Disclaimer: I don't own Hogwarts or most of the characters. The ones I do own are the ones you don't recognize. All the others are owned by JK Rowling, who is a fantastic and creative author. I was just having some fun with her world.

Different

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Grace trembled slightly, acutely aware of the shocked silence in the room around her, as if she had suddenly gone deaf. Her eyes were still covered by the inside of the Sorting Hat so she couldn't see the faces of all the students, but she could imagine their staring, flabbergasted faces.

The hat was yanked off quite suddenly, and the Great Hall gleamed golden. She blinked a few times, trying to get used to the light. There was no applause from any of the tables; she had no idea where to go.

All of a sudden, a flurry of waving hands caught her eye. It was Laurie, one of the girls she had met in the Weasleys' shop, beckoning her over to what she hoped was the Hufflepuff table. With a pained glance at Professor McGonagall, who stood beside her, Grace lifted herself tenderly out of the seat and walked with trembling knees to a long table.

She seated herself silently next to the three second-year girls, keenly aware of the school's eyes on her back. The Hufflepuff table was next to the Gryffindor one, where Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron sat. Where her parents had sat before her. She heard, as though from a great distance, as Professor McGonagall called the next name on her list. Grace looked directly into her twin's eyes, biting her lip, trying very hard not to cry or scream or act like the immature brat she surely looked next to her brother: Harry Potter, the Gryffindor.

Harry's eyes met hers, she knew he understood what she was thinking; she wanted to talk to him, to be with him, this very moment. If only she could cross over to the Gryffindor table without anyone noticing …

A soft hand slipped into hers as another girl joined the Ravenclaws. Looking to her side, Grace saw Teri looking down at her, a knowledgeable, understanding look on her face.

"It's not that bad," she whispered. "It'll be all right, you'll see."

Grace stared up at her.

"How'd you know –"

"Shhhhh," Teri whispered again. "Later."

The Sorting continued, the number of students waiting to be Sorted dwindling quickly, until finally the last of the first years had seated themselves and Professor Dumbledore was standing up to talk.

"First years should take into account that the Forbidden Forest is, obviously, forbidden," he said, sounding as if he'd been saying those words for far too long, "as is the village to all those above third year, and then only on the designated weekends. Quidditch tryouts will begin a week from today. Anyone interested should contact their house captain. Mr. Filch asks me to remind you all to please review the list of forbidden items, which, incidentally, seem to include quite a lot of objects from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes."

Over at the Gryffindor table, Ron and Ginny both blushed crimson. Dumbledore smiled at them.

"And that is all I feel up to saying at the moment, so dig in!" These last words were shouted, as he was trying to make himself heard over the noise of the crowd; the gleaming, golden plates had just filled themselves with food, and the school seemed to be "digging in" without any encouragement from their headmaster.

Grace stared around at all the platters – she'd never seen so much food, never! Grammy never even prepared this much when she was planning on hosting a dinner party. She looked around the Great Hall, doing calculations in her mind … there must be at least one thousand students … and of course the professors …

"Gracie?"

She glanced up at the sound of her old nickname to see Harry leaning across Laurie and Jess, his face almost in hers.

"You want to talk?"

She looked into his eyes, biting her lip. "No, I'll be fine, don't worry about me. I … we'll talk later. I can't … not now …"

"I'm proud of you, you know that, right? No matter what house you're in?"

"Right."

"They'd be proud too. They wouldn't care whether you –"

Grace nodded quickly, cutting her brother off. "I get it."

"Okay," he said, a dubious look spreading across his face, his floppy black hair falling into his eyes. He pushed it non-chelantly to the side. "See you later."

"How do you know …" squeaked Laurie as Harry returned to his table.

"What?"

"Harry Potter," chorused Laurie and Jess together.

Grace sighed. Of course. She knew the rest of the wizarding world was obsessed with Harry and his every move. She should have expected this …

"He's my … my cousin …"

"Really?" asked Jess interestedly. "I thought all his family was dead."

"Well, I'm not."

"There's the muggle side too, don't forget them," replied Laurie. "His aunt and uncle and cousin. So you're from that side." It wasn't a question.

"I'd rather not-"

"Leave her alone already," Teri said in an angry tone. "She doesn't want to talk about that, so just drop it!"

"All right, don't get so mad!"

