud of ya."

The two looked up as a short, plump woman approached them, smiling kindly at them.

"Hello. I'm Samantha Smith," she greeted.
"Are you here for Frisk Dreemurr?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Sans replied, raising a bone brow.

The woman chuckled and sat down next to Sans, holding out her hand in greeting.

"My son is in their class. He's told me Frisk has monsters as family. He's quite fond of them, you know," she explained.
"My son has Autism, and he often has a hard time making friends, but Frisk has been really kind to him. They even protected him from bullies."

Harry could feel his soul swell with pride at those words and he could see Sans was feeling the same way.

"The kid always has a knack for helping anyone in need," Sans said.

"They're very kind," Harry agreed softly.
"After all, they saved all of us from our prison under the mountain."

"Yes, they're very unique for sure," Samantha laughed amused.
"You must be very proud of your child, Mr. Dreemurr."

Harry chuckled as Sans sweated nervously and held up his hands.

"Oh, no! I'm not their dad," he said hurried.
"The name's Sans Gaster. I'm a close friend of the family and I'm here as a favor. Frisk's dad is Asgore Dreemurr, our King and their mom is dean of the monster school, so they couldn't make it."

Samantha blushed, making Harry burst out laughing. It may look kind of rude, but Harry really didn't mean it like that. The whole thing kind of seemed hilarious to him.

"I'm sorry, it's just that our brother actually did try to fight for custody, but Frisk talked him out of it," he explained between chuckles.
"They call Sans their 'duncle' and so do Frisk's siblings, by the way."

"Siblings?" Samantha asked confused.

"Yeah. Asriel and Chara are monsters, so they go to the monster school," Harry said.

"Oh. Then why doesn't Frisk go there too? Or do their parents want them to connect to humans more?"

"That may have something to do with it," Sans chuckled.
"Tori wants humans and monsters to get along again, like before the war."

"But it's mostly because monsters have a different school system," Harry said.

"Oh? How is it different?" Samantha asked curiously.

"We only start going to school at the age of twenty, and we go for about fifty years," Sans replied.
"Harry here is actually one of the faster students. He'll probably graduate in two years and he's only thirty-two."

"My case is special, though," Harry muttered blushing.
"I was only fourteen when I started going instead of twenty…"

"How delightful!" Samantha said.
"This is all so fascinating. You know what, we should suggest classes on monster culture during the meeting. I'm sure the students would love that."

Sans grinned widely at that and he nodded his head in agreement.

"That sounds like a great idea," he said.

A moment later, the school bell rang and many students started walking outside. Some paused at the sight of the two skeleton sitting in the front, but most rushed past in a hurry, screeching happily about the upcoming weekend. Eventually, Frisk walked out, talking with a boy with blond curls and glasses on his freckled face.

"How was your day, Jimmy?" Samantha asked, hugging the boy.

"It was fine," the boy mumbled quietly.

"I invited Jimmy over to our house, since you're going to the meeting," Frisk said grinning.

Harry raised a bone brow and crossed his arms, giving them a stern look.

"You do remember that you're supposed to practicing your speech for tomorrow," he said.

Frisk blushed and shrugged their shoulders lamely.

"Jimmy said he didn't mind observing," they muttered.

"I have a book with me," the blond boy explained.

"If you guys say so," Harry shrugged.
"How about we get going, then?"

"I'll come pick you up at the Dreemurrs when we're done here," Samantha said, kissing her son goodbye.

"See ya at home, kiddo," Sans said, waving at Harry.

. . . . .

"I'm bored! When are you done?" Chara whined, draping themselves over Harry's back.

"Flowey's not doing anything right now," Harry replied calmly.

"Don't involve me!" the flower yelled annoyed.

"Fine, then how about you help Asriel with his homework?" Harry suggested to Chara.
"You know, since you're so set on not making your own. Or cook something. Your parents would love that."

Chara rolled their eyes and walked away again. They dropped face first onto the couch right next to where Jimmy was curled up with his book. The blond boy squeaked and scrambled out of the way, making Chara snort out a laugh.

"I won't bite, you know," they said with a wink.
"Well, not unless you want me to…"

Jimmy turned bright red and he jumped off the couch, hiding behind Frisk, who was chuckling softly in amusement. Harry laughed and shook his head, smirking at the boy.

"I don't know how safe you are there," he said grinning.
"Chara learned the flirting from Frisk after all. They're pro."

"I won't flirt with Jimmy," Frisk replied.
"He asked me not to. It makes him uncomfortable."

Harry smiled proudly at that. At least Frisk knew when to stop, that was a very good thing. A moment later, the front door opened and Sans walked in, followed by Samantha.

"Hey, big bro!" Harry greeted with a lazy wave.
"How was the meeting? Had fun?"

"Yeah, a little," Sans replied shrugging.
"Linda and Helen were making a bit of a fuzz, but John is a pun-lover. He and his husband invited us over for dinner. They've got twins in Frisk's year."

