Chapter 10
Toriel and Sans were allowed to stay over night, just in case anyone had questions the following day, and so the family wound up staying in the Room of Requirement that night instead of their dorms.
At roughly half past two that morning, Chara cried out in their sleep, waking a few of the others up.
Harry seemed confused as to why he was awake for a long moment before he heard Chara whimper again and shot up and over to their side, waking them up.
"Are you okay?"
Chara didn't seem to be seeing him, though. It had been enough to wake the others up - Sans was watching with concern dimming his eye lights.
It took too long for them to like to coax Chara out of whatever was going on in their heads.
No one pressed as to what it was - not that they had to.
Once Sans went to apologize, assuming that the fight earlier had brought back bad memories for the kid, Chara shook their head and explained what had happened.
When everyone got down to breakfast, it was to see Chara and Sans fighting again, this time both seeming more relaxed than they had the previous night.
Blaise raised an eyebrow at the other siblings as he sat with them.
Harry shook his head. "It seems to help. Chara had a nightmare last night about their life before they fell."
Blaise nodded in understanding, settling about everything and focusing on breakfast.
Harry's attention was caught again by the sudden blue of Chara's Soul, as well as them being thrown backwards with a movement of Sans's hand. He gave a worried smile as Chara bounced back and moved out of the way just as a wall of what seemed to be bones showed up right where they had been.
"Feel better?" Harry asked curiously once the fight had ended and the two had joined them at Slytherin table.
Chara nodded in agreement.
Sans shrugged. "I'm off to nap. i'll check in on you guys later."
Once he was gone, Frisk shook their head. "How you managed to win against him is beyond me, Chara. He may be lazy, but..."
Chara shrugged. "Determination,"
Frisk seemed to understand the double meaning, even if no one else did.
Classes that day were slow - it seemed to be taking double the time that it normally took.
The first break they all had found them sitting by the lake once again.
Chara spent the first bit munching on chocolate - no one questioned where she'd gotten it.
Frisk's eyes lit up. "I knew Mom was saving that chocolate bar in her fridge for you!"
Everyone else seemed confused, so Frisk started to explain.
Asriel smiled faintly at that, then went back to the quiet conversation he was having with Hermione.
Of course, that ended relatively soon, her eyes landing on Harry and narrowing in confusion.
"What...?" Harry asked, seeming slightly sheepish at the look that he was getting from the Gryffindor girl.
Hermione shook her head. "You're so...timid. How'd you wind up in Slytherin?"
"You're really bookish, how'd you end up in Gryffindor?" Harry shot back, then gave an apologetic smile and shrugged. "The Hat said that it was a good match, I guess...I'm learning to understand why now."
Frisk gave a wry smile. "Want to share with us what you've learned?"
Harry nodded, shrugging as he did. "It's what Sans wanted to talk to me about in the letters - you remember he found out about my life before I fell at the same time you did," he said, green eyes growing less happy and vibrant at the reference.
Frisk nodded, motioning him to continue talking.
"He said that Slytherin suited me the same as it did Chara - I didn't want to ask him about why he seemed so...sure of it, so..."
Chara nodded when Harry glanced at them.
Harry bit his lip, then continued talking. "But he said it wasn't just that. My...my soul isn't representing Determination like yours does, Frisk, Chara. He's seen the state of it too, and he said that a lot of how I survived in the Underground was by waiting a situation out and then acting instead of just throwing myself into it, determined to find the answer eventually."
Frisk gave a wry smile and looked down - they knew they'd done that
It took a while for Harry to finish speaking, and by the time it was over, Hermione seemed like she understood a lot more.
"Sorry just...I'd heard the rumors about Slytherin, and everyone was saying that you only helped me because it would help you,"
Harry's eyes hardened at that, startling some of the others. "I don't do things to further how people see me. I do things because it's the right thing for me to do morally. Even if someone doesn't agree with my choices, if it feels right for me, I do it."
"who pissed the baby bones off?"
Frisk glanced over to see Sans standing against a tree by the small group. "People have been saying he only helped Hermione to make himself look better."
No one missed the blue glow come from Sans's eye at that. "is that so?"
Harry spoke without looking over at him. "Don't worry about it Sans. I'll work it out myself,"
By the time dinner came, Harry wasn't recognizable to anyone who hadn't spent time with him that day - his expression was emotionless and his eyes cold.
Toriel seemed worried about this and turned to Sans when he joined her. "What's happened?"
Sans shook his head. "a lot of lies have been spread. he said he wanted to handle it himself."
"I just hope he remembers who he is and doesn't make the mistakes Chara did.." Toriel said quietly - she had been informed after their argument what had happened.
Sans sighed, pinpricks focused on Harry where he sat silently at Slytherin table, glaring at his food. "for his sake, I hope so too. I've never had to Judge him, i want it to stay that way."