The murderer with my face

The entrance hall was magnificent – a huge stone staircase sweeping up one side. Their gazes following it up, the Doctor and Jack saw a criss-crossing network of staircases moving high above them, leading to countless floors.


“Fancy,” Jack stated from behind the Doctor, who was strangely silent.


There was a large amount of chatter and clinking of cutlery coming from behind another set of high oak doors. Jack wandered towards it, paused and then pulled it open a crack. He just had time to glimpse a thousand black-robed children with floating candles lit over their heads, before the doctor pushed firmly on the door with a flat palm.


“Are we on a film set?” asked Jack carefully from under the Doctor’s arm.


“A film set? Oh no no no, the films are just poor compared to this,” said the Doctor, admiring the painting-clad walls above them with his mouth slightly open.


“Why can’t we go in?” demeaned Jack, forever in commander mode.


“Oh it’s rude to interrupt during dinner!” he looked back at Jack. “And anyway,” he said, suppressing a smile and wandering backwards with is hands in his pockets, “someone’s coming”.


Sure enough, the huge front doors crashed open, revealing two boys – one short and skinny with dark messy hair and ridiculous round glasses, and the other lanky, pale and fiery-haired, both being dragged by their collars. The man between them was white with rage, his teeth bared and dark eyes ablaze.


“Do you have any idea the seriousness of what you have done? You were seen! By no less than fou –“


He stopped dead, eyes fixed on the doctor, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, hands still in his pockets and his face blank, apart from a little twinkle in his eyes.


“Woah,” came the murmur from Jack as he made his way to the Doctor’s side “I know who he is!” he half whispered, as if in the cinema.


The Doctor didn’t answer him, just stepped forward.


“Hello Severus. Long time no see.”


This was followed by a very long silence, in which both Jack and the two boys looked back and fourth in confusion and expectation, between the Professor and the Doctor.


“Go to dinner,” Severus commanded, throwing the boys from his grasp, so that they staggered to keep their footing. Pulling their clothes back into place, they hesitated, staring at the Doctor and Jack.


“Who are you?”


It was the dark haired boy that spoke, his ginger friend standing further back and looking worriedly on at his friend’s confidence.


“GO!” Snape’s fierce snarling shout got the message across and the two boys scuttled through the doors to the hall, looking back over their shoulders.


“He doesn’t look like Daniel Radcliff… kind of a pity,” Jack told them as he watched the two boys go, but the Doc and Professor were still in the middle of a staring contest.


Unsure whether he should be there, Jack shifted awkwardly, tapping his nails on the banister, but stopped as soon as he saw the look coming his way from between two greasy curtains of black hair.


Snape blinked slowly.


“You cannot be here.”


“I know! Lucky mistake eh? I couldn’t believe it at first either, but here I am! I mean, here we are,” he gave Jack a little nod “And you, Sev, you look exactly the same.” He grinned.


Snape scoffed.


“As wonderful as it would be to have a lovely fuzzy catch up and exclaim over the marvel of finding you back here so soon, whilst sipping cheap firewhiskey in your goddamned blue box, that is not what I meant.” he folded his arms carefully “You simply cannot be here, please leave.”


The doctor’s grin became fixed and false.


“Ok then… that’s not quite what I expected…” Muttered the doctor


“Well, ya see, that’s just the problem. We lost the ‘goddamned blue box’ and if you expect me to wander back into that fucking forest anytime soon, I’ve got news for you, buddy.”


The Doctor silenced Jack with a hand on the shoulder, not mentioning that the man seemed to have changed his tack a bit since he was trying to drag him in there to do God knew what behind a bush.


The Doctor strode down to stand opposite Snape, his footsteps careful and paced. When their eyes were level, he spoke – just quiet enough that Jack couldn’t hear.


“I thought you would be pleased to see me,” he smiled. “And anyway, I’m not leaving just because you say so.”


“I know who you are, but I guarantee that every single other person here will recognise you as someone completely different. Believe me; you do not want to be mistaken for who you look so very like.”


The Doctor said absolutely nothing, just pulled his head back and continued to stare resolutely into Snape’s obsidian eyes, frowning.


“Who do I look like?”


“A psychopath. And I don’t want to be seen talking to you. I don’t care very much how you get away from here, but just go. Now”.


The Doctor folded his arms and stuck out his bottom lip.


“No.”


Snape bared his teeth and took a step towards the doctor, jabbing one trembling potion-stained finger under his chin.


“I haven’t got time to play games with you Doctor.” His lip twitched on the world, a mocking sneer making his face even more ugly then before, Jack thought. “Dinner will have finished in a few short minutes and this hallway will be filled with a mass of keen-eyed, gossiping school children and a range of highly skilled staff members who, given your ‘evil twin’ will not hesitate in attacking you. Your face does not bode well for your fate in this world.” He grabbed the Doctor by the jaw “Leave”.


Before the Doctor could take a breath to ask since when exactly, had he had a twin, Jack had ripped Snape from his stance by the back of his robes and come between them.


“Do yourself a favour and don’t touch him again. Or me. I’ve met some damned ugly aliens in my time and some totally unfriendly people who’ve tried to kill me, shucks to them, but gees, buddy, you really, as the British say, take the fucking biscuit”


“Jack I do not need your protection. Severus here and I are old friends and I would thank you not to insult him in front of me.” Jack stopped mid-diatribe and stared blankly at the Doctor. “Sev, Jack here and I will be waiting in your quarters for you, and an explanation. Don’t worry, I still know the way.”


He beckoned Jack with his head and turned to walk down a staircase to their left.


“Dungeons, right?” he said without turning, his hands back in his pockets. “And I never forget a password,” he added before Snape could say a word, trotting down the steps. “Useful things, passwords.”


And he was gone.


Jack, however, walked back to opposite Snape and lifted his chin defiantly, setting his jaw and looking down on the greasy man– they were almost exactly the same height so the effect was lost a little.


Snape’s eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips.


“I don’t like you, but hell you’re sexy when you do that.” Snape’s eyes widened in a shot and all the tension in his folded arms vanished as shock and outrage flashed onto his face.


Jack slapped him twice gently on a sallow cheek with his palm.


“Ja-ck! I said don’t to-uch!” Came a sing-song echo-y voice of the doctor from the descending stairs.


“Later, sweetums,” Jack sneered, then followed at a jog with a “Coming, baby!”


Snape didn’t move until he realized the dinner halls were being opened and as he predicted, the hall was swarming with robed cockroaches. Not knowing what else to do, he set off down the stairs too. At least make sure they’re out of the sight of my Slytherins.

Thanks again to sugargrazed, my liddle liver-eating monkey. R&R bitte.