It was several minutes before emotions calmed enough for anyone to really understand anything.

"How is any of this possible?" Toriel asked, finally able to release Asriel.

Frisk was just about to launch into everything that had happened when the small creature that had escorted Mom and Dad to the hospital wing had approached the small group. "Excuse me, Misters and Misses. Dumbledore has asked Dobby to show you to a place where you may be more comfortable together."

"That would be very kind of you," Asgore rumbled. "And we can give your healer her hospital wing back."

"I'll be just a moment," Frisk said as they headed to the exit. She knocked on the office door, and a moment later, Madam Pomfrey opened it for her. "I just wanted to say thank you. For helping to save Chara," she said quietly. She looked up to see Madam Pomfrey's face, tear stained but smiling. "I'll be back next year. Not as a patient."

"I look forward to it," she told her. "Thank you for your help this year."

Dobby led them up to a hallway on the seventh floor that was actually not far from the Gryffindor common room, though Frisk didn't think she'd actually been down this particular one. The door was across from a large woven tapestry. Toriel stopped to stare at it, "Is that man getting clobbered by trolls?"

Everyone turned to look at it, and indeed, the man in it was getting repeatedly clubbed on the head by trolls. "I guess they didn't want to be ballet dancers," Chara said, still staring.

"Come, come," squeaked Dobby, and he led the way into a comfortable looking sitting room. There was two large chairs for Asgore and Toriel, and smaller chairs for Chara, Frisk, and Asriel. A warm fire crackled merrily in the fireplace, and a large portrait of a young woman looked down on them from over it. Another of the small creatures eyed them as they came in, gave Dobby a disgusted look, and pushed past him to leave the room.

"Sorry for the other house elves. They do not care for Dobby much," Dobby apologized. "But if you needs anything. Please simply call for me," he continued, bobbing his head. "And the room will vanish if you all leave, so be careful. Don't leave anything behind."

"Thank you Dobby," Toriel said.

The little house elf bowed again, left the room, and there was again, an audible crack from outside the room.

The Dreemurrs all sat down, and Frisk began again to tell them the story of how seven unlikely students of Hogwarts had come to rescue the princes of monsters. She started the tale in the underground, telling her adoptive parents the story of Asriel-as-Flowey the first time. She saw Toriel put her paw up to her mouth as she described it, and Frisk knew why. How often had she heard Mom describe Flowey as that miserable little creature?

But she continued, into discovering Hermione's time travel. She was interrupted when came to making the plan with Sans by Toriel. "You mean to tell me," she asked, "That Dumbledore allowed seven children to risk their souls..."?

"They were so sure," said Asriel. "They were there, in the hospital wing. You saw them."

And Frisk explained how Dumbledore was there, and how they'd each gotten permission from their parents.

"But not from... that weasel," Toriel said, remembering the conversation she'd had after her guest lecture. "He directly asked me if if I would approve of you risking yourself to save people. I said yes."

"It was worth it," said Chara, "Wasn't it?"

"I'm going to read any permission slips that get sent to me twice," Toriel promised. Then her voice softened as she looked at Asriel and Chara, then back at Frisk."Yes. It was worth it. It was completely worth it."

Frisk went back a bit, talking about how Dumbledore has found proof they'd gone back in time, and thus set Mr. Kairos to assist Sans in making his time machine.

"I had no idea Sans was working on anything like that," Asgore said. "I'll have to ask him about it. I wonder why."

Then she finished with their trip earlier that day. "And that's where you came in," Frisk finished.

"How did you come to Hogwarts, anyway?"

"We got a letter from Dumbledore at about noon by owl," Toriel said. "About an event of great importance to your child. The 'Knight Bus' has been called and will pick you up, and drop you off at Hogwarts, where you will be escorted in by Professor Flitwick. Then we waited for a little while, talking with him in his office. He tried to keep us positive, but we thought up all sorts of terrible reasons we might have been called here. Then we were called down by Dobby. I never guessed what we'd find."

She looked like she was about to start crying again, but held herself. "Asgore, you were about to tell me where you've been disappearing to when the owl came."

"I was, wasn't I?" Asgore said, looking at Chara for a moment. He sighed. "As you know, eight children fell, at various times, into the underground. I have been to see seven pairs of parents, telling them how they died, and taking blame for their loss."

"Asgore," Toriel said, aghast. "That could restart the war... didn't you think..."

"Hiding it from them almost certainly would have restarted the war," Asgore said. "But I took full responsibility. I'm the one that made the declaration. It is my job to take my responsibility. Mostly they've been grieved, but understanding. After all... I had just lost my children to a human attack."

"Dad," Frisk said nervously, "You said seven. Eight children fell underground. Did you find mine?"

