Fine. He'll kill someone at night today. When it's dark and everyone is definitely asleep, past curfew, he would strike. It would be easy enough, right?

"Mistress Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"

"With cockle-shells, and silver bells. "

"And pretty maids all in a row. Mistress Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With cockle-shells, and silver-"

"Ryuk? Do you know what contrary means in this poem?" His eyes darkened with grief as he recalled his early childhood. The grass that was so long that it went up to their knees, little Rosie could hide in it when they played hide-and-seek, he could feel the itchy wavering of it touching his legs, the smell of outside. The feelings of freedom and laughter. He could smell it, feel it, grasp the memory and replay it as many times as he could. The longing for those days hasn't disappeared and never would. If only being human wasn't so painful.

Yes, after Rosie hid in those long strands of grass, they all panicked. She was too good at hiding, the others complained while dragging Harry along to help them find her. Then they would scold poor Rosie before hugging her and singing the accursed poem that they all mistakenly thought brought the group together.

"bells. And pretty maids all in a row. Mistress Mary quite contra-"

"It means opposite in nature. It represented our group quite well. We all sang it again and again and until their ends, we kept on singing. After all, it brought the group together." Ryuk looked as puzzled as he always did and wasn't bothered to even work out what Harry was saying.

"You always speak so weirdly," the shinigami replied bemusedly. Harry looked upwards from the Muggle book he was currently reading and studied the library.

A brown haired girl with curls that spilled over her shoulders approached them with her chin up in dignity. She decidedly ignored to constant muttering that increased in volume, so many thought, when she walked even faster. Hermione, Harry remembered. Her arrogant posture yet reddening face showed that she was indeed still a child that got affected by others. She was carrying a stack of books as usual but dropped a few, her face flushing in embarrassment before bending down to pick them up. Some Gryffindor girls around the corner even outright laughed at her. Harry watched in curiosity.

Hermione already had several hating on her which wasn't that surprising based on the way she acted on the train. Ron's comments about her wasn't really nice at all and they only just met her. Says the boy who's hobby is to judge people all the time, he thought negatively.

"Hi," Hermione said, voice trembling, "I'm sitting here." She dropped the stack of books onto the table with a bang and sat down hastily. Tucking a strand of hair out of her sight she started reading a Transfiguration book. Harry continued looking at her. Wasn't he her rival? Didn't she hate him? Hermione looked up from her book and looked at Harry in annoyance.

"What is it?"

"Nothing.."

"Is that a Muggle book that you're reading?" She snatched the book from Harry's hand and studied the title. The black haired boy, starting to think this was all a clique setup to getting a new friend, laughed. Clutching Harry's book in her hands, Hermione raised an eyebrow at the laughter. It was rare for the Ravenclaw to display even a touch of emotion. She didn't know if she should feel relieved that he was at least human, or worried for her personal safety.

"A book on Psychology?" Harry raised an eyebrow. So his bout of laughter was ignored?

"Yes. I'm interested in the subject. Studying humans is intriguing." The curly haired girl gave a nod of agreement.

"I guess. I would rather stick to my books though, as humans sometimes seem..." She hesitated at where her thoughts were going. Harry didn't.

"Boring? Yes, it would be that way for you." He pointedly looked at the Gryffindor girls chatting loudly in a corner. The brunette blushed, looking down in embarrassment. She gave a look of confusion to Harry, wondering why he even cared. The sense of arrogance and knowing that radiated from him didn't abide well with her. Harry was aware that his ever changing attitude was simply confusing to the girl but merely smirked at leaned forward, hand on chin, as if not really caring. Hermione gave him a bemused look and sneaked a look at the Gryffindor girls. She calmly placed the book on the table.

Contrary to Hermione's belief, Harry truly cared what she thought. If only to expand his knowledge on the human mind, which he basically lived for. Ryuk noticed his long silence.

"Kill her! She's annoying isn't she?" The shinigami was quite the annoyance, and sole purpose was to bring Harry even more down into the depths of hell. Even though he was to dark to be considered to go even near hell from the moment he wrote in the Death Note, a place even darker than hell would be a rightful place for someone like him. As clique as it sounds, love did remarkable things to someone. Whereas, someone without love could do remarkable things.

"A-anyway...Have you finished your Potions Homework? It was easy, of course." Hermione grinned proudly. Of course it was easy for someone like Hermione. The dark haired boy had finished his work. Theory was very easy, especially with access to a library this big. Practical, though, was a thing on it's own, and way harder. Yes you could practice outside class, but Potions was reserved for those in higher grades and a mispronunciation of a spell could result in dire consequences. That was the reason why Harry's year was doing so poorly in subjects.

"Do you have Hyperthymesia?" If she did, the possibilities were endless. In a town like Little Whinging, such rare conditions just didn't exist. It was the most normal town you could find, with the outcast Harry Potter hidden away in a cupboard.

"W-what? No, of course not!" The twitching said otherwise.

"You do, don't you?" Harry took in the girl's fastened breathing and shaking hands. "Why are you so scared?"

"Well, it's not really fair that your rival has a condition where they can remember practically anything, is it? I would be really mad if I were you."

"I would be childish if I thought that way."

