(So, this is the first[I think] chapter where I break the fourth wall. I'm just experimenting with it as of now, so tell me if you like it or not.)
Two months had passed since monsters had returned to the surface, in that short amount of time Toriel, Asgore, Papyrus, Sans, Gaster, Alphys, Undyne, Asriel, Chara, Flowey, Frisk and Harry had finally found a house to call their own. It was large of course, though, some of them shared rooms with each other.
"THE ONLY REASON FOR THE TIME SKIP IS BECAUSE THE AUTHOR IS A LAZY BITCH!"
Quiet Flowey. Frisk had been made the ambassador of monsters, much to the annoyance of many, many politicians. Asgore was still king of monsters, however that title held little weight on the surface. The only kingdom he ruled was the small town that most monsters lived in. He'd asked Toriel to take up the title of Queen again, however she denied.
Toriel hadn't even wanted Asgore to live under the same roof as her, but the children insisted until she agreed. Asgore was very grateful and promised not to be a bother.
Papyrus was thrilled to share a home with so many people, claiming "THE MORE THE MERRIER!". Sans wasn't as fond, but he was just happy to be on the surface. Plus, more people living there meant that there were more people to take over the chores so he didn't have to.
Undyne and Alphys were having a blast together. The two had talked about their feelings, and were now an official couple, a fact that Undyne loved to remind everyone about.
Chara and Asriel had spoken a lot to each other as well, mostly about what had caused their deaths. Chara had apologized many, many times for their actions, while Asriel only smiled and said that he didn't blame him at all.
Frisk was very proud to be the ambassador of monsters, however they despaired when they realized that just because they were an ambassador, didn't mean they didn't have to go to school.
Gaster had been ecstatic to be on the surface again. Apparently he had been one of the few monsters still alive when the barrier was created. He was amazed at all the new technology around, squealing in joy when he saw it.
Harry had a harder time adjusting however, his life with the Dursleys still affecting him. He had nearly burst into tears when he found out he actually got to sleep in an actual bed. For the first few weeks he'd even gotten up early and made breakfast for everyone out of habit.
Flowey was… well Flowey. He was angry and aggressive all the time, and at first no one knew what to do with him, but Frisk came up with an idea. One flower pot later and he became part of the family, much to his anger.
"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'M ANGRY!"
All was going well… until, one day, there was a knock at the door.
When Toriel answered it there stood two police officers, much to her shock.
"My, how can I help you two today?" She asked, trying to hide her nervousness.
"Ma'am, we have been informed that you have under your care three human children. We would like to conduct a small investigation to see if you are legally able to care for them." One officer, a young woman replied. "May we come in?"
"W-why yes, of course. Please, make yourselves at home." Toriel stepped aside and let the officers in, where the two looked around the room as if searching for anything wrong.
"First, may we ask where you got these children." The other officer, a young man, most likely new judging by how young he appeared, asked.
"Well, all three of them fell into the underground, the first one, Chara, fell a long time ago and… well, it's a long story. Frisk and Harry fell not too long ago." Toriel explained, sitting on the couch and motioning for the officers to take a seat on the couch across from her.
"Alright, and have you filled out any legal paperwork yet?" The woman asked.
"Well… no, I was unaware that it was needed. However, they've all told me that they have nowhere else to go. Harry… he said that he was abandoned on the mountain by the only other relatives he had." The female officer narrowed her eyes at Toriel's words.
"I see, do you know their surnames so we can find out if they were telling the truth?" Toriel pursed her lips.
"I will need to ask them, wait just a moment please." With that, the monster stood and went upstairs to where the children were. Harry was sitting on his bed, reading a book, while Frisk and Chara played a card game on the floor, with Asriel watching.
"Harry, Frisk, Chara, may you come downstairs please, there are a couple of officers that wish to speak with you." Toriel said, walking inside. All three mentioned children tensed up but nodded, Harry seeming to be the most reluctant.
Back downstairs, the officers smiled at the children comfortingly.
"Hello there, my name is Officer Jenny Marshals, it's nice to meet you all. This is my partner Richard Gumshoe." The female officer, Jenny, said. Richard smiled and waved as well.
