[HP] Similar but different

To be honest, Harry didn't know if that counted as something beyond his best expectations.Tom Riddle was handsome, he thought so when he first met him; but on the other hand, Voldemort's choice of this face showed that the other party knew his preferences.

Harry's eyes flickered inevitably.Fortunately, the Dark Lord doesn't seem to intend to take advantage of it.The two quickly sat down face to face, silent for a while.

"...So, which hand?" Harry bravely broke the almost suffocating atmosphere.He figured it would be better to fix the problem early than to struggle to keep the knees tucked away.

Voldemort still had a cold face. "It's too early," he refused. "I can see that your mind has gone wild... You'd better try to clear your head first."

Harry mentally rolled his eyes, because he had to admit that Voldemort was right.Even if today's events weren't so weird, he didn't empty his head that easily - his nightmarish Occlumency sessions had demonstrated this irrefutably. "Tell me first, what's the use of this?"

"Avoid interference," said Voldemort dryly. "I don't need to hear what you're thinking when I feel the echo of my soul."

It was perfectly logical, and Harry couldn't argue with it.He closed his eyes and tried to think of nothing, but it was as hard as ever—maybe the face to Tom Riddle wasn't necessarily better than the snake face; Heart, the lingering sense of embarrassment of being seen through...

Meanwhile, Voldemort silently studied Harry's trembling eyelids.

Although acquired hard work cannot be ignored, magic has always been an ability that relies to a considerable extent on talent.For example, some people are born mind readers, and Legilimency is an instinct they cannot control themselves; for the same reason, it is much easier for wizards who prefer to hide their emotions and thoughts to learn Occlumency than others.

He wasn't surprised that Harry was doing badly; he wasn't surprised that Harry was better at confronting him, or resisting him, than at other times.For the boy did consider them enemies; and to defeat him, the boy went all out.

In a certain way, Voldemort appreciated this conclusion.After all, he had chosen this enemy for himself, and this enemy had escaped him many times; if Harry had nothing to offer, wouldn't it seem that he himself was even less desirable?

Harry wondered what Voldemort was thinking.He tried to get rid of all thoughts about Voldemort in his head, and managed to calm himself down. "……alright."

Voldemort snapped out of his own thoughts. "Then come on," he leaned forward slightly and stretched out his right hand.

Harry hesitated, then held out his own too.The two hands slid across the air and held each other vaguely.He saw those pale, slender, knuckle-knuckle fingers go around the tiger's mouth and press lightly on the back of his hand; he himself did the same, except that it was not so cold.

The two looked at each other less than a foot away.Harry noticed that although Voldemort's red vertical pupils had changed into normal black eyes, they were as cold and hard as ever.Occlumency... without this, he would be dying of pain by now, right?

Harry was distracted by this thought, when suddenly he felt a tightness in his hands—Voldemort exerted a little force, and now they were indeed touching.The cold touch became more and more obvious, and he tried hard to control himself not to shiver.

"Lean forward and close your eyes," Voldemort hissed softly.

To drive away the bad feeling, Harry asked, "Must it be closed?"

Voldemort was tempted to reply that it would be good for your meager gains, but he could foresee how Harry would react to that.His main purpose is to study whether there is any energy in the savior that he doesn't know; but if there is a possibility to save the soul piece, he will not ruin it in vain. "Shut up," he lowered his voice, "you can't see clearly at that distance with your eyes open."

That's true, Harry thought to himself.But he was still a little apprehensive: "If you fail halfway, will there be any consequences?"

"Worried about failure before the thing started?" Voldemort snorted, and once again tried to press what he really wanted to say-the coward used this as an excuse to shrink back, "Then you will never succeed."

...does this sound reasonable?

Harry was barely convinced.He took off his glasses and did as he was told, with a resolute expression on his face.

Voldemort would have applauded the move if it hadn't been inopportune.With a much stronger enemy in front of him, he would never really obey.But the savior seems to really believe him... Although he has always been able to confuse people as he pleases, it is still hard for him to imagine that he is still so naive at this age...

Thinking about these things, Voldemort slowly leaned down.He could see Harry's eyelashes trembling slightly, the left hand hanging by his side was so forcefully that it almost crooked the mirror frame, and the right hand that was touching him was unnaturally convulsed.He squeezed harder on the scalding hand - covered with faint calluses, presumably Quidditch marks - and pressed his forehead against the edge of the lightning scar.

