Hel, daughter of Loki, was bored out of her mind. She knew the Christian Apocalypse was coming and that her father's true nature would be exposed. She knew he would die and that she would lose the one person who always came to see her when she was really lonely.

Which was why she was going to do something unusual. She was going to take mortal form and walk amongst the living once more, if only to surprise her father.

"She's beautiful Lils...what should we name her?"

"Heather."

"Welcome to our family, Heather," said James.

The innocent baby, unaware of who she was, yawned tiredly and leaned into her mother's warmth.

Exactly a year and three months later, her parents were killed by a madman with delusions of blood purity. He attempted to kill her, only her true nature sent the death spell back at him.

She was left with her hateful aunt and husband, and she could have put up with that had it not been for the incident when she was six.

"Today class we are learning about acids..."

Heather wondered why they were teaching children about this stuff when they were definitely too young to understand how dangerous they were. Especially Dudley the fat pig.

Heather eyed one of the bottles in the bag warily. She could see the letters 'hydrocl' somewhat and had the worst feeling in her bones about it. The only acid she could think of that would have those was hydrochloric acid, which could be lethal if you touched it with your bare hands.

And the only reason she knew that was because she read the old comics in the library. Supposedly that was the acid that was used to make Two-Face into a villain, though they never actually specified which one.

The feeling grew in her mind as she watched Dudley. Somehow she had the notion he would try to imitate what happened to Two-Face, and she feared that she wouldn't survive it.

Then, roughly before class was about to end, she saw him reach into the bag to get the bottle. She closed her eyes and mouth and tried in vain to avoid the liquid as it careened towards her, raising her book to try and cover her face.

She could hear herself scream in agony as it hit the left side of her face, burning it. The teacher immediately put dragged her to the sink and tried to wash it off.

She passed out from the pain alone, but she didn't miss Dudley being forced to stay behind.

"Dear god, what happened?" asked the principle.

"Her cousin (the teacher spat the word out like it was a disease) thought it would be amusing to imitate what happened in the old comics. Apparently his parents have been encouraging him for years to hurt the girl. Should have heard the insults his mother hurled at me for daring to say that her son was less than perfect. I've already drawn up the paperwork."

"There's no way for the Dursleys to sweep this under the rug. We've had so many copies made of the report that they'll never be able to find them all. And the doctors are appalled that this happened."

"We got word from the hospital...she'll survive, but the left side of her face will be disfigured her entire life. Fortunately she had the sense to keep her mouth and eyes close, so she'll be able to function normally," said the teacher grimly.

"What sort of monsters would create something like this? That he cared so little for others he would willingly kill one without a second thought?" asked the nurse.

"They are going to jail, and their son will be punished to the fullest extent the law allows. We can only hope that this does something," said the teacher firmly.

Elsewhere Heather clinged to life in the emergency room.

"(Sigh) Trust fate to be bitchy enough to disfigure me twice," said Hel in her mind.

Really, she should have seen this one coming. Leaving those comics where the brat would find them, then arranging for the acid to be in class where Dudley would be able to reach it? It had to be Fate's doing. Either that or the Greeks were pissy she had chosen a mortal champion and decided to anger the Norns.

The Girl-Who-Lived (usually a male but occasionally she was born a girl) was supposed to have only one noticeable scar and that was one Hel had taken care of personally. The Greek Fate shouldn't have interfered with the girl who was under the protection of the Norns.

It was just luck she happened to find one of her father's true followers so easily. James Potter was a follower of the Olde Ways, specifically those of Loki himself. As such she had all the opening she would ever need to take over his child, who was scheduled to be a stillborn.

She kept the girl alive, and watched the fate of those who hurt her.

Petunia and Vernon were dragged screaming from the house, arrested for child abuse, endangerment, and neglect. Very loudly accused. Dudley, the culprit behind the attack, was thrown into a Juvenile Detention facility and his records sealed.

He might have been given even a small amount of leniency had he shown any remorse, but his cries of 'the freak deserved it!' had earned him no support and the judge had been all too willing to thrown him into the worst jail for minors allowed. He was given the option of parole because of his age, but other than that he would rot in there until his attitude actually changed.

When asked the teacher honestly told them that the school board had allowed acids to be taught that day and even showed them multiple notes and e-mails asking if they would change their decision. He even mentioned Dudley's behavioral problems but he was outvoted thanks to Vernon buying off the board months ago when he heard that the teacher had protested loudly at the subject. He had barely been able to keep his job when the board ignored his warnings.

Instead he was given a commendation for his quick actions. When asked why he had brought that acid to class, he honestly told them he had borrowed the kit from a friend who worked at Stonewall and hadn't thought to check it because he had been running late that morning and his worries had kept him awake the night before.

By the time Hel sensed her mortal body wakening, she was considered a ward of the state because Marge refused to take her in...Marge was later arrested for running a puppy mill and for animal abuse.

Hel quietly made plans to give the Greek Fate a taste of her mind for their stunt. Stupid crones.

McGonagall looked at the incoming crop of first years. Among them was the little girl who she used to bounce on her knee when she was an infant.

She frowned when she saw a first year girl with auburn hair hiding the left side of her face. Surely that couldn't be Heather?

"Young lady you shouldn't cover your face like that," said McGonagall. It would throw the poor girl's depth perception completely off. The girl had the audacity to slap her hand away.

"Don't touch the hair. And it stays as is," she growled.

McGonagall noticed that the eye was uncovered enough not to cause problems, but covered the rest of her face completely.

Why would she wear her hair like that?

She put that aside to lead the children in.

"When I call your name, come up here. You will sit and the sorting hat will give you your house."

"Abbot, Hannah!"

