A/N: Thanks to everyone that has reviewed so far, and I really appreciate everyone who has read my story thus far! I hope to continue this through to the end, so I hope that you guys will support me through that. It means a lot.
Disclaimer: JK is the genius, not I.
Zivanna Letisha Zabini- September 1, 2012
A tall dark-skinned, dark-haired, dark-eyed girl brushed her hair back from her face. Her cold, contemplating black eyes bore into the first years around her, forcing them to shy away. It was no secret who this kid was: Zivanna Letisha Zabini, daughter of the former Death Eater Blaise Zabini and the sweet Slytherin Daphne Greengrass. It was mainly her father's eyes that made people threatened by her, but also her unsmiling face. Those few who knew the real Zivanna, or Zara, as she was nicknamed, knew that she was really somewhat sweet and kind, but it was hard to see through that mask.
One of the first years, a young boy with an elfish face, made a move as to go try and talk to her, but Zara whipped her head around and glared at him with her eyes, causing him to back up quickly, almost knocking into the girl behind him, much to the latter's annoyance. Zara quickly focused her eyes once more on the floor in front of her, earning her a wide berth from any of the other children.
Once they entered the Great Hall behind Professor Longbottom, Zara knew that she was being stared at. She averted her gaze from everybody, only catching snippets of their conversations. "Look how much everyone seems to hate her…" "Do you see the wide berth their giving her?" "I wonder what's wrong with her…"
And people had been asking that for months. What had happened to sweet, kind, caring Zara? When had she started behaving like the jerk that she was today? Only Zara knew the answers to those questions.
It had been about a year ago, and her mother was expecting their second child. Zara's little brother was to be born any second, and she was sitting anxiously in St. Mungo's with her father, who was pacing back and forth. When the Healer had come into the waiting room to inform them that both the baby and mother had died, it tore the already fragile relationship between father and daughter apart.
Blaise started drinking again, and he would repeatedly beat his daughter. Zara would hide in her room, angry at everything and everyone in the world and determined to pay them back for what they had done to her. Which is why, even though she walked down the hall in solitary confinement, Zara secretly relished it. At least she was away from her uncaring, broken father.
They had reached the front of the Hall. Professor Longbottom stood in front of the group of students, but Zara didn't pay attention. She merely glanced at him, glared at the kid next to her, causing him to shrink deeper into his already too-big robes, and looked once again at the floor. Her mother had told her already that she would have to try on the Sorting Hat, and that it would speak to her, but Zara was nonplussed. If the hat tried to speak to her, it would definitely wish that it hadn't. She would tear it to pieces.
Zara had to wait to go last anyway, so she had some time to think over which house she would prefer to be in. The obvious answer for her was Slytherin, as that had been her mother's house, and she wanted to make her mother proud. However, that also happened to be her father's house, and the thing that Zara wanted most in the world, other than her mother back, of course, was to infuriate her father, and getting in Gryffindor would certainly do the trick. She was pulled out of her thoughts by "Zabini, Zivanna," being shouted into the silence.
She walked up to it quickly, not making eye contact with anybody, and finally was relieved of the pressure when she placed the hat over her head. Look, hat, she thought furiously, put me in any house, just not Slytherin!
"Ooh, interesting, a Zabini not wanting to be in Slytherin…" the hat said thoughtfully.
Just shut up and sort me already! Zara retorted, glaring at the disgusting inside of the ancient hat.
"Well, with an attitude like that, there's most certainly only one place for you," the hat told her. "Better be… SLYTHERIN!"
Zara ripped the hat off her head, scowling. She almost asked Professor Longbottom if she could have a repeat, but thought that that would sound incredibly childish. Instead, she squared her shoulders and walked toward the Slytherin table with her head held high.
A/N: Okay, well, those people who review my stories are the best people in the world. Special thanks to GinnyAndHarry4Life for reviewing my story! Well, now you know what to do: REVIEW and I'll thank you here like I did them.