Harry could feel the cold touch, and couldn't help trembling greatly, unconsciously wanting to break free.He was sure that the scar would explode again in the next second, but...

No.

Except that he opened his eyes, everything else was as described by Voldemort - a blurred shadow in front of his eyes, and the almost non-existent breath of the other party hit his cheek; and his hands were tightly clenched, almost painful Feel.

"Your breath is hot," Harry said eccentrically, but immediately regretted it.He could almost imagine how disdainful Voldemort would be when he heard this.

As expected, the Dark Lord's answer was not very pleasant. "if not?"

Harry wanted to say, it's not my imagination that you're as cold as dead.But he restrained himself—they were really too close, and the air current from talking made his cheeks itch and his nose itch.

Voldemort expressed satisfaction that Harry was quiet.He settled down, used his spirit, and began to search Harry's head for everything he needed—

Without such superficial rituals, he could easily infiltrate any body and control them, just as he did in his ghost state.But the boy didn't know; the boy had long been trapped in the fog he had built for him, thinking that he still had the power to choose.Oh, let the boys think so, until...

"pain!"

With a yelp, Harry stood up while jerking back, rubbing his scar from the flare-up angrily. "What were you doing just now?" Before the sharp sound of the chair rubbing against the ground disappeared, he put on his glasses and asked loudly, "Accidentally thought the truth, and didn't do Occlumency well?"

Voldemort was expressionless. "Did you hear that again?"

Harry could hear the smell in it, and it annoyed him even more. "What's 'again'?" He shouted angrily, "You have to figure it out, I didn't do this thing, but you! It was you from the beginning to the end!"

Voldemort was silent for a long time.He had to realize that due to the tight two-way connection, he might have to spend more effort to hide himself... He hadn't bothered so much in a long time, it was like returning to the time when he was studying at Hogwarts. "I see," he said dryly, "try again."

"Are you serious?" Harry didn't buy it, still staring at Voldemort vigilantly, "Are you sure you can do it? How do you say that?" You and I have to refrain until the problem is really solved?' Huh?"

Voldemort's face became even uglier. "It was my negligence," he admitted firmly, "I promise there will be no next time."

This made Harry's anger barely suppressed a bit.He sat down again, but did not move.

Voldemort read the meaning behind this move.He moved his fingers, even the man moved forward with the chair, and stretched out his right hand again.Harry stared at the hand from the other's cold and hard profile, took more time to clear his mind, and took off his glasses while shaking them.

This time, everything went according to plan. 1 minute passed... 2 minutes passed...

Harry didn't feel anything unusual, so he could only reluctantly decide that Voldemort still had some credibility.As he counted down the time in his mind, he wondered if Voldemort would hear him counting.But it's such an innocuous thing, he thought angrily, that it's nothing compared to the pain in his scar whenever the Dark Lord is malicious...

"So you admit that you disturbed me." Voldemort's voice sounded suddenly, very calm.

There are 45 seconds left on Harry's countdown.He didn't want to give Voldemort a chance to accuse him, so he decided to stick to it. "Obviously you are more..."

"Last time," Voldemort corrected softly, "this time it's you."

... Does this mean that even if someone made a mistake, it was both of them?

Harry was speechless.He opened his mouth, and just about to say "You are too fussy", when he felt a sudden itch in his nose, and the urge to sneeze couldn't be restrained - he unconsciously widened his eyes - it's over -

"Ahhhhhhhhh!"

Harry sneezed one loud, loud sneeze, followed by two others, equally loud.When he finally calmed down, rubbing his nose, he realized that Voldemort was at least ten paces away from him. "Accident," he said, too embarrassed to realize his voice was muffled. "It's uncontrollable."

"You..." Voldemort frowned slowly, his eyes moved from Harry's hand to Harry's forehead.Just when Harry thought that the other party had organized the mocking language, he heard the Dark Lord ask in a rare hesitant tone: "...you have a cold, Harry?"

The author has something to say:

Harry: What, I have a cold... choo! (┬＿┬)

LV: Sorry, I found out late, because Voldemort has long forgotten about catching a cold ╮(￣▽￣")╭

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