Broken (But Better Every Day)

Adjusting to life on the surface was a long process for the make-shift family.

Frisk and Chara seemed to have very little trouble adjusting.

Asriel struggled more than the two, but it was to be expected considering everything that had happened to him.

Harry, however, seemed to have the hardest time out of the entire family. He may have grown up on the surface, but he'd lived through horrors that wouldn't leave him alone now.

The rest of them did their best to help him, but there was only so much that could be done.

"how's the kid?" Sans asked warily one morning that he was over to visit.

No one asked who he was talking about - the only kid missing from the kitchen was Harry.

Frisk shook their head in response to the question. "Not doing well," they admitted. "He'll never admit it, but it's hard for him to be back on the surface."

Sans made a noise in response before he disappeared to go see Harry.

When he got to Harry's room, the boy was dressed and ready to face the day, but he was sitting curled up on one corner of the bed - the furthest away from the door.

He leaned against the door frame, watching Harry for a moment - the small raven haired kid was shaking, but it wasn't as bad as he'd seen before. He nodded to himself and spoke. "joining us for breakfast, kid?"

Harry jumped, Sans noticed, but immediately scrambled off the bed.

Before the kid could leave the room, Sans wrapped him in a hug. He wasn't happy to feel Harry stiffen up in his grip, but once the kid had relaxed, Sans let go and wrapped an arm around Harry's small shoulders, guiding him to the kitchen while telling him any joke or pun he could think of to get a smile.

At breakfast, though, they encountered a new problem - Harry wouldn't eat much, if at all. He mostly picked at his food, throwing wary looks at the others at the table for a long while.

Sans watched this and every time he noticed the fearful eyes glance up from the plate, his mood dropped a bit more and his anger built.

Finally, Chara gave up pretenses of not seeing and started coaxing Harry to eat - they had warmed up to Harry quickly and was more than protective of the younger boy, especially seeing how fragile he was.

The letter didn't come until the morning of Harry's eleventh birthday at the end of July.

No one knew it was his birthday - Harry was quite certain it wasn't important.

And so, this letter arriving brought along questions.

"Who's it from, dear?"

Harry hesitated before he shrugged, staring at the unopened letter - no return address.

Sans was staring at it as well, but he seemed calm about it. "open it, kid. Don't leave us hanging,"

It took a little prompting, but eventually, Harry did open the letter.

As he did, a knock sounded on the door and Toriel disappeared to answer it - she knew very well it wasn't any of their make-shift family or friends, seeing as they would've just come inside without knocking first.

"Harry, dear?"

Harry glanced up as Toriel entered the room with another person behind them.

Silence fell over the entire room at the sight.

But the other person - amber eyes kind and hopeful - spoke. "I see you got the letter,"

Harry gave a wary look before nodding to the man's words.

Toriel gave Sans a look, and without another second's thought, the skeleton got up and spoke. "C'mon kids, let's give them some space,"

Frisk and Chara both argued, but Harry looked over at the two. "It's okay. I'll yell if I need you, promise."

This calmed Frisk immediately, but Chara still looked hesitant. "You're sure?"

Harry glanced at the man again before he handed the letter to Chara.

Chara didn't hesitate to read it - they knew that if Harry had handed it over, that was the intended purpose anyway. They didn't seem happy about it, though. "Fine," they grumbled as they handed the letter back.

As Sans led them out, the skeleton paused. "if he gets hurt, it's you I'm coming after," he warned, bright blue glowing from his eyes.

Remus held this gaze and nodded in understanding.

Once they were gone, Remus moved to sit down at Toriel's direction.

Toriel didn't leave, instead settling into clearing away the mess from breakfast.

Remus ignored this, instead giving another smile to Harry. "Happy birthday, for one,"

Harry, who had been staring at the table, looked up in surprise. "I...t-thank you."

Remus laughed quietly, a nice sound that set Harry at ease. "You're welcome. I'm just sorry I never got the chance to see you grow up."

Toriel gave a smile as she listened to the conversation continue on from there.

The conversation lasted for over an hour, and a lot was explained during it.

Then, Remus looked to Toriel. "Could you go get the others? I'm sure they'd like to hear what I'm about to explain,"

Harry was quiet, but when Toriel looked at him in askance - a silent question of if he wanted the others there - he nodded, giving her a small, shaky smile.

She didn't blame him. The poor boy had learned horrible things.

She disappeared, coming back with the others.

Chara's immediate reaction was to make Harry get up and sit down before pulling the smaller boy into their lap, arms wrapped tight around him.

Remus gave a smile at the affectionate move, and didn't acknowledge the deadly glare he was getting from Chara.

Once they'd all settled, Remus started talking again. "I figured it best you all hear this, as I'm sure Harry won't want to explain,"

Harry gave a wary look - he knew things were about to get worse.

