[HP]Timepiece Countdown

Of course, no Death Eater dared to testify to Voldemort face to face, even if they were suffocated by the many speculations in their heads; or more directly, they did not dare to openly offend their master in public.The Dark Lord just glanced around suspiciously, and everyone returned to their positions obediently, including Bellatrix who took the initiative to find fault.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes imperceptibly as he watched the reactions of his subordinates who were silent one after the other.

A long hour passed and the meeting came to an end.Almost all the Death Eaters breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously. The pressure exerted by the Dark Lord in Xin Dao today was even greater than usual.

Knowing that the Dark Lord has a soul mate, they are even more in awe of him.Soul connection can be described as rare, and both partners can get great benefits from it.Not to mention that the Dark Lord himself is an extremely powerful wizard; if there is a soul mate bonus, it is no wonder that the Dark Lord dared to declare so bluntly——

"Nobody can beat Voldemort! Nobody!"

This should be good news, not only for the Dark Lord himself, but also for the entire Death Eater community.The only problem is the choice: so far, who does the Dark Lord seem to have treated differently?Who could that mysterious companion be, if such a person existed?

Most of the Death Eaters went back full of question marks, except for Crouch Jr., Bellatrix and Duran who were left behind by Voldemort.Facing the scrutiny of the Dark Lord's scarlet gaze, both Bellatrix and Duran felt a little guilty, and little Crouch could only take the initiative to take the responsibility of explaining the cause and effect.

This is really not a good job.

As soon as he heard the beginning, Voldemort's face was not very good-looking; when he heard the end, his expression can only be described as cloudy. "Bellatrix," he growled, with palpable anger in his voice, "who gave you the right to question the Dark Lord?"

Bellatrix, who was already moving her feet from side to side anxiously, fell to her knees with a plop at the harsh rebuke. "I haven't, master, really... I just haven't seen..." She was so panicked that she couldn't finish her sentence.

"You didn't?" Voldemort raised his voice even higher. "Without my permission, and without any valid reason, you questioned Freya, in front of everyone? Do you remember the gathering?" What is the purpose of being here? Is it just to appreciate how you fulfill your selfish desires?"

Bellatrix couldn't find any reason to excuse herself, her face was red and white. "I……"

Voldemort hadn't even intended to listen to her explanation. "I've changed my mind," he said softly, without even looking at the woman kneeling in front of him. "You don't have to take part in the action just decided. Unless I'm lucky enough to learn that you really take the Dark Lord's request back. thing."

The words were so full of sarcasm that Bellatrix was almost heartbroken. "Master, please don't say that! I've always kept your words in my heart!" she yelled sadly, tears streaming down her eyes.

Others might have rolled their eyes when they saw her like this, but Voldemort just gave her an impatient wave.

This was an obvious signal, and Bellatrix could only get up no matter how unwilling she was.Before Apparating, she gave Duran a vicious, vicious look.

Duran caught the stare out of the corner of her eye, but her grudge against Bellatrix wasn't her priority. "I was wrong, Master." She knelt down before Voldemort could speak, "I accidentally said too much, please punish me."

The attitude of admitting mistakes was quite good, and Voldemort barely gave birth to a little patience. "Your reason?"

"I didn't know that everyone didn't know," Duran said quickly, "I mean, no one outside knows about you, but I thought Death Eaters were different from those people... ..." She paused for a moment, and glanced quietly at the expressionless little Crouch who had taken off his mask—according to her observation, this pale, straw-haired wizard should be the Dark Lord's most admired subordinate— "At least a few differences."

Voldemort did not speak.If possible, he would like no one to know that he has a soul mate.As for now, of course he wouldn't admit it.

Duran carefully studied his expression, and continued to add in a low voice: "If you want to keep it secret, I will strictly follow your instructions. But..." She paused again, seeing that Voldemort did not interrupt her, and then continued : "But according to my personal point of view, everyone knows that this will not damage your lofty prestige at all. As we all know, the stronger the connection between soul mates, the greater the benefits for both parties. The most important thing is the increase in magic power, master .”

Of course Voldemort knew this, and he could observe the Death Eaters reacting more gratifyingly to him as a result.Truth be told, Duran didn't know anything about him and Harry using twin wands, otherwise he would have been more convinced of her theory that wizards who are soul mates should be together, no matter how many problems they have- — Correct.

Repeating to an avid soulmate fan and professional researcher that he didn't want a connection was a waste of time, Voldemort realized helplessly. "Forget it this time," he said coldly, "I won't make an exception."