"H-Hello… um, mom said you needed to talk to us about some things?" Frisk mumbled, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Yes, we just need to make sure of a few things to see if it's possible for you to continue living here. Now, we just need to know your surnames so we can check our database for you all. We'd also like to ask you all what your prior living situations were to check if you have any legal guardians." Jenny replied, her smile fading a bit. This seemed to poke at one of Chara's nerves.
"Well, I don't have any other family to go to. My entire family died a long time ago and I was living on the streets before this. My surname is Colombo." Chara ground out. His tone of voice seemed to disturb Richard who wrote it down.
"My last name is Ning. I don't have any family either. I was in an orphanage before this… I don't think they realized though…" Frisk mumbled.
"Mine is Potter… um, my relatives abandoned me at the mountain… They're from England though so I don't know if you can reach them… their last name is Dursley… I really don't want to go back to them though… they were mean." Jenny frowned and knelt in front of Harry after he finished speaking.
"We'll do our best to make sure that you go to the best family… may I ask how your relatives were… mean?"
"They got mad at me a lot and… um… hit me when I didn't do things right." Harry whispered in reply.
"When Harry came to the Underground he had several wounds, many were not from the fall." Toriel added in. By this point Sans, Papyrus and Gaster had walked in, the three not having jobs at the moment.
"she's right. i saw the kid with a bunch of scars. he's also had a hard time adjusting to life here…" Sans revealed, plopping himself onto the couch.
"I see… we'll contact the authorities in London about these guys, and do an investigation. Richard, can you go out to the car and look up Colombo and Ning, and maybe also get the number for the local court so Ms…" Jenny trailed off and looked at Toriel.
"Well, I don't really have a last name, it used to be Dreemurr, however this has since changed. Just call me Toriel." The goat woman replied with a smile.
"See if you can get Ms. Toriel the number so she can get the required paperwork. Normally we wouldn't allow the children to stay with the family but this seems to be a special case." Richard jumped up to follow the woman's orders and ran outside, seemingly glad to be away from the awkward situation.
"If you don't mind, I'd also like to do a bit of investigation of the house to make sure it's fit for children." Jenny added, standing up. Toriel seemed more than happy to do so, showing the woman around the large house.
The main area that one first came in the front door was just a large room with a set of stairs and several other doors branching off. The room had been decorated with a few plants and paintings.
The living room had four couches, three armchairs and a large, flatscreen TV on one of the walls. Some white fur stuck to the couches and armchairs, showing just how much the Dreemurrs used them.
The dining room had two large tables pushed together with several mismatched chairs lined up on either side.
In the kitchen there were three ovens, two sinks, and three refrigerators. A large family such as theirs needed quite a bit of food, especially with how much Papyrus and Toriel cooked.
There was only one bedroom downstairs, which belonged to Toriel. She preferred to sleep downstairs so that she could have easier access to the kitchen and be the first one to hear if anyone broke in.
Upstairs were the rest of the bedrooms, the bathrooms, and the laundry room. Chara, Asriel, Frisk and Harry shared a room..
The kids' room had two bunk beds, lamps, two dressers and several toys scattered about.
Unsurprisingly, Harry and Frisk's side of the room was quite tidy, while Chara and Asriel's side was much messier, mostly due to Chara.
Undyne and Alphys shared a room, for obvious reasons. Sans and Papyrus shared a room as well, though most of the time Sans slept on the couch. Gaster and Asgore slept in their own separate rooms.
Flowey's pot was usually kept in Harry and Frisk's room on the nightstand next to the window, but he could bounce around quite well even in that pot.
There were only two bathrooms, seeing as only three of the residents had a use for them, aside from taking showers. The bathrooms were fairly typical, with toilets, a shower/bathtub, and a sink.
The laundry room was large as well, with two washers and two dryers. The laundry baskets near the door were already completely full, overflowing with striped shirts, capes, lab coats, tank tops, jeans, and several dresses.
Even the outside of the house was impressive, with several large trees, a garden, and even a pond in the backyard. There were a few playsets as well, though most of the time only Harry, Frisk and Asriel used them. Chara used it sometimes as well, usually when he thought no one was looking.
