Disclaimer: The only character I own is Hope.

A/N: This story is loosely based on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". For those of you who have not read the play, this really isn't going to go how you expect. There will be many surprises. For those of you who have read the play, there will also be surprises, since it's only loosely based on the play.

A/N2: I have rated this story PG for slash-type situations, but there is no real slash in it.

ONLY HOPE by Lina Shay

Chapter one: The Girl Who Lived

"Harry Potter is gone!"

She read the words over and over again, waiting for them to sink in. Her heart pounded and her mind raced. Harry was dead? How could that possibly be? He had this huge destiny to fulfil and Voldemort could never be stopped without him.

She bit her nails as she read on.

"I will be there tonight to discuss the ordeal you must now undertake.

Yours faithfully,

Albus Dumbledore"

"What ordeal?" she gasped, looking over her shoulder at Luphenda, her caretaker. "He doesn't mean?"

Luphenda, a round and grey-haired woman, nodded dismally. "The 'eadmaster'll be 'ere soon. You best get rea-y for 'is arrival, Miss 'Ope."

Hope nodded and ran off upstairs to her room. She couldn't believe this time she had dreaded since she was old enough to understand the story had finally come. Hope had prayed so hard that it would not come. Not just because the idea of Harry Potter's death was a sad event, but also because it was now her turn to take over the destiny he was supposed to fulfil.

When it was told of Voldemort's attack on the Potter household, there was a small detail that had been hidden from the world. As Harry sat in his cradle, playing with his toy wand, there was someone there beside him. And when Voldemort came into the room and pointed a curse at the Harry, she was also there. To protect her from Voldemort's revenge, it was told to the Potter's close friends that she had died in the attack, which was what Voldemort thought as well. To everyone else, her original existence was not made known. When in life, Harry's twin sister had lived as well.

Very few were let known that Hope had lived, for fear that she would be discovered and be made known to all the wizard world and to Voldemort. Not even Harry knew. Those who knew she survived were Professor's Dumbledore and McGonagal, and Hagrid, who had saved her along with Harry. When Dumbledore placed Harry on the Dursley's doorstep, he kept Hope secure in his arms. He knew that she would be in much more danger. Dumbledore set her up in a hidden safe-house with a woman he well-trusted, named Luphenda Gawlish. Luphenda has raised Hope until this point, her sixteenth birthday.

Hope had always known who she was from the day she was five, when she looked in the mirror and asked where she got her scar. She knew that she had a special destiny that would have to be put into action when Harry was gone and she was their only hope. This was why she was so jittery when her long-time correspondence teacher, Albus Dumbledore, had sent her that letter saying that Harry was dead.

Hope hurried and got into her best dress, a light blue crush velvet one with silver trim. She rushed over to her mirror to straighten up her hair. Her long black mop was matted as usual. She took a comb to it the best she could, but nothing could be done with the mess. Hope finally gave up and moved on to shading her eyelids with a bright green which closely matched her eyes. Licking her teeth, she wondered if she should brush them again before Dumbledore got there. With a loud pop, Hope knew it was too late. He was there. Hope ran the comb through her impossibly tangled hair once more, than ran off back down the stairs.

Hope saw a tall man with a long white beard talking to Luphenda. She assumed this was Dumbledore. She had never really met the fellow, just wrote letters to him. The moment his pale blue eyes glimpsed Hope, he was transfixed and frozen. Hope had to wonder if something might be wrong. Maybe she wasn't as pretty as he had expected, or maybe she lacked something essential to her great task ahead, like smooth hair. She tried to run her fingers through her mop.

"My dear," Dumbledore said in awe, "you are the very image of your brother."

That was worse. Maybe Hope wasn't as attractive or physically developed as she would have liked, but she couldn't believed that she looked like a boy.

As if he read her mind, Dumbledore chuckled, saying, "Don't worry, my dear. I did not mean it like that. You are a lovely young woman. You have your mother's eyes and her air about you. But I must say, that your face-shape and features are as your father's, as Harry's. It's astounding."

Hope felt suddenly sad about her parents and Harry. Though she had never really known them, she felt like she was connected to them. And parts of her were missing because they were gone.

"My dear," Dumbledore began again, putting an arm around Hope and leading her to a place where they could sit together. "I must explain to you what occurred the day Harry disappeared."

Disappeared? Hope thought he was dead!

"Harry was at Diagon Alley, most likely buying his school books," Dumbledore explained, "when a band of Death Eaters came upon him. There were spells being cast and screams. I arrived just in time to help ward off the Death Eaters. When we searched through the fallen, Harry was not among them. He was no where to be found."

"But then he could be alive," Hope insisted desperately.

Dumbledore lowered his eyes. "It is assumed that one of the Death Eaters made off with him while the others created a diversion. If Harry is in the hands of Voldemort, there is little hope."

"So you think he is dead?" Hope asked sadly.

"I think it's time for you to claim your destiny," Dumbledore responded, staring off. "We can't let anyone know that something is wrong. At first, I did not know how we would accomplish this, but when I saw you, I knew. Hope, you have the ability to save us all. You are the Girl Who Lived."

"But what can I do so that people don't know Harry's gone?" Hope asked.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said. "I have a quite brilliant plan."

Hope looked over at him. He was smiling, a twinkle in his eyes. Hope got this queazy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Somehow, she knew that this plan would be something crazy. She knew Dumbledore that well.

Dumbledore put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but it didn't ease her anxiety.

"My dear," Dumbledore began. "You can become Harry Potter."

A/N: Yes, I know that this really doesn't coincide with the prophecy and the first chapter of the first book. It doesn't go with a lot of things. But it's just pure fun. You can understand that, right?