Chapter One ~
Backstory.
The Diary was the first Horcrux that Tom Riddle made. It was made during his 5th year of Hogwarts. (1945)
Tom opened the Chamber of Secrets in 1945 using his parseltongue abilities. He then went on the make the Basilisk attack muggle borns within the school, due to his pure blood heritage. Myrtle was killed, and Tom blamed Hagrid and Aragog due to rising suspicion from Albus Dumbledore who was Head of the transfiguration department at the time.
Before Lord Voldemort's defeat In 1981, Lucius was entrusted with the Diary to attempt to open the Chamber of Secrets again, possibly using Draco. Lucius then, in 1992, slipped the Diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron. She used it to share all of her feelings, especially about Harry, and there by made a strong connection between herself and the Horcrux.
It was then, in the years following the creation of the first Horcrux, that Riddle spoke to Professor Slughorn regarding the possibility of multiple Horcruxes. He then went on to make another 6 Horcruxes. However, only 6 ever existed at one time as the Diary was destroyed before Nagini was turned into a Horcrux.
The Ring contains the resurrection stone, one of the three Deathly Hallows. This makes the Horcrux's value that much dearer. It once belonged to the second of the Perverell brothers, Cadmus. The stone was passed down the Perverell brother's family tree, at some point being set into a gold ring. After generations, it ended up in the possession of Marvolo Gaunt. He loved the ring and the locket more than anything, even his own daughter. He used the ring as a flashy object, trying to both impress and intimidate using it. Marvolo and his son were imprisoned for attacking Muggles and Ministry officials. Merope, his daughter, fled the family, taking the locket with him.
Marvolo died shortly after getting out of prison, and the ring was passed down to Morfin (his son). Tom Riddle travelled to his hometown to seek out his own family. He found Morfin, and stunned him, taking his wand. He then proceeded to kill his father and muggle grandparents before giving Morfin his wand back, taking the the ring from his hand for his own possession. Morfin was charged with the murder of Tom's parents and was sent to Azkaban.
Riddle wore the ring openly at school and shortly before or after his graduation, he used his Father's death to turn the Ring into a Horcrux after conferring with Slughorn about making multiple Horcruxes. He then hid it in the Gaunt Shack where he had found it upon Morfin. He set up a lot of protective enchantments and hid the ring in a golden box under the floorboards, before placing a powerful curse upon the ring itself. That curse would quickly lead to the death of the ring's wearer if not stemmed.
The Locket of Salazar Slytherin was bought from Borgin and Burke's by Hepzibah Smith. She showed it to Tom, who was working at the shop at the time. Noticing that it was one of his family heirlooms, Tom tried to get her to sell it to him, but she insisted that she wasn't selling. Two days later, she was found dead, the locket gone.
Tom used the murder of a Muggle Tramp to convert the locket into a Horcrux.
Late in the 1970's, Voldemort requested the use of a house elf from one of his death eaters. Regulus Black, offered Kreacher. The dark lord tested the Locket's defences on the elf, taking it to the cave. He then left Kreacher to die on the island. He, however, overlooked the bond between a house elf and it's master. Kreacher apparatus home to Regulus, who was furious at how he had been treated. For this, he turned against Voldemort and vouched to destroy the locket.
Regulus was the first person to discover that Voldemort was using Horcruxes, however he did not know how many, if any more, had been made. After collecting the locket from the cave with the help of Kreacher, Regulus ordered him to destroy it, which he never did. Regulus was killed by the Inferi after swapping the locket for a fake.
The other item that was in Hepzibah Smith's possession that was of keen interest to Tom Riddle, was a golden cup created by Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of Hogwarts. The cup was said to hold magical powers. Although those powers were unknown, Helga was a very skilled domestic witch, excellent at food related charms. Therefore the cup may have been the very first dining utensil at Hogwarts to assist in the magical transportation of food from the House-Elf Kitchens. The cup remained with Helga until the time of her death.
Through the years it made it's way through the Hufflepuff family and to Hepzibah's possession. She kept it a close secret, as it was such a priceless heirloom. However, this didn't stop her flaunting it to Tom Riddle in Borgin and Burkes in 1946. She stated fondly that she could never part with such an heirloom, however this did not stop Riddle. Two days later the woman was found dead and the cup and locket were both gone. Her house elf's mind was embedded with a false memory of poisoning his mistress, so that he would not be charged with her murder, although this was the honest truth.
Riddle fled with the cup and the locket. Smith's family realized the cup and the locket were missing shortly after her death, but by that time Riddle had resigned his post at Borgin and Burkes. Riddle was neither seen nor heard of for a decade.
In 1956, Riddle transformed the cup into his fourth horcrux, and he kept it hidden for another sixteen years. His followers had become loyal and he could trust each of them. Bellatrix Lestrange was the first he trusted fully. He gave her the cup to protect, and the 21 year old placed the horcrux in the family vault at Gringotts, which was considered impossible to break into.
Tom Riddle's next choice of Horcrux was one with a story attached: Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem.
It is the only known relic of the founder, said to enhance the wisdom of the wearer, showing the largest trait of all of those in Ravenclaw house. However, after enchanting the diadem, Rowena's own daughter Helena, stole the item for her own.
She stole her mother's diadem, in hope of using its power to make herself wiser, and fled Hogwarts. Her mother fell fatally ill and, in spite of Helena's betrayal, wanted to see her daughter one last time. Rowena sent the Bloody Baron, a man who once loved Helena, to find her. When he caught up with her in a forest in Albania, she hid the diadem in a hollow tree. Upon her refusal to return with him, the Baron stabbed her; horrified by what he had just done, the Baron then stabbed himself as well. The diadem was later found to be lost (hence the name "the lost diadem"), and was sought after by students for hundreds of years.
Centuries later, Tom Marvolo Riddle managed to charm the story out of Helena's spirit, then known as the Grey Lady. Upon learning of the diadem's location, Riddle travelled to the Albanian forest shortly after he left school and acquired the diadem. He transformed it into his fifth Horcrux by killing an Albanian peasant.
Whilst in Albania, Riddle befriended animals. Especially a particular snake. Tom Riddle perfected his parseltongue ability and was able to communicate with the snake both verbally and telepathically. This snake was called Nagini. He returned home with the wizard and became a pet for the man. She didn't become a horcrux until 1994 after the death of Bertha Jorkins.
After Tom Riddle left Albania he returned to Hogwarts, asking Professor Dumbledore for a post as Defence against the dark arts professor. When denied, it is said, Tom riddle placed a curse on the job. This was not what he arrived at Hogwarts to do however.
Riddle, being the arrogant man he was, believe he was the only person who had located the room of requirement. This was the place he intended to hide the diadem. Unlike the other Horcruxes though, Riddle did not put up heavy magical protections for the diadem, due to his lack of time to do so, along with his arrogance.
The only Horcrux left to create was Harry Potter, and of course, we all know that story don't we?
(So, that was quite longwinded, and if you read it all, have a pat on the back. Now, the real story starts.)