"Well, biologically, you are still a child no matter how old you act-"

"And we are not rivals." Hermione's eyes widened. Gryffindors were so easy to tease and their emotions were so expressive. Data on human behaviour would be the easiest to find in a Gryffindor. Maybe that was why Harry was being so straightforward. Gryffindors wouldn't like puzzling answers.

"We're not? I thought you didn't like me?" It was true that she was annoying, kept on being competitive at unnecessary times and was a bore to be with when she was nonstop talking about studies. Her obedience to teachers and authority, especially in a world as twisted as this, was just another thing to add to the list. Which made Harry confused as well. Why did he hang out with her, or even start talking to her?

"You're interesting." A simple answer which brought a smile to her face despite the many ways you could take it made Harry wonder what hardships she went through to think that an answer like that could satisfy her. Oh well. It was just another experiment anyway. Ryuk looked unsatisfied, knowing that once Harry was interested in someone, he wouldn't kill them off.

"Oh! It's 7pm, I should go. Make sure to get back before curfew, ok?" Harry gave a nod as she left with a smile. Ok, so they were friends now? What a weird development. He stood up, glancing at the nearly empty library. Only Madam Pince could be heard berating the Gryffindor girls, who were bullying Hermione earlier, about how loud they were and the mess they made.

"It's killing time!" Indeed it was.

He placed the black book gently on his bed, the ominous words glaring in white on the cover.

Death Note

It chilled him to the bone, but was equally exciting. Everyone else was asleep. He lit a torch, allowing him to see the pages, and flipped to the third. A fresh new page, one for Hogwarts, waiting to be written on. He clutched the pen in his hand. It was still scary to take someone's life, no matter how many times he did. It was a risk as well. Can he possibly sacrifice a new life of wizards and witches because of Ryuk? However, making Ryuk bored was terrifying as well.

"When you die, the one who will write your name in the Death Note will be me."

His life was in Ryuk's hands. A shinigami who loved apples. How safe...but safe was boring. It was exciting to live like this. He twirled the pen in his hand, putting pen to paper.

"So who will it be?"

Harry blew the strand of her covering his eye in annoyance, giving Ryuk a small smile.

"Hermione? No... Snape?" The Death God flew around the room, bored. Harry started to write, painfully slow.

"It's Snape isn't it? Of course it's Snape! He annoyed you the most!"

The name was written. Before Ryuk could see the name, Harry closed the book and shoved it under his pillow.

"Cmon! Can't I see?"

"You said you already know anyway."

"But seeing the actual name is way more different. At least give an apple!" Harry sighed in exhaustion but tossed an apple anyway.

"Goodnight."

"Good," apple bits flew everywhere, causing Harry to roll his eyes in disgust, "night."

The next morning would be chaos, which for some reason, seemed to get Harry's adrenaline pumping.

"W-what d-d-do w-we d-do Sir?" Quirrel stuttered out, face red and hands twitching.

"This must be a prank! Such a thing wouldn't happen in Hogwarts. We're in the safest place in England, perhaps the world!"

"Such naive thoughts won't get you far in life, McGonagall. Of course, such simple thinking is expected from a Gryffindor."

"Ooh! I can feel the stress! Something...no...someone...will DIE IN THE NEXT SECOND!"

The teachers were running all over the place, three houses sitting in the Great Hall waiting for breakfast, worried about where the teachers were. The Slytherins thought that classes may be cancelled, causing the Gryffindors to jump up and celebrate. The Puffs gave silent looks of worry as they stared at the empty Ravenclaw table. The happiness radiating from the Gryffindors were almost mocking the entire situation. Hermione worriedly bit her nails, also looking at the empty table, wondering if her new friend was alright. He was Harry Potter, so he should be, right?

Meanwhile, the Ravens were gathered outside their Common Room, faces etched in worry. Many blankly read books, no information registering in their heads. Many silently cried, most first years wishing to go back home. Amanda hugged a random first year, both wailing together. Flitwick tried his best to calm the students down but definitely wasn't helping the situation.

"How did this happen? What are we going to do? Albus, the parents."

"So sympathetic."

"Just because you're a Slytherin, doesn't mean you get to act like you don't even care. God, it's always like this with you-"

"ENOUGH! The situation is dire, I know, but we have everything under control. Filius is taking care of the Ravenclaws, and Minerva, can you go to the Great Hall and take care of the other houses? Pomona, contact the parents, and Severus..."

"Yes?" Dumbledore let out a sigh, eyes dull.

"Come with me."

"Hey," Amanda tossed her black hair over her shoulder, face still wet from crying, "do you know where Isac is?" The first year looked at her and shook his head.

"No," he replied, "actually, his whole dorm is missing." The black haired girl shared a look of worry with the boy.

Ryuk started with a chuckle, then burst into laughter.

"You just keep surprising me, Harry."

Sorry for not updating for SO LONGGG... I just had yearlies at school so I'm really sorry. Hopefully this will make it up to you.

I'm aware that the story has been going really fast, and I intend to slow it down. Also, you might have to reread if you don't remember characters, like Amanda.

If you guys have any suggestions on who Harry's 'friends' will be, please leave a review. Just remember that just because they're friends, doesn't mean they're completely safe.