Duran didn't quite agree with the implication, but she did know enough was enough. "Thank you for your magnanimity, master, and I will definitely obey your orders from now on." She bowed her head deeply, got up and also disapparated and left.

In the huge open space, only Voldemort and Crouch Jr. were left.Little Crouch waited for a while before hesitatingly said: "Master..."

Hearing this, Voldemort glanced at him. "What do you want to know?"

Little Crouch took a deep breath, thinking for the umpteenth time that he was probably the only Death Eater who knew about Voldemort's terrible Muggle father.This, in addition to giving him a strong sense of empathy, makes him feel so trusted that he can't wait to give everything for his Master.

"Master, I'm not sure if I should ask, but..." When he said this, his face had already taken off the perfect disguise when other people were present, replaced by hesitation, and undisguised, rather eager curiosity.

Voldemort knew this was going to happen, just as he knew Harry would ignore his warnings and go off on his own again. "Come here," he whispered, took out his yew wand, and pointed it at a black mist not far away.Without hearing any sound, the fog slowly dissipated, revealing the situation behind——

A slender figure was crouching on the broken low stone wall at the entrance.With one hand he held his wand, and with the other he groped around, apparently looking for something.It took a while before the messy black-haired head turned around.Although the outline of the other party's face is not very clear in the dark night, the pair of round black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of the nose are very recognizable.

Little Crouch was taken aback. "My lord, I swear the news of the meeting was passed from the inside! How could Potter find out..." He had already instinctively grabbed his wand, but suddenly realized that Harry couldn't see them, and Voldemort was showing him this kind of picture The intention is not that their whereabouts may be revealed.

In fact, although the expression of the Dark Lord looking at the savior is elusive, there is absolutely no surprise in it, more like something he had expected...

Wait a minute, did you expect that? !

"...Harry Potter is that so-called soul mate?!" The extremely loyal Death Eater was so dumbfounded that he even forgot his usual honorifics.

**

A week later, Dover, England.

The first thing Harry did after Apparating at the edge of the undergrowth was tighten his jacket.It was already late autumn, and the temperature was not pleasant, not to mention that his destination was still a cliff not far away.He raised his eyes, and as far as he could see, there were grasslands with yellowing leaves, occasionally a few crabgrass plants and unknown wild orchids shivering against the cold wind.

Facing the unique salty smell of seawater in his nose, Harry moved forward.The colder weather and the desolate vegetation all fit his current mood.

Of course, Voldemort's clues were indeed useful, and the Order of the Phoenix did catch Wormtail, who had been absconded for a long time.The culprit who leaked the whereabouts of the Potter family was found to be someone else nearly 20 years after the coffin was concluded.

As the Boy Who Lived, Harry once again became the center of public opinion.People wanting to see him had overwhelmed the Ministry of Magic front desk registration desk, so many letters were being sent to him that it hindered normal communication, and Minister Scrimgeour had to give him a solitary leave.However, considering that he would be chased and intercepted as soon as he showed up, he could only stay in Grimmauld Square honestly and could not go anywhere.

This time, Sirius couldn't even accompany him: as one of the parties involved in the leak, there were countless hearings waiting for Sirius to attend.Hermione was going to work at the Office of the Protection of Fantastic Creatures, and Ron found some time to keep him company from the twin brothers' joke shop.

But after his friend gave half-truth and half-truth suggestions to destroy the locket, Harry persuaded Ron to go back and help Fred and George earlier.

"I know you don't think breaking a contract is a good idea, and you're not, Harry, but do you really think that man who can't even be named is as remorseful as you'd expect?"

These are Ron's original words.Harry knew it made sense, and he had wavered, but in the end he stuck to his guns. "Repenting now will only irritate Voldemort and make him do more uncontrollable things. Taking a step back, even if there is only a slight possibility, I will not give up on him."

Ron responded by complaining about something that sounded especially like "fucking soul mates".

Harry was indeed grateful to Ron and Hermione for sticking with him even after knowing this fact, but he also really couldn't agree with Ron's point of view.Ron was doing it for his own good, he knew; but he couldn't just think about him...

When recalling this, Harry had already walked to the edge of the cliff.The chalk cliffs formed by the impact of hundreds of millions of years stood almost vertically under his feet, undulating up and down, forming a continuous stretch from far to near.The scenery was extremely magnificent and could be called a miracle, but he had no intention of admiring it at all.

