HP Cronos

There is another shipment to be delivered tonight, and the location is a very secret underground bar.

Following the instructions, Nora came to the bottom of an inconspicuous bridge hole, knocked three times against the graffiti on the wall, and the wall slowly slid open, revealing a staircase leading underground.At the end of the stairs is a creepy-looking door, and above the door hangs an eye with rolling eyes.On each side hung a bloody ear.And there is a mouth in the center.

Nora thinks the bar owner has bad taste.Also worth worrying about is your own personal safety.She wasn't quite sure what she was holding in her arms would keep her in Azkaban for years.Oh, maybe not Azkaban, what's the name of the French wizarding prison?She has forgotten.

"Password." The mouth opened and closed.

"Bloody Mary," said Nora.

The door opened and Nora walked in.

The inside is even darker than the outside, with scary decorations hanging around.The wizards all wore black cloaks, each looking more suspicious than the other.The goblin band was playing, and the singing of golden succubi drowned the whispers in the bar.

This is obviously not going to be a safe and friendly place.Holding the big box, Nora tried not to look sideways, trembling through the crowd, and handed the box to the bar owner with a skull-like head.

The boss glanced at her sharply: "Newcomer?"

"Yes."

He took the carton, opened it for a look, nodded in satisfaction, and signaled her to leave.

On her way to the gate Nora ran into a man wrapped from head to tail in black robes.He cursed something in French, in a vicious tone.

"I'm sorry... I'm very sorry..." Nora kept apologizing, hoping not to cause any trouble here.

But it looks like sorry can't solve the problem.The man drew his wand and pointed at the door, as if trying to coerce Nora into going out with him.

"She's a friend of mine," said a voice.

Nora knew who it was when he spoke the first note.The hero saves the beauty, what a clichéd stage play plot.

Nora saw Riddle appearing from behind the man, also in black, his face hidden under a hood.

Riddle walked up to Nora and gestured politely: "Please allow me to introduce, this is Miss Nora Gray, the last heir of the Freeway family, and the granddaughter of Ulysses Freeway."

Nora knew he was lying without changing his face again.

"Ulysses Freevy? I remember he already..." the man muttered.Riddle ignored him, grabbed Nora's shoulders, and led her away.

They walked out of the bar, out of the bridge hole, and walked on the streets of Paris at midnight.They walked down a deserted path, and Nora flinched as the cold wind blew past.

She was about to thank the man around her, but anyway, he saved her again.But Riddle spoke first: "So, that's your way?" he said, with obvious sarcasm and anger in his tone, "As brainless as ever, reckless Gryffindor."

"That's how I do it," said Nora. "It's not the first day you've met me. I've always been like this, and I'm not as big as a Floberworm—but a reckless Gryffindor is better than your sinister Stu Leitlin!"

If she hadn't been a reckless Gryffindor, why would she have come all this way for a man named Tom Riddle?

Riddle looked at her, and she stared back unwillingly.

There was a slight smile on his face, the smile was very weak, and it just flashed faintly in his eyes.Rather than laughing, it was more like a kind of pride, as if the child had snatched the spoils.

"Are you jealous, Nora."

Very firm tone.

Nora hated the look and the tone.

"Of course not—well...well...maybe a small part of—"

Maybe it was because of the love potion in the night in Paris, Riddle leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

Tom Riddle wasn't surprised.It was as if this scene had been previewed a million times.

After a while, they parted.Nora blushed and panted, still staring at him.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Do you really like me, Tom."

"We've known each other for a long time, haven't we, Nora." His gaze rested on her face through the darkness.

Nora's eyes widened.

"Okay." She nodded slowly, tiptoed to grab Riddle's collar, and did what he had just done.

A few pedestrians passed by, pointing fingers, and leaving in a frequent manner.In their eyes, these two young people were no different from any young couple on the streets of Paris.

Yes, no difference.

Nora's later memories are somewhat hazy.

Maybe they kissed.Once two or three times.Or maybe they didn't.

Then Riddle sent her back.They walked side by side through Muggle streets, holding hands, as if they would go on and on forever.

Maybe it would be nice if it went on like this forever.

Riddle sent her to her destination, and they said goodnight.In the dim light, he kissed her goodnight.Nora thought she must have been silly laughing then.She returned to the small room in a daze, fell on the bed, patted her cheek, it was hot.

She pulled the resurrection stone necklace from her collar and looked at the ugly crack.

Don't trust Tom Riddle, his gift is poison wrapped in layers of honey.A ring, or a kiss, makes no difference.

However, however...

Nora felt that her current IQ might really only be that of a Flober's worm.She sighed and muttered to herself about the necklace.

"What do you want me to understand, Kronos?"

The next day was, unfortunately, Nora's day off in the week.

When Nora found Riddle surrounded by shopgirls in the store, it took her a while to recall what had happened the night before.

"I recommend you try this, and you'll attract witches all over Paris," said one of the clerks, giggling, "although you're pretty charming now."

Another very beautiful female shop assistant flicked her long silver hair behind her. Nora knew that this was her usual trick, and usually made male customers unable to look away obsessively. She said yes to everything, and finally bought a lot of Expensive merchandise.

It seemed to Nora that it was more than mere beauty, like some enchantment.

Thankfully, Tom remained sane.His gaze passed over the witches in front of him and landed on Nora, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "You're finally downstairs."

