Disclaimer: The Harry Potter series is the property and brainchild of JK Rowling.

So . . . I know, I know. Slytherin AUs are so common they're boring, but my muse was really into Slytherin Percy. Many thanks to my beta reader, CreativePunk77, who offered some advice for Gemma's character and thought this was worth exploring as a project.

This story makes assumptions regarding ages and blood statuses of certain characters that may be noncanon. Just humor me, please.

He's born the third of seven, just another member of a large and recognizable family. The most interesting thing about him is not his appearance (tall, with red hair and freckles), his glasses (horn-rimmed), or even his personality. It's his name. Percy—not shortened from anything, the sort of name that makes people look at him and wonder if his parents are all there.

Even as a child it gives people pause.

That doesn't stop Percy from preferring the way people react to his name to seeing him as just another Weasley. If he has it his way, by the time he's grown, people will know him for who he is.

It's not hard to figure out how little you fit in when you're surrounded by siblings. His brothers and sister are individuals, yet they've all got a distinctive Weasleyness that Percy can never recreate, no matter how hard he tries.

Bill and Charlie may be the oldest, Fred and George may be the pranksters, Ron may be the youngest son, and Ginny may be Mother's beloved daughter, but they've all got the laid-back, easy going charisma of Father.

Percy sees the way that they can charm people without trying. He knows that they've all got tempers just like he does and can be very frustrating, but people gravitate toward all the others in a way that they never will for him.

But it isn't until he's eleven that he realizes just how alone he truly has been.

The letter comes that year. His parents congratulate him and watch as he opens it and reads it aloud, as per Weasley tradition. (Percy is beginning to hate that word. It makes him feel less like a person and more like a statistic.)

The shopping trip goes as well as expected, though it bothers him to know that he's buying second hand books and getting hand-me-down robes. Mother and Father mean well, but he wonders if they realize just how this is going to affect Ron when he's at school, who, according to Percy's estimations, is going to end up getting everything passed down to him.

On 1 September, they go to King's Cross. The twins demand to go too, and Mother has to physically keep them from forcing themselves onto the train. Percy feels a shiver go up his spine when he remembers that they will be attending in two years anyway.

Bill and Charlie help him get his things onto the train, then Charlie runs off with one of his friends from the Quidditch team. Bill at least stays long enough to make sure he has a compartment.

Percy sits with a boy who says his name is Oliver Wood. Most of the ride is spent with Wood regaling him with all the Quidditch matches he's seen and how excited he is to finally be attending school.

When Percy tells him his name, Wood is intrigued.

"I've heard of the Weasleys," he says. "You're supposed to be a big family. Doesn't your dad like Muggles?"

"He does," Percy confirms. More like obsessed, he doesn't say.

"Do you like Quidditch?"

Percy nods. "But only to watch. I'm rubbish on a broom."

While Wood is still polite, the way his expression changes tells Percy that he has disappointed the other boy.

This wouldn't have happened if you'd been like the others, Percy thinks. But, a part of him wonders, does he want to be like them? Like Father?

And then he knows that the answer is no, has been no for a long time.

His is one of the last names to be called for the Sorting. When the Hat finally comes down on his head, he can feel his brothers' eyes on him.

"Ah, another Weasley," a voice says. "There's a lot of you, aren't there?"

Yes, Percy thinks bitterly.

"I see, four more. Where to put you? You've got a fine mind."

Percy feels proud of this. He loves to learn and reads every book that he can.

"Yes, you like learning but not just to learn. You could be in Ravenclaw but there's also plenty of bravery here. Gryffindor."

Of course. He's a Weasley. The only members of the family who haven't been from there married into the family, like Father's mother. But he wonders why the Hat is taking such a long time.

"You could be a Gryffindor," the Hat repeats. "But unlike the rest of your family, you have quite a bit of ambition. And while there've been ambitious Weasleys before, they tend to see that as less important than bravery. You, though, don't seem to be going along with that tradition."

There it is again. Percy doesn't just want to be another Weasley who follows the family tradition. He doesn't even care if his family disowns him—he wants to be seen as his own person, to be great. And only one house is dedicated to that.