"Rose and James!" Frisk said grinning.
"They're nice! Top of the class in our year."

"Jimmy. Say goodbye to your friends and we'll go home," Samantha said.
"Thank you, Frisk and Harry, to keep him company… and Frisk's siblings too of course."

"You're welcome!" Asriel said as he closed his school book and grinned at Samantha.
"Jimmy helped me with my math a little. Harry never likes it, so he avoids it. I'm Asriel by the way, and that's Chara and Flowey."

"Hey," Chara greeted.

"Ugh… Whatever," Flowey grumbled.

"We'll go home too, Harry," Sans said.

"Bye, Harry! Bye Sans!" Frisk said, waving happily.

"Bye Frisky," Sans chuckled.
"Weed, creep, ex-weed."

Chara growled lowly while Asriel pouted sadly at Sans's insult.

"Just leave already, smiley trash bag!" Asriel hissed.

. . . . .

The Gaster family left for the press conference at City Hall pretty early in the morning, even though it was still another five hours before it would start.

"Why so early?" Harry complained yawning.

"Because they asked for our presence as moral support to the royal family," his dad replied.

"We can be moral support in the afternoon, dad," Harry whined pouting.

"DON'T BE SILLY, HARRINGTON!" Papyrus said in his usual loud, excited voice.
"WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR THIS DAY! WE MUST BE COMPLETELY READY!"

"You're totally right, bro," Sans agreed lazily, making Harry roll his eye lights.

"Easy for you to say. You've been sleeping the whole way here," Harry muttered.

Sans chuckled and laid his head back down on Papyrus's shoulder. Sans had refused to come out of bed that morning, so Papyrus had carried him to the car and let him sleep through the whole ride. Harry had tried the same, but other than Sans, he needed some comfort and silence to be able to sleep.

"You'd think I would be the one being carried," Harry grumbled playfully.

"Aren't you the one always saying we shouldn't treat ya like a kid?" Sans shot back.

"Of course Sans is the one being carried," Gaster spoke up amused.
"He is after all the smallest one here. Have I ever told you how adorable he was as a child? Such a small baby."

"Dad!"

Sans appeared wide awake in an instant, making the other skeletons laugh loudly. That quieted down a little as they arrived in the large entrance room of the city hall, where the Dreemurr family, Alphys and Undyne were already present, along with several human police agents and the mayor.

"Harry!" Frisk greeted cheerfully, waving at the skeleton.

"Ah. Thank you for coming so early, my friends," Asgore said with a smile.

"It is no issue, your majesty," Gaster replied, shaking the king's hand.

"Ready to face true monsters?" Harry asked, ruffling Frisk's hair.

"Can't I just go back to the Underground, with you all trying to kill me?"

Harry laughed and wrapped an arm around the human's shoulders, pulling them close before pressing his teeth against the top of their head.

"We're here for you, sweetheart," he muttered.

. . . . .

The small group of VIP monsters were all standing together on the stage, along with the mayor and misters Calder and Boot from the Magical Congress. The mayor had stepped up first to greet the mass of reporters and camera men. He'd given a short explanation on how he, as many of their little town, had grown up with the stories of demons in the mountain that ate children. How those demons had walked out, not as enemies, hungering for the flesh of their kids, but as their friends.

After that, Mr. Calder stepped up, giving a short speech on how humans and monster once lived together in peace. How the monsters were the first beings to teach witches and wizards control over their magic. Monsters had once, long ago been considered the children of magic and had even been considered gods in the Egyptian times.

Then it was Asgore's turn. The king spoke fondly of his memories of growing up on the surface. He told them of his friends he once had and wondered aloud how many of them still had living descendants. He thanked the humans for allowing him a chance to share the happiness of his own childhood with his children and promised an era of peace for humans and monsters alike.

"Now, I would like to give the stage to my youngest child," Asgore said after he had finished his speech.
"Frisk has a special place in the hearts of all of monster kind. When they arrived in the Underground, they did not fear us. They did not fight us or run from us. They became our friend. They showed kindness and understanding for our grieves. Frisk, while only considered a child in both our cultures, singlehandedly saved us from our prison after hundreds of years."

There was a polite applause as Frisk stepped up to the stand. They looked back at the others nervously for a moment before taking a deep, calming breath. The microphone made a peeping sound as they tried to adjust it to their height. There was some snickering, making Frisk blush. Most of the humans in the room were looking amused, even mean. They wanted to see Frisk fail.

Scowling, Harry walked over and put a skeletal hand over the human's trembling hand. Frisk looked up startled, but smiled as they saw it was Harry. Giving them a gentle, comforting grin, Harry adjusted the mic to Frisk's height and stepped away again.

"All yours, Ambassador," he said with a wink.

Frisk giggled a little and faced the crowd again, clearing their throat.