"Why haven't you two started eating yet?"

Grace looked over at Teri's empty plate as Teri looked at hers. They caught each other's eye, and dug in.

Salads after salad, chicken, pork, beans, rice, vegetable platters, fruit platters, potatoes … there seemed to be no end to the feast. Grace sampled a bit of everything, trying to ignore Laurie and Jess's conversation.

"Kittie says she wants Brad to kiss her."

"Ewww! Not the ultra-nerd!"

"That's what I told her, she ran out of the compartment crying, what a baby."

"Right in front of everyone, too!"

Grace sighed and tried to find something else to concentrate on. She looked over at the Slytherin table. Marigold was busy talking to what looked like a core group of Slytherins that included Draco Malfoy. Mark was sitting with the group as well, but he looked extremely unhappy. Grace remembered everything Harry and his friends had said about Slytherins over the summer, how you could never trust them, how they were always looking out for number one and only number one. She looked away from Mark, and turned her attention to the large number of Hufflepuff first years. She longed to be with them, to sit with someone who actually understood how nervous and scared she was … they could get through this night together …

But no, she was stuck, sitting either with the second years or with Harry, a sixth year. She'd always gotten along better with those a few years older than herself.

Gee, wonder why? she thought sarcastically. I'm supposed to be one of them

Snap out of it, she told herself sharply. You're not, no sense dwelling about it.

Grammy's voice came into her mind. "No use crying over spilled potion." Nothing she could do about it now.

"… So that's how you'll be starting classes, Grace, nice, small, easy stuff …" a fourth year sitting with the second year girls was saying. "Doesn't really get difficult until third year. Gives you lots of time to master the basics."

Grace nodded wordlessly and poked at her drumstick, not really caring about the conversation.

The dinner vanished almost instantly, leaving in its place a great dessert – anything anyone could ever hope to eat: ice cream and pies and cakes and cookies and sweets and more fruit platters … Grace ate a few spoonfuls of ice cream without really tasting them, all she remembered was that there were many different flavors, almost as many flavors as there had been in the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans she had tried on the train earlier.

Finally, the plates cleared and they were spotless and golden once more. Dumbledore stood up at the front of the room and all chatter slowly died away.

"Welcome one and all to another year at Hogwarts," he called, silencing the last of the whisperers in all corners of the hall. "First, we would like to welcome Professor Bowtry to our staff. He will be taking over the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

The announcement met applause as a young, blonde man stood and waved to the politely clapping students. The applause died away and Dumbledore continued, a terrible look on his face.

"It is with some amount of sadness that I welcome you. I do not know how many of you were aware of this, but three of your fellow students were murdered over the summer."

Conversation in the hall went back into full swing. From looking around, Grace could tell not many had known of the attacks.

"Colin and Dennis Creevey, as well as Terrance Jittery, were involved in attacks over the summer. These attacks were initiated by Lord Voldemort. They were murdered simply for being muggleborns."

There was anger trembling in his voice now. "I pose a question to all of you now. Will you allow this?"

Most of the students were muttering to their friends, some with worried expressions, some with ones of glee. Grace could see Harry, Ron, and Hermione, discussing this piece of news with looks of shock. Most of the Gryffindors were sweeping their eyes up and down the table, looking for two brothers who were not there.

"I am sorry to end on such a dreadful note, but such are the times we live in. At times such as these, it is imperative that you continue your magical education. We must all be prepared for the worst in these dark times. Hurry along to bed now, so that you may be well rested for your lessons tomorrow."

There was the sound of many chairs scraping – the students were getting ready to leave. Dumbledore called out suddenly, "Wait a moment! The following students are requested to stay a moment longer," he said, reading the names off a tattered piece of parchment. "Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Padma Patil, Cho Chang, Luna Lovegood, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry Boot, Ginny Weasley, Seamus Finnigan."

Grace froze in her seat and looked over at the Gryffindor table. Harry and his friends looked slightly puzzled, Hermione seemed to be ticking something off on her fingers. Harry looked up at her and shrugged.

"Come on," said Jess. "We'll show you the common room. It's so cool, right by the kitchens and everything."

"Oh … shouldn't I go with the other first years?"

"Nah, it's all right, you can come with us."

Grace sighed and pushed her chair back. "Lead on, then."

