Chapter 10
Diagon Alley, 1988
He couldn't believe the nerve of the Beings. To rip him away from his Soul-Mate trough time and space. Thankfully he had done everything he could to prepare Valedro for his role as an Heir of Most Ancient and Noble house. Hopefully it had been enough. He sighed. He missed his Soul-Mate. Quick flick of his hand showed time. Not even full hour after he had left to the past. This would explain why he hadn't crown at all.
He pulled himself to his full height and looked around him and saw he was outside of Gringotts. Thankfully no one had seen how he just appeared from out of nowhere. He had learned to apparate together with Valedro. Both of them could apparate without the loud sound that usually accompanies it. He walked through the double marble and strait across the hall trough the smaller double doors made of mithril and into the long hallways. He walked until he finally stood in front of red doors. He didn't bother to knock.
"Why didn't you tell me They wouldn't let me stay with him?" Mameha asked irritated.
"It would not have chance anything. You knew that there would be price to pay. The Beings gave you more than they ever have given. To anyone. You had a chance to change your Soul-Mates life and you took it. Here, read this. He is not insane. He found another path." Gerald said as he gave the heavy file to Mameha. He knew Mameha. Knew that he would help his Soul-Mate. Hell, Mameha had introduced them, and even now, over 30 years later, they were still in contact.
Mameha took the file and sat on the chair. It was nice chair. Burgundy in color and it had nice leather seat. He scanned trough the file. Not much had been changed and yet so many things were different at same time. Valedro had attacked his parents this time too but with real reason. His parents were good fighters and firmly in Dumbledore's pocket. They had been killed in a raid, not their home and as soon as they were declared dead, Dumbledore had taken him to his Aunt and dumbed there. Nothing new in there.
But Valedro… He was sane. And whole. No horcruxes to keep him alive. What had changed that? A quick look at Gerald's eyes and he knew.
"He came to see them then." Mameha stated. Gerald just nod his head.
"What was the price? Do you know it?" Mameha asked.
"You. More specifically, memories of you until you two see each other's again. It has to be accidental meeting. He knows about you, he made sure of that, but he doesn't remember you. Those memories only come back when you two come across again. I can't say where he is. It would make things worse. It would… It would unmake all you did." Gerald tried to explain.
"I see. Those bastards." He said coldly. "Fate was never on my side. It will be years then until I can see Valedro again, unless he is a teacher at Hogwarts." Mameha half asked, half demanded to know.
"I am truly sorry, child, but I can't say." Gerald says shaking his head. Mameha nods.
"I must go now. I have much to read and much to research." Mameha said as he stands up from chair. "Just one question, is he still young?" He asked as he is curious about it.
"In what way?" Gerald askes with glint in his eyes. That is enough of answer for Mameha as he smiles a little when he moves through the doors. So, Valedro did underwent the ritual they made. It was good to know. Otherwise it would be too large off an age gap to ignore.
Flashback, House of Pain, 1936
They had been talking about theory of rituals. How they work, what made them work and could they make their own rituals. That was what they were most interested. They had hunted down books, scrolls and rumors. They studied astronomy, potions, arithmancy and runes. They read about ancient Egypt, Creek and Maya rituals and speculated if they would work, had they worked and had they work in the way those long dead people had wanted them to work. It had been fascinating.
Mameha had wanted ritual to stop physical ageing. Valedro had wanted eternal life. Even as young as they were, neither one of them wanted to die. So, they combined their wishes. Making a ritual never seen before, or at least, never documented before. They had found rituals to grant youth, strength, different abilities and talents but not one for eternal life.
Rumors about Philosopher's Stone, horcruxes and other things that made ordinary person an immortal, were… taunting for them. As Mameha had refused to even talk about horcruxes, let alone make one, so it was crossed out before it had time to become more than a fleeting thought. Philosopher's Stone would take years, decades to make, if they even could make one. Rumors about Nicholas Flamel and his wife having one, were interesting. Maybe at later date they would steal it but not now. They weren't interested to becoming a vampire or lich either so those were crossed away too. So after a month of collecting lists of how to become an immortal, they had crossed all out expect the Philosopher's Stone. They knew they had no chance to steal it as they were children and Flamel's had had hundreds of years to protect it. No, what they did was to make their own ritual and combine their wishes for it.
It had taken them over six months to write the ritual. Six grueling months of research, experiments, set-backs, minor and major breakthroughs of Magic, road blocks and millions of Galleons. They had experiment with different potions, willing and unwilling test-subjects, willingly given and forcefully taken ingredients. It had been long road, but they made it.
The ritual was a long, hard and painful and it could only be done when they would hit their last magical growth at the age of twenty-one. It would forcefully remove their bodies form the stream of time and would basically freeze them. That had been somewhat disappointing, but every magic had their drawbacks. For their ritual, it was time. Mameha worried that he might not be able to do the ritual at all, as he had not aged at all sense he had met Valedro. Valedro had comforted him and told that something would solve his problem.
End of flashback
Valedro had been right. By coming back to his own time, he would age normally and would be able to do the ritual. He only had to wait until his twenty-first birthday and he would be immortal. But that was in the future and he didn't like to think too much of future. It reminded him too much that he wasn't at Valedro's side. He sighed and walked back home.