"Are you sure? All right, then. You'll do best in SLYTHERIN!" The last word is shouted and the hall becomes silent.

As Percy takes off the Hat, he begins to have regrets. Bill and Charlie look worried from the Gryffindor table. He turns away from them as he walks to the Slytherin table, which has begun to reluctantly applaud.

After dinner, they are led to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room is held. One of the prefects explains about their house. Part of the speech gives him pause—Merlin, the most famous wizard of all, had been in Slytherin. He was a Muggle rights supporter, but he was quite cunning and ambitious as well.

It is then that Percy knows what he must do. He will remake Slytherin house, and once he has, it'll help him gain the proper reputation and become the youngest and greatest Minister for Magic there's ever been.

The first several weeks of school are full of classes, studying, and finding his way around the whole castle. Hogwarts is beautiful—he can see why so many witches and wizards have admired the place, even if they had the option to study elsewhere.

Bill and Charlie check up on him nearly every day. He tells them he is fine, insisting that he's not a baby who needs to be looked after. He supposes Mother is to blame—he'd received a letter from her at breakfast the morning after his Sorting. She insisted that being in Slytherin was fine, that they were not upset with him, and that she and Father hoped he made many friends. (He never says so aloud, but the words made him feel, for the first time, like his family truly loved him for who he was.)

Percy doesn't make his first real friend until a month into term. It's not because the Slytherins are awful to him, though a few do mutter about blood traitors. He has simply been so busy studying that he hasn't bothered having more than a casual conversation with any of the other students. This is because he knows he's an outsider. It's not just because he's a Weasley, either. He's from a poor family with two other kids at school. Some say it straight to his face, but he knows that they all think it. (The fact that he has a pet rat doesn't help.)

Even the Muggleborns, the few that are in Slytherin, come from middle-class families and so they can't relate. Percy wonders about that—wouldn't it make more sense if Slytherin were full of people who didn't have money and worked hard to get it? Aren't they supposed to be the ambitious ones?

Most of the others in his year and in second year seem like they have no ambition at all. What has happened to Slytherin?

And then he knows. You-Know-Who. His original followers were from here and since so many Slytherins believe in blood purity even now, the house has lost its roots. (It doesn't matter to him that Salazar Slytherin had only wanted to teach purebloods.) Percy knows he doesn't believe any of that nonsense and won't let his future career prospects be ruined even before he's left school just because of his Hogwarts house.

He's in the library one day when he's joined by a girl in his year with dark hair pulled back in a long plait. He knows her—she's a Slytherin in his year, one of the top students, named Gemma Farley.

She looks at the notes he's taking. "Are those for school?"

"No," he says.

"Then what are they for?"

The book he's taking notes on is about the history of Merlin. "I'm trying to learn more about him. He was one of us."

"I understand. It's just too bad we're not the house of Merlin anymore."

"But we could be," Percy says.

She bites her lip. "It'd be a lot of hard work. So many Slytherins don't like Muggles."

"True. But we want to be great, right? What's a little hard work if we've got all the power?"

They share mischievous smiles.

"Gemma," she says, offering her hand. "Future Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Percy." He shakes her hand. "Future Minister for Magic."

They're inseparable from that day forward.

Percy and Gemma map out their plan over the next few months.

Working with someone is not a new challenge for him—he does have six siblings, after all. What's new is that for once he has someone who shares his passions and does not see him as dull or strange.

If they're going to change Slytherin, they'll need to get the Slytherins to cooperate and they'll also need to earn the respect of the other houses. So they focus on their studies. They soon become the top two students in their year, to the dismay of the Ravenclaws and the joy of their parents. Gemma may be better at Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts while Percy may beat her at Charms and History of Magic, but together they make a very driven and brilliant duo.

This leads into their next plan: befriend the other students in their year, starting with the other Slytherins. While Gemma's better at talking to people, they are both fundamentally socially awkward, bookish people. So their way of getting others to be friends with them involves setting up a study group that is held in the common room.

At first, none of the others come. They aren't outcasts, exactly, but even though Gemma's from a family of Slytherins and Percy's earned a decent amount of house points for answering questions in class, neither are they popular enough to inspire the others to join them. But when it's time to study for exams before the Christmas holiday, suddenly their study group is gaining more than its original two members.