It surprised Jenny very much, but she figured that because Toriel and Asgore were royalty, they had large sums of money, plus from what she heard, monster currency was gold, which went for a pretty big price. (Though it had gone down a bit when monsters came to the surface.)
All in all, the house was definitely fit for children.
When Jenny was led into the children's room Toriel paused and turned to the officer.
"There is… something I must speak to you about. I am not sure if you are aware, but Harry is what we call 'a halfling', a child between a monster and human. I am not too aware of the current laws, but in the time before the war, halflings were legally given both monster and human citizenship, but usually stayed with the monsters, so they could train their powers." Toriel explained.
"Powers? So he has the powers that monsters do as well?" Jenny asked, writing it down a little. "I am not familiar with the current laws either… I don't think there are any."
"I see, well, we shall take care of that another time."
"MOM! THE OTHER OFFICER IS BACK!" Chara's voice boomed up the stairs. Toriel smiled a little and walked back downstairs.
"U-um, well, I looked into it and there isn't a Frisk Ning or a Chara Colombo. I did find a Harry Potter though. Apparently, he was reported missing in England by a neighbor… not his relatives. When asked why they didn't report the child missing, they said that he had run away and they expected him to be back eventually… but… upon investigation of the house…" Richard took a deep breath, his hands clutching his clipboard so tightly that it began to bend.
"They found out that Harry hadn't been given proper treatment in that… well, the 'room' they found most of his stuff in was a cupboard under the stairs and-and there weren't any pictures of him anywhere. Apparently after his parents died Harry had been left in their care… against their will and threatened with some kind of legal action if they didn't keep him…" Everyone turned to look at Harry after Richard had finished his explanation, to find the little boy with tears running down his face.
"Oh Harry… It's OK. Hey, look at me." Frisk knelt down next to their new brother. "You won't have to go back there, promise. You can stay here with us." They assured, though Jenny bit her lip.
"I do not want to upset you Harry, but we WILL have to look into whether or not you can stay here. There's a good chance that you will, but if you have any other guardians, you will most likely have to go to them unless they give up custody or the Dreemurrs take legal action." She explained, kneeling down as well. This just made Harry sniffle.
"A-Actually ma'am, I l-looked into it and apparently Harry does have one other guardian but… he was arrested shortly after his parents death. Apparently he was connected somehow but… I couldn't find any records of a trial…" Richard mumbled.
"No records of a trial? Does that mean the guy didn't have a trial?" Chara questioned, picking at his shirt.
"P-Possibly. B-but! I couldn't find any other guardians so… there's a good possibility that Harry can stay with these guys once the paperwork is filled out." Richard replied with a shaky smile.
"That's wonderful! Ms. Jenny said that you would bring me the paperwork correct?" Toriel added, stepping forward. Richard rummaged in his clipboard and pulled out some stacks of papers.
"There you are ma'am! Once you get this filled out and taken to the courts, the kids will be legally yours!" The younger officer said with a wide grin.
However, things never went that smoothly. While this was happening, Albus Dumbledore, one of the most powerful wizards in Europe, and possibly the world, was just now receiving news that Harry Potter was in fact, NOT, under the Dursley's care.
He had briefly turned off the tracking alarms on the Dursley's house, knowing that they were going on vacation for a while, and he didn't need them screaming at them all the time just because Harry was in America.
However, he had not been informed of WHEN the family was coming back, as Arabella Figg had been away as well, visiting another relative.
When Arabella had returned, and saw that Harry was not there, she first called the police, filing a missing person's report. She then waited a few days, just to make sure that the police weren't able to find the boy, then contacted Albus.
The only reason it took so long for Albus to find out, was because things had been very hectic the last few months, monsters had returned to the surface, much to the fear of wizards. They were afraid of being exposed, and had become more secretive and reclusive. They didn't much have to worry about magical creatures being found anymore, seeing as monsters were now the explanation. But wizards still didn't want themselves to be known.
Albus had been swarmed with paperwork, and only got to Arabella's letter about Harry almost two months after the boy went missing, and now was in a panic. Most of the people whom Albus had spoken to about this subject were in a panic as well.
