For all the times I've procrastinated, I apologize with some snippets of what is to come. Happy Birthday, De! ;)

In the Eyes of Gretta Zabini

By: LittleLauren:]

Chapter 1: First Year

The steam of the train blurred my vision as I followed my parents down the platform. My mum and dad on either side of me, my dad a little more distant than my mum. I learned not to expect anything less of him.

We stopped when we saw the Malfoys huddled together near one of the middle carts. My dad shook Mr. Malfoy's hand with very slight smiles.

"Glad to see you again Blaise," said Mr. Malfoy to my father.

My dad nodded. "Likewise, Draco."

My dad worked for a part of the Ministry in which he had to travel a lot. His most recent trip was to the Netherlands, where he had to set up several enchantments for several magical events. Sometimes he'd bring me and mum along, but he usually went by himself. He usually took those opportunities to spend time with his other daughter, my stepsister, Sophie. She is seven years older than me, and sometimes I feel like my dad prefers her to me. But I learned deal with it… I don't care.

I smiled at Scorpius, and he smiled back. We've known each other since we were very young, but we've never actually had spoken to one another. We were more or less acquaintances than anything else. His true friend was Vince Goyle, who was walking up to our group followed by his father, a tall, bulky man with his eyebrows scrunched together, like he was thinking too hard. Vince had the same face, but his eyes showed a much softer side of what could be Mr. Goyle. It was almost like Vince was confused or rather trying to take in the scenery.

The three of us greeted each other silently, listening in on our parents' gossip. "Did you see Potters and Weasleys pass by?" said Mr. Goyle. He had a very deep voice, the kind of voice that seems like it could become very loud but he chose not to.

"No," my mum said. "We just arrived."

"We have," replied Mr. Malfoy. He nodded behind him. "They're near the back of the train."

My dad scoffed. "Probably trying not to be noticed by the public."

"Blaise!" mum hushed, shaking her head.

"You can't blame them," said Mrs. Malfoy keenly. "They are still famous to some people."

"Astoria, it's been years," countered Mr. Malfoy. "Whoever still thinks they're famous are all hypocrites. The lot of them are just trying not to be noticed to get attention. Reverse psychology."

We all turned to look at them, squinting to see whomever our parents were talking about. I couldn't see anything… just steam and people rushing by.

"I didn't know Weasley and Granger had a kid," said Mr. Goyle, craning his neck to attempt to see further down.

"Two kids," said Mr. Malfoy, rolling his eyes. "I saw Weasley with them a while back. They look like muggles by the way they dress, the lot of them. No sense of magical heritage."

Mr. Goyle chuckled but I have the strangest feeling he didn't know what he was laughing about.

The sound of the train whistle startled me when it sounded. Children started rushing on board, their parents saying their last goodbyes until Christmas. My mum turned me to face her, my dad looking around the place, avoiding any sense of affection.

"Have a great first year, darling," my mum smiled. She leaned down to kiss my forehead, and then she whispered in my ear, "I know you'll make us proud."

I smiled as well, but not as big. I stepped onto the train behind Scorpius and Vince, stopping to turn around, silently hoping that my father might say goodbye to me in some way.

He didn't.

I sighed, and found where the two boys were situated.

"Saved you a seat," said Scorpius, patting the seat next to him. It was a window seat.

The train whistled again, and it began to move with a jolt. More steam erupted from below, fogging up my view. Only through squinting eyes did I see my dad wink to me behind my mother and the rest. I fell back in my seat, grinning to myself. My dad doesn't show much affection, but when he did that little gesture, I just knew it was special.

"We are not going on these tiny, little boats, are we?" I said coldly to the giant named Hagrid.

"As a matter a fact, we are," he replied, obviously taken aback by my attitude. I may be small, but I do have my opinions, and I am not afraid to show it. Hagrid continued nonetheless. "Everyone, no more 'en four ter a boat! We don't want no sinkers before ye even get ter the castle," he chuckled, although many of us widened our frightened eyes.

I didn't even flinch. Neither did Scorpius or Vince. They both just snickered under their breaths at the easily spotted muggleborns, who were probably thinking that they have made a huge mistake coming here. I'd totally agree with them. Ugh… muggleborns…

The three of us hopped onto one boat with a boy, who introduced himself as Scotty. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. I could tell he was a muggleborn by the way he couldn't control his excitement and nervousness. He kept talking about how he lived up in Bristol, and he'd never imagined that he'd get a letter. "I thought the magic I was doing was some sort of coincidence of events, you know?"

I could've really cared less.

Unlike Vince and I, Scorpius was actually chatting up the boy. He was explaining how he is a pureblood and how we are so rare nowadays. I've noticed that he is a different person when he's not around his parents. Maybe it's because he yearned to speak his mind for once. Vince and I looked at each other, thinking the same thing: if only it were that easy…

We stopped at the dock with a jump, and one by one, we first years filed up to the Entrance Hall. The inside was better than I imagined, what with the intricate architecture and the antique knights made of stone standing triumphantly on the walls.

