A/N: Here begins Year of Secrets, Elizabeth Martin's third year at Hogwarts. Updates for now will be every Friday. As usual disclaimer, I own nothing that belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter One:

The attack was over in seconds. It would have lasted longer if the young girl had not lashed out, using a vase in self-defense. She smashed it over the woman's head, grabbing her wand as she scrambled to her feet and rushed to safety. A hiding place. Somewhere to get away until her mother lost interest.

There. The closet. It was a perfect hiding spot. The last place her mother would ever think to look. She ran forward, wand tight in hand, and yanked open the door. Diving between cloaks, she closed the door tightly behind her and cast a quick spell to lock it. She backed away, her back hitting the wall behind her as she stood still, breathing hard, trying to listen for any sound—

"What're you reading?"

Elizabeth yelped, the book in her hands flying across the room as she jerked upright. She turned quickly to her bedroom door and saw her older brother, Lewis, standing there with a smirk. His best friend, Cedric Diggory, right behind him.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Elizabeth's voice squeaked, her face growing warm.

"I would if you ever bothered to close your door," Lewis said, picking up Elizabeth's discarded book, "Another of Ronda Rider's mysteries?"

"It's none of your business," Elizabeth said, hopping off her bed and snatching the book away from her brother, "Cedric, can you please get him out of my room?"

"Yeah, we don't have to bother Elizabeth, right?" Cedric asked, "I mean, I thought I was coming out here to play some Quidditch? Not torment Elizabeth."

"Thank you, Cedric," Elizabeth said, watching as Cedric led Lewis away. Elizabeth looked down at her book she was reading, wondering if she could sit back down and get back to the story of Rebecca and battling her mother under the Imperious Curse...She had just gotten the book the day before from her Aunt Ginger and was already halfway through.

"Elizabeth, could you come here a moment? There's something you'd like to see."

Elizabeth sighed. Looked like her book was going to be put aside. It looked like Rebecca's story would have to wait.

Elizabeth put her book on the bed, heading on into the main room of the house her family lived in. Her mother was at the kitchen table with her usual copy of the Daily Prophet, finally getting to read it after a day at work. Of course, it wasn't just work that kept her busy. Grace Martin's sister, Elizabeth's Aunt Ginger, had decided a few months before that she didn't want a winter wedding after all, and was going to marry her fiancé, Xavier Gretchen, in just a few days. There was a lot of wedding preparation going on for the wedding that would take place after dark, all at Xavier's home some miles away.

Elizabeth had actually braved herself enough to write a letter to her crush from Hogwarts—a boy named Tobias Marsh who was a year older to her—asking to be her date to the wedding. She hadn't heard back from him yet, something that worried her. Was she just embarrassing herself writing to him? Was he going to pretend he never got the letter, to avoid having to tell her no? Every day she regretted more and more sending that letter, and often thought about sending another one, saying she didn't know what she was thinking writing that first one...

"One of your friends is in the paper, Elizabeth," Grace Martin said with a grin, pushing over the newspaper. Elizabeth came over, looking to the black-and-white photograph of nine people, all waving and smiling at the camera from in front of a pyramid. She instantly spotted Ron, front and center, with his pet rat on his shoulder.

"Ron told me that his family was going on a trip to Egypt," Elizabeth said with a grin, pulling the paper closer, "But I didn't think it would make the Daily Prophet."

The Weasley family was a large one, but also very poor. A few weeks ago, Ron had written Elizabeth a letter saying his father had won a daily lottery draw and they were going to use the money to visit one of his brothers—Bill—in Egypt, as well as get himself a new wand. (Ron's had met with an unfortunate accident with an attacking tree the year before.)

"Mind if I cut the article out when you're done?" Elizabeth asked. Maybe she'd pin it up on her wall. Making it into the Daily Prophet was something to be proud of, after all. At least, as long as no one was writing a discriminating article about you.

"I'll let you know when you can have it," Grace said with a grin, "Why don't you go pull some shoes on? I'm a bit tired to cook, we'll all go out for dinner tonight."

"Are you sure?" Lewis asked from the living room with Cedric, "I mean, with Aunt Ginger's wedding in a few days, and school shopping in a few weeks..."

