Ten-year-old Percy waved half-heartedly to his older siblings as the Hogwarts Express departed later that summer. His main comfort was that he would be joining them the next year—though he really wanted something more than to be like his older brothers.

He'd finally gotten over his annoyance at Charlie for turning him in, but Percy knew the dangers of controlling people. He wanted to do it more. He wanted to feel anything other than the helplessness he had after Charlie had dragged him to their mother, but she was watching him. And his dad was also watching him.

Percy had known exactly when his father had learned what had been happening. Arthur Weasley was not good at hiding things, in his third son's opinion. Percy did not want to know that his father was disappointed and worried about him.

The boy hated that he wanted his father and mother to be proud of him, but he couldn't help but need the reassurance. But they never noticed how well-behaved he was, nor how responsible he was—or anything about him except whether he was using the Imperius.

The one decent thing that a couple months later was that Percy found a friend. Not a Muggle from the village—in fact, not a human at all. In one of Percy's escapes to the garden, he had discovered a bedraggled rat and had rescued it from a cackling gnome.

His mother had not liked the idea of having a rat in the house, but Percy had begged and pleaded so hard that his mother had finally allowed it—as long as Arthur agreed to it. Percy's father had been very interested to see the creature, and after inspecting him, said, "He seems fine, Percy, except he's missing a couple of toes. I wonder if the gnome got him."

"May I keep him? Please?" Percy pleaded. "Please, Dad?"

"Why do you want that?" Silas scoffed. "He's stupid."

Percy ignored the twins as his father nodded, and the boy grinned, grabbed the rat, and hurried upstairs. "You're safe with me," he told the rat, "but be careful of the others—and don't surprise Mum."

The rat squeaked and sniffed the air, and Percy smiled. "You're welcome."

Both Dora and Charlie were not thrilled when Will came back from his first trip to Hogsmeade and proceeded to tell them both how much fun it was. They both told him to shut up, and he simply grinned. "You'll do the same to Percy," Will said knowingly.

"I will not," Charlie answered. "The other twins, though."

"Yeah," Dora laughed. "So, Charlie, how was tryouts for you? I heard Gryffindor tryouts were last week."

Charlie looked down at his plate. "I—I'm the new seeker."

Will and Dora gaped at him. "You what?" she gasped.

"Charlie, what the HELL?" Will said loudly, making others stare. "Are you serious?"

"How dare you not tell us, you idiot!" Dora said, grinning. "Charlie!"

"Well, you were sad because—well...I just didn't," Charlie said, his ears turning pink. "No one knew it until now."

"Aren't you glad you didn't make the Slytherin team?" Will said to Dora.

"No," she scoffed. "I'm still going to try out next time. I'm not going to forfeit just because I would play against family."

Will turned to his friends and before anyone could stop him, announced, "Charlie's our new seeker and he didn't even tell me! We'll do a lot better this year."

"Will!" Charlie hissed, catching looks from every house table. "Will, stop it!"

"Hey, the attention will be worse after a game, either way," Dora told him. "I still want my house to win, but good luck."

Charlie grinned. "Thanks."

Charlie was terribly nervous for his first game, especially after hearing all the jeers and near threats of the Slytherins—even though they were only playing Ravenclaw. A lot of the school turned out to see the new Gryffindor team members, and Dora and Will sat with their own housemates.

Dora did not shout when her twin caught the snitch, effectively winning the game for Gryffindor, but she was very proud of him, and told him so in their next History of Magic class. She then learned that people talked to him more now, and that he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Quidditch is fun, though," he muttered to his twin, not wanting to write out their whole conversation. She nodded and they kept quiet the rest of the class.

Charlie indeed found himself to be more popular, even among the older students, and students that would just walk by before, now greeted him: "Hey, Charlie!" or with just a wave or a nod.

He did enjoy all the attention for a while, but sometimes wished for a room just like Dora had to hide in. It made things easier and more fun, but Charlie slowly began to recognise the danger of being too popular. He did his best to include and talk to those he could, even though sometimes, he only wanted to be by himself. Charlie had no desire to be a role model for other kids, and he told Will this, only to be told, "Well, you're an older brother, so you're always a role model."