"Wow," whispered Vince. That was the first time I've ever heard him speak. I knew he must've spoken before, but not with me present. Vince Goyle was very complicated and difficult to read. Usually I was very good with perception, but honestly, I had no idea what was in that husky kid's mind. Maybe he would warm up to my company in time.

A tall, and slightly middle-aged professor, named Professor Longbottom, greeted us and explained all we had to know about Hogwarts. I scoffed silently, looking around at those who were all intrigued. They all looked funny to me, listening about the four houses and rules about house points with rapt attention. I didn't know what was so difficult to understand, so why should I have listened?

Finally, we were shown the way into the Great Hall. Hundreds of students lined the four tables with green, blue, yellow, or red. Candles floated above their heads with a ceiling looking like the night sky. It was a beautiful sight.

Professor Longbottom brought out a three-legged stool and a battered, old hat. It looked decrepit, like it had been burnt at some time, but its voice proved otherwise...

"Goyle, Vincent!" called the Professor.

I turned to see Vince go slightly pale, but he put on a tough exterior.

"Good luck, mate," whispered Scorpius encouragingly, patting Vince on the back.

The hat took about thirty seconds with Vince until it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!" The Slytherin table cheered, as well as me and Scorpius, who were still awaiting our fate.

When the applause ceased, Professor Longbottom called out, "Lauper, Elspeth!"

The girl next to me cringed, and mumbled, "I hate my name…" She walked up to the Sorting Hat, her short, brunette hair bobbing up and down as she did so. She turned around on one heel, and sat down on the stool, nervousness all over her face. She crossed her ankles as the hat was placed over her eyes. It took pretty long for this one… pretty much a whole five minutes passed by. Then finally the hat boomed, "RAVENCLAW!" She smiled and hopped down to sit with her new House.

Merlin, this was going to be a long sorting…

Many others went up to get sorted, and then it was Scorpius's turn. He strode up there, sporting a cocky grin. It took the hat five seconds to say, "SLYTHERIN!" for him. I chuckled at this. He walked down to the Slytherin House like he knew he was home.

The N and O names came and went. And when Professor Longbottom called out, "Potter, Albus!" many students started cheering. I turned around to see that there were only a handful of people from every House but from Slytherin cheering the kid on. Maybe they were all family. I wouldn't be surprised… from what I heard from my parents, the Potter and Weasley families were very large in number. Albus look utterly nervous, almost sickly. Once the Sorting Hat was on his head, the air stood still and everyone went silent. I saw the boy shaking his head no, and then nod yes, and then had the biggest grin on his face when the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor House cheered, as well as many other students scattered amongst the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Houses.

"Weasley, Rose!" called Professor Longbottom, and the same applause as Albus had started up again. The redhead ran up quickly, obviously excited about what her fate might be. The hat was placed on her head, covering her eyes. She bit her lip anxiously, but when the hat cried, "RAVENCLAW!" she relaxed a bit, like she was holding her breath the whole time.

I waited patiently, knowing I would be the last person to be sorted. The bloke named Scotty and I ended up being the only people left. "Well, it's just you and me, I guess," he whispered excitedly.

"I guess," I sighed, not looking at him.

"Wolsten, Scott!" Professor Longbottom called.

Scotty hobbled on the stool, with a nonchalance about him. It didn't take long for the Sorting Hat to put him in Hufflepuff.

"And finally," said Professor Longbottom, looking right at me. "Zabini, Gretta."

I breathed in and out, and started my way to the stool. Once I sat down, I had a glimpse of the whole school staring at me, awaiting which House I would reside in. The hat was placed on my head, and the student body was no longer in my view.

"Ha," chuckled the Sorting Hat. "You're an easy one… You have the temper and slyness of… SLYTHERIN!"

My heart leapt with happiness, and I grinned slightly all the way down to the Slytherin table, which was now my home. As the clapping stopped, I heard Scorpius call my name.

I looked over at him, and he said, "We did it!"

I smiled back at him. Yes, we did it… we made our fathers proud.

A/N: For those of you who are confused... hi! I'm LittleLauren and I am currently revising my Rose and Scorpius fan fiction, Above All Things. This was not my intention whatsoever, but when I looked back at it, I realized that it wasn't going the way I had wanted it to. :\ So, after giving it some serious (and I mean about a year's worth of) thought, I've decided to rewrite it. I am almost finished the full brainstorm stage and I should have the story rolling in no time ;) And to kinda give you all a taste of what I'm planning on changing, I've written this little story, kinda like a sneak peek lol! I have four chapters ready, and I'm working on the fifth one. I'm actually planning on submitting the fifth chapter after I start submitting chapters for the revised Above All Things because I don't want to give too much away ;)

LL:]