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The way to the Hufflepuff common room wasn't long, only down a short flight of steps off the Entrance Hall that led to a low ceilinged, comfortable, underground room. There were several paintings lining the walls.

"That's the one, right over there," Laurie said, dragging the other three over to it. It was a lovely picture of a rose, with a pixie hopping and prancing somewhere off in the background.

"What's the password?"

"'Flower Power,'" answered a fifth year prefect from behind them. "And I'm supposed to take the first years."

"Umm, yeah, well …" Jess was saved the trouble of having to think up an answer; the painting swung open just then, revealing a large, rectangular doorway. Laurie grabbed Grace's elbow and Jess's shoulder, Jess grabbed Teri's arm, and together, they darted quickly into the common room.

"Hufflepuff's harder to decorate than the other houses," Laurie explained, watching as Grace examined the large room. "Yellow doesn't go too well with many colors."

"I think it's wonderful," Grace said truthfully. The room had low ceilings and a long fireplace that spanned most of the far wall. There was dark wood paneling on the walls. Several short, bright yellow chairs, couches, and tables were spread about, but the majority of the wood floor was taken up by large, fluffy pillows, much like the ones in the Weasleys' shop. They looked very much like beanbag chairs.

"There's the girls' bathroom on that side," Jess was saying, pointing to a door on the right side of the room. "And the entrance to the dorms is right next to it."

"The boys' dorms are on the other side," Laurie said, giggling.

Grace could see Teri rolling her eyes.

"Come, we'll show you where the first years sleep …"

Jess took her hand, as if she were a five-year-old, and led her through the door and down a long hallway, the other two following behind. "Firsties are always at the back, for some reason. Seventh year … sixth … fifth … fourth … third … second, that's ours … and first."

"Everyone else should be in there now," Laurie said. "Don't try to get the shower now, it's a nightmare. They're free in the morning."

"Thanks," Grace said quietly. "See you tomorrow, then?"

"Sure."

"'Night," Grace grinned at them, and pushed the dorm door open.

Inside were three low mats, covered in some kind of furry black fabric. There was no one else in the room. She supposed they were trying to get the showers.

Grace walked slowly over to the wall, examining the two large windows, through which she could glimpse silvery stars gleaming in a dark sky. "I thought we were underground," she whispered, staring at the night sky.

"They're enchanted," snapped a girl's voice. Grace turned. She had dark brown hair and brown eyes. "Don't you know anything? You're a Potter, after all."

Embarrassed, Grace lifted her chin defiantly. "So I'm not allowed to ask a simple question? Who are you, anyway?"

"She's Stacy, and I'm Tracy," said another girl, coming through the door as well. "We're best friends. Guess we'll be roommates."

"Nice to meet you," Grace said. "You guys want to take those beds? I can sleep in the corner …"

"Yeah, sure, ignore us just like you ignored everyone else in our year today," the first girl said. "Everyone talks about Potters. We all saw how you'd rather sit with the second years than us. Too good for us, are you?"

"I … I never thought that. I'll take the middle bed if it makes you feel any better."

"Don't bother, Potter, just pull your mat as far away from us as you'd like. We won't stop you."

The first girl turned her back on Grace and went to drag her trunk (all three had already been brought down to their room) over to the middle bed. The second girl sent Grace an apologetic look, but joined her sister. Grace bit her lip, forcing herself to keep from crying, and dragged her trunk across the hard, wooden floor. She placed it in the far corner, and then pulled her black, furry mat over as well.

It isn't so bad, she told herself twenty minutes later, once the other girls were asleep. Sleeping in a dorm isn't fun anyways, with everybody prying into all your things if I strung up a curtain I could actually have my own room, and a bit of privacy

Hogwarts wasn't supposed to be like this, she was supposed to be sleeping in a soft, warm four poster in Gryffindor common room … eating meals at the Gryffindor table … roommates who liked her … Harry hadn't described school like this, ever. He'd never described this lonely, almost homesick feeling that was swelling up inside her. She wanted to be with her twin …

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A/N: I know nothing happens in this chapter, but things will (hopefully) start happening soon. Voldemort is not gone.

Someone asked in the last chapter whether I had written the Sorting Hat's song myself. Yes, I wrote it, and please don't use it without asking me, it took me a while to write.

So, thank you for reading and please ... review! Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, I appreciate it a lot.