Author's Note: For Amber, Lo, and Bex. :)

Thanks to Crissie and Jet for betaing.

Written for…

Houses Competition. House/Year: Hufflepuff, 5th Year. Prompt: MCU Crossover

Thaw

860 words

Wisconsin, 1971

Phil had never really thought about magic while he was growing up. It had always been a natural part of his life, watching his mom brew potions in the kitchen, and his dad Floo to and from the Ministry every day. There was never a question of whether or not he would attend Ilvermorny one day as they had.

He was seven when he realized that might not be the case, after catching his four-year-old cousin unintentionally levitating a toy. It suddenly dawned on Phil that he had never had anything magical happen to him unless his parents cast something.

"Can I do magic?" he asked his parents that night. He could tell from the look they shared that this wasn't a conversation they wanted to be having.

"No," his mom answered bluntly as his dad left the room. "Or at least, we don't think so. There's still a chance, but usually by now you'd have shown signs of magic if you were a wizard."

Phil nodded slowly, processing the information. "What happens if I'm not? Will I die?"

"No, sweetheart. You'd be a No-Maj, someone without magic. It's not a bad thing."

"Like Muggles?"

She smiled. "That's right."

"And Muggles are great," his dad said, carrying a large box into the room and setting it down in front of the couch. "Your grandparents were Muggles. Best people I ever knew."

"Yeah, I guess." Phil had been told numerous stories about his dad's family and how he'd grown up without magic. "But I wanted to do magic."

"There's more to life than magic, Phil. Magic doesn't make you smart, or kind, or important. In fact, the bravest and most heroic man I can think of was a Muggle. I wanted to be just like him when I was your age."

"Who?"

Phil couldn't help his curiosity as he watched his dad open the dusty box and pull out a handful of trading cards, each depicting a man in a red, white, and blue suit and carrying a shiny shield in the same colours with a star at the center. He didn't move like the people in the chocolate frog cards Phil collected, but the boy was still just as intrigued by the strangely-dressed man.

"This is Captain America," his dad explained excitedly. "He was a big deal when I was a kid. He was a war hero, pretty much won the war on his own. And he was a Muggle."

Phil sat for hours looking over every piece of Captain America memorabilia that his dad had collected over the years, finding himself becoming more and more fascinated with the hero the more he learned about him.

:-:

New York, 2011

Phil woke to his phone buzzing urgently on the nightstand. He fumbled for it in the dark, fighting to stay awake as he put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Boss, you're gonna want to get to HQ asap. They…they found him, in the Arctic. They'll be here any minute to start the thawing."

Phil reached for the light switch, his stomach bubbling with excited nerves. "I'll be there in ten."

He rushed to get ready, barely considering the SHIELD issue sweats he was pulling over his Cap t-shirt and star-spangled boxers. Anything would be better than letting his coworkers see his nightwear. Maria would never let him hear the end of it.

:-:

The team of doctors and scientists in charge of the thaw were already at work when Phil arrived. He stood back and watched in mixed horror and awe as they submerged his frozen childhood hero into a vat of greenish antifreeze solution. He suddenly felt foolish for bringing along a hair dryer, but he'd thought it was a good idea at the time.

"I should've known you'd be here." Fury came up beside him. "You should have stayed in bed. They're estimating the thaw could take a week at least."

"I couldn't miss this," Phil said quietly.

"We're making history here. There's no telling if it will even work, but if anyone can survive the ice, it's Rogers."

Phil tried not to think about what would happen if they failed. All he had left of his dad was a car and some mint condition trading cards, currently sitting in the pocket of his sweatpants. If Cap died, it would be like losing his dad all over again. He could feel Fury watching him, but he couldn't take his own eyes off of the vat.

"Go home, Agent. I don't want to find you passed out in a chair in the morning."

"Yes, sir."

Phil waited until the director was gone before making himself comfortable in a chair in the corner, far out of the way, and listened as the science team discussed bringing in a hyperbaric chamber for 'Phase II'.

He zoned out quickly, unfamiliar with the science jargon, and pulled out his trading cards, flipping through them lazily as his eyes grew heavier. He quickly landed on his favorite, the first one his dad had showed him when he was seven years old, and it brought a smile to his face as he drifted off to sleep.