A/N: An update, after three long months! Thank you to everyone for your awesome reviews, and the alerts/faves. They kinda kicked me back into gear :)

In other news, I'm now a proud Ravenclaw on Pottermore. I was pretty surprised, but I guess it makes sense. Add me if you'd like – I'm RiverSword100!

Disclaimer: I don't own either series.

Chapter 7: Obliviate

"Hi!" said Touta Matsuda, smiling expectantly. "How can I help you?"

Snape quickly did a head count. There were a total of six Muggles in the room, including Aizawa and Touta Matsuda, as the Shinigami had promised. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ryuk the Shinigami waving at him in greeting.

Snape's gaze landed on the black metal tubes poking out of each of the men's belts.

Guns.

All of their eyes were on him, or rather, the reincarnation of Lily Evans.

Snape was ready. "You need to evacuate the building immediately. The hotel has just received a bomb threat, so we are vacating each room to ensure the safety of our guests," he recited stiffly.

"A bomb threat? Terrorists, in these days?" came an incredulous voice from behind Matsuda.

A young Muggle dressed in a crisp khaki suit stepped forward, giving Snape an appraising look. Snape-turned-Lily stiffened in his borrowed maid outfit, but the other man, who seemed little more than a boy, appeared disinterested.

"A bomb threat?" repeated the man. Suddenly, there was a gleam in his eyes.

"Yes." The back of Lily's – his – neck prickled. Snape knew that look. It was the look of a man with a plan. "We must go, now!"

"Do we leave our stuff?" asked Aizawa, glancing at the younger Muggle anxiously.

"Yes, just leave your things… they'll be taken care of… the hotel will see to any damages incurred…"

"We understand," muttered the rather well-built Muggle standing next to Aizawa.

"B-But…w-wait…just…"

Ignoring Matsuda's stammers, Snape quickly ushered the group out of the hotel room. He waited until they disappeared around the corner before he slipped back inside, locking the door behind him.

There were laptops and coffee mugs and papers strewn everywhere. Snape thought hard. From Matsuda's reluctance to leave the room, the wand was still somewhere here. Hidden, most likely, from the other Muggles.

The curtains were already drawn, blocking out the afternoon sun. Snape flicked off the lights, plunging the suite into complete darkness.

"Lumos!" he called.

Instantly, a soft white glow spilled from one of the bedrooms further down the suite. Relief washed over him, and he began to make his way to the bedroom to retrieve what was rightfully his.

The Japanese Task Force was halfway down the empty emergency stairs when Light halted to a stop.

"Where's everybody else?" Light asked suspiciously.

His father peered over the rail and down the gap between the descending steps. "I don't see anyone…"

"Maybe we're the only ones left in the building," said Matsuda worriedly.

"Or perhaps," Light said slowly, "it was a trick to lure us out of the hotel room?"

Ryuk, invisible to the others, gave a throaty chuckle.

"Right again, Raito."

Light twitched. "It's Light, if you're writing and speaking in English, it's FUCKING LIGHT NOT RAITO!"

Soichiro stared at his son in shock. "Are you alright, Light?"

But Light wasn't the only one randomly spazzing out. Matsuda's face had suddenly contorted in alarm.

"A trick? To lure us out? I gotta get back!" Matsuda yelped, sprinting up the stairs as fast as an apple disappearing down Ryuk's gullet.

"Matsuda, wait up!"

The Task Force followed Matsuda back to their hotel room, which was locked. Ide swiped his card through the reader, but when they tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge.

"It's locked from the inside," Aizawa said furiously. "That girl…"

That was no girl, Light thought, remembering Ryuk's warning.

"Stand aside!" Matsuda cried, drawing his pistol.

BANG.

With the door handle still smoking, Matsuda shoved his way into the darkened hotel room, weapon raised.

"Where are you, thief?"

There was a faint light coming from his bedroom. Matsuda's heart leapt, and without thinking, he ran towards it.

Snape twirled his wand, happy to have it back in his hands. But before he could return to Hogwarts, there were a few memories to take care of…

His head snapped up at the sound of a small explosion. For a wild moment, Snape thought that perhaps his bomb-threat story turned out to be a happy coincidence. But then he heard the shouting.

"Where are you, thief?"

Snape smirked. Touta Matsuda was walking into his own doom.

One second later, the Muggle's head poked through the bedroom door, gun at the ready.

Snape was prepared. He was not going to make the same mistake as the last time.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape uttered.

A jet of red light shot towards the gun, sending it flying through the air and into Snape's outstretched hand.

"No!" Matsuda howled.

Bright yellow light flooded the bedroom as the rest of the Muggles arrived on the scene. They gaped at Snape-as-Lily, and the thin wooden stick pointed directly at them.

"Excellent," Snape breathed, "you're making this very easy for me. Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus! Expelliarmus!"

Four guns and a pen flew toward Snape, landing at his feet.

"What the –?"

"Matsuda," gasped Aizawa, goggling at Snape's wand, "you were right! That's an honest-to-God magic wand! You were right!"

"Always the tone of surprise," said Matsuda, because the author is a hardcore Romione shipper. Oh, random and irrelevant cross-fandom references.

Magic wand?

Light's mind flashed back to the conversation he had earlier, with Aizawa and Matsuda. Something about a flying Ford Anglia at King's Cross Station…

Light studied the red-haired girl before them. She had a very distinct English accent, one similar to Watari's. Could it be possible that this girl was connected to what happened to Aizawa and Matsuda in London?

"You're a witch," said Mogi suddenly.

The girl's knuckles whitened as her grip became tighter on the wand.

"Yes," said the girl softly, "and I have no choice but to –"

She brandished the wooden stick.

"OBLIVIATE!"

Mogi's eyes rolled back, and the burly detective dropped like a sack of potatoes, unconscious but breathing.

"OBLIVIATE!"

Soichiro Yagami keeled forward and landed on his giant moustache, which cushioned his glasses from breaking.

"OBLIVIATE!"

Ide crumpled to the ground, boring as ever.

Light's mind was racing as he tried frantically to think of a plan. There were only three Task Force members remaining: Aizawa, Matsuda, and himself. "Obliviate" was obviously some sort of mind-wiping spell, as the word itself suggested.

And now the wand was pointed at him.

What if he ended up losing all his memories of being Kira? What if he forgot about tracking down Mello and the Mafia, who still had the notebook? What if he ended up, God forbid, as dumb as Misa? All the planning, all the schemes and lies and time and effort – all gone, down the drain in the matter of seconds?

Matsuda was clutching Aizawa's arm, whimpering. It was clear that the witch was saving them for last.

"OBL –"

Light did the only thing he could think of: run.

Shoving Matsuda and Aizawa into harm's way, Light scrambled out of the bedroom, Ryuk hovering at his heels. He could hear yelling and squealing from behind him, and then two loud thumps.

Light ran for it. He fled down the corridor, flew down the emergency stairs, tore down the street, and boarded a bus. There were only a few passengers.

Breathing hard, Light threw himself into a plastic orange seat at the back of the bus.

"I need to get to Misa," Light muttered. "Ryuk, you don't seem particularly surprised by these turn of events."

Ryuk grinned. "I'm not."

"You knew that person was a witch? And you didn't tell me?"

"Well, you never asked," said the Shinigami, cackling delightedly.

A/N: Sadly, I won't be able to promise regular updates this time. This was written at the spur of the moment. Motivation and inspiration are very fickle friends. So is free time. Urgh!