Professor Snape, their Head of house, asks them about their study group right before the end of term.

"What compelled you to do it?" he asks.

"We're Slytherins," Percy answers. "We're supposed to be united."

Gemma finishes. "And what better way, sir, than to help everyone succeed in their exams?"

The Potions Master is a guarded man, who keeps his emotions other than annoyance or frustration close to himself. And yet there's something in his expression that tells Percy that Professor Snape is impressed.

He likes this feeling.

When he goes home that holiday, the younger ones beg him for stories about Hogwarts. Mother and Father ask how he's feeling, even though he's told them everything in his letters. While he is happy to be home, he misses Gemma and Hogwarts. At least there he is able to be around other Slytherins.

Then it sinks in. While he's known it for months, it occurs to him that he's the first Weasley not by marriage to be in Slytherin. After spending months with those of his house, he realizes just how obviously Gryffindor the rest of the family is. And it makes Percy wonder how he ever thought he could be like them.

He says nothing about it. He loses to Ron at chess; he chases after Fred and George when they try to test something on Scabbers; he assures Mother once more that Bill and Charlie had seen him regularly during term; and he comforts Ginny when she feels left out. On Christmas morning, he pulls on his homemade jumper. For the first time, it is green adorned with a silver P.

Percy feels the tears come, but forces them down. He is eleven, too old for this. But he gives Mother an extra strength hug when he thinks the others aren't looking.

One night after Christmas is over, Percy sits down with his father. "Did you know that Merlin was in Slytherin?"

His father looks up. "Ah . . . well, I believe we learned about it in school, though I've almost forgot. It isn't really something people talk about much anymore."

"Well, Gemma and I—well, we think that that should change."

"It should," Father agrees. "He was a far better example of what a Slytherin can be."

Percy knows what his father means: A better example than You-Know-Who.

"Percy."

His eyes meet his father's.

"When I was at Hogwarts, the Head of Slytherin house was a man named Horace Slughorn. I didn't get along with him particularly, but he was not a bad sort. He simply believed that the best way to get along in society was to form connections, know the right kind of people."

Percy nods. It makes sense, that his father would not like that sort of man. "We're doing something like that with our study group. It's just Slytherins for now, but we want all the houses to join in."

"That's wonderful," his father says. "Don't give up, you hear me? Whatever you want to accomplish, you can. Your mother and I will always be proud of you."

That same night, his brother Bill comes into his currently empty room to speak to him.

"I'm sorry if you feel like I've been tiptoeing around the subject, Percy."

"It's all right."

"No, it's not," Bill says, setting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "You're my brother and you're in Slytherin. That makes you different, but, blimey, Perce, I think you could end up making that whole house not that bad."

Percy does not like that his house has been insulted, but he understands the sentiment. "Do you think so?" His voice comes out very small, like he's still a little kid. "I—I know I'm not as good with people as all the rest of you."

"You're good with people who are ambitious." Bill smiles. "And that's important. The kids in Slytherin tend to end up working at the Ministry, so if they get their heads on straight now, everyone benefits."

"Maybe you should have been the one in Slytherin," Percy tells him, only slightly joking.

Bill lets out a howl of laughter. "Nah, I'm too blunt. I'll leave all that hard, subtle stuff for you, 'bro. You do want to be Minister, right?"

"I will be Minister," he corrects.

"I'm sure you will, Perce," Bill says as he turns to leave. "I'm sure you will."

"Holiday go all right?" Percy asks Gemma in the common room.

He always tries to be careful when asking about her family after the look she got in her eye the first time. What stands out the most to Percy is that she's an only child.

She shrugs. "It was OK. Mum and Dad are still pretty surprised that I'm doing so well in school."

"Didn't they know you like to read?"

"They did," she says, gazing at the view of the lake. "But they didn't think I'd be all that great at magic."

Percy does not answer directly. Instead, he asks her to play a game of Exploding Snap. And when she yells in excitement after she's won three games in a row, Percy is too happy to be frustrated when he gets teased for his eyebrows getting singed off.

