Disclaimer: The only character I own is Hope.

A/N: I was foolish enough to assume that this was an origional idea, Harry having a twin. On a whim, I seached for stories about Harry having a twin and found loads of them. I don't think any of them were much like this one, but I had before thought that Harry having a twin was not yet thought of. Poor dashed me.

A/N: Thank you, Estella luna, for being my only reveiwer. I hope you like.

ONLY HOPE by Lina Shay

Chapter two: A Stanger at a Strange Table

The first phase of Dumbledore's "brilliant plan" involved Luphenda with a pair of scissors. Hope was not receptive to this idea. She had her hair trimmed every few months, but she had never had her hair drastically shortened like what Dumbledore suggested.

"Rea-y?" Luphenda asked.

Hope put her face in her hands and nodded, her heart pounding. She heard snipping and her head seemed to become lighter in weight. A few more snips and her neck was bare and cold. Hope sobbed. Luphenda put down the scissors.

"Is it done?" Hope asked, reaching up and feeling her cropped hair.

"Not likely," Luphenda laughed. "You think 'Arry goes around with a mane like that? I'm gettin' smaller scissors."

"Oh dear!" Hope cried. "How short will it be?"

"Short," was all Luphenda said.

"You think you could make it a bit longer," Hope pleaded. "Just a bit in the back."

Luphenda screwed up her face in thought. "I s'pose 'Arry might've grown in a wee bit over the summer. Don't think the 'eadmaster'll mind."

So Luphenda left it a little long in back. The rest was quite how Harry wore his hair. It felt different to have such short hair after always having it long. She couldn't stop running her fingers through it. Hope looked in the mirror.

"Oh GAD!" Hope yelled in surprise. "Dear me! I'm a boy! And what on earth is this?"

Hope tried to flatten a few hairs in back that would not stay down.

"Harry use to go around like this?" Hope questioned.

"Indeed," came Dumbledore's voice.

Hope turned around and looked at him. He had left early that morning saying only that he would be back soon. Dumbledore had with him a large packing trunk and a white owl on his shoulder.

"These are Harry's things," Dumbledore told her. "And this is Hedwig, his owl."

Hope walked up to him and put a hand up to Hedwig. The owl looked skeptical for a moment, then nuzzled Hope's hand.

"Hedwig knows the situation," Dumbledore told Hope. "She won't give you away."

Hedwig hopped over to Hope's shoulder.

"And you'll need these," Dumbeldore said, taking a pair of glasses from his pocket and handing them to her.

"I don't need them," Hope protested. "I have contacts now. I don't want to look like a plunker my first day of school."

"You brother wore them," Dumbledore told her.

Reluctantly, Hoep took the glasses from him. She hated her old one's so and didn't feel any better about Harry's. Hope went over to a table and took out her contact lenses. She put the glasses on and looked in the mirror. She was ugly.

"The hair looks great, Luphenda," Dumbledore complimented. "But is it not a little long in back?"

Luphenda sent a smile Hope's way.

"No matter," Dumbledore shrugged. "We best be off to Hogwarts."

"Yes, sir," Hope muttered, unenthusiastically.

Dumbledore took Harry's, now her, trunk toward the fireplace. Hope looked at Luphenda. She was crying.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked in concern.

"Nothin', m'dear," Luphenda insisted, wiping her tears. "It's just you 'aven't been away from me for more than a day since you was brought 'ere. Now, you're off to school for a whole term."

"I'll miss you, Luphenda," Hope said, hugging her caretaker.

"I got somethin' for you," Luphenda sniffled, pulling away and putting a hand in her pocket. "They belonged to your mother."

Luphenda handed Hope a small box. Hope opened the box and gasped in awe. Inside were a pair of pearl earrings.

"Oh, wow!" Hope sighed.

"I know you cain't wear them while you're at school, but they'll be nice to 'ave, don't you think?" Luphenda said.

Hope hugged Luphenda again.

"Miss Potter," Dumbledore called.

