"Rennervate."

L blinked awake, a surge of energy going through him, and felt the most blinding anger he had felt since he had heard about Voldemort's Obliviation of Light. He heaved up with a rattling gasp, his hands searching for a weapon, any weapon. Light, he had been lying the whole time, he was Kira the whole time and L couldn't even tell! Kira had him whipped, the boy should be preparing his speech for the Oscars-

"L, calm down. It's me, calm down. You have a real problem with jumping to conclusions." The brunet's overly calm, measured voice was doing nothing to ease his wrath.

"You!" He grabbed Light at the collar. "You bastard, you think you can get away with-"

"Silencio. Petrificus. Now chill out."

Light (Kira!) had only petrified L's hands and legs, leaving him free to attempt to wriggle away from the boy. Light let out a long-suffering sigh.

"L, please. We have bigger things to worry about right now."

L tried to shout at him, tell him that nothing the boy worried about was going to concern him, but nothing came out of his mouth.

Light squatted down beside his head. "Look, L, I'm not with the Death Eaters. You saw the Mark, you saw that he wants to kill me, or at the very least enslave me. Do you really think I'm capable of being, what, a triple agent? I betray you, then betray him, then betray you again?" Light chuckled. "Okay, maybe I'm capable of that."

Seeing L's lack of amusement, Light continued on. "Snape is helping me. He's the reason I could defend myself. He was…he was in love with Harry's mom, and he wants to help him out any way he can. The Dark Lord murdered her, right? So he's playing the double agent role here, not me." He gave him an ironic grin. "He was the one who healed me after the fiasco at Gringott's, so he found the Death Note pieces. When they burned him he realised what they were, so he squirreled away one of the pieces and presented the other one to the Dark Lord. He realised I was not Kira because of his Legilimency (apparently once Voldemort was gone I put my guard down). He helped me cast a Concealing charm over my wand so nobody finds out I have the piece. He put Draco Malfoy with me instead of sitting with me himself, because he knew Draco wouldn't cause any actual harm to you guys before I disabled him. He removed my Dark Mark too, see?"

He displayed the clear skin of his forearm.

"And now he's helping us again. He told me what we have to do to kill Voldemort. But you'll have to trust me on this one."

L licked his lips, waiting for the punch line. He was not disappointed.

"Harry Potter…is a Horcrux."

L's hysterical laughter was eerily silent, but he guffawed anyway, just to tick Light off.

"L, I'm not joking."

L rolled around on the floor as much as he could with his petrified limbs, choking on his hysterics.

"Ryuuzaki, this is serious. The only way to kill Voldemort is to kill Harry Potter."

While he was mute, he thought he might as well mouth gibberish at Light, let him get totally and completely pissed. He succeeded, the boy's cheeks turned red as he pulled out his wand. "Finite Incantatem. There, are you happy?"

L tested his voice, drawing his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "Raito-kun. You. Are. A. Bastard."

Light rolled his eyes. "Will you get serious? Harry is a Horcrux. When Voldemort tried to kill him as a baby and his mother saved his life, Voldemort's fragile soul split and lodged into Harry's. So, technically, Harry has two souls fused together in him. That's why he can see into Voldemort's mind without being a Legilimens like Snape."

L gave him a sweet smile. "You know, Raito-kun, I've just realised. I can tell when you're acting and when you're not."

He could see a vein popping out of Light's forehead. "So then you can see I'm not."

"Yes, I can. The murderer and Death Eater Severus Snape has gotten Kira wrapped around his little finger. He should be proud."

Light groaned. "Look, just trust me. Snape is going there to die. He's going to be murdered by Voldemort because the fucker thinks he's the owner of the Elder wand. He has no reason to lie at this point. I trust him. Trust me."

L gave him a snarky look. Seeing Kira gone was lifting his spirits greatly. "You want me to trust you, Raito-kun? Really?"

"Yes, I…" Light stopped. His face grew pensive, he chewed on the inside of his cheek. His eyes were fixed on the corner of the room. L turned there, saw that the corner was empty and sat up, touching his thumb to his bottom lip.

"Light, you alright?"

The boy was frozen, the flashing lights from the window on the other side of the classroom illuminating his face, throwing shadows over his high cheekbones and straight nose. His eyes glowed amber, unfocussed and faraway. Slowly, his pale-pink lips formed a word.