This didn't help Charlie process his new fame, but when he told Dora, she completely agreed. "Will can be the role model," Dora said firmly. "And Percy. But not me, and if you like, not you."

"I'm glad you understand," he sighed. "It's hard."

"It's rough when no one understands," Dora nodded, "but it's nice when they at least care."

Charlie only had to look into her eyes to know what she was thinking. "Ronan was that for you, wasn't he?" Dora nodded and broke eye contact, Charlie adding, "I understand."

"Thanks," she murmured. "And I'll be that for you, okay?" She made a small smile and whispered a random word.

"What?" Charlie frowned.

"Vampirism," Dora repeated. "In case you ever want to come see me in the dungeons."

"Oh—shit," Charlie grinned. "You think if I set foot in the dungeons that I'll make it to you?"

"You can duel," Dora shrugged. "Mum taught us together, remember?"

"Like yesterday," he grinned. "Mum's the best."

Dora nodded. "Remember," she told him. "I'll let you know if the password updates."

When the three went home for Christmas break, the other twins were very excited about Charlie playing Quidditch, whereas Percy once again followed Will to his room and asked to look at his elective textbooks.

Will told him to go for it, and the younger boy sat in the corner with the two books as Silas and Regis chattered with Charlie. Dora was in her room, and the youngest two were in the kitchen with their mother, making Christmas cookies.

"No, I'm not going to play right now," Charlie scoffed. "Mum's baking cookies, and I'm going down there to either help, or eat all of them. Come on."

Will laughed, then looked at Percy and said, "Hey, Perce, you coming?"

Percy glanced up from reading about the basics of runes and wards and said, "No, thanks."

"You sure?" Will asked, frowning.

"Tommy and Elsie ruin fun things," Percy answered. "I'm sure."

"Don't let them control you," Will shrugged. "They annoy me too, to be honest, but I'm sure they'll grow out of it."

"Or annoy the wrong person and get cursed into oblivion," Percy said hopefully.

"No," Will grinned. "No more Alice in Wonderland situations." He was surprised when Percy laughed at this. "Mum was so angry when Dad brought that book home for Elsie."

"She would find it funny if she hadn't known Alice," Percy said firmly.

"Come on," Will said again. "There won't be any left for us."

Percy grudgingly got to his feet and set the books on the bed. "It's before dinner," he said. "Mum won't let them—"

"Will, where are you?" Silas yelled up the stairs.

"I'm coming, damnit!" Will yelled back. He grinned at Percy and led the way downstairs.

"You needn't share all the lessons you've learned at school with us, Will," his mother said over her shoulder as she mixed something at the kitchen counter.

"That wasn't all," Will grinned, sitting between Regis and Percy.

"See," Dora teased. "You have to be the example."

"As the oldest child," Charlie intoned from across the table from Will, "you must be perfect. No excuses."

Their mother brought over the frosting she'd been mixing and said, "No child should have to be the example for the rest of the family. You are only responsible for yourself. Perfection is not required or expected, only your best efforts."

Percy caught her eye and she smiled at him, slightly surprised he had joined them. She set a few cookies on the plate before him and said, "Decorate them however you like. Will, same for you."

To Percy's relief, it was more fun than he'd thought it would be to sit with his whole family and decorate cookies. Silas did make a rude comment about how Percy was being too slow, but Will spoke up and said that Percy would rather create art than a mess, and Percy had to agree. But if art was an expression of a person, Percy didn't want to know what went on in the younger twins' minds, and said so.

His older siblings burst out laughing, unable to believe what Percy had said. Even their mother had her back to them, and Percy was sure that she had laughed too. He grinned, then went back to his own art.

When dinner was ready, their father came in from the shop and Charlie asked, "What are you working on in there, Dad?"

"Just a couple of projects," Arthur said evasively.

Andromeda knew exactly what Arthur was doing: illegally attaching spells to Muggle objects—and she had already told him that she did not want the children encouraged to perform illegal activities, even though they were "harmless." She said nothing, serving her family their dinner as Dora and Will began to tell their dad about their new experiences.

"You forgot your favourite part," Charlie told Will with a smirk, beginning to eat at a rapid pace. "Hogsmeade."

