Percy's sorting. For the the Hogwarts Games competition on HPFC, the freestyle swimming event. None of the characters mentioned are mine 0; they belong to Jo Rowling.

As soon as the sorting hat was placed on Percy Weasley's head, he clenched his jaw. 'What would it say?'

That was the only through going through his head. It had been for the whole day, even though he pretended to be immersed in his book on the train. Gryffindor. Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff. Slytherin. His immediate reaction was Gryffindor, but the other houses had their benefits too. Ravenclaw the most, being the smart one was something that Percy enjoyed. Slytherin too, but less so. If he chose Slytherin, people would leave him alone, and would give him the respect he deserved, but He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was from Slytherin, and Percy didn't want to associate himself with that crowd. Hufflepuff he didn't really feel any connection to, as if he chose that house, he would be grouped with the happy-go-lucky followers. Percy was NOT a follower.

But none of those thoughts were running through his head as he sat in front of the whole school, waiting for the answer to something that he would carry on his back for the rest of his life. The thoughts running through his head were only something a nervous person would think, and as Percy reminded himself for the thousandth time that day, he was NOT nervous.

The hat responded almost immediately (it didn't feel like that to eleven year old Percy) inside his head.

"You don't really belong in Hufflepuff or Slytherin. A smart boy like yourself should have figured that out already." The sorting hat told him. Percy felt stupid. Of course he should have. Percy nodded, the color draining out of his face, trying to remain expressionless. "But if two are gone, then two remain. Which one shall it be Percy Weasley?" Percy took a deep breath, But he never got the chance to answer. The sorting hat did that for him.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The old leather hat told him, and Percy felt relived. He could live up to the Weasley name, in a house where he belonged. He was sure of it. His first instinct was right. Percy placed the hat back on the stool and sat down at the Gryffindor table. His elder brother Bill patted him on the back and Percy smiled for the first time that day.