Chapter 3

The Doctor came to an abrupt stop again. This time, Rose smashed into his back. She could feel the muscles through his jacket and jumper. She backed up.

"What now?" Rose groaned. He didn't answer, instead he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and waved it around.

'Oh come on, not the bloody screwdriver again," she complained. He kept waving it. The Doctor returned the screwdriver to his pocket.

"Just as I thought, aliens on the third floor. Stay close to me Rose, I don't know what they are. And they could be ready to kill," he pulled Rose closer to his chest. Rose tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she breathed in the smell of the Doctor. She tried to ignore his arms that were wrapped around her protectively. She tried really hard to ignore the muscles under his jacket that were tensed and ready to go. Rose tried to ignore the Doctor, but all she could think about was how incredibly attractive she found it all.

"Shall we take the stairs?" she suggested. He nodded and let go of her slightly. Rose cursed her own stupidity. What if the Doctor hadn't let go? It was her suggestion that caused him to walk away. Rose realised that he was halfway up the staircase before she snapped out of it and followed him. Taking the stairs three at a time, she caught up with him at the top.

"Alright, what now?" she asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"Now we start looking," he responded. The corridor was strangely deserted. A few students passed the entrance but didn't enter. A voice behind her scared Rose enough to make her scream. Immediately, the Doctor was at her side and was pointing the sonic screwdriver at the voice.

"Sorry to scare you, I just wanted to help," said the voice. Rose recognised Hermione Granger staring politely at them.

"Oh, of course," said the Doctor, "What exactly makes this corridor so deserted? What is here that makes everyone stay away?"

'Well, we don't know. It started about a month ago. There aren't many classrooms down here, just a few which are used by older students studying advanced curses and whatnot. I never came down here. But then a student never came out. One of his friends became desperate to find him and used a Summoning charm to find them. Well, Professor Snape was passing and the friend flew out of the corridor and he went straight to Dumbledore. He couldn't stop the flying body and the friend got a fright when it came into the room. You see, the body was a few weeks old by then but the scariest part is that the student died of fear. He died, Doctor, because he was so scared. Dumbledore didn't like that. He sent for some Aurors to come take a look but the Ministry decided they wanted to hush it all up. Professor Snape brewed some lighting potions and they sent a few teachers in but they came back out saying they'd felt evil in the shadows. Dumbledore even sent some charms into the corridor to search for traces of Dark magic but there wasn't anything there. Whatever it is, it's very good at concealing itself. It's made scared children of everyone. None of the teachers will teach here. No one comes in it. The curious thing is, it never hurts anyone who doesn't stay in here for longer than a few seconds. They never talk of closing the school but they are going to close off the corridor. It's almost summer holidays, they're going to build over it once the students are gone. What is it Doctor? What is so terrifying it kills any who look at it?" Hermione looked at the Doctor pitifully. He smiled and shook his head.

"I don't know. I'll try to help but I can't guarantee that we'll all walk out of here. I don't know what this thing is or things are, but let's go find out," he said before lighting up the screwdriver. He looked at it, then at Hermione.

"Could you light up your wand?" he asked. Hermione swished the stick and the tip light up like a flashlight. They all looked around the dim corridor. It had been very dark before but now with the pale light, the darkened hallway was almost even scarier. It had no magical fires burning. The intricate designs on the walls were covered in cobwebs. Rose shuddered. Hermione frowned and glanced at Rose.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Rose nodded. The two females turned to the Doctor.

"Is anything wrong? That you can tell?" they both asked him. He shook his head.

"Nothing yet. Keep looking."

A/N: I'll continue writing once I've actually seen the episode enough to know the Angels backwards and forwards. Because I may or may not have yet to see it...

The three of them kept looking around. They were all on edge. There could be anything in the hallway. There could be killers waiting in the long, dark shadows. Or bloodthirsty alien bug things. Anything could be waiting and Rose almost wished she'd already seen whatever it was. That was, until the Doctor stopped them. He'd seen it first. Hermione saw it second. She whimpered. Rose could tell the general direction of their vision. She didn't want to see it. She wanted to run away. Rose knew that wasn't an option. She had to look eventually. And the Doctor never said anything about not looking. Rose slowly turned around. She found herself facing a beautiful yet terrifying stone angel.

"Don't blink," whispered the Doctor.