"Merlin," Dora said. "Will's been once and talked about it for weeks. I told him if he didn't shut up, I'd make him."

"That's right," Arthur said, turning to his oldest. "So you liked it?" Will grinned and nodded, and Arthur smiled thoughtfully. "My brothers and I enjoyed it back in our time, especially the joke shop."

"Joke shop?" All the twins seemed intrigued, and their father smiled. "You'll see."

Percy much looked forward to his older siblings coming home at the end of the school year, as it meant he was getting closer and closer to going to Hogwarts himself. His mother had praised his wandwork to his father, which made Percy very proud of himself. He already knew he was well ahead for his age and was glad that his parents knew and were happy about it.

Of course, the summer might not go well, but Percy was fine with that if he could leave for Hogwarts in September.

One thing Percy especially detested was being asked (or told) what House he wanted. The younger twins—mostly Silas—continued asking until Percy said, "Worry about yourself: leave me alone."

"We're going to be Gryffindors," Silas shrugged, and Percy noted that his twin looked uncomfortable.

"He doesn't want to," Percy said, motioning to Regis.

"Yes, he does," Silas scoffed without looking at his twin. "He's just nervous."

Percy did not answer this, not liking how Silas was ignoring how Regis clearly felt. He turned away from Silas and said, "I'll do what I want." He walked away before Silas could continue to hassle him.

He hugged his mother tightly on the station platform, and she murmured, "We'll be proud of you no matter what you choose."

"Thanks," he whispered, then hurried after his brothers and sister.

"Ronan was trying to catch your eye," Charlie was saying to Dora when Percy entered the compartment.

"I have the whole year with him," she scoffed. "He can survive a train ride by himself."

Percy sat down, and Will turned to him. "A lot of students might pop in to greet us," Will warned with a teasing grin. "Charlie's pretty popular."

"Shut up," Charlie said, and Percy suggested, "Ward the door?"

"You could lock it," Dora shrugged.

"He means a ward, not a charm," Charlie said. "Like the Slytherin Common Room has the rune password ward."

Will raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me you already know that stuff?" he asked the others.

"It keeps Tommy and Elsie out of things," Percy sighed.

"After Mum outlawed me using curse wards," Charlie laughed, "rune wards worked well."

"Curse wards are better," Dora agreed.

"Damn," Will said. "I'm the only one who can't do rune wards."

"I can't place rune wards," Dora corrected him. "But I understand them."

"You've never really had the little kids go through your stuff, have you?" Charlie asked Will. "I think all of us had to ask Mum to help us protect our things."

Will shook his head. "They were toddlers when I started school," he said.

Percy glanced up as students peered in at them. "So a ward, or no?"

Before anyone could answer, the door opened, and an older boy looked in. "You busy, Will?"

"Mostly," Will answered. "Percy, this is—"

"—the Grey Mudblood," the boy grinned, the Ravenclaw crest sparkling on his robe. "Another brother, I presume?"

"This is Percy," Will corrected, to Charlie's approval. "Percy, this is my friend, Richard Grey." Richard opened his mouth with an interested look on his face, and Will said, "Don't ask what house. He won't say."

"Ah," said Richard, then added to Percy, "Ravenclaw's great if you need space. Usually only the girls fight. And contrary to popular belief, both Slytherin and Gryffindor are trash."

"Sure," the three oldest Weasleys said together, and Richard laughed. "Good luck, Percy." And he walked off.

Percy's brothers and sister all look at him, but he turned his attention to his rat—who had seemed nearly as eager to start out on the journey to Hogwarts as he had been. Percy wasn't surprised that the creature seemed to know he was going to get away from the little kids that teased and chased him around so much.

A few minutes later, an older Gryffindor entered the compartment and said, "Charlie, you should come sit with us: we're talking about Quidditch strategies for this year."

Charlie frowned at his captain. "It's a bit early for that, isn't it?"

"Don't ask him that," Dora scoffed. "He'll think you're not taking it seriously."

"This isn't practise," Charlie continued. "We're not even on the grounds—you go on."

"Well," said the older boy in surprise. "I've met this first year kid who won't shut up about Quidditch, and I thought you should meet him."

