DISCLAIMER: I know, I know, I don't own any of the character, bar Rohan, Caralynn, and the Quads. The rest © JKR.

To Hell In A Handbasket We Go

Chapter Three

THE SINS OF THE SISTER

Ron yawned softly, rolling over on his stomach, the rich smell of damp, fresh earth around him made his body relax even further into the blanket he had spread across the earth. It was chillier in England than it was in Africa, but then again, it wasn't as if he had thought it would be any different.

Allowing his eyes to close, he almost missed the shadow creeping along the edge of the grounds. Almost…but not quite.

Elizabeth gave a loud, very angry, very frustrated growl. "Charles Weasley, I swear to the Gods if you don't come in here and take your daughter, I will be forced to unman you for life!"

There was a sound of pattering feet, a giggle as Charlie quickly entered the once clean kitchen. "Hope Carina!" Elizabeth's voice was soft, full of defeat as she slumped onto the table that was filled now with a meal fit for a king. Only one exception. It was baby food portions.

"She did it again."

"I told you she didn't like the mashed carrots." Charlie rolled his eyes, waving his wand in a careless way, getting rid of the mess, as well as the baby food. "Hope…Hopie, where's daddy's Hope?"

Another giddy little giggle, and pattering footsteps again.

"Invisible too?"

Elizabeth nodded, banging her head against the kitchen table. "I'm the worst mum in the world, ever!" She wailed, beginning to tear up. "Not only can I not feed our daughter, I can't even find her."

"Hope…" Charlie picked up a dishtowel, throwing it in the direction of the giggle. "Gotcha!"

Ron stepped into the house, looking as if he had seen a ghost. The most beautiful ghost in the world. Clutching the tiny girl to him, he took off down the hallway to Hermione's room. One down, one to go.

Raya yawned, poking Eric in the shoulder, waking the young boy up so that he could go to bed. Remus was on a nightly round for the Order, policing and looking for the thing that had taken Melody and Draco from their home in London.

"Eric…hun, it's time for bed."

Eric groaned, but smirked at his overly pregnant, and very tired adoptive mother. "Yes mum." He replied indulgently, kissing her cheek and headed up the stairs to his room.

Raya lay her head on the arm of the couch, yawning again. Just a little nap, and everything would be okay.

"Raya?"

That voice was too familiar, too cold for her liking.

"Raya…where are you? Where are you, my pet?"

Standing, Raya turned toward the fire, taking a step back, a curse escaping her mouth. She grabbed at her wand, but the figure just gestured, sending her careening into the wall. Raya shook her head, growling and standing. "Lilith, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

The Quads had come across Lilith when they were younger. Or rather, Raya had come across Lilith. The woman had used her ability to shift forms at will to embody a girl about Raya's age, and inserted herself into the lives of the Quads. How she had found them now, she wasn't sure. But it wasn't something she wanted to find out.

The woman was the pure soul of dark, wild magick, Void Magick in a human form. She had no soul of her own, and she had wanted Raya by her side all those years ago. With a pet elemental, Lilith had thought she would be invincible.

The strawberry blonde smiled beguiling at Raya. "I just figured I'd look up an old friend. It's been a long time, Raya, and you have grown into a beautiful woman." Raya shuddered at the possessive sound in Lilith's voice. How had she known where to find them!

Giving a cry of rage, Raya pulled her magick about her body, the fiery corona giving enough heat to crack and blister the wood. Remus would forgive her later, she was sure. "Lilith, I banish you to the seventh level of hell that you crawled from!" Her voice was filled with such vehemence that Lilith shrank back for a moment, before beginning to laugh.

"Still the hothead, huh Raya?" Lilith smirked, revealing two rows of wicked, sharp looking teeth. Teeth that had left a very nice scar on Raya's shoulder. Teeth that had torn the throat out of Raya's first boyfriend, right in front of Raya's house. Teeth that had gleamed in the darkness when Raya suddenly realized that her new best friend was just using. Raya took a step back, taking a deep breath. "Now, now, we can dispense with the niceties. I've come to get what I'm owed, Raya."

"What you're owed!"

"Yes, Raya. That soul you gave to me when we were 'younger', the soul you pledged to me. I want your soul, and your body, now."

"But how!" Hermione stared at the battered, bruised Melody that was perched on the end of her bed, sobbing as if everything in her world had just shattered into an illusion.

"I don't know. That's a question that Melody will have to answer."

"You mean?"

"Yeah, Goddess Incarnate. Meet her on the spirit realm."

Raya backed up against the wall. "You can't hold me to a child's promise. I am an adult now. You can't fool me with your pretty words now. You can't make me do something I don't want to do."

"Are you afraid, pet?" Lilith cocked her head to the side. "I've collected the relics. I just need you to complete the spell, and we will be set. Me as Queen and you as my Princess. Just like I promised all those years ago. I never go back on a promise." Lilith's voice was the consistency of honey, and twice as sweet."

Raya shook her head. "My sisters will kill you if you take me by force."

"Oh, that won't be necessary." Lilith grinned that feral smile of hers. "I have something you want. Or rather, your cousin wants." Gesturing, a boy staggered out of the roaring flames, blood covering his body from head to toe. "See, I've found a new best friend, Raya. But he isn't as fun as you."

"Draco!"

The boy lifted his head, face bruised and battered, eyes wild. "Don't let her keep me." He all but sobbed, collapsing in a heap on the floor.

"How about it, Raya? We give this kiddie back, and you come with me. It'll be our dirty little secret." Lilith smiled again, teeth glinting in the light. "I will give you two days to think about it. Come willingly, and I will not harm him anymore. If I must come and retrieve you, I will kill him, your boy, your child you are with now, and everyone that has ever mattered in your life, even your werewolf lover."

Draco sobbed harder. "Raya, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to tell…Gods help me…I didn't mean to…"

AN: sorry this has been so long in coming. A great many things have happened. Enjoy.

Love,

Liz