"No," Asgore said. "We've tried everything we can think of. But there's no record of you anywhere. We can't even find a non magical birth certificate. I'm sorry, Frisk."

"Who," Toriel said, "Would give up a child like you?"

"It doesn't matter, not anymore," Frisk said. "I have a family now. That's all I ever wanted."

Asriel, however, had turned to Chara. Her face was as pale as Asriel's fur. "Chara, are you okay?"

"Does that mean," Chara asked, unable to look at Asgore directly, "That you've been to Azkaban?"

Asgore looked at Chara for several seconds before he finally replied. "I did. I've met your parents."

Chara's brown eyes looked up at the large monster, but Frisk couldn't see any hope, only fear. "What did they say?" she asked.

Asgore looked down, studying the carpet on the floor of the room. He looked like he really did not want to answer that question. Frisk was reminded of her conflicts with him, when he could not meet her eyes. Finally, he spoke, "They were surprised, and disappointed."

Chara looked like she was doing her best not to completely melt down. "I knew it. I knew it. They sent me up there to die. I wasn't supposed to come back." Asriel reached out his paw, taking his sister's hand.

"What do you mean?" asked Toriel in shock.

"My name was Chara Malfoy. My parents were death eaters. They were followers of... V... of... the dark lord," she finally managed to say.

"Wait," Frisk said, in shock. "Draco is your brother?" Then she remembered, she had called him 'little' Draco.

"No, he's my cousin. Lucius Malfoy is my uncle... my birth father's brother. On the day that I took my fall into Mt. Ebott, my parents got an owl saying they'd been revealed to the ministry, and that aurors were coming for them. The letter pleaded with them to claim to be under his control, it gave them names they could give to the aurors. But they wouldn't betray the dark lord."

Frisk got a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. Chara hadn't said who betrayed her parents, but she got the implication far too well.

"They looked at me, and said I wasn't to be raised by blood traitors. They put an enchantment on me... it felt like I was lost in a dream. They apparated me to Mt. Ebott, and suggested I leave them and climb it. And I did. I didn't even realize they'd left me there. When I found the hole I felt compelled to jump. I think I was starting to fight it... I didn't jump at first. But it didn't matter, I tripped on a root, and fell. And that's where you found me, Asriel. The shock of the fall jolted the curse off."

"They fought the ministry afterward," Asgore said. "Or so I was told. Non magical humans were hurt and killed in the fighting."

"I wish I was surprised. They did some pretty bad things. I watched," Chara said.

"You are not your parents," Toriel said. "You're Chara... you're my..."

"I have something else to tell you," Chara said quietly, glancing at Frisk. "About when I died..."

But Chara was interrupted by a knock on the door. Frisk stood, and went to open it. Lupin was standing on the other side, holding a natty looking briefcase, an empty tank sitting on the floor beside it. "Professor Lupin!" she exclaimed. She took him by the hand, and almost dragged him into the sitting room. "Mom, Dad, everyone, this is my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin,"

He looked surprised at the rooms contents, but recovered quickly. "Well. It is a pleasure to meet you all, but I am no longer her teacher." Frisk rounded on him with an open mouth, unable to articulate her surprise. "I resigned today. The Daily Prophet, quoting an unnamed ministry source, probably Macnair overheard something, has exposed me as a werewolf teaching at Hogwarts. I expect by this time tomorrow, Dumbledore's office will be a parliament of owls.

"But that's not fair, just because you're a werewolf..." Frisk started. "You were a great teacher, that's what's important."

"But the board of governors won't see it that way. This is for the best, Frisk."

Asgore got up, and walked to him. "They'll see you as just a 'monster'," he said. "I've dealt with enough of the ministry to know how they'll react. Do you have a place to go? I thought I understood teachers lived here at the castle."

"I do not have a place..." Lupin began.

Asgore immediately took a piece of paper out of a pocket, cast about for a pen, wrote something on it, and pressed it into Lupin's hand. "If you're a friend of Frisk's, then you deserve better than that. I have a spare room, you can stay with me until you find a place of your own."

"I can't accept this, I don't..."

"You can, and you should," Asgore insisted. He smiled. "After all, the ministry sees me as just a monster too." Toriel beamed at him.

Lupin stared at the piece of paper, and then placed it carefully in his pocket. "Thank you, Mr. Dreemurr. You are a good man. But I need to have a word with Frisk." Asgore stepped back into the sitting room. "Frisk, you asked me yesterday why your Boggart changed forms. I've had a chance to think, and I've come up with two explanations."