"I'll see you at Christmas," Hope said, then ran up to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore threw some flu powder into the fire. Hope turned back and waved at Luphenda before walking into the fireplace. Her and Dumbledore went whirling around in space, then landed through a fireplace in a cushy office full of old, sleeping portraits. Hope felt dizzy. Dumbledore gave her a smirk, then continued on out of the office, leaving her trunk behind. Hedwig hopped off Hope's shoulder and on to the trunk. Hope followed Dumbledore down some stairs and then into a corridor. A gargoyle jumped in front of the stairway, covering it behind them. Hope took in all the corridors and portraits as they headed down to the Entrance Hall.

"This is it," Dumbledore said, motioning toward two large doors.

Hope took in a deep breath as Dumbledore opened one of the large doors. Hope went up and peaked into the Great Hall. It was a large room with five tables. Four were parallel, the other one, stood at the end of the hall. There were so many people. She had never seen that many people in her entire life. It was rather intimidating.

"I don't know what to do, Professor," Hope muttered, feeling herself trembling.

"If anyone doubts you, just say 'I had a rough summer', and they'll understand," Dumbledore explained.

Hope nodded, saying, "Where should I sit?"

"You normally sit with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger," Dumbledore pointed out.

"Who are they?" Hope asked.

"Your two best friends," he said. "They will talk to you first, but you will know them by Weasley's red hair and Miss Granger's fluffy brown hair. Now, take a seat at the Gryffindor table."

He pointed it out to her. Hope took a step inside the room, then quickly withdrew. Her heart was pounding so hard.

"Professor," she breathed, "I don't think I can do it."

"You can do this, Hope," Dumbledore insisted. "You must."

Hope took some deep breathes, then walked back into the room. She slowly made her way down the hall, scanning Gryffindor table. Several people greeted her but none of them fit the descriptions of Ron and Hermione, then...

"Oy! Harry! Over here!"

Hope looked in that direction and her heart did a flip. Standing there, waving her way, was the handsomest red-headed boy she had ever seen. Of course she had not seen many redhead boys, but this one had to be the best looking. He was tall with dark green eyes, a mess of freckles like dots of cinnamon on cake frosting, and the sweetest smile in the world.

"Good evening, Harry," greeted a girl with fluffy brown hair who was sitting next to the redhead. "How was your summer?"

This must have been Hermione and the cute redhead was Ron.

"Fine," Hope said as she sat by them, staring at Ron dreamily.

Ron noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you, Harry?"

"Oh, uh," Hope sputtered. "I had a rough summer."

"I thought you just said it was fine," Hermione informed.

"Oh, well," Hope bit her lip. "I had a rough summer."

Ron and Hermione both stared at her in confusion. Hope felt her face flushing. She felt like such an idiot. How could she stand a whole year of this?

"Attention!" Dumbledore said loudly from the teacher's table. "I would like to welcome you to another year at Hogwarts. I have been informed by Mr. Filch-"

"Hey, Harry," Ron whispered, leaning real close to Hope's ear, which gave her tingles. "Why weren't you on the train?"

"I-I came with Dumbledore," Hope insisted. "He wanted to take me personally, because of....my rough summer."

"What happened over the summer?" Ron asked.

"Oh, look, the sorting," Hope pointed as a bunch of first years lined up to be sorted.

"Harry, why aren't you answering me?" Ron demanded, his voice getting louder.

"Summer? I...went to Diagon Alley and got attacked by Death Eaters," Hope told him, nervously.

"No kidding," Ron said, not so hardly. "I heard about that. Did you get hurt at all?"

"Yeah, Ron, I died," Hope said, attempting to sound ironic.

This quieted Ron for the rest of the sorting.

A/N: I know it's unlikely that Dumbeldore would try to pass Hope off for Harry, but it doesn't work otherwise. Question: I have been on this site for some time, but there are still things I don't quite understand, so don't be surprised if I ask you more experienced ff writers what certain things are. For instance, what is a Mary Sue? I've heard that term, but I don't know what it means. Please tell me.