"Kira."

L narrowed his eyes. "Was there a reason for that declaration, Raito-kun?"

Light's eyes flicked to him for a second before drifting back to their resting place at the corner. "Stupid, I'm stupid. How did I not think about this before? I've been so busy dealing with my new powers and making sure you don't mistrust me..."

That didn't sound good. "What is that supposed to mean, Light?"

A tiny smile lit up his face for a fleeting second. "Nothing. Let's go-"

"No, you are not using the Death Note again."

The teenager cocked his head, giving him an infuriatingly arrogant smile. "Oh, L, you're too paranoid. Let's go find Harry, we should probably talk to him about his impending death."

L grabbed Light by the edge of his robe as he made to get up. "No, Raito, you are not using the Death Note. You know what happens to you."

Light tugged at his grip, and L watched him suppress his smirk. "Okay, L, I'm not using the Death Note. Now let me-"

"Light!"

Light gave him a charming grin, raising his eyebrows. "Yes, Ryuuzaki?"

L felt the irritation flush his cheeks. The brunet looked so triumphant, what did he have to be proud of? "Have you no shame, Raito-kun? You tell me that you're Kira with pride, as if he isn't a disgusting murderer of thousands, as if you have forgotten all the progress we made. Maybe you're right, you are Kira." L snarled with as much vitriol as he could find. "Go on, then, use the Death Note, but don't expect me to go home and forgive you for it."

That made Light pause. "What are you saying, Ryuuzaki?"

L relished in the disappearance of that cocky, self-satisfied, infuriating smile. "If you use the Death Note again, Kira, I will execute you myself."

He expected Light to withdraw as he usually did, to sulk or stare at him in shock. He did not expect the brunet to shove him down and jump to his feet, eyes flashing, enraged. "So the truth finally comes out then. I thought so. I thought so, I knew The Detective L wouldn't be satisfied just taking the notebook away, it wouldn't be foolproof, would it? I could always just become Kira just like that, couldn't I? All that bullshit about never being able to kill me, I thought so. I will use the notebook, L. I will end this war, and I will do it right now, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"No, Light! You will not! You swore you would never use it again!"

Light spun around, leaning in close to L. "Yes, I did, but it's a fucking war! There are children in this castle! The Dark Lord is coming, and he's going to kill us all, would you rather die?" He stared furiously into L's midnight eyes, and something changed in his expression. The fury turned into something softer and he sighed. "Fine, L, how about this. I ask Harry Potter for Voldemort's real name and write only that on the Note."

L shook his head, and Light nearly shouted at him again before the detective pulled his piece of the Note from under his sweatshirt. On it, Tom Riddle's name was neatly penned three different ways. Tom Riddle. Thomas Riddle. Thomas Marvolo Riddle.

"When I thought he had hurt you, I had…" The detective shrugged. "We need another solution, Light, and we will solve this using magic. Not the Note. I expect you to control yourself."

"Then…what shall we do? Should we just let Harry die?" Light asked.

L mused. "How sure are you that Snape is telling the truth and Harry is a Horcrux? You are right, it makes sense since he can find Horcruxes and read Voldemort's mind, but we need to be absolutely certain before we proceed."

Light pattered his fingers on his elbow. "I am very sure he is telling the truth, L. He showed parts of it to me in my head using Legilimency. Dumbledore, the man they keep mentioning to be the greatest wizard in the world, he said it himself to Snape. He showed me everything. He even gave me another way to kill Horcruxes, through this spell called Fiendfyre. He has no reason to lie, he truly believes Voldemort will kill him now. You know how good a liar I am, L. I can spot people lying."

"He believes that Voldemort will kill him? Personally?"

"Yes."

L smiled. "Then we have our proof. We shall make Harry see into Voldemort's head and if Snape truly is killed by him, we may tentatively assume that he is telling the truth."

The teenager nodded. "That sounds fair."

"Come along now. They're probably not going to stay in the same place for long. There's a war on, after all."

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A/N: That little bit with L writing Tom Riddle's name on the Note had been a long scene back before Light was obliviated, but I took it out because it's so much sweeter coming out of the blue here :D