I was sitting in my small little house, reading a well worn book when the door rang. Surprised, I slowly got up to answer it. I very rarely received visitors. Catherine, who had remained my friend through all this time, would come to visit about once a year. She had gone to live in France and couldn't come more often.

When I opened the door I found four teenagers on my doorstep. I surveyed them critically. "You're not trying to cause any kind of trouble, are you?"

"No, ma'am," said the one who appeared to be the leader of the gang. "We'd like to ask you a few questions. Are you busy right now?"

I sighed. "No, come on in."

The boy walked in and the others trailed behind him. He looked very familiar, with messy jet black hair. As he seated himself he said, "I'm Harry Potter."

"Oh!" I gasped. "Of course!"

He did not reply to my comment but continued, "these are my friends: Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Ginny Weasley."

"Nice to meet you all," I said, still a bit confused as to why they were here in the first place. "Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"No, we're all right," said the brunette, Hermione, smiling at me.

"Okay," I said, "But I still don't understand why you guys are here to talk to me."

Harry took a deep breath and then began speaking. "I don't know if you've heard, but there was a prophecy created saying that either I was destined to kill Voldemort or he was destined to kill me. I'm now in the process of attempting to get rid of him. I don't suppose you know what a horcrux is?"

I searched my brain, desperately trying to remember. I was certain I'd heard the word before, I just could not remember where or when. "I'm sorry," I told him. "I'm certain I've heard the term, but the definition is escaping me right now."

"A horcrux is an object that can encase a piece of a person's soul. If a person has a horcrux, they cannot be killed. In order for one to be made, that person has to commit a murder. It is believed that Voldemort has created six of them."

I turned ghostly white, and the two females looked concerned. "I remember now," I whispered. "Tom Riddle…" I stopped, overcome.

Harry nodded and said to me, "Professor Dumbledore said you might know something. He said you might be able to help."

"No," I stammered. "I can't help you. There's nothing I can do for you."

Hermione leaned over and patted my leg at my noticeable distress, and Harry went on speaking. "About the horcruxes. We have reason to believe that Voldemort had a fascination with historical objects. We think he wanted to find four objects from the four founders of Hogwarts. Since you are a descendent of Ravenclaw's, we thought you might have had something he wanted."

"Did you know him at school?" said the pretty little redhead, Ginny.

"Yes," I whispered.

Hermione inquired, "Does your family have any heirlooms passed on from Rowena Ravenclaw?"

Suddenly it was all beginning to make sense. Everything was connecting in my mind, and some mysteries were being solved. I mumbled, "Yes. I had a necklace that belonged to Ravenclaw. But I don't have it anymore."

"Do you have any idea where it is?" Harry asked eagerly.

I sighed. "Let me tell you. The necklace was stolen when I was 15. I believe it was taken by Tom Riddle." Hermione's mouth fell open.

Harry looked dejected and said, "So you have no idea where it might be now?"

I bit my lip. "I do know. When I was 18 I went to my fiancé's house one day to find him dead inside, with the dark mark over the building and my necklace wrapped around his wrist."

They all looked shocked. "That's terrible," Hermione whispered.

Harry looked at me. "Did you take it back? Where is the necklace now?"

I shrugged hopelessly. "I had it buried with him."

"Of course!" he exclaimed. "It all adds up. Voldemort gathered the necklace before he committed the murder, just so he would have the items he wanted ready. Then he killed your boyfriend and turned the necklace into a horcrux, which he left with the body. He probably figured you wouldn't notice it or you'd leave it there, so it would be buried deep into the earth out of harm's way where no one could get to it or think to look." He paused. "You're lucky you didn't try and take it. These things have proved to be dangerous sometimes."

"We have to get it and destroy it," said Ron. "It's the last one."

"You're going to dig up Garrett's body?" I asked.

"If you don't mind," Ginny said quickly. "You see, if we destroy this…we can destroy Voldemort. All this pain and suffering everyone is going through… it will all be over."

I gulped. "Yes. Yes, of course."

I gave the four kids the information about Garrett's grave. I didn't want to think about what they'd have to do to get the horcrux they needed… and to eventually kill Voldemort.

But it made me feel just a little bit better to know that I had finally done something to stop Tom, and to bring him down. I made so many mistakes in the past, but at least now I could make up for it a little by helping to end the pain the world was in.

And as hard as my life had been, it still felt good to watch those good kids, with so much promise and ambition, venture out to the hardest challenge a person had to face. I watched them succeed in ways I never could. And somehow, knowing that they had my help made my life have some meaning.

The End

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A/N: So the story is finally over. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope I was able to answer all your questions. I realize there might still be some lingering questions, so if you're wondering about anything let me know in your review and I'll reply to it.

If you want to read something else I'm writing I just posted the first chapter of my newest story, "Love Thy Enemy." It's going to be a Draco/Hermione fic. If you're interested, check it out.

Finally, I want to give one giant thank you to all of my reviewers! My previous fics usually had about 40 reviews, so I was so excited just to reach 100… and now you guys have pushed me up to 200! I love you all for it, and your comments are always so intricate and insightful… I love reading all of them. Thanks so much for taking the time to read my story, it does mean a lot to me.