His Students
Story inspiration taken from a chapter of a fanfiction called 'Six Words Full Of Meaning' by Your Amyzing.
Horace looked fondly upon his wall of fame. Many new faces hung there since the time Harry Potter gazed upon it. One of these faces was Harry, straight out of his Auror training. The face to the left was Ronald Weasley, his black dress robes contrasting brilliantly with the white wedding pavilion in which he stood. While he hadn't shown much potential at first, Ron had grown up to shine in the few years Horace had known him in Hogwarts. Hermione Granger featured in the next picture, waving in the photo as she stood in her white wedding gown. Horace gazed upon other faces, including Neville Longbottom standing next to the greenhouses with his first class, Ginny Weasley in her England Quidditch Team robes and Luna Lovegood standing with her two children.
Other Professors had thought him foolish, pompous and annoyingly selective. Truth was, he had raised generations of bright witches and wizards, and had provided brilliant futures for those he could. He looked at his wall for strength, for purpose. He had long ago given up hope for a wife or child, so he contented himself with surrogates. The students he grew closest to became the only family he had. Sadly, he looked upon the picture of Lilly Potter. He had lost some along the way, but despite his sadness, he felt proud at many of their achievements. Including Lilly's death for the family she loved. Loved...that was how Lilly had made him feel. Not in a romantic way, heaven's no. Valued, significant...she made him feel important. The gifts his surrogate family sent him, the small things they did to make him know how significant he was and they were everything. His students made him feel important. He looked around his empty house, taking in the life he now lead. The life he had expected to be lonely, but no. Regularly, his ex-students came by, reminding him of his purpose. The reason he led the life he did...Horace Slughorn wanted to be significant, important, valued. That was all he wanted, and all he had.