Heather barely listened to them, bored as she was. She had the feeling her hair style would be problematic until she could cast the glamour spells she found.

"Blake, Heather!"

She walked up to the stool and waited.

Oh dear... I'm sorry about what happened to you. Perhaps you'll find some peace in...Ravenclaw!

Heather went to the blue and bronze table and sat down.

"Nice hairstyle," said an Asian girl.

"Doesn't that make seeing from your left eye hard?" asked another.

"Not really. I use hair clips to keep the hair itself from impacting my eyesight. My brother, who's a beautician, was the one to come up with this particular look after an accident I had," said Heather.

Her adopted brother Neville had seen the result of Dudley's stupidity and had been intrigued. He had come up with a manageable way for Heather to cover up her disfigurement without impacting her daily life. After a while she grew to like her new look enough that she was able to recreate it on her own.

It was because of him and the efforts of her adopted parents that she was able to live a semi-normal life. Sure she had to be careful that the hair was never moved from it's style, but that was a small price to pay for being allowed to walk among others without seeing their pity all the time.

She ate her meal without concern, ignoring their questions about why she hid half her face.

She was in potions, a class she did not particularly enjoy because of the teacher.

Snape was a horrid man who held a grudge against her father, and he subconsciously picked up that Heather Blake was no in fact her original name.

Before she left the lab, he barked "Blake, a word."

Heather walked up to him bored.

"I know the other teachers have said nothing about your hair in your face all the time, but in this class I will not have you potentially ruining potions because you refused to have a sensible style."

"I see. So you wish me to reveal why I hide half my face. This will not reach the other teachers will it?"

"So long as you can perform to expectations, no," said Snape.

Heather merely pulled back her hair, revealing the scar tissue from the acid. Snape stumbled back into his desk from the shock.

"I was six and some moron had the bright idea of teaching the children about acids in class. The teacher borrowed a kit from a friend in the high school because he had been running late and my cousin thought it amusing to turn the freak into one inside and out. I was in the hospital for a month trying to recover and I spent two years in therapy. My brother Neville showed me how to hide my face using my hair," said Heather bluntly.

"I see. Do you have ways to keep the hair from getting near the cauldrons?"

"I have hair ties and my brother showed me how to pin it back without uncovering my face when I learned how to cook with my stepmother."

"Pin your hair back then. I don't want an explosion because of the fact you haven't taken precautions."

"I trust this will be kept quiet to the others."

"You may want to ask Pomphrey to see if they can't heal the damage."

"A St. Mungo's healer was brought in shortly after I was aware of it, and they said not to get my hopes up," said Heather.

"I see. Very well, you are dismissed," said Snape. He was going to need a long pull of whiskey to get over the shock of seeing that scar tissue. The girl could barely see out of her left eye the way it was.

She had surgery when she was ten to have some skin pulled back so that she could use it better, which decent results. She would have trouble closing the eye, but she could at least see from it.

Heather had an off time in Ravenclaw. They were known for more than their intelligence...they were also known for being extremely nosy.

Less than a month in her new school, all of her dorm mates had learned of the incident, and had at least seen or heard about the scarring.

Very few managed to actually see it, because the first thing Heather asked Flitwick about was glamour charms to hide it.

Now she could pin her hair back for short periods of time and no one would notice it.

Things were going better than they were, though she was somewhat surprised that none of her new friends commented on the fact she followed some of the older religions.

Then again they didn't comment on Padma's religion either, so maybe it wasn't that strange.

"Hey Heather! You have the notes for History?" called Padma.

"Right here Pad!" she called back. She could get used to this.

The daily grind of learning magic, and nothing dangerous or worrying about people seeing her disfigurement. Even Snape had backed off when he learned about it. Though in his case it was more from respect for enduring what she had with such a positive outlook.

She smiled. She could live with her looks all over again so long as she could stay a normal girl.

Loki looked up to see the odd hawk that was flying straight for him. It had a notice-me-not charm on it to keep the normal humans from noticing, but it wasn't strong enough to deter a god, even a fake one like him.

"Who would be writing to me of all people? And how in heaven's name did it find me?" wondered Loki out loud.

The first sentence nearly gave him a heart attack.

Hello Father, your baby girl is in mortal form now.

Loki sat down on the bench in shock. There was only one of his female offspring that he acknowledged, and she ruled purgatory.

When did Hel decided to take a vacation? He unfurled the scroll and began to read.

He was definitely pissed when he learned of the incident, and how the Greek fates had ruined her looks again. On the plus side, she was finally able to contact him without drawing suspicion, though she clearly wished she could see his face when he realized she was in the human's world for a while.

Once he finished the letter her immediately went and got some paper to write on. Knowing he had an extra ally in the coming apocalypse eased his mind somewhat.

"Hey Heather, looks like Loki is back!" said Padma.

Heather reached up an arm and plucked the letter from his talons. He speared a few pieces of sausage before flying off.

Heather undid the envelope and began to read. It was in Norse, which meant that people would have to decipher it first before they could read it.

'Dear Hel,

I'm surprised you decided to leave Helheim and join me in the mortal realms, though considering what is soon to happen in a few decades perhaps I shouldn't be. I am glad to hear that you're having fun, and I thought you should know I'm looking for the old hags so you can deal with them for hurting you again. If you need any help or want me to visit, just call.

Love Loki.'

Heather smiled. Her father always did have a unique sense of humor. At least now she had someone to complain to if things went bad...and she could possibly get the Weasley twins on her side if she told them she knew how to summon Loki. He would love meeting those two.

"So who was it from?" asked Padma.

"An old friend. He was very surprised when I had Loki track him down," said Heather honestly.

And with that she gathered up her notes and headed to class.