He will not give up, he will do his best to ensure that everyone is safe from harm, that's right; but even so he has to admit that Voldemort can't simply be summed up with "everyone", Not to mention putting words like "mercy" or "rescue" before the Dark Lord's name...

What should he do to achieve his goal?

"I'm surprised you're here early."

The words from behind interrupted Harry's incoherent and complicated thoughts.He turned to see Voldemort standing about ten feet away from him, wearing his customary baggy black robes and a mask on his face under the hood.

Seeing Harry turn his head, Voldemort said again, "Let me just assume—that your presence here means you're satisfied with our deal?"

"Basically," Harry replied, not realizing how dry his throat was until he spoke.

Voldemort's red eyes narrowed imperceptibly, as if in doubt. "Then can I expect to get what I should get in return?"

Harry just stared at the taller and thinner man.He could probably guess why Voldemort chose White Cliff as the trading location, because the top was so empty and the view was still condescending, no matter how you looked at it, there was no place to ambush.It is easy to understand that the timing was not chosen right after Wormtail was caught. His every move at that time was watched by people, and his whereabouts would inevitably be discovered.

As for the regret part...

The Dark Lord obviously wasn't worried that he would go back on his word, because the other party knew he couldn't bear the possible consequences.

As the Dark Lord himself said, the locket cannot be a hole card.If he has the idea of ​​killing the other party, the locket alone is not enough.The locket's greatest value was a good bargaining chip; but after giving it, what new gadgets did he have that could make Voldemort change his mind?

"Need to remind you, don't try to test my patience." There was a slight hiss in Voldemort's words, but he didn't move his position.

Harry recovered himself and reached into his jacket.Through the thick velvet bag, the locket still exuded a biting coolness, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he took it out. "Here," he said simply, tapping it with his wand, and the velvet bag floated into flight.

Voldemort had been watching Harry's movements intently.The bag quickly crossed the short distance between the two of them; with the last bit left, he raised his hand sharply and grabbed it without fail.The Horcrux was his most important item—never one—and he knew the locket was real from the moment he got it.

"Very well," the Dark Lord's lipless mouth showed an extremely rare, sincere smile under the mask, "you kept your promise."

Harry didn't reply, just looked at Voldemort.The other party opened the bag, took a look, tied the mouth again, and finally put it away carefully.

"We're done for now," continued Voldemort, in a tone of considerable satisfaction, "but you'll have to keep an eye on Wormtail. If he runs away again, you don't have another locket for me to do a second time." Shot." He blinked, and could almost use a playful description, "But there is another piece of good news, this reminder is a gift from friendship."

Harry had never seen Voldemort so happy, the joy of being lost and found almost made the Dark Lord look like a different man.But even in this case, the other party failed to say anything good. "'Two ends'?" He repeated, emphasizing the sound deliberately.

"Why, is there something wrong?" Voldemort asked back, keenly aware of other hints, "What exactly do you want to know?"

"I just wanted to ask you," said Harry word for word, without taking his eyes off the Dark Lord for a moment, "do you really have a plan for the future? About you and me?"

Voldemort's excitement vanished.His eyes widened, as if he never expected to hear such a question from Harry's mouth. "Are you kidding me?" He said contemptuously, his tone close to sneering, "We still have future plans..." But before he finished speaking, he cut it off by himself, and showed a false smile instead. "I just remembered that if 'future planning' could be changed to another word, there is really one——

"The best thing we can do is never see each other again."

One is the future, the other is the ending, and the gap couldn't be more obvious.

Even though it was noon, Harry felt the familiar chill from that night sweeping through his body.It's not that he didn't expect this gap, but how to balance and even change it is indeed a difficult problem. "Do you really think this will work?"

His subtext is evident.Whether it is blood or soul, whether it is wand or connection, they are all quite complicated magical connections, and the degree of closeness is unmatched in the history of magic.

Of course Voldemort could read it, and exhaled rather resentfully.He hated it, but he was responsible for this kind of messy relationship, which made him very angry every time he thought about it. "No, so what do you mean? Do you need me to repeat that prophecy to you?"

"I was about to make a prophecy," said Harry now, taking a step forward. "You hear the prophecy saying 'only one survives' and you think you should kill me. You're convinced you're fulfilling the prophecy, you're doing What is destined—" He spread his hands, "but what's the result?"

"Oh, you finally remembered to remind me of my biggest failure?" Voldemort sneered back with gritted teeth. "I have to say, this is very meaningful!"

Harry shook his head firmly. "That's your failure, but it's not the biggest."

