the one | h. potter

38. monster in the closet

harry's pov

"Liz! Lunch is ready!" I call up the stairs. I made caprese sandwiches for us, and they were laid out on the counter.

She doesn't respond, so I yell again. "Liz! Lunch!"

No luck. I run up the stairs, walk towards the end of the hall. "Love, I've got lunch ready-"

But Liz is not alone in the room I left her in. And she's not exactly standing, either; she's floating in midair, eyes trained on another figure in the room. The other figure, it's... also Liz. But her hair is messy, she's wearing dark, long black robes, and her left sleeve is pushed up to reveal a stark black dark mark.

"Oh look!" the other Liz says. "Boy wonder has finally joined us!"

I turn towards the other Liz, my Liz. She's leaned over, mouth agape, and small dust tornados are beginning to form at her feet. This has only happened once before when she was really angry... why is it happening again?

"Are you okay?" I ask. Stupid question, she doesn't look okay. "Liz?"

Liz's eyes seek mine and soften. Her body lowers itself down onto the ground, but it's obvious she won't be able to hold herself up. I catch her as she falls, and she looks up, blinking at me softly.

"Boggart," she croaks, voice hoarse.

I fumble with my wand and cast a wandless Riddikulus at the Liz dressed in death eater garb. She flies back into the cupboard, which shakes once closed. I fling a couple of locking spells to make sure the boggart stays in there, and then turn towards Liz.

She's extremely pale. Her freckles stand out against her white skin, but unlike last time, she's still awake. Her eyes are barely open and she shudders out a breath.

"Oh shit, shit," I whisper. I need medicine, a potion. The vials! Liz put them away somewhere, but I don't want to summon them in case they break. So I scoop Liz up and carry her down the stairs. I lay her out in one of our new recliners and run to the kitchen. I frantically open cupboards, trying to find the one I remember Liz putting healing potions in.

It takes me four or five tries to find the right one, and then another thirty seconds to carefully remove all the glass bottles from their organized stacks. The cardboard box is pushed to the wall at the back of the cabinet; probably because Liz was convinced she didn't need it. I grab it and come up with a thin, shimmering purple vial. I uncork it and run back over to the living room. Liz is still laying in the recliner, pale and breathing shallowly.

"Liz," I say, and her eyes open slightly. "I got you the potion." Her mouth opens the slightest bit and I pour it down her throat. She swallows. Her body tenses up for a moment before relaxing, and some of the blood returns to her face. She lets out a deep breath and her eyes slowly slide shut.

I watch Liz for a minute. Her chest moves up and down slowly, mouth is curved in a slight frown. She's beautiful even as she sleeps, so calm. I tell myself she'll probably wake in a couple of minutes, so I go to make us some tea. It's in the tea cabinet she organized; she even brought her favorite tea over and it has a permanent place on the shelf. I hadn't even noticed.

Liz and I have only been together for a couple of months, but if we break up, I won't be able to look at nearly anything in this house without remembering her.

The kettle whistles and I hear rustling in the other room. I cast a spell so the tea brews quickly and follows me out of the room, settling on our new coffee table.

Liz's eyes are partially open, and she's squinting at the light. I flick the switch off and stand next to her.

"Hey," I whisper, and she groans. I brush the back of my hand against her cheek.

Liz stretches her arms and looks up at me. "Hi," she says. She blinks, and her eyes dart around her, focusing on her surroundings. "Oh no, it happened again?" I nod.

"What was that... thing? The, the boggart, was it?"

"It was in the wardrobe. I just opened it, I thought it was a doxy or a gnome or something but..." she trails off. Her eyes water and I bend down to kiss her forehead.

"You don't have to talk about it," I say, and she sighs.

Liz stays quiet for a minute, letting me pet her hair, until she speaks up again. "No, I will. That should make it better," she decides.

"Go on, then. I'm all ears."

"I think I've known for a while now. That my boggart would be myself. Well, the person I had to pretend to be."

"Why?"

"I think... I think I was just always scared of becoming the person I was pretending to be. That I'd put on such a good show that the order wouldn't think I was on their side anymore."

"Oh," I say quietly. "I'm- that's-"

"Yeah, yeah I know," Liz replies and sits up. "I'm hungry."

"Right! I'll bring the food." I go to the kitchen and grab our plates. When I return, Liz is sitting down on the floor, sipping her tea quietly.

Once we'd taken a couple of bites, I ask, "Did this, whatchamacallit, umm, episode, happen any other times?"

Liz nods. "A couple of weeks ago, at the Manor. I was looking at photos of my mum. Thank merlin Draco was there to stop me before I did any damage."

"How'd he do it?"

"Not really sure, to be honest. He cast some spells, I think, to keep me contained, and then did some talking... Why?"

"I only had to say your name."

Liz's eyes snap towards mine and she takes a deep breath. "I wonder why."

"Hm."

She purses her lips. "It's caused by fear, or anger, I think. Any sort of strong, bad emotion. Dad told me mum had it too. He told me he got her to stop by only saying her name."

I freeze, nearly choking on my bite of sandwich. "That's interesting," I choke out.

"It is, isn't it?"