"Wait—he's not even Sorted!" Will laughed. "You tell him your plans now and you might regret it."

"He wants to be in Gryffindor," the Team Captain shrugged. "But of course I wouldn't tell him the actual plans: he can't even be on the team this year—even if he is as good as I hope he is."

"What position does he play?" Charlie couldn't help asking.

"Keeper, he's hoping. You know ours is graduating this year, so that would be great."

Dora rolled her eyes and got to her feet, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. "See you around," she said to her brothers and walked out.

"Great," the captain sighed in relief, relaxing a little. "What was she doing in here, anyway?"

"She's my twin," Charlie snapped at the older boy, as Will and Percy snapped, "She's our sister!" The three boys glared at the team captain, and Charlie added coolly, "You should go: I'll see you around."

"Well, she's a Slytherin—and you're not—" the older boy protested.

"Out," Charlie pointed. "You may be the captain, but you're not talking shit about my family. I don't care about a place on the team."

"I—sorry," the boy sighed, shocked at this side of his seeker. "I didn't know." And he made his exit.

Charlie looked at Percy. "For the love of Merlin—"

"Got it," Percy agreed, jumping up, and warded the compartment door. "No one will disturb us unless Dora comes back."

"I'm so glad you're smart," Will told Percy, then turned to Charlie. "How can you stand him?"

"He's all right when discussing Quidditch," Charlie sighed. "He's a bit stupid if he didn't know Dora's our sister."

"Agreed," Will said brightly. "But then, most students say that Quidditch players are only good at Quidditch—I know that's not true in your case, Charlie, but maybe he's one of those."

Charlie merely sighed. "Why else would a Slytherin girl sit with us?"

"Dunno," shrugged Will. "A girlfriend, maybe? It's not unheard of for students in different houses to date."

"But we're not allowed to date until we're fifteen," Charlie mimicked, making Will laugh and Percy blush. "Oh—Dad talked to you about that, didn't he?"

Percy looked away and refused to speak. He did not want to relive the incredibly awkward conversation he'd had with his father about the Weasley male sexuality. He could live without thinking of that ever again.

Charlie grinned at Will. "You'll be fifteen this winter, though."

"I don't want to think about that," Will said, shaking his head. "Anyway, there's something else." He turned to Percy. "I'm not asking, don't worry," he told his second brother. "Whatever you choose, I've got your back."

"Me too," Charlie said firmly.

Percy nodded gratefully, and Will continued, "I came to Gryffindor because I figured it would be most helpful to my brothers and sisters, but no matter where you and the others are Sorted, I'll do whatever I can to help you."

The first year hesitated, then asked, "What did the Sorting Hat tell you, Will?"

"It offered me...Slytherin," Will said honestly. "I don't think I'm Slytherin material, but that's what the Hat said. I told it I wanted Gryffindor, and that's what I am. I can't imagine being anywhere else now."

"It offered Dora Hufflepuff," Charlie said, shaking his head. "And me too. I'm not sure the Hat is reliable."

"If you insist on what you want, it will give you whatever you tell it," Will told Percy.

"I can see you being a Hufflepuff," Percy said to Charlie. "And Dora a little bit because she's caring sometimes, but I don't see Slytherin in you, Will."

"I don't either," Charlie admitted to Will. "I don't understand that. And I don't see Hufflepuff in me. I don't like people."

Percy couldn't help grinning at this statement. "But you care, kind of like Dora. You're just a little different about it."

"And you like creatures," Will pointed out. "That does make sense."

"Oh, yeah…" Charlie frowned. "I still don't think I'm a Hufflepuff. I mean, I could have gone to Slytherin with Dora, but I wouldn't have liked it."

"Shared a room with Ronan for the rest of your Hogwarts experience," Percy pointed out, and Will gaped at him. "I didn't even think of that."

"I did," Charlie said humorlessly. "I did not want that."

"Were you offered Slytherin too?" Percy asked.

"No," Charlie sighed. "I don't think the Sorting Hat is very intelligent, no matter what it says."

Will laughed at this, and said to Percy, "I'll be curious to know what the Hat says to you—if you want to tell us, that is."