To their surprise—and more than a bit of glee—their study group continues to meet after the start of term. Not as many are a part of it this time, but it's still more than Percy and Gemma, and that's quite good enough.

Gemma is the one to tell him that the older years have noticed what they're doing.

"What do they think?"

"Well . . . They seem to find it amusing."

Percy scowls. It reminds him of the way Bill has been since they've come back to school. The last time they spoke, Bill called the study group "adorable."

"I know," Gemma says with frustration. "They don't take us seriously."

"But they will."

She nods. "They will."

Over the course of the term, they ease the others into meeting not just in the common room but in the library, too. Percy and Gemma watch, pleased, as Slytherin house continues to earn lots of house points now that their house's year is doing solidly well in their studies, even Marcus Flint.

It's in March when they decide that it is time to move into the next phase.

They're in the common room that night, most having already finished their homework. Most of the upper years are in their dorms or out somewhere else, leaving them mainly with fifth or seventh years who are revising for their O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.

Percy motions to Gemma.

"So, it's been a good first year for us," she begins. "We're so far in the lead, we're surely going to win the House Cup this year."

"The Quidditch Cup, too," says Terence Higgs. No one has the heart to tell him it's unlikely, not with Percy's brother Charlie playing Seeker for Gryffindor.

"And all of us are doing well in school," Gemma continues. "I'd say we've all become pretty good friends?"

There are some affirmatives, and a few answers of "bloody hell, no."

She smirks. "Well, either way, we're doing our house proud. But tell me, how many of you have friends in the other houses?"

Only two are willing to share.

"Sometimes I spend some time with the girls in Ravenclaw," admits one of Gemma's roommates.

"I've talked to Oliver Wood a few times," Higgs says. "Just about Quidditch."

Gemma tutters. "That's not good."

"What does it matter?" asks Marcus Flint.

Percy steps in. "Flint, think. The Sorting Hat made it clear that Salazar Slytherin decided that this house is for ambitious and cunning people. We're the house for people who want to be great. How is that supposed to happen if we spend all our time away from everyone else?"

"Our house is full of people who go into the Ministry," Gemma adds. "And yet Hufflepuff is also full of people who work there. You know why? It's because they're known for being friendly and that makes it easier for them to make connections."

"We're just first years, though."

"True." Percy pushes his glasses up his nose. "But we're already near the end of our first year. By the time we've sat our O.W.L.s, everyone will have decided what they think about us. You know how the rest of the school looks at Slytherins. Wouldn't it be so much better if we could change that?"

Several ask how that is possible. The words "why should we care?" go unspoken.

"Merlin was in our house," Gemma says. "Sure, You-Know-Who was, too, but that's not what we have to be about. We could go so far if we stopped trying to keep the pureblood tradition going."

"But aren't you and Weasley purebloods?"

Percy flushes. "Well, yes, but that doesn't mean we feel like that about Muggles or Muggleborns. The Sorting Hat gave me a choice, you know. I could have been in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, but I chose to be in Slytherin."

He now has the whole room's attention.

"I knew Slytherin was known for being full of dark wizards, but I don't want to be that. I just want to go through my classes, be prefect and Head Boy, and then get a nice Ministry job. I don't want people to look at me and think, 'Oh, it's that Weasley. The one who's in the bad house.' I'm not going to let people look at me like that."

He takes a deep breath. "All we wanted to do was try and help us all become better friends with the other kids in the other houses. You never know—they might be related to someone important, maybe put in a good word for you."

Percy picks up his books and goes to his dorm, deciding to retire early that night. He doesn't know if his words will have any effect.

He feels himself glowing with delight and pride at the next meeting in the library when he recognizes extra faces, including Oliver Wood from Gryffindor and Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw.

Percy exchanges looks with Gemma, both of them thinking the same thing: All according to plan.

At first, the new additions interfere a bit with the established rhythm and order of their study sessions. There are whispered arguments that sometimes lead to students being thrown out by Madam Pince. Eventually, though, they make it work.

The house points are now closer than they were before, though Slytherin is still solidly in the lead. (As it should be, Percy thinks.) Professor Snape confronts them again on their study group.

"Is it some form of charity?" he asks.

Gemma shakes her head. "It's networking, Professor."

