Tom Riddle

Finally

The memories went like that for a good week before Harry finally got anything of value. Apparently Evan had a house in her name that she kept a secret from her parents. She told Tom that she would always consider that place her home. 

The trio packed up camp and apperated to the woods surrounding the house. 

"Harry are you sure about this? I mean, it looks like it's been empty for years." Hermione asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. He knew that her questions were well founded, but it was frustrating.

"Hermione I don't know how to explain it, but I just know that this is where she is." he said. 

Hermione nodded, but he could still see the doubt she was feeling. 

"Ahhhh screw waiting!" Ron bellowed. 

He loudly stomped through the remainder of the wood to the front of the house. He had been wearing the locket all day and it was amplifying the bad mood he was in which also made him very impatient. 

"Ron stop!" yelled Hermione, but it was to late.

Ron pounded on the door to the run down house. He was yelling at the top of his lungs to get the attention of the occupant. 

Suddenly the door swung open. 

"What the bloody hell do you want!"

Standing in the doorway was a young girl, probably around 18 or 17, she had long dark hair that reached just below her shoulders and piercing blue eyes. 

Harry stopped right behind Ron and started at her in shock.

"Evan?" 

The color drained out of her face and she bolted into the house. Hermione rushed past the boys and tackled her to the ground before she could make it too far. 

"What do you want with me?" the girl cried out. 

Harry broke out of his revere and left Ron in the doorway.  

"Evan?" he asked in astonishment. 

The girl stiffened underneath Hermione. Her eyes were wide and her face had drained of all color. 

"How did you know?" she whispered. 

Hermione let the girl up slowly, as though she were a frightened animal. She got up on trembling knees and faced Harry fearfully. 

"What do you want with me?" she repeated. 

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the photograph of her and Tom. He handed it to her and waited. 

She took the picture and looked at it. She got a little teary-eyed as she laughed in the picture at whatever Tom was saying. 

"He was telling me about a couple of third years who played a prank on the Herbology professor." she said after a moment. She looked back up at the trio in her doorway.  

"Why are you here?" she asked.

Harry stepped forward and told her in the firmest voice he could muster. 

"We need your help."

____________________________________________________________________________________

"So let me get this straight." Evan said as she sat down in a chair in her restored sitting room "You want me to tell you how to find these horcruxs so that you can destroy them and eventually kill my best friend."

Harry cleared his throat nervously. 

"Umm yeah that about covers it."

Evan looked at him in disbelieve.

"Why the bloody hell would I do that?" she screeched.

During the conversation, Ron's face had steadily gotten redder until it settled on a nice shade of fire engine red. He finally exploded. 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND? HE'S THE BLOODY DARK LORD!"

Ron was cut off from any further outbursts when he was ejected from his seat and forced against the wall by an unseen force. 

Evan got up from her seat and stalked towards him until she was maybe two inches away from his face. Then in a deadly whisper that sent chills down the trio's spines, she said.

"Tom Riddle was the most loyal, protective idiot I've ever known. He gave himself up to a Dark Lord so that he'd let me go. He was my best friend who was there for me when nobody else was. That kind of person doesn't just do a complete 180 and become a cowardly, selfish, manipulative Dark Lord in a year."

She abruptly released Ron from the wall and he went crashing to the floor. She whipped around to Hermione and Harry, who were sitting gobsmaked at the great display of magic preformed and the unspoken threat that lingered in the room.

"There is more to this then you think. That monster out there is not Tom. Grindelwald did something, I don't know what, but if I can find out what then maybe I could help." she said. She spoke with such conviction that Harry couldn't help, but believe her a little. 

"I'll help."

Hermione was staring him in shock. He could practically her shouting at him, asking him what in the world he was thinking, but all he could see was the desperate way Tom Riddle told Grindelwald to take him instead of this woman standing in front of him. 

Evan stared at Harry with such relief in her eyes that he couldn't find it in himself to regret his hasty decision. 

"Alright." She said, her voice wavering a bit. "I've been looking over everything that he's been doing since he disappeared."

She crossed over to a small table with a drawer pushed into the corner of the room. Opening the drawer, she pulled out a large book, roughly the size and width of one of their History of Magic textbooks. 

She placed it on top of the coffee table and flipped through it, pointing at certain newspaper clippings attached to the pages. 

"Voldemort is a narcissist, pure and simple. He puts himself on a throne and wants to prove it." she points to an old, yellowing picture of a gold chalice.

"This goblet," she said, "belonged to Helga Hufflepuff. Considering the first Horcrux you've found is also a founder's item," She thrusted her chin towards the locket still secured around Ron's neck. "It would make sense that their would be others."

Hermione looked like she wanted to hit herself, honestly, how did they not think of that?

Evan smirked at their flabbergasted expressions.