Light and Ryuzaki parted ways when they reached Hogwarts. Ryuzaki had to be sorted before sitting down. Light had been intrigued by the man, world-famous detective or not. There was just something about him, which made him interesting to have around. Besides, if he was trusted by Dumbledore as much as he claimed, then he would receive confirmation shortly.

His sister went before him.

"Yagami Sayu."

"HUFFLEPUFF!!!"

She sent him a beaming smile across the hall, which he returned. He only hoped that the teachers wouldn't pressure her too much because she was his sister.

Ryuzaki went next.

"Hideki, Ryuga"

Ryuzaki walked slouched towards the platform for Sorting. So, he had more than one fake name. As expected. Whispers broke across at the admittedly strange and new student. He gave Light a look before the hat sunk down to cover his eyes.

A moment later, it shouted.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Admist shocked whispers, Ryuzaki flopped down beside Light, knees drawn up in that strange posture from before. Having grown accustomed to it, Light did not comment, but the frenzied whispering grew louder and louder, until Light felt like he had to say something when Dumbledore stood up and a hush fell over the entire hall.

Light's eyes were immediately drawn towards his left hand. It looked burnt, and if all the spells that he had read up on way true, then it was probably cursed. It looked extremely bad, however Dumbledore spoke with his unaffected voice.

"There would be much time for talking after eating. Now, fill up."

He sat down and neatly swept his beard back to avoid getting it in his face. Ryuzaki viewed the dinner with a blank look of distaste.

Spearing a piece of meat onto his fork, Light asked him, "What, not sweet enough for your liking?"

"No."

Whispers broke out yet again at their interaction. As much as he would have loved to ignore them, they made way into his ears and it was all he could do to not snap.

"Merlin's Beard, that weird boy is talking to Prefect Yagami."

"Oh my, they look like they are friends."

"What is this vagabond doing with our handsome boy?"

"The new boy looks pretty handsome as well. Ryuga Hideki, wasn't that his name?"

Light may or may not have slammed down his knife with excessive force, but the whispers quieted. Ryuzaki wasn't paying any attention to them, it seemed. But to an observer as keen as Light, he looked a little stiff. Social anxiety. Expected.

Being a Slytherin during these dark times was incredibly difficult. As much as Light and the rest tried to tell the other houses that they weren't Death Eaters or affiliated with the Dark Lord, they wouldn't believe them. Which is basically why the Slytherins had banded together to not get hurt. The empty seat of Professor Snape didn't go unnoticed by most. After Light's interruption, his house began wondering about that.

Professor Snape had been a good teacher and Light and the Sixth Years had been looking forward to learning Advanced Potions from him. He sighed. He had noticed the black banner before. It didn't take much to put two and two together. An unpleasant knot formed in his stomach.

"You are right on that," Ryuzaki muttered, taking a donut as the desert came.

Light looked at him, not entirely shocked. As much as he would rather believe otherwise, logic dictated that out of the equation. He looked back at the table and spotted a portly looking Professor and another empty seat.

"That's Horace Slughorn for the record, took a lot of persuading but he agreed. He is going to take Potions," Ryuzaki began, taking gulp of pumpkin juice. "The Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor hasn't come yet, but I bet his name would be familiar to you. Alastor Moody. Commonly known as Mad-Eye Moody. Former Auror."

A bit dazed with everything, Light nodded, wondering yet again, if justice was as strong as people claimed, wouldn't they have caught the Death Eaters and put them to death instead of a prison where had a chance to escape? Besides, the conditions of Azkaban was inhumane, he remembered his father returning home late one night, shaking from head to toe. If they wanted punishment, they could just deal it with death, not in this disgusting manner. Not for a moment did he believe those lame stories of wizards not being able to chase out the Dementors. With enough manpower, a group of Dementors were nothing. And if left out into the light for too long with proper measures, they would simply fade and die as creatures of darkness did. This wasn't justice, this was sadism.

And this mistake also enabled Lord Voldemort to recruit them. Dementor attacks had become common, with almost every wizard needing to learn the Patronus Charm for Defense. Light remembered seeing the pictures of the soulless. They had unnerved him. Sayu had screamed and started crying. His mom had looked sick.

"So, as our stomachs have been filled there are a couple of things I wish to address. As most of you must have already guessed, Professor Severus Snape is no longer with us. He had been killed by the Death Eaters in the Whomping Willow. A moment of silence for him, please."

He needn't have said that. The hall had gone silent of its own accord. As much as the students detested Snape, they couldn't help but be shocked at his sudden demise. Light saw Misa Amane wiping a tear across him. He felt sort of numb, he still hadn't come to terms with the news. Ryuzaki's face was carefully blank, but his shoulders were drooped. What else Light couldn't get was the fact as to how the Death Eaters had breached the Hogwarts security. Had it been someone inside the school? That must be it. But how many? Snape wouldn't have gone down without a fight, he knew it. And he was a fantastic duelist in his own right and could definitely hold off a single Death Eater if he wished to. Had it been an ambush? No, that was impossible, Snape was paranoid to the degree infinity. So, what had been then? Or who had it been?