"Yes," Percy agrees. "You had Professor Slughorn when you were at Hogwarts, didn't you, sir?"

"Yes, I did." There's something they can't read in his expression.

"It's like my father told me he believed in. It's not what you know—it's who you know."

"Very Slytherin of you, Weasley." He thinks this is the man's attempt at a compliment. Whether it is or not, he takes it as one anyway.

Percy beams. "Thank you, sir."

When Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup that year, Percy congratulates Charlie, taking a seat with him at the Gryffindor table.

"Thanks," Charlie says. "But shouldn't you have been rooting for the Slytherin team?"

Percy shrugs. "Their Seeker's not half as good as you."

His brother smiles. "Thanks, Perce. Think you might end up trying out?"

He stiffens. "No, I'm far too busy." He doesn't say that he has no urge to go near a broom again after he was humiliated during flying lessons.

"Oh, yeah. That study group you and that Farley girl have. Do you do anything else, little brother? All I ever see you do is study."

"Of course I do. But what happens in Slytherin, stays there, Charlie."

Charlie rolls his eyes. "They've turned you into one of them in the last year, haven't they?"

"No," Percy says firmly. "I'm just finally with people who are just like me."

As academically focused as they both can be, sometimes they have their days where they decide to go outside and relax.

Percy thinks back to when flying lessons had gone on. Gemma was one of the best in their group—she soared through the air with a hypnotizing precision and grace.

"Do you like to fly at home?" he asks her one day.

Gemma watches the clouds in the sky, patting her hand on the grass. "Yeah. It's nice. When I'm in the air, it's like nothing matters."

Percy's brothers have told him similar things.

One day she's in a mischievous mood. She steals a school broom and goes for a quick fly. Percy, a stickler for the rules, is astonished and asks her how she expects to become a prefect with that kind of behavior on her record.

Gemma sighs. "Perce, sometimes I don't know what to do with you. If I'm seen, I'll make sure it's only Professor Snape who does. He won't send away one of his Slytherins."

Percy admits that this is true. "It's still so wrong, though."

"You don't have to come with me."

But he is there with her the whole time, even playing lookout until she comes back down, grinning from ear to ear.

Gemma ends up taking the top spot away from Percy on their exam scores. Percy feels stupid for having missed the two points due to silly mistakes, but is genuinely happy for her.

"Well done," he says at the end of term feast. "You were a worthy opponent." In the background, he hears some of the other students celebrating their win of the House Cup.

"So were you." Gemma chuckles. "It's going to be so weird not seeing you for weeks. You will write me, won't you?"

"Of course!" He is surprised that she has to ask. Then again, she is just as new to having friends as he is. "Letters from you will be one of the things that helps me get through summer at The Burrow. It was bad enough at Christmas. This is a lot longer."

She snorts. "Well, you'll have plenty of brothers and your little sister to keep you busy."

"True. You should come visit, though. My mother would love you."

"From what you've told me," she says, "your mother loves everyone."

"Only if they let her mother them," Percy says in a dry tone.

As he reflects on all that they've accomplished that year, Percy feels satisfied. Sure, he still sometimes sees the Muggleborn Slytherins sitting away from the purebloods and some of the less friendly halfbloods. And the common room's passwords are only better now that he and Gemma have pointed it out to Professor Snape, with Gemma having slyly brought up the possibility of going to the Headmaster about it.

But it's a start. Hogwarts wasn't built in a day, either.

"How was your first year?" Mother asks him at King's Cross.

"It went well," Percy says. "I can't wait to go back."

Author's Note: I started this is as a oneshot but I have several ideas for the continuing adventures of Percy and Gemma as they take over the school and gain power in the process.

This story came about because I always felt like Percy was a good example of what a Slytherin should be: ambitious but has morals and is uninterested in blood purity. Plus, if Slughorn had been teaching when he'd attended, Percy would have been one of the star members of the Slug Club. Gemma Farley, I used, because she's a blank slate and I wanted to give Percy a really close Slytherin friend.

This story was my first attempt at present tense. The style, I admittedly adapted from Annerb's excellent fic, The Changeling, a Slytherin Ginny AU.

Let me know what you thought.