A/N: Hello and thank you for taking time to read this. It was written some time ago during an experiment at the Uni to cheer up a friend. Then too weeks ago my tea drinking friend Aura and I had a very interesting conversation on the matter, so here it is. Aura this is for you, an early graduation gift from me, along with some of Tom's Terribly Tonic Tea ;) Enjoy

Disclaimer: If I told you I am JK would you believe me? Thought so. Then, anything that sounds familiar comes from the Half-Blood Prince (pages 186-188 German paperback edition) by JK Rowling.

Tom Riddle enjoyed Potions, he had to admit. It was not the subject that caused this -although he was always enthusiastic about anything to do with knowledge-, but the professor. Professor Slughorn was not exactly a likeable person, not that Tom found anyone ever likeable, but he was so blown away by his skill and, dare he say, raw power the handsome orphan emitted, that his teaching hours could easily renamed into "One hundred and one reasons to admire T.M. Riddle". Of course, he believed the Potions Master was being ridiculous, but he needed the... advertisement so people would join in his own little club. Well, no he didn't need it, everyone in the school and nowadays out of it too, knew how amazing-stunning-handsome-brilliant he was, but still he liked it all the same.

So that day he strode in the Potions Classroom with that air of combined confidence and politeness only he could pull off. He sat at his usual working place and only after he inclined his head a little his... friends sat around him . Ignoring them on purpose, he fixed his gaze on the potion they would be brewing today.

Slughorn had this time made some, to demonstrate. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. The professor was a hopeless show-off! Tom's piercing eyes easily recognized the brew: Amortentia, the love potion. This time he actually did roll his eyes. He had always believed the Hogwarts curriculum was laughable for him, but this? He was pretty sure this was illegal. Only insane, drooling teenage girls took the time to brew such a potion, 95 percent ending up missing an ear or ten inches from their braids.

Anyway, he would have to brew it perfectly as always just to keep his best-student-ever act.

He shot a quick look at Black, Lestrange, Malfoy and Avery, the minions sitting closer to him, and found them practically lying on their stools, a stupid blank expression on their faces. Orion even gave him a lazy grin when he caught his eye, for Salazar's sake! Not good. If his minions thought they could just smile at him like that- hold on, he caught himself. Oh, yes, how could he forget. According to respectable sources, Amortentia is supposed to smell like things that attract us. Now, that could actually be interesting.

He inhaled deeply, letting his nose feel the air.

Nothing. He tried again. Nothing, except for the usual, funny smell of the dungeon.

Abraxas' comment: "I do love my shampoo for extra shine with chamomile essence" made him snap. He rose to his feet and without asking permission went straight ot the cauldron in the middle of the room.

-Tom, my boy? he heard Slughorn's voice but ignored it.

He bent his tall body over the cauldron and took a deep breath.

Again there was nothing at first. And then... the smell of old books and parchment and ink saluted his senses. Then yew and milk chocolate and the smell of freshly washed robes and polished wood. And after that cold mountain air and something metallic. Smells kept assaulting and now most of them he couldn't recognize.

He felt suddenly light-headed, drunk and his arm shot out to prevent him from falling.

-Tom? Tom, my boy, are you alright? Slughorn again.

He opened his mouth to respond... something, but the smells came in contact with his tongue and turned into flavours of food he had never eaten, women he had never kissed-

Someone pocked his shoulder and jerked him away from the cauldron.

Lestrange. He was looking at him with the most puzzled expression, not sure what to do. With his mind still fuzzy, he tried to pull himself together. Thank Salazar his self-control was impeccable and a few seconds later his face was as composed as ever. He turned to Slughorn , making a mental note of dealing with Lestrange and his liberties later.

-I apologize, Professor, he said smoothly. It was jst an experiment. You see, I have come across such a good sample of this particular potion. I am sorry, I got overexcited.

Haha, humility with a dose of flattery for good measure always does the trick.

Indeed the professor smiled and then laughed loudly, sending him back to his seat.