The shop assistants all turned their heads and looked at Nora in surprise.

Nora understood why the clerks surrounded Tom, not because he was good-looking, of course, but because of his clothes.Elegant and expensive, Nora suspected that it was Abthaxter Malfoy's tribute to Voldemort.After all, Tom Riddle's aesthetic and economic

The situation is almost equally bad. If it is not for the sake of maintaining dignity, he would rather wear a black robe every day.

The last time he was dressed this well was to give a speech at the Ministry of Magic...well, some bad memories came back.

"May I have the honor to invite you out?" He extended a hand to Nora as an invitation gesture.

He must have found out that she was off today - Voldemort never fought unprepared.

"Of course." Nora took his hand.

After they left the perfume shop, Nora told Tom sincerely: "Your smile was really fake."

"People will always be confused by false things, because false things are often better." Riddle began his lecture on conspiracy theory again.

"But all I want is real," said Nora.

Riddle didn't answer, he held out a hand to her.Nora put her arm around him: "So, where are we going today?"

After Apparating, they walked out of the alley, and Nora saw the Louvre not far away at a glance.

"You said you wanted to come here and see."

"I didn't expect you to remember it." Nora said, "Actually, I'm not very interested in this place either."

But they went in anyway, wandering the resplendent Louvre, and Nora was surprised to see several sculptures beckoning to her from corners where other tourists couldn't see.

"It's not surprising," Riddle said, "the connection between wizards and Muggles is inextricably linked."

"I thought you'd be offended by wizards and Muggles being involved."

"You have many prejudices against me."

"Prejudice? Maybe." Nora shrugged.

After coming out of the Louvre, at Nora's request, they stroll along the Seine.

"Look." Nora said, pointing to the many buildings, "How amazing is the technology of the Muggles."

"It's amazing," said Tom. "Even ants can create amazing things sometimes."

"I thought you only hated the people in the orphanage. Back then you used to say you'd have revenge on them one day..."

"That's a thing of the past."

Indeed, after entering Hogwarts, Tom devoted himself to magic without sleep and food, as if he wanted to make up for all the vacancies in the previous 11 years in one breath, and almost forgot about the dark and desolate orphanage in the suburbs of London.

There are several yachts floating on the sparkling Seine River, and bridges cross the river, connecting East and West Paris.

"My dad wouldn't like Paris," said Nora. "He always thought it was noisy and dirty—and London wasn't much better. He was a stubborn scientist, a schoolteacher, and he always wanted to be Invent something amazing. If we

When he travels to France, he will definitely complain. "

Riddle listened quietly.

"If only they were alive," said Nora.

She remembered putting her hands in her pockets and rediscovering the feeling of walking along the Thames.The riverside was cold and damp, with mist rising in the early morning.She picked up a stone to float in the water, and remembered the scene of her father teaching her to float in the water. He told her a lot of physics principles, but it was useless in actual combat.

"Do you know when I fell in love with you?" Nora asked.

"When?"

"When you were protecting me from the bombing."

That day, they slipped out of Hogwarts through the secret passage, rode broomsticks, and braved the bombing through most of London, landing on the ruins.There used to be a red-roofed apartment building here, now only a pile of construction debris remains.

Nora knelt on the ruins, scraping away the rubble with her hands.

She knew there was nothing left.Her parents had been confirmed dead, and the body was taken away, identified and parked with many other dead, waiting to be buried.

But—how is it possible?How could it be possible that a person who was healthy and intact the last time I met would no longer exist today.

Tom didn't speak.He watched her hands being scratched dripping with blood, and watched her weeping uncontrollably.

Suddenly, Tom threw her on the rubble.Almost at the same time, Nora heard a dull sound, followed by a tremor.Nora watched a gigantic explosion of sparks through Riddle's back.She lost her hearing and vision in an instant, and could only feel the unbearable burning on her face.

The bomb went off right over their heads.Tom propped up a protective shield with his wand, barely covering the two of them.Then he collapsed, exhausted, and Nora realized how badly his back had hurt.She threw all the medical magic that she knew could be used on his wound.

There was one person who was willing to risk his life to protect her.Especially she knew how precious that person regarded life.She was 17, had just lost her parents, and it was perfectly normal for her to fall in love with Tom Riddle.

"You were very brave, and very handsome," said Nora. "I thought, if you had died, I would have gone with you at once."

"I won't die," said Tom, "and neither will you."

He stared at the sparkling water of the Seine calmly: "We will live longer than anyone else, you and me."

There was something foreboding in his words.

"I said, how about we get out of the way?" Nora said. "Ice cream? I'll take it."

She can only afford ice cream now.

They stay until late at night, and he walks her back to the perfume shop.

"Aren't you invited to come up and sit?" asked Tom.

"I think it's late enough," said Nora warily.

"Maybe I'll come and knock the window in the middle of the night, like you used to do."

Despite Tom Riddle's sense of humor, Nora decided to take the remark as a simple joke.she tiptoe

Her foot touched his lips, and then hurried away.She went back upstairs and looked down through the window, meeting Riddle's gaze.

He stood under the street lamp, through those dark eyes, many memories were suddenly linked together.

Although she knew that the person in front of her could deceive more than anyone else, but at this moment, she was willing to believe him.

The author has something to say: finally waited until this day