"The first, because you didn't have a chance to think about it before it showed up. You were moving too quickly because of the exam. In class, you were last, so you had a chance to dwell on what actually scared you," Lupin told her, "The other is that you knew what you could say to him," he nodded as Asriel, "You no longer felt like you had abandoned him."

Frisk would need time to think about it. "Thank you, Professor."

"Ah, and one last thing. Professor Dumbledore has called the Knight Bus for this evening for your parents and siblings. You may either go with them, or take the train home. Either way, there is the feast tonight. And if I didn't have enough bad news, I believe your friend Ginny has your grades," he said.

"Professor," Frisk said, holding out her arms, "I hope we'll see each other again."

"I hope so too, Frisk, you are an amazing young lady," Lupin said, smiling. He looked behind her at her adopted parents, and shook Frisk's hand instead."But I must go, my carriage is here. Take care, Frisk." And he was out the door, closing it behind him.

"Well," said Asgore as he retook his seat, "I imagine that's disappointing."

Frisk had to agree, as she went back to hers.

"I have to," whispered Chara to Asriel. She spoke up, so that everyone could hear her. "I still need to say something, about the day I died. I wasn't ill. I," and she stopped and had to force herself to get the next words out. "I poisoned myself. I wanted Asriel to take my soul, and find six other ones, so he could break the barrier. I wanted to start a war. It's... my fault any of this happened. Am I... can I still be your child?"

Asriel's paws gripped the side of his chair. Toriel and Asgore both stared at this admission for several seconds. Chara looked at Frisk with a knowing sad expression.

Toriel stood suddenly, rushing over to Chara, picking her up into a full body embrace. "You would have given up yourself... for us? Did you really think that little of yourself?"

Asgore had also stood, ready to hug his adopted daughter as well. "I knew... after I met your parents, why you hadn't told us anything about your family from the surface. And why you looked so upset when I said that you were the future of humans and monsters. I'm sorry. I put pressure on you that you shouldn't have had to endure. That is my fault. And you may have been Chara Malfoy when you fell. But you will always be Chara Dreemurr to me."

Chara looked floored, then she closed her eyes, and hugged Mom as hard as she was being hugged. Exchanging smiles, Frisk and Asriel joined in as well.

They talked for a few hours more, until Asgore noted it was soon going to be time to take the bus. As much as Frisk wanted to spend some more time with her family, restored as it was, she wanted the chance to say goodbye to her friends more. Besides, she also had to pack.

The feast was a grand event, the tables covered with food, desserts, the great hall decorated in Gryffindor colors. There was still no cinnamon and butterscotch pie, but it was startling how different the hall felt compared to when she'd first entered it. She'd entered without any true friends among the human race, and she was leaving as (perhaps) one of the few that could claim friends in all four houses. Her grades were all passing, even if History of Magic was dicey, and she could claim an Outstanding in both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. And she'd accomplished the full term project she'd never have expected when she stepped into Hogwarts. As school years went, she'd take it.

The next day, she took her haphazardly packed trunk and went down with the Gryffindors toward the carriages that would take them back to the Hogsmeade train station.

The train ride back to King's cross was a grand mixture of conversations. Luna, Ginny, Opal, and Frisk had all taken a compartment together, and various other members of the rescue team filtered in and out. Ron came in to show a new owl that a 'mysterious benefactor' (Frisk had a pretty good guess about who that might be) had given him, while Hermione confided after Harry and Ron had left that they both had given an actual apology for not speaking to her about Harry's firebolt. So that was nice.

Luna and Ginny talked incessantly about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. "Dad can normally get tickets, but I'll probably not be able to go," Ginny moped. "Mum's really protective of me." Frisk let them talk, Quidditch just wasn't her sport.

Steven and Neville had come in, asked how Frisk's parents had reacted, and joined the girls for a few hands of exploding snap. Steven, especially, had been disappointed to find out they hadn't taken the train back with them.

Through it all, Frisk was under orders to get contact information from each one of them. Mom had a plan to thank them all individually. Frisk wasn't sure what it was, but she was looking forward to finding out.

When they arrived at King's Cross, Ms. Oxtoby was there again to find her daughter, and this time to find Frisk as well, and make sure she had someone with her through the barrier into King's Cross proper. That was different too.

They met Mom much the same way they'd met her at Christmas break, by calling her and telling her Frisk was ready to be picked up outside. Papyrus was driving again, but this time, Mom was in the front seat, because both Asriel and Chara were piled in the back, and there simply wasn't room for anyone else. "We may need to see if Sans could get a license," Toriel said.

"In my opinion, that is a terrible idea," Papyrus said. "I think either you or Asgore would be much better drivers."

"Oh," Toriel said, innocently, "Do you feel it in your bones?"

Papyrus, to his credit, didn't react. He was too focused on the road.