He snapped out of his train of thoughts when Dumbledore began speaking again.

"Remember Severus Snape, everyone, the man who gave his life for a cause to stop evil. Remember the man who was unfortunate enough to die due to fighting for justice."

Justice. That word again. It grated in Light's brain.

Dumbledore's eyes looked moist, but it was hard to tell from this far. Many of the Slytherins had broken into tears, Light was too off track to attempt comforting them. Professor Sprout was wiping her face wuth a handkerchief, Professor McGonagall looked broken, her posture was hunched.

Snape had been their student once, then their coworker. Of course it hit them the hardest. Even the brash Gryffindors couldn't muster a word against him. They were too stunned.

Dumbledore appeared to have found his voice again.

"I would make the rest of the announcements tomorrow, it would be unfair to try to force academics through this grim news at the moment. I would say say that Ryuga Hideki is a new student here, he has transferred from Ilverhorny. Don't annoy him. Good night. Prefects, please escort the students to their dormitories."

The first years looked completely confused, but Light could see his sister giving him a sad look. He looked away, and went to his duties.

"SLYTHERINS, FOLLOW ME!"

He called out, feeling strange to shout. His house fell behind him. Misa Amane came to join him. She was the female Prefect. It was astounding how much a woman could change. It was only last year, that she had been completely obsessed with Light, until he had snapped at her and carefully explained that he wasn't interested in any romantic relationships. She had been dejected, upset, annoyed and a various other things. Snape had taken her aside and given her a piece of his mind when it became difficult to conduct Potions.

All in all, it was all fine now. Light had gotten her an owl, which she named Rem, and it was a token of peace between them. They will never be friends, not with everything that had happened last year, but they could atleast walk together without the awkwardness from before. He could almost sense Ryuzaki cocking his head at the both of them.

However, before they could get through the door, it flew open of its own accord and there stood a man, whose revolving eyes seemed to take every part of the room at once. His face looked like it had been carved by someone who had very little understanding of how a human face looked like.

"Dumbledore?"

A harsh ragged voice tore itself out of his mouth, which was more like a slanted line to their eyes.

"Alastor Moody, your new Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor."

Dumbledore's voice came from the table. Moody, who Light had recognised at once nodded and the clunking of his wooden leg could be heard as he shuffled his way past the students and towards Dumbledore.

The stunned silence evaporated, to be replaced by whispering. Light could not have been more than thankful to get out of the place. They went down the steps to the Slytherin dormitory, which was essentially under the lake and Light spoke the password, loud and clear for everyone to hear it.

"Atropa Belladonna."

"This is the password which you must give to access these rooms. Remember it," Misa said as a portion of the wall slid open to reveal the comfy common room inside. A fire was burning in the grate, but it did nothing to help the dampened spirits of the Slytherins.

The wall slid back noiselessly.

Light pointed to the two flights of stairs which ascended upwards.

"The one on the left leads up to the girls' dormitory, and the one on the right leads to the boys' dormitory. You will find your year numbers inscribed on the top of your dormitory doors. Your luggage has already been brought in."

With that, he stopped speaking. The first years and second years yawned and went up the stairs. The rest stayed behind, expecting the Prefects to give some sort of speech in Snape's honour. The man deserved it.

Light, thankfully had the gift of a fluent tongue and began speaking, "We knew him as the Head of Our House. He protected us from the other houses, which would leave no stone unturned to bully us. He was a brave man, which I am sure everyone will agree to. It is a shame that we had to lose him so soon. The wound would never heal, and I, we, can hope to avenge his death."

He closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

"I am aware that some here share His views of the world. I am not pointing anything out, however, to those who don't, perhaps we can take a stand in some way. Perhaps, we can complete the work he had started. Perhaps, we can do that much for him, for everything he has done for us. For the justice that he died for."

He felt his eyes getting moist and Misa took over.

"The other houses can say whatever they want to. However...."

He tuned her out and went to sit down beside Ryuzaki, who actually looked upset. He rubbed his face as Misa finished her speech and another Prefect went to speak. This would go for a while. No one felt like sleeping that night. They were wide awake and alert.

"We could slip out of this room right now. No one would mind. I don't think that the teachers would be paying much care either way."

Light snapped out of his stupor when Ryuzaki spoke. He had completely forgotten about the entire reason why Ryuzaki was here after learning the news.

He looked around. Ryuzaki was right. The friend groups had separated and were conversing to provide silent comfort. He nodded his head. He needed something to take his mind off things.

Ryuzaki sprung up, and beckoned for Light to follow.

The two of them slipped out into the night in pursuit of Dumbledore's office.