"Hello. I am Frisk Dreemurr," they greeted softly.
"I fell into the Underground three months ago. I… survived the fall against my expectations and met a very nice lady that protected me. Her kindness gave me the strength to make the journey through the Underground and help them find a way to finally break the Barrier."

They paused for a moment and smiled.

"On my travels, I met so many great friends, like Chara, who was with me from start to finish," they continued.
"Toriel protected me and offered me a home… I am very happy to say that I took her offer. I never really had a mom before. Then, in Snowdin, I met three brothers, who cared deeply for each other and showed kindness to everyone, even a stranger and a possible threat like me. They guided me and made me smile all the way through. I'm so happy I can call Sans, Papyrus and Harrington Gaster family."

"Then, in Waterfall, I met the bravest, strongest and most passionate monster in the entire Underground," Frisk continued proudly.
"Undyne was the Captain of the Royal Guard, tasked with protecting the Underground and their king, and she was a challenge to get past."

They chuckled at that and looked back towards Undyne, who was wearing a large, proud grin.

"We cooked and became very close friends," Frisk laughed joyously.
"In Hotland, I met a star and a genius. Mettaton and Dr. Alphys put up a great show for me."

There was more laughter in the crowd and Harry clapped Alphys on the back as she blushed happily.

"I finally reached the Capital, where I met King Asgore, who was kind and offered me tea, and Asriel, who played games with me and Chara. And lastly, I met Dr. W.D Gaster, who told me many interesting things," Frisk finished.
"It was with a combined effort of all of the Underground to break the Barrier, but we managed and came here. For an orphan like me, it's pretty great to finally have a real family. And such a big one too! I have made so many wonderful friends, like Flowey, Monster Kid, Grillby, Muffet and many, many more. Monsters are kind and helpful beings. They might look different from us, but they don't believe in discrimination. I'm sure we can all be friends and live together peacefully."

One person in the front of the crowd stood up, a reporter at the sights of it. He was holding a little notepad, and a camera man sat behind him. He was two seats separated from Mettaton and Burgerpants and Harry had already noticed how he seemed to be glaring at the glamourous robot.

"How can you be so sure that we could co-exist?" the man asked.
"The monsters were locked in that mountain for a reason, weren't they?"

Harry scowled annoyed and looked over to Frisk. The human teen looked taken aback for a moment, and Harry was about to jump in when he was suddenly roughly pushed to the side.

"Because humans are mean, unfair and egotistic," Chara said loudly, glaring at the reporter.
"Four hundred years ago, I was born as a human. My family was rotten, beat me, called me names and I came to Mt. Ebott to kill myself. Instead, I was adopted by monsters and for the first time in my life, I was treated with kindness. And you know why humans were so cruel to me? Because I was born with red eyes!"

"If you were born a human, what has happened to you?" a female reporter asked from the second row.

"I killed myself to save my family," Chara announced calmly.
"Asriel absorbed my SOUL and passed the Barrier, to find a way to break it. When the humans saw him with my body, they thought he killed me and attacked. Asriel refused to fight back and was killed too."

"Uhm… Chara's spirit woke up again when I came into the Underground," Frisk spoke up again.
"Dr. Gaster told us it was because our SOULS were practically identical. When we reached the Barrier, Harry… brought them and Dr. Gaster back to life."

Instantly, all eyes in the room were on Harry, who sighed and stepped closer too.

"I'm… a Halfling," he confessed to the crowd, causing many monsters to gasp loudly in shock.
"My mother was a skeleton monster that was able to evade detection and live as a human and my father was a wizard. I've been told both of them died during the first war against Voldemort."

He dug his hands deeper in his pockets and gave a nervous chuckle.

"Hybrids are known to be more powerful than either humans or monsters," he explained.
"But bringing them back was a very unique… thing… I lost the ability as soon as I had it. The explanation is a bit complicated to give right now, but it has to do with my mother."

"Excuse me, Darling," Mettaton spoke up, waving with a bright smile.
"If you really are a Halfling, does that mean you can appear as a human too?"

Harry laughed and shrugged.

"Never really tried it," he replied.
"But I can try it now, if you want."

"Yes please!" Frisk said cheerfully.

Chuckling, Harry held his hands out in front of him and concentrated. Slowly, some of his fingers started to bubble and grow skin and tissue. Everyone watched in awe as the skin spread faster and faster over his hands and arms. He could feel it crawl over his ribs and spine, then down his hips to cover his legs. His neck slowly grew skin as well until it finally covered his face too. He giggled a little when he grew hair. It tickled his new skin.

"How does it look?" he asked smirking, weaving a hand through his hair as he looked at Frisk.
"I haven't had hair since I was eight. Do I look good? Am I handsome?"

He winked and the human teen started blushing brightly. Frisk nodded shyly, hiding their bright red face in their hands. Harry scowled in surprise. Huh… looked like Sans wasn't joking after all when he said Frisk had a crush on him.