In the Darkness With You
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All recognisable characters, content, or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Thalia Potter had never thought much about what would happen to her after death, but in retrospect, perhaps she should have. Reincarnated as the twin sister of Dorea Black, the once Girl Who Lived somehow muddles through one of the most tumultuous periods of modern history, and inadvertently falls in love along the way. WWII era AU, featuring Grindelwald, Hydra, and the intrepid Howling Commandos. Thalia (fem!HP)/Bucky
Rating: M for violence, character death, adult themes, and maybe language.
Author: tlyxor1.
Part One: In the Dark, I Can Hear Your Heartbeat
Chapter One
As planned, Marius meets her at Pier 88, dressed smartly in trousers, a starched white button down, and the obligatory suspenders. The look suits him, far from the traditional (and stifling) robes they'd both endured in their youth, and so too does the bright, unfettered smile he wears upon sight of her.
It's perhaps the happiest she's ever seen him.
"Look at you," he marvels, hands braced on her shoulders. Beside her, a deckhand carefully drops her trunk at her feet, "You've grown, baby sister."
Thalia blindly offers the deckhand a tip, replying to Marius, "It's been seven years."
The last time she'd seen him, Marius had been just shy of his 17th birthday. His impending departure from their home in London - not Grimmauld Place, mercifully, but closer than Thalia would ever like - had hung over his head like the Sword of Damocles, and the tension in the house had been unbearable.
Thalia had been 11 at the time, only days shy of her First Year at Hogwarts, and a lot had changed since then. She's 18 now, he's 24, and neither of them need their parents - or their parents' approval - as they once had. Moreover, despite - or in spite of - Pollux's prediction that Marius would crash and burn, Thalia's favourite brother has made a life for himself in New York City.
With all of the opportunities now open to her, Thalia is bound and determined to do the same.
"That it has," Marius agrees. He wraps her up in a hug, and Thalia returns the embrace wholeheartedly, "I've missed you, Lia."
"I've missed you too, Marius. I'm really glad to be here."
Aside from her twin sister, Marius is the sibling Thalia is closest to. Pollux is an unpleasant, narrow-minded idiot, and although she'd helped Thalia with her great escape, Cassiopeia has always been far too rapt up in her plotting and scheming to pay much attention to anyone around her. Marius, in contrast, had always had time for his youngest sisters, and even over the last seven years of correspondence, that hadn't changed.
It's no surprise, then, that for Thalia, her brother is a site for sore eyes.
Marius releases her with that same smile on his face, and moves to pick up her trunk. "I'm really glad you're here too. Are you ready to leave? See the sites?"
Thalia smiles softly. "Lead the way."
"As you wish." Even as he holds her travel trunk with both hands,Marius offers her his arm, and Thalia tucks her hand into the crook of his elbow, "On the way, why don't you tell me about your trip? Were you seasick at all?"
Thalia exhales wearily. The travel between Southampton and Manhattan had taken longer than she would like, but the cruise itself wasn't horrible. She'd experienced a little nausea, at first, but by her seventh and last day on board, she'd mostly just been stir crazy, and more or less desperate to feel land beneath her feet.
"Not overly so," Thalia answers, "But I can't say ship travel particularly agrees with me."
"You're fortunate," Marius informs her, "I spent my entire trip hurling up my insides. It was a wonder I still had intestines by the end of it."
"How pleasant," she deadpans. Marius laughs, Thalia grins at the sound, and it's been years since they've been in each other's company, but it's as though no time has passed at all. "I suppose I should count my blessings."
"That you should," Marius concurs,
In a car he's borrowed from a friend, Marius shows her the sites of Manhattan. Even in the midday sun, it's glamorous, the people and the places both, but as her brother drives, he speaks of the cesspit of crime and corruption underlying it all, and in truth, Thalia can't say she's particularly surprised. Nothing is ever as it seems, but as Marius heads towards Brooklyn, Thalia tries not to dwell on it. It's easier said then done.
"What's your place like?"
"It's a flat," Marius explains, "Two bedrooms, one bathroom. I've set up your room for you, but you'll have to decorate it. It's in a neighbourhood called Carroll Gardens, and, honestly, most of the neighbours are Irish."
"And they haven't killed you yet?"
