July, 1987
Being the third of seven children wasn't easy. At ten years old, the quiet, introspective Percy Weasley struggled to be noticed in his loud, noisy family. Bill, his oldest brother was sixteen, always got perfect marks in everything, and was a prefect. Charlie, at fifteen, was the athletic one, seeker for the Gryffindor quidditch team, with one of the best catch records in recent history. Then there were his younger siblings; nine year old identical twins, Fred and George, with all their practical joking were always getting into trouble but hard to ignore, Ron at seven was a happy child and five year old Ginny was the only girl.
Today, Percy had received his Hogwarts letter. He would be eleven on August 22. He knew he would be compared unfavourably with his brothers. How was he going to compete with them, he wasn't as smart as Bill and was terrible at flying. Part of him hoped he'd be sorted into a different house from them. At least then he might have a chance to be himself. Of course, he'd never live it down. All the Weasleys and the Prewetts (his mother's family) had been in Gryffindor for three generations. Although his paternal grandmother, a Black by birth, had been in Slytherin, she was only a Weasley by marriage, and in any case it wasn't as though he wanted to be in Slytherin, did he?
Percy went into the kitchen. His mum was congratulating Bill on achieving "Outstanding" on all his OWLs. Great thought Percy. Something else to live up to. Charlie's Hogwarts letter lay on the table, with it were two brightly coloured badges, Prefect and Quidditch Captain! Wonderful!
Charlie was outside, with five year old Ginny on his shoulders, watching the younger boys ride their broomsticks. They were racing each other, Rob trying to catch the twins. Percy wished he could manage to stay on a broom for more than five minutes, but he'd never managed it.
August, 1987
Diagon Alley
Percy and his mum entered Ollivander's shop. He was to get his own wand, although his books and robes had all belonged to either Bill or Charlie and his hat was from a second hand store. Mr Ollivander came to greet them.
"Molly Prewett, eleven and a quarter inches, hawthorn and dragon heartstring, flexible" he said to Percy's mum. He turned to Percy. "Wand arm, please". Percy held out his left arm. Mr Ollivander pulled out a measuring tape and began to take measurements. The wandmaker then selected a number of wands for Percy to try without success. Finally, He felt warmth in his fingers as he touched one. He waved it around and sparks shot from the end.
" Nine inches, poplar, unicorn hair, springy", said Mr Ollivander, smiling.
Percy and Molly left the store and met up with Bill and Charlie, who'd been to get Bill's books for school, as well as a child's training broom for Ginny's birthday. Percy has told his parents that the new wand was enough and that he didn't need another present. The wand had cost a whole seven galleons after all. Although..If only his parents weren't always so short of money... What with little Ginny's birthday and getting ready for school, Percy usually had a celebration tea for his birthday. The last time he'd had a proper present, he'd been six. Charlie had given him Scabbers, his pet rat with the missing toe.
Sept 1st 1987
Percy found an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express, and settled down to read. His brothers, being prefects, had their own compartment. Percy was glad of the time to himself, when a stocky boy with brown hair entered. He was carrying a copy of "Quidditch through the Ages" under his arm.
"Hi, do you mind if I join you", He said.
" S-S-Sure" said Percy, " I'm j-j-just t-t-trying to a-v-void m-my b-b-brothers "
The boy sat down. " I'm Oliver Wood " he said
"P-P-Percy W-W-Weasley "
Oliver sat down and began to talk. His father was a muggle and his mother had been a professional quidditch player before her marriage, playing seeker for the Montrose Magpies and Scotland. He had one sister, Enid who was two years old. Percy tried to imagine being an only child for nine years and failed. Oliver thought it would be cool to have brothers.
"N-N-Not w-when th-they m-make it hard to c-compete with them" stammered Percy. "Th-They're b-b-both p-p-prefects and Ch-Charlie's qu-quidditch c-captain"
"You just to have more self-confidence" Oliver told him, with a smile.
Oliver talked about quidditch and how unfair it was that first-year couldn't play for their house team. He naturally supported the magpies. Percy closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming of finding his own place in the world..
Author's Note: I decided to make Charlie four years older than Percy, so that he would have left a full year before Harry arrived. Professor McGonagall mentions in "The Philosopher's Stone" that that the Gryffindor quidditch team had performed abysmally the previous year, so it makes sense that Charlie had finished school by then.