"What, does this mean that I should listen to the Savior's vision next?"

The Dark Lord tried his best to taunt, and this time he stepped on Harry's reverse scale accurately-it was definitely on purpose. "You told me not to call me by that name!" He couldn't control his roar anymore, "If it was possible, I wouldn't want to be a savior! It was you who forced me to stand opposite you, and it was you who chose me. Let me have no other choice! You let me only fight you!"

There was an empty space all around, and the words spread far away, but the response was deathly silence.On the top of the entire white cliff, only the non-stop wind can be heard, as well as the regular lapping of the waves below.

"Guess what?" Voldemort spoke again in a very soft voice, and he had regained his composure. "On this point, I couldn't agree with you more. Although you probably don't believe it—" He drawled his voice, curling his lips indifferently , "But I do offer a sincere suggestion, go ahead and do what you want - like carrying out your Auror duties or something.

"I can't do anything to you, and you can't do anything to me. This is a stalemate, and it can barely be considered a draw. As for other parts, such as the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters, it depends on who is better at the time." How do you feel about..."

Harry stared at the Dark Lord the whole time, his chest rising and falling.He didn't feel better at all, not at all.At first glance, Voldemort is indeed proposing a solution; but in essence, this suggestion is no different from the previous sentence "Our best ending is to never meet"——

Voldemort wouldn't have tolerated having inexplicable scars on his body all the time, let alone having his mind or actions altered by his influence.And if you want to prevent such things, the easiest and easiest solution is for them to stay far away, at least from the Dark Lord's point of view.

"It's all predestined, do you just believe in prophecies?" Harry asked.He was so angry that his hands were shaking, and his spirit gradually approached the edge of despair.

Voldemort's red eyes widened incredulously under the hood. "In this regard, didn't we reach a consensus long ago? Could it be that you have changed to believe in soul mates, but I don't know?"

Harry pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.After a long while, he replied with a lack of strength: "I don't know..."

The topic went around and around several times, and finally it came down to "I don't know", Voldemort couldn't bear it. "Come on," he concluded, exasperated, "I see you're wasting our time together! In that case, I'll have the mercy of you—" He moved suddenly, striding toward Ha At the same time, Li tore off his black mask forcefully, "What exactly do you want, and what don't you want—"

The syllables of the last word were lost between their lips.Just simply bumping into each other, and no one closes their eyes.

There was nothing more embarrassing than staring at the close distance between breaths, and within two seconds, Voldemort backed away. "Are you clear now?" He was rather irritated, and at the same time very clearly aware that he had been here for too long, "Whatever you want to take from me, it is definitely not just..."

Harry stood on tiptoe suddenly, pulled off the hood, and kissed it back accurately and firmly.

It was a genuine kiss, and Voldemort froze in place for a moment when he hadn't expected it.His first reaction was to push the boy away, but before his hands could respond to the command of the nerves, the second reaction hit him like lightning—

Unexpectedly, it was not an impulsive reaction of the body, but a dull pain like a pinprick.It was somewhat similar to his previous headaches, but it was a completely new feeling.New because, while it did hurt him, it was warm and soft at the same time.It's like a frozen traveler finally meets the fire, or like the cracked scorched earth regains the rain...

What exactly is this?

Just when Voldemort was puzzled by this, the first response was long overdue.The boy's arm wrapped around the back of his neck, pressing down on the lowest stubble so that they could get closer.The feeling was indescribable, he couldn't help moving, and then he really came back to his senses, something unexpected happened right under his nose——

Stubble?Where did he get the stubble?

As if receiving this thought, Harry let go of his hand at this moment.Voldemort easily judged it from the boy's shocked and delighted expression, and he didn't need to touch his own face to verify it-this was said, as if he had suddenly grown a nose and couldn't find it.

——But why did his face suddenly change back to its original appearance? !

Voldemort took a step back, and then another.Then he couldn't help noticing that the withered and yellow grass blades under their feet had also become green and thriving.His third step could no longer fall.He has to figure out what the hell happened to him just now, now, right now, right now—

Harry didn't realize it until the man's figure began to blur.He suddenly reached out to grab it, but it was in vain, and the smile that had just formed suddenly collapsed.After thinking for a while, he regained his spirits.While he'd just unknowingly forgot about Occlumency and wasn't really sure what Voldemort felt, it was certainly a good sign.

Over the years, he has always had a good wish, and he is only worried that his ability is not enough to realize it; if what happened today is regarded as a sign that he can achieve it, then what is there to be afraid of ahead?