*Gobbledygook*
$Parseltongue$
-August 1st, 1987-
{Remus' POV}
Remus was shocked when he saw Alex again. He had only left them for half an hour, but they changed so much. Their hair had become silkier, framing their face, while becoming a blood red. Their face shape was different too, their cheekbones higher, their eyes softer. And they had a snake on their shoulder. A snake.
Remus held out his arm for Alex, who gripped it lightly. He turned on the spot, apparating them back to their house. When they appeared in front of the cottage, Remus looked at Alex. He had been expecting them to look sick, but they looked like apparition was something they had done before.
"Let's head inside. You are going to be explaining everything," Remus said, looking straight at Alex. They nodded, heading towards the house. Remus walked inside, sitting down at the kitchen table. It was only 10 o'clock; he didn't think the day would have been this hectic already. He put his head in his hands, waiting for Alex to come back down stairs. Hopefully, it would be a quick and easy explanation.
~
{Alex's POV}
Alex walked up the stairs to their room. It had been years since they had been here, at least, it had been for them. They stepped into their room, taking their trunk out of their pocket and unshrinking it. They flicked their wrist, having everything unpack itself from inside the trunk. Another flick of their wrist had everything being sorted and organising itself in the room, finding the correct spots and being put away.
As their stuff sorted itself out, Alex removed the parchment from their pocket, unshrinking it and laying it flat on the desk in the corner. They then removed the potions trunk, placing it on their bed after unshrinking it. Inside, was the ingredients holder Helga had given them, their potions tools and cauldron, as well as the potions they had made, and bottled up, labelled and stored securely inside.
Alex took one last look around the room, making sure everything was away, before walking out of the room, going to explain everything to Remus.
Alex walked into the kitchen, finding Remus already seated at the table, head in his hands.
"Remus, I believe you had some questions?" Alex asked, successfully gaining his attention. They had their emotionless mask on, like always, and sat down opposite Remus. He looked up, nodding.
"Yes. My main question is what happened while I was gone? Why do you look so different? And where did you get the snake?" He asked.
"You might want to get comfortable. It is quite a long story," Alex replied. They then began telling Remus everything. About how they were the Guardian of Magic. About how they had gone back in time to learn from the Founders of Hogwarts and Merlin, the Founders of Magic. How they had been gone for 10 years, learning to control all aspects of their magic. How they had learnt everything taught at Hogwarts, plus things that weren't. How they had an extremely powerful wand, with 6 woods and 4 willingly given cores. They told Remus everything.
"On my fifteenth birthday there, they gave me a blood changing potion, making me their heirs by blood and magic. The potion negated almost all Potter blood in me, changing my appearance to a combination of Merlin, Godric, Rowena, Helga and Salazar. My hair became the colour of Ric's, while taking on the texture of Rena's. My jawbones became more defined, like Sal's while my eyes changed to match Helga's soft look. And Merlin's blood made my body more androgynous. And when I came back, I was able to claim my lairdeships and heirships, as well as legally change my name from Lexa to Alex," Alex finished. Remus eyes betrayed their shock at the story.
"That, that is a lot to take in cub. Do you still want to live with me? Seeing as you are technically an adult?" Remus asked.
"Of course, I do Remus. I mean, you won't technically be my guardian, but when it comes to appearances and such, I'm still only 7. And I wouldn't leave you, you're my only family, even if its not by blood."
"One more thing, cub? You still didn't mention the snake on your shoulders." Alex looked at Akira, who was still sleeping while curled around their shoulders.
"You mean Akira? She was a gift from Sal and his familiar. She is Sal's familiar's daughter and also happens to be my familiar," Alex said, reaching up to stroke Akira nose.
"What breed is she? She is a lovely specimen."
"Oh, she's a basilisk," they said, making this terrifying fact sound like an offhand comment. They watched as Remus swallow a few times before speaking again.
"A, a basilisk?"
"Oh yes, but don't worry. The gaze of a basilisk can't harm a Parselmouth, and they can turn their deadly gaze on and off. She won't harm you; I promise."
"Parselmouth?" Remus asked. Alex realised they had forgotten that small detail when explaining everything.
"Yes, I'm a Parselmouth. Have been my whole life. It probably has something to do with being descended from the Peverell line. I've heard it is an ability that tends to skip many generations when people of the line aren't deemed worthy of the great gift."
~
{Remus' POV}
Remus had apparently been hoping for too much when he hoped it would be a simple explanation. He hadn't expected the explanation to take half an hour or be that complicated. Alex was of age, legally 17, their magic fully matured, even though to everyone they were still 7 to the entire world. They were lord, or lairde or many ancient houses and heir to a few as well. And they happened to be a Parselmouth with a basilisk as a familiar.
"Nothing with you is simple, is it cub?" he asked fondly. He wasn't complaining though. He wouldn't change Alex for the world.
"Nope," they replied happily. "Being simple requires being normal and being normal is boring."
Remus laughed at that. They were right, being normal would be boring.
"I have some things to do in my room, I need to unpack and stuff. I'll be down for lunch," Alex said. They stood up, walking towards the stairs, heading back to their bedroom.
~
{Alex's POV}
Alex walked back up the stairs and entered their room. They had lied slightly, about unpacking. They had already unpacked everything. But they did have things to do.
They walked over to their desk, sitting down and picking up the parchment covered in writing. This was all the research and results from the improved wolfsbane that they had made the day before they left.
They read over the information eagerly, their happiness building more and more as they read of success. The wolf that had volunteered, Killian, hadn't died, which was a good start. His wolf had become like an animagus form and he was able to transform into wolf form at will, other than new moons and full moons. On full moons, he was still forced to transform, but the pain had disappeared. That may have been because the wolf wasn't as vicious, but it also could have been because his body had accepted the wolf form as a natural form, much like an animagus body did.
On top of that, Killian only had to take the potion once. It had lasted for a year before they stopped tracking the results, but they didn't seem to be becoming any less than when it was first administered. During full moons he still kept his mind, just like a normal wolfsbane would have allowed.
As Alex finished reading the report, they set it down with a whoop of happiness. Their potion had worked. Now, they could give it to Remus and allow him to experience the benefits of the potion. Hopefully he liked it.
Alex headed back into the kitchen at 12 o'clock, ready for lunch. They had spent the rest of the time after finishing the report in their mind, organising all the memories and strengthening the defences. Their mind consisted of many things. Firstly, they had bookshelves holding every single book they had ever read. Next, they had cabinets full of phials of memories. Each cabinet was dedicated to a different thing, expanded to hold as many or as few memories as needed. One each for each year of their life. There was also a separate cabinet for each topic they had learned, full of memories of all their lessons. They had added a new cabinet, one labelled Remus. In it would go every memory they had of Remus, the good and the bad.
When they reached the kitchen, they found Remus already busy at the stove.
"Can I help?" Alex asked.
"You can set the table and prepare drinks. The food is almost done," Remus replied, not even looking at Alex as he continued cooked. Alex quickly set the table, placing a glass of water next to each spot. They then sat down, just as Remus turned and set the food on the table. He sat down, opposite Alex, smiling at them.
Alex didn't touch their food, instead looking straight at Remus while clutching a potion phial in their lap.
"I have something to give you," they said.