"I think we can spare enough to get a meal at the Leaky Cauldron tonight," Grace said, getting to her feet.

Elizabeth had to admit, the night away was nice. And at least when they got home, she was able to finish reading her book—though by wandlight under her blankets.

Unfortunately, this left her exhausted the next day. And she had a lot to do. There were more trips to Xavier's to plan for the wedding.

At least her day started well. As Elizabeth was finishing her breakfast, the morning mail arrived. Elizabeth had a few letters, one from Hermione—who was on vacation in France. One from Susan Bones, one of Elizabeth's roommates at Hogwarts. And—Elizabeth's heart leapt to her throat—one from Tobias.

"What's Tobias writing you for?" Lewis asked, seeing the letter and leaning past Cedric to take it. Elizabeth snatched it back quickly.

"I asked him to be my date for Aunt Ginger's wedding," Elizabeth said, feeling her face flush.

"Date?" Lewis asked in shock.

"Lewis, don't start tormenting your sister," Grace said, "She's thirteen. She's perfectly free to date if she wants to."

Elizabeth's face felt like it was on fire now. Avoiding her brother's look, and Cedric laughing over it, Elizabeth hurried to her room with her letters, closing the door behind her.

The letters from Susan and Hermione were left unopened on the desk for now, as Elizabeth sat on her bed, staring at Tobias' handwriting on the envelope. This was it. This was going to be his answer...His letter where he turned her down, leaving her horrified and embarrassed...Elizabeth knew she should open it, get it over with, but she couldn't. She just sat there, letter in hand.

Why was opening a letter so bloody terrifying?

Probably because this was Tobias Marsh. The boy Elizabeth had had a crush on since the beginning of her second year. It was hard not to. He was handsome. Tall, with blond hair and dark blue eyes and a smile that always made Elizabeth's stomach do flips...Yet Elizabeth was plain. Flat brown hair that lay to her shoulders, gray eyes, and a face full of freckles. Why would Tobias be interested in her?

Sure, they spent a lot of time around each other during the last term...Elizabeth had gotten to sit and talk with him a lot. All started when Tobias gave Elizabeth a Valentine's Day card. But what if he was just being nice? After all, it was well known that Elizabeth was friends with Harry Potter, who was famous. What if he was just being nice because of that, and had no interest in her?

Elizabeth took a deep breath. She couldn't keep putting this off. She was going to have to read it sooner or later...

Slowly, Elizabeth open the envelope and pulled out the parchment. Holding her breath, Elizabeth unfolded it and stared at Tobias' handwriting, swallowing hard before she forced herself to start reading:

Dear Elizabeth,

I'd love to be your date to your aunt's wedding! Thank you for inviting me. I'll make sure to be there on time, looking my best. I can't wait to see you, especially all dressed up. I'm sure you'll be beautiful.

I'll see you soon,

Tobias

Elizabeth stared at the letter in shock. She had to reread it several times, unable to take in the words. Tobias said yes? He'd be her date? Elizabeth found herself grinning brightly, flopping back on her bed and holding the letter above her, trying to fight the urge to squeal. Tobias said yes! She had a date to the wedding!

She just flat-out had a date. Maybe if things went right...She could easily have a boyfriend in a few days...

Elizabeth giggled brightly at that, staring over the letter, then her eyes went to the last sentence...I'm sure you'll be beautiful.

Now she was suddenly nervous. She looked to her wardrobe, where the red dress robes she would be wearing at the wedding were hanging, and she couldn't help but wonder if Tobias would like how she looked in it...

'I need to stop obsessing on this,' Elizabeth thought. She had a few days before she had to worry about how she'd look...Right now, she needed to get going. She had to go to Xavier's and help get things ready for the wedding.

"Elizabeth, hurry up, we need to get going," Grace called.

Elizabeth got up, folding back up Tobias' letter and putting it in her desk drawer, grinning. Worrying about clothes or not, she had one thing to look forward to. She had a date with a cute boy coming up. That's what she should focus on and stop worrying about everything else.

And Elizabeth had plenty to distract her. Cedric went home after breakfast, while Elizabeth, Lewis, and Grace went to Xavier's to help with wedding preparations.

