Horace Slughorn, or rather 'Professor' Slughorn was not as subtle in his misguided interludes as he liked to think himself to be. And it did not take a perspicacious individual like Tom Riddle to observe and manipulate that fact to their own advantages.

Even complete dunderheads like Crabbe and Goyle were aware of Slughorn's night-time preferences in favour of fair skinned, neatly kept and innocent, virgin boys.

And Tom fitted that criteria rather beautifully.

Maybe, except for the 'innocent' part, he admitted as he was far from being 'innocent', but he knew that he could pretend to be innocent rather well. So well, in fact, that he had managed to fool most of the teachers of his innocence(except for that old coot Dumbledore) for years.

And he was certain that the bumbling fool Slughorn would come crawling for more once he had gotten a taste of Tom Riddle's infamous and rather irresistible charm.

And Tom need not not to crook even his little finger to make Slughorn swoon all over him like a second year Hufflepuff girl.

Because Tom was very aware of the lingering glances that the old fool sent towards his delectable backside when Tom was not facing him directly. He was also well aware of how Slughorn's hands seemed to stray a little bit lower than what was absolutely necessary when he clapped Tom's back while praising him for his seemingly prodigious skills in the art of potion making.

But Tom was okay with that.

Because Tom was certain that Slughorn was probably the only one who could provide him with all the necessary information that he sought regarding his quest for immortality.

And that too without being overly suspicious of him.

And that made Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn very precious in the eyes of Lord Voldemort.

Very precious indeed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Keeping all this in mind, Tom allowed his shield to shatter seconds before Abraxas' severing charm made an actual impact with it and let the curse hit him squarely in his chest during a secret duelling session with his Knights in the Room of Requirement.

He felt his blood seeping through the gashes and soaking his uniform in a beautiful, warm, red colour.

He watched fascinated as his Abraxas stood a few meters away from him with his eyes set down firmly on the floor, trembling slightly, his fingers clutching his wand tightly and murmuring something on the lines of, "Forgive me M' Lord. It won't happen again I swear to you. Please, please let me go."

But Tom merely gave him a predatory smile and planted a feather light kiss on his lips and then murmured in his ear a dangerous" Good boy ", before dismissing all his Knights with a casual wave of his hand.

Because Tom had other, more important plans for tonight.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Slughorn had just settled on his armchair beside the fire with a rather tall glass of firewhiskey in his hands when he heard a low but urgent knock on his office door.

It was not unusual for him to receive (secret) visitors at that time of the night but he was quite certain that he had not invited any of his young suitors to warm his bed tonight.

So with great efforts and equally great reluctance, he roused himself from his chair and went to answer the door with his firewhiskey in hand.

And when he finally opened the door, shock would be a gross understatement to describe what he felt upon seeing an injured, blood soaked Tom Riddle, standing with tears in his eyes behind the threshold of the door.

"Merlin's beard Tom!", he exclaimed. Failing to keep the shout from escaping his lips.

"What have you done boy?", he asked, genuinely concerned after taking in the amount of blood that had seeped from the violent gash adorning Tom's chest.

"May I come in Sir?", Tom asked, letting his voice tremble while smiling inwardly at Slughorn's genuinely heart-broken expression.

Breaking out of his stupor, he said urgently,"Oh yes Tom, please do come in my boy, do come in", while grabbing Tom's forearm and dragging him towards his desk and pulling out a chair for him to sit.

But Tom deliberately ignored the chair and decided to sit on Slughorn's desk instead.