-And now, ladies and gentlemen, today we will be trying our strengths with this peculiar potion. I syppose Mr. Riddle knows what it is?

-It is Amortentia sir, the most powerful love potion n the world, he said simply. It is easily recognized by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen and the characteristic spirals of its steam. It is also said to smell according to what attracts us most. The symptoms of a person under the influence include enthusiasm for a specific individual who's hair was put in the potion, carelessness and an unhealthily pale complexion, he concluded enjoying the gapes his classmates were giving him.

-Excellent, excellent, Tom, as always. Twenty points to Slytherin , Slughorn exclaimed. Only we must keep in mind that even Amortentia cannot create that amazing and mystical emotion one calls love. The brew causes... infatuation in the best case scenarios and therefore is one of the most dangerous potions and its use forbidden in all the magical countries of our world. Still it is a very interesting potion with fascinating reactions between ingredients and demands delicate handling and full concentration. Since your class has shown great skill in potions making all the six years of your education. I have persuaded professor Dippet let you experiment for the hour only. I know it is desperately tricky to make, so i don't expect perfect brews, except for Mr. Riddle. None the less please turn to page two hundred and eighty three where the instructions lie. Your hour begins... now!

As expected everyone rushed to open their books and heat their cauldrons, even though they knew they didn't stand a chance with him in class. Lazily, he searched in his bag for the book and started following the instructions, his face the only calm one in the dungeon.

Soon, the whole classroom was filled with repulsive steam and good-for-nothing potions that splattered cat vomit to anyone close enough or shot lightnings to their brewer. Tom would have snorted to himself any other time, but now...

For the first time in his life something was not going according to plan. His potion was not the eye-watering turquoise slime Orion Black had made, or the brown mush with the obviously non-dissolved snake fangs from Malfoy, but he could tell something was wrong.

Even when he had dropped the first ingredient inside his cauldron it had been. Instead of crackling happily, the surface, now that he was supposedly finished, was boiling even though the fire was extinguished, and it was definitely not pearly white. It changed colours and textures when someone got close, while to him it was black- green. And there was no steam at all... However, he could still smell the vertigo of perfumes and so did his friends when they were asked by Slughorn. As for the professor, he seemed one step away from tearing all his degrees into pieces an disappearing in a whole somewhere.

Because he always took pride in been able to recognize what mistakes his students had made during brewing a certain potion. Now, he wasn't even sure if his most talented student ever had actually done a mistake or invented a new potion.

His concoction had turned a brilliant golden when he had approached and he could smell the lilies, the crystallized pine-apples, the polished wood. Theoretically, the essence was the most difficult to create and a very good marker to know if your potion is Amortentia and not a poison. So what the hell was wrong?

Tom looked as riddled as he did, and even as Slughorn approached, he read and reread the instructions all over again, repeating to himself that he had done everything the book said, not adding anything on his own as so many times he had been tempted to do, not missing any steps and doing it in the correct order.

The class was dismissed in clouds of hushed voices as everyone was talking about the Slytherin Prince and his failure at brewing the love potion.

Later that night professor Dumbledore was sitting alone in his office deep in thought. Things were worse than he had expected.

Horace had called him two hours ago to his office to show him Tom Riddle's Amortentia brew. After a lot of tests and talks and more tests, they had drawn the conclusion that the potion had been brewed perfectly, but had reacted differently due to the magic of its brewer.

Tom's Amortentia was...odd. It was stronger than the most perfected form, but the symptoms were so extreme, they didn't come close to love at all. They created a sick obsession in the point of making someone blindly obedient to Riddle, slavishly devoted to him to death.

It was as if it was impossible for Tom's magic to give a kind, warm feeling. Only admiration and obsession. The most perverted form of love.

A/N: Please tell me what you think and I'd love to read some opinions on the choices I made here. Oh and whoever finds something odd with the page number gets a cup of Tom's Tea :)

Bye for now