Elizabeth liked Xavier. He was a plain looking man, lanky with dark blond hair and brown eyes, and a wide brow and hook nose, but he was one of the nicest people Elizabeth had ever met. Plus, he often had interesting stories about the Muggles he encountered in his work as an Obliviator. He even gave them the story about a Muggle who unfortunately had an encounter with a group of gnomes that had strayed too far into a city.

"The poor man had locked himself into his bathroom, screaming about demons," Xavier told them over their lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, "The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures removed the gnomes and I was able to Obliviate the Muggle's memory of what happened. We got the house all fixed back up, so as far as he knows, he just took a long nap."

"I don't understand how Muggles can do it," Grace said, shaking her head, "I mean, living without magic, understanding so little..."

"I'm actually going to take Muggle Studies this year," Elizabeth said, "One of my friends is Muggle-born and I think it'll be interesting learning more about them."

"Despite what most people say, Muggle Studies is worth taking," Ginger said, "I work with a Muggle-born and the stories she has are fascinating. I wish I had taken it in Hogwarts."

"It's been really helpful as an Obliviator," Xavier said, "It's nice to actually understand Muggle life when my job involves erasing their memories. It's a specific job. You have to erase specific memories without taking out things that are important. When I was training, one of my co-workers washed out after he accidentally erased some poor Muggle's entire study to be a doctor—sort of this Muggle healer," he added on Lewis's look (Elizabeth had learned what a doctor was from Hermione a few years ago), "The poor man had to be relocated. He couldn't exactly keep doing his job when he didn't know what he was doing. And my friend took it really hard, decided to transfer over to Magical Maintenance."

"Probably for the better," Grace said, "We have patients in St. Mungo's who are recovering from someone who misused that spell."

Elizabeth knew of one in particular, even though her mother wasn't allowed to talk about patients. But a few months ago, Elizabeth's old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher tried to use Obliviate on her and two of her friends, Ron and Harry. It had backfired and his entire memory was erased. With what Gilderoy Lockhart had done, Elizabeth felt the man deserved it. After all, he had been building a career on erasing the memory of honorable witches and wizards and steal their achievements for himself.

With lunch finished, it was time to get back to work. Elizabeth sighed as she got up, following the others back into the living room to continue preparing for the wedding that would take place in a few days.

xxxxx

Elizabeth paced Xavier's yard, nerves twisting her insides. It wasn't like feelings she got before, a sense of dread that she learned to accept meant something was about to happen. This was just pure nerves. It was beginning to grow dark. Xavier and Ginger's wedding would be in an hour. Elizabeth was in her dress robes—dark red and a flowy velvet that was actually quite hot in the evening sun. She'd bought them before Aunt Ginger decided to move up the wedding and hadn't been able to return it or get new.

So Elizabeth was stuck in the hot velvet, in the dimming summer light as she watched the gates for Tobias. He said he would come...That meant he was going to be there, right?

There was a loud crack nearby and Elizabeth turned quickly to the gates, seeing two men appear. Elizabeth moved closer, then grinned brightly and waved as she noticed the shorter one was a familiar blond boy a year older than she was. Tobias waved back and said something to the older man before coming over.

"You look lovely, Elizabeth," Tobias said with a grin. Elizabeth felt her face grow hot.

"Thanks," she said, taking in Tobias with his simple green dress robes, "You look great yourself."

"I'm glad you invited me," Tobias said, "Never been to a wedding."

"This is my first one, too," Elizabeth said, starting back towards the tent nearby, Tobias walking along beside her, "It's been a bit of a rush getting everything together. Never really understood why they wanted to move everything up."

"They had to have their reasons," Tobias said, "Are you a part of the wedding?"

"No," Elizabeth shook her head, taking a seat and Tobias sat next to her, "They wanted the wedding party to be small. It's just my mum, and Xavier's cousin."

"Small and homey, that sounds nice," Tobias said.

Elizabeth grinned back, and the two chatted as night fell around them, and the lanterns were lit, bathing the tent in a silver glow. Elizabeth straightened up a bit, knowing the wedding was about to start.