At present, there's a lot of resentment between the Irish and the British, mostly caused by decisions made by their respective governments. It's caused a lot of Irish and British nationals to immigrate elsewhere, but Thalia can't imagine a change in countries can quell that sort of tension. Not when, generally speaking, national pride runs deep.
Marius shrugs, unfazed. "Not yet."
The neighbourhoods they pass through are far from the affluence she or Marius had been surrounded by as children, though Thalia is not surprised. She and Marius have always been kindred spirits in that regard, discomforted by and disinterested in their blue blood family's frivolous displays of wealth and luxury, by the ease in which they spend money on anything and everything under the sun. Marius' lack of magic had been a contributing factor, of course - he'd never quite felt as though he'd belonged in their family - but that aside, he'd never considered social status, appearance, and/or wealth particularly important, either. . As such, he fits in Brooklyn in ways he'd never fit in all of the pomp and circumstance of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black - at least, he seems a lot happier here - and Thalia is comforted by it.
"Here we are," Marius pulls up at the curb beside a nondescript apartment building. It's six storeys tall, and a handful of barefoot children play on the sidewalk, "Home sweet home."
With her trunk in hand, Marius leads Thalia upstairs, to a corner apartment on the third floor. It's brightly lit, and cleaner than she'd expect of a bachelor, but it's spartan, decorations few and far between,, and that's not much of a surprise at all.
"I'll leave you to get settled in," Marius says, slumped against the door frame as Thalia takes in her new room, "I'm going to return the car."
"Take your time," she offers him a grateful smile and another hug, "I'll cook dinner. A token of my gratitude for letting me stay here, if you will."
Marius eyes her dubiously. "Disregarding the fact that you really don't have to, do you know how to cook?"
It's a valid question. Thalia's meals at home have always been made by house elves, and barring herself, Thalia doesn't know anyone in her family who knows how to cook for themselves.
Thalia, however, has all the hard-earned skills of Thalia Potter, and that includes everything she'd (begrudgingly) learned at the hands of her once aunt, Petunia Dursley. The appliances may be different, the preferred dishes as well, but the basic concepts haven't changed over time, and Thalia's not at all concerned that she might fail spectacularly.
"I do, prat," she rolls her eyes, "I suppose I'll have to head to the store to collect some groceries, though."
"I'll believe it when I see it, Lia. I'll write down some directions for you. The general store isn't far. The butcher and grocer are right beside it. You do know how to act muggle, don't you?"
"Thanks. You won't be disappointed, and yes, Marius, I'm not an idiot."
Marius doesn't look convinced, but he doesn't argue. He nods his acknowledgement instead, steps away from the bedroom door, and wanders off in search of pen and paper.
Thalia, meanwhile, begins the slow process of unpacking her things and settling in, a smile on her face she can't shake for the life of her. She's finally where she wants to be, far from the suffocating expectations of her parents and eldest brother, far from the fears and concerns that had dogged her every step on British soil, and far from the inescapable temptation to make Tom Riddle disappear before he ever receives the chance to become Lord Voldemort.
In truth, it's only Thalia's fear of creating an even worse future than the one she'd once lived that had stayed her hand, and Tom Riddle would never know how close he'd come to dying in the Autumn of 1937. It's a secret only known by Dorea, and between the two of them, it's a secret they'll take to their graves.
"All right," Marius pulls her from her reverie, once more slumped against the frame of her bedroom door. He's pulled an ivy cap over his brown hair, and he twirls a keyring around his index finger, "I'm off. You can wait, if you like, and I can accompany you when I get back."
Thalia sighs, long-suffering. "I'm not helpless, Marius."
Her brother raises his hands in supplication, steps out of the doorframe with a rueful shake of his head, and approaches the front door. As he does so, he informs her, out of sight, "I should be back in an hour or two. I left your directions on the counter."
"Thank you," she acknowledges, "I'll see you when you get back."
Marius leaves, and Thalia isn't far behind him. She's barely unpacked, but the curiosity surrounding her new home is one she can't ignore.
Better yet, an ocean away from the watchful, overbearing eyes of her family, there is no one to stop her from donning a pretty dress and sandals, packing a small handbag, and walking out of Marius' (and now her) apartment. Here, she is no longer confined by the trappings of her conservative, traditional parents and eldest brother, and she can do exactly as she pleases.
With that in mind, Thalia leaves a note for her brother, exits the apartment, and sets out to explore all that Carroll Gardens has to offer.