Remus held his gaze before it lowered and he started talking. "I've explained to Harry what happened to his parents and why. But that wasn't why I came here. I came here because had I waited another day, then it would've been too late to intervene."

Sans seemed to understand though no one else did. "this is about someone manipulating him, isn't it?"

Remus looked to Sans and gave a nod. "I'll assume there's a reason...?"

"someone doesn't end up with relatives that are shit by chance. these situations don't happen by chance. I've known someone was playing god for a while, but I couldn't do shit about it. until now."

He ignored the looks he was getting from Toriel, then looked at Harry for a moment. He was quiet before looking to Remus. "it'll get handled. but please, explain."

Remus gave an understanding smile and nodded in agreement, settling in to speak.

About halfway through, Chara spoke up. "He isn't." they warned, voice low and dangerous. "He's not a toy to play with, and he isn't to be used as a weapon,"

Silence fell over the table where everyone else had been voicing their opinions. They'd never heard Chara defend someone else before and it was something to behold.

Harry seemed uncomfortable, but said nothing.

Chara was glaring at Remus as if they wanted him dead. "So you're to tell this piece of trash leader of some pointless war to fight it himself."

Remus gave a smile in response and waited for Chara to settle before he spoke. "I have no plans to use Harry. I'm sure he's been through enough at the hands of Lily's sister and her family. I do have a plan, and he will remain neutral and out of the war."

Harry disappeared for a while at that point, Sans going with him to calm him down.

While they were gone, Remus continued to speak.

"you're alright, kid," Sans said softly as the two sat outside on a swings set.

Harry ignored this, trying to focus on his breathing, forcing it to even out.

Sans seemed to know what was going on, because he immediately moved to kneel in front of Harry and coax him through the motions.

Once Harry was calming down, the boy launched himself at Sans, burying his face in the skeleton's hoodie.

"c'mon, don't cry. Tori will kill me if she thinks I upset you. Or Chara will."

Harry gave a weak laugh at the uncertain tone in Sans's voice.

"Do you think Harry will be okay?" Remus asked worriedly, throwing a look around the room.

Chara nodded in agreement. "He'll be fine. He's strong for being so tiny."

"Besides, he has Sans with him if he isn't okay right now. He will be when they come back!" Frisk offered with a wide smile.

Remus nodded in understanding.

"What are your plans?" Toriel questioned, giving Remus a knowing smile.

Remus glanced down. "I can't stay where I am. I won't sit by and watch someone hurt the people I care about. I'm taking my case to the opposite side of the war after I leave here. Since their leader is back, I'll take it straight to him. They aren't bad people, they'll hear me out." he said, voice stubbornly determined in what he was saying. "They don't stand for abuse of any kind, especially that of a child."

Frisk smiled faintly at this, then she threw a look out the window to check on where she knew Sans and Harry were.

Remus was quiet for a moment before he spoke. "I....may I stop in and visit with Harry again in the future?"

Toriel gave a small smile and she offered a nod. "Of course," she said softly. "I'm sure he'll love that."

This got a smile from the werewolf, amber eyes dimming into a blue.

Chara seemed surprised by this change, but said nothing.

Remus chewed his lip for a moment before he spoke. "I'll be taking steps to get Harry's godfather from a wrongful imprisonment. It's the least I can do after abandoning them both to their fate due to my own selfish mourning. I'm going to fix this."

By the time Harry and Sans returned, Harry was calm and the group was finished discussing anything heavy.

Remus was getting ready to leave, however.

Harry seemed surprised, but didn't say anything.

Remus smiled faintly, moving to kneel in front of Harry. "Something's coming in the mail for your birthday from Padfoot and me, okay? We're going to fix this."

Harry's eyes went wide. "You didn't have to.."

Remus laughed softly and shook his head. "I know I didn't. But I wanted to. Maybe next time I visit, Padfoot will be with me too?"

Harry looked down before glancing back up and giving a shy smile. "Thank you,"

Remus nodded in agreement, wrapping the boy in a gentle hug. His eyes flashed a hard amber when the boy tensed up before relaxing and returning the hug. "Oh, cub, you're more loved than you know," he said softly as he pulled back, meeting bright green eyes. "I'll see you again as soon as I can. Happy birthday,"

When Remus was gone, Harry looked up to see the other kids looking at him in surprise before Frisk spoke. "It's your birthday? Why didn't you say something?!"

Harry shrugged, looking back down. "Wasn't important."

Sans stayed back and watched as the kids drug Harry off to celebrate by playing.

Toriel smiled faintly, moving to start cooking.

"what are you making?" Sans asked curiously as he sat back down.

"I think it'd be nice for Harry to have a cake," Toriel commented with a shrug.