And the wedding went beautifully, as far as Elizabeth was concerned. Her aunt looked perfect in her pale gold dress robes—even with the fact she'd been starting to put on a weight the past month—and Xavier looked quite handsome in his own dark ones. Elizabeth applauded with everyone else as the couple were announced married, and when things moved to dancing, Elizabeth had barely gotten out of her seat when Tobias was holding his hand out to her.

"So, how about it?" he asked with a grin.

"I...er...I'm not good at dancing," Elizabeth muttered.

"Then I'll teach you."

Elizabeth felt herself blushing as she took Tobias' hand and let him lead her out to the dance floor. Elizabeth had to admit, she had a lot of fun that night. Moving from one dance to the next until her feet hurt, and her stomach growled, and she and Tobias found a table to sit and enjoy a meal.

"Your aunt knows how to throw a party," Tobias said with a grin some minutes later after they've finished sandwiches.

"It has been a lot of fun," Elizabeth laughed, looking around. Lewis was currently dancing with their mother, while Xavier and Ginger were sitting on their own and talking softly.

"Plus Mr. Gretchen's home is really nice," Tobias said.

"Yeah, he's an Obliviator," Elizabeth said, "They apparently get paid pretty well." Elizabeth looked over at Tobias, "Want a tour of the garden?"

"That'd be great, sure."

Elizabeth grinned as she got up, heading towards the garden nearby. They still had some light from the lanterns nearby, plus with the full moon shining overhead and Elizabeth could still hear music from the band nearby. Elizabeth felt herself blushing a bit. She couldn't help but think, out here in simi-privacy, holding hands as they walked through a moonlit garden with music in the background...It was pretty romantic. Like from a story.

"Looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts?" Tobias asked as they stopped at a bench and sat down, overlooking a vegetable patch.

"Actually, yes," Elizabeth said, "I've signed up for Divination and Muggle Studies. It'll be interesting learning more about them."

"I take Muggle Studies, the Muggles are really fascinating," Tobias agreed with a grin, "But Divination? Never really had an interest in it. Mum always said it was just hogwash."

Elizabeth grinned back, but she held her tongue. She had a feeling there was more to Divination than just 'hogwash'. Mainly from her own personal experiences. Feelings of dread she'd get when things were going bad. She knew she was no Seer, but that didn't mean she couldn't find out a bit more about the Sight in general...

"Though Ancient Runes is really nice," Tobias said, "But you didn't sign up for that one?"

"No. I'm horrid with things like that."

Tobias laughed, grinning at Elizabeth as he squeezed her hand—he hadn't seemed to want to let go of it since they started walking. Elizabeth found herself grinning back, and things seemed to fall quiet between them. But it wasn't an awkward, uncomfortable silence.

The next thing Elizabeth knew, Tobias had leaned closer—and his lips met hers. Elizabeth froze in shock, her eyes widening. Tobias was...he was actually kissing her...

Tobias pulled back instantly, and Elizabeth still sat there in shock.

"Sorry..." he whispered, "Was that...I shouldn't have."

"No!" Elizabeth said, her voice high, "No! It's not that. Sorry. It's just...It surprised me."

"Oh," Tobias said, an awkward grin on his face, "Good."

Elizabeth giggled, leaning up and kissing Tobias, this time closing her eyes. This moment...Kissing a boy...Well, kissing Tobias...She'd thought about it a lot. And now here she was, actually doing it...

Someone cleared their throat nearby and Elizabeth leapt to her feet with a squeal, turning quickly. Her face went red as she noticed her brother was standing nearby, his arms crossed over his chest.

"L-Lewis," Tobias said behind Elizabeth, sounding nervous, "I...Um..."

"We were just..." Elizabeth's voice squeaked, as she fiddled with the sleeves of her dress robes.

"Mum was looking for you," Lewis said, looking at Elizabeth, "The guests are leaving, and she wants to head home too."

"Oh..." Elizabeth said, looking over at Tobias, "Um, looks like I have to go...See you at Hogwarts?"

"Of course," Tobias said, "I can't wait to give you a tour of Hogsmeade."

Elizabeth grinned at that, hugging Tobias before turning and heading off after her brother. The thought of her first kiss swimming around her mind...And a boyfriend. She had a boyfriend now. It didn't matter that Lewis was annoyed. She was far too cheerful to let anything get her down now.