Deciding to follow the only lead he had Albus took a trip down to the prison where Vernon and Petunia Dursley were currently being held on charges of child neglect. Albus knew he wouldn't get any answers out of Vernon, so he spoke to Petunia.
"You… You want to talk about Harry yes?" She asked, as soon as she saw him.
"That's right. I wish to know what happened to him. Please, Petunia, he is your nephew, and even though your relationship with Lily was strained, you cannot just let Harry die like that." The woman looked down at the old man's words, tears in her eyes.
"Mount Ebott. It's in Wyoming. We left him there. It was Vernon's idea. A couple weeks before… Harry did something… very odd. One of his fingers turned into bone, and a few hours later it was back to normal. That was the last straw for Vernon. I… didn't know what else to do because I knew that nothing I said to Vernon would get through to him. I'm so, so sorry…" The woman whimpered, and curled in on herself, sobbing.
Albus was barely listening. Mount Ebott. That was where the monsters had come from. He also knew the rumors about the mountain. That any human that entered would never come back. However, he recalled that three humans had left with the monsters, and he felt hope bubble inside of him that Harry was one of them.
"Thank you Petunia. I'll be leaving now. I'm going to find Harry, and perhaps bring him back into your care." Before Albus could stand up Petunia's head shot up and she gave him a glare that could curdle milk.
"What?! After all that's happened you still want him to live with us?! Old man, me and my husband are in prison! We can't take care of him! If you want someone to take care of him give him to one of that man's friends! I know that one of them never had a goddamn trial and is probably innocent!" She cried, standing up in her chair.
Albus froze at her words, his mind slowly processing them. He let out a sigh. "Petunia… I'll see about Black after I locate Harry. Goodbye Petunia."
With that, the old wizard returned to Hogwarts, sitting at his desk, planning.
First, he would need to find out if Harry was in fact one of the children who escaped with the monsters. The next step would be to find out where Harry was now. The third would be to get Harry to come back with him to England, and find him a proper home. He highly doubted that Petunia would take Harry back, and even if she did Vernon would be a very real danger.
The headmaster sighed slightly, putting his head in his hands. It was going to be a long, hard journey, but one he was willing to take for the greater good of the world.
One week later
Toriel was waiting anxiously for the letter to come in that she now had legal custody of all of her new children. It was supposed to come in today, and when she heard the mail slot open, she ran for it and found the letter.
She opened it eagerly, crying tears of joy when she saw that it was approved. She called down for the children, showing them the letter as soon as they came down the stairs.
Chara, who rarely showed any kind of weakness, was the first to start crying, his body shaking with sobs. He ran forward and wrapped his arms around his mother, burying his face into her dress.
Frisk was the next, though they didn't cry as much as Chara, knowing that everything would be OK. They too ran to hug Toriel, wrapping one arm around Chara as well.
Harry was frozen in place. He wasn't upset, no, quite the opposite, he was ecstatic. But, he was in shock, he couldn't believe that he could stay with his new, patchwork of a family. Finally, he broke out of his stupor and hugged the goat woman as well, desperately trying to hold back tears.
Sans, who had heard the crying, almost ran downstairs, fearing something bad had happened. Papyrus, who was in the kitchen at the time, ran in as well, preparing to cheer up whoever was sad.
Sans knelt down and picked up the paper that Toriel had dropped, skimming over it before smiling a bit.
"jeez kids, don't scare me like that. i thought chara got into the sugar again." He joked a bit, but felt joy welling up in him as well. Things were going well so far, the world hadn't reset, and this was the longest break between resets.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SANS? IS IT GOOD NEWS?" Papyrus asked, reading the paper over his brother's shoulder. He gasped when he saw what was written there, a squeal following the gasp. "THIS IS WONDERFUL!"
Papyrus suddenly ran over to the group hug and wrapped his arms around all the children and Toriel, and attempted to lift them into the air, but failed. So, he settled for just a regular hug. "SANS GET OVER HERE AND HUG TOO!"
Sans sighed and slowly joined the group, ruffling Harry and Frisks' hair. He was still wary of Chara, remembering how the human had behaved in a previous timeline. "welcome to the family kiddos."
Then, there was a knock at the door.
(Also, it's been a while since I've read the books, so some things might not be exactly accurate.)