Percy nodded nervously, and Charlie changed the subject.

Percy was so nervous that he almost felt sick when the train began to slow down coming into Hogsmeade station. He didn't say a word to either of his brothers, but merely nodded when they wished him good luck. He heard Charlie yell something to the giant that was calling for the first years, but he blocked out all sound and concentrated on walking to where he was supposed to go.

He was glad to get into one of the boats on the lake, the sound of the water strangely making him feel a little more calm. He was not thrilled, however, when a talkative kid got into the boat with him and immediately began to chatter about Quidditch.

"Are you the one the Gryffindor captain was telling Charlie about?" Percy asked him, and the boy froze in surprise.

"Probably...but the captain said it wasn't a good time for me to meet him," the boy answered. "Do you know him?"

"He's my brother," Percy said, immediately wishing he hadn't said it. "But I'm not like him: I don't like flying."

"Oh," said the boy. "I'm Oliver Wood. What's your name?"

"I'm Percy," said Percy, and looked out over the water as the boats began to move toward the castle. He saw the Giant Squid wave at them, and it startled him at first, but he remembered that Charlie said it was friendly. Percy stayed still, not wanting to cause waves or accidentally fall in.

He was relieved when they arrived at the boathouse, and followed Hagrid up to the doors of the castle, ready to have the whole thing over with. Percy was not surprised by the ghosts, though he was amazed at the grandeur of the castle, and took some time to look around the Entrance Hall. He was careful to stay with the others, however, and made sure to pay attention when Professor McGonagal talked.

Percy did his best to disappear into the huddle of first years, but he was sure that with his red hair, it was impossible. He quickly remembered that he would be last or nearly last to be Sorted and that there would be no way he could hide. He had some idea of what he wanted to do: he only hoped that Will was right about the Sorting Hat.

To his amusement, he found that he was not the last to be Sorted, but that the kid he'd met in the boat would be sorted after him. This was little comfort to Percy as he walked up to the stool, took the Hat, sat down, and placed it on his head.

"Ah, another Weasley," the Hat mused, and Percy instantly had a bad feeling about it. "A suspicious one, rather like your second brother...but you don't want to be anything like them, do you? You want to make a name for yourself."

Percy said nothing, his mind going very blank in the moment as he panicked slightly, unsure what to do even though he had planned out what to do. He heard the Hat say something about Slytherin, and Percy declined this, not wanting that for his future.

It felt far too long before the Hat finally called out, "Ravenclaw!"

"What?" said several students in shock, but Percy ignored them, hardly seeing Will and Charlie's proud smiles as he walked to the Ravenclaw House table.

Percy was relieved. He had finally done something that would separate himself from just being "one of the Weasley brothers." The moment he sat down, however, the friend of Will's that had talked to them briefly on the train hurried down to him.

"I'm so glad we got you!" Richard said to Percy, grinning broadly. "Will speaks highly of you—says you're smarter than him. I see that's true." He chuckled at his own joke. "Anyway, if you have questions about anything, I'll do my best to help you."

"Isn't that a prefect's job?" said a girl two seats away.

"It's anyone's job that might want to be a prefect some day," Richard told her. He congratulated Percy again, then hurried back to his seat as Oliver Wood was Sorted to Gryffindor.

When the feast was over, Will and Charlie came over and congratulated him on being the intelligent one of the family. Percy managed a small smile, but was grateful when they went away. He wanted to be different, but he didn't want to be fussed over.

He was excited to go to his common room, as no one else in the family was a Ravenclaw, so he wasn't sure what it would be like. Percy made sure to listen carefully as the prefect told the Ravenclaw first years how to solve the Common Room riddles, and as they entered the common room, Percy was thrilled to see that it had its own mini library.

When he got to his dorm room, the other boys introduced themselves and only one of them knew the name Weasley. "Are you the oldest?" the boy asked.

"No, but I'm the only Ravenclaw so far," Percy answered. "I have two brothers in Gryffindor and a sister in Slytherin. Who knows where the younger ones will be."

"Hufflepuff," another boy laughed. "Make it all the houses."

"I don't know if they could," Percy answered. He pulled his trunk out of his pocket and set it back to its regular size. "But that's their decision."