Disclaimer: Never was mine / Never will be mine I am making no money from this story. Everything belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros.

Summery – Harry is poisoned during the summer holidays by death eaters to make him 10 years younger but something goes wrong and he becomes 10 years older. Severus Snape finds him and helps him. This is going to be a slash story.

Re-posted and Beta read by the lovely JediCandy.

Pairings – Harry/Severus Ron/Hermione

Spoilers – First five books.

Genre – Romance / Drama

Chapter One – Happy 17th Birthday

"I am so God damned BORED!" muttered Harry to himself while sitting at his desk in Dudley's second bedroom. He had even finished all his homework this summer and had rechecked it at least five times. To his credit, he had even finished Snape's potions homework. "Well, at least Hermione will be proud of me," he thought laughingly to himself.

It had been nearly two months since Harry had returned to Privet Drive and his routine had a steady pattern to it. Get up after a restless night, stare out the window for a few hours, get breakfast for the Dursley's, stare out the window some more, get lunch for the Dursley's. Stare out the window some more, get the evening meal for the Dursley's and then, if he was really lucky, he would get to stare out the window some more! Attempts to get some sleep usually resulted in waking up in a sweat from Voldemort-induced nightmares and then yes, you've guessed it! Stare out the window some more! Harry was not even allowed out of the house to go down to the park to break up the monotony of staring out the window due to Order rules. "Harry my dear boy, it's safer for you to stay inside the house this summer. Lord Voldemort will not be able to reach you if you are inside, the safety of the wards that have been placed upon your family's home it is your best protection," Dumbledore had told him at the end of last year.

"What about death by boredom, Hedwig?" Harry asked, looking at his familiar. Hedwig's big, golden eyes looked sympathetically at him as she hooted softly. "Bet they didn't think of that did they?" Hedwig ruffled her snowy feathers, flicked her wings to quietly flit over to his desk. Harry reached out to pet the feathers on her chest as she nipped his fingers affectionately.

***

"Oi' freak you're wanted down in the kitchen to cook our dinner!" yelled Dudley as he banged on the door. All his bravery faded as soon as Harry opened the door, which caused Harry to smirk in a very Snape-like manner. Harry was in no way as big as Dudley, although Dudley's continuing diet and exercise had paid off. He was now Smeltings' boxing champion and he was still very large. It was pure size that made him good at boxing in school. He would never be fit enough to go professional, he still carried around an awful lot of fat. However, since sixth year Harry had filled out nicely. He had eventually 'grown-up', as he liked to call it. He now stood at a more respectable height of five feet nine inches (5'9") tall. His face had thinned down, making his cheekbones more prominent; his body had also filled out to a pleasing form, his years of playing on the Quidditch pitch and of running away from Dudley and his gang had left him with a nicely defined, trim and slim body. He had the physique of an athlete.

After cooking dinner, cleaning up and being utterly ignored by his family as was their new tactic for dealing with their wayward nephew. He returned to his bedroom to continue his new hobby of staring out the window.

***

Ten minutes before midnight, Hedwig softly flew over to Harry, who was dozing on his bed. She gently nipped him on the ear knowing he would want to be woken up for the arrival of the owls he would soon receive for his birthday. "What's up girl?" Harry inquired sleepily to his owl, who hooted softly and moved over to his small digital alarm clock that was displaying the time of 11:57pm. "Wow, girl! Nearly another year survived. Hopefully it will be the last one here." Hedwig hooted gently at him and Harry simply responded with a winning smile that would rival Gilderoy Lockhart's any day.

As the clock ticked closer to midnight, Harry said quietly to himself "Happy Seventeenth Birthday, Harry." A few minutes' later six owls could be seen heading towards number 4 Privet Drive.

After Harry let them into his room, he quieted them down with owl treats and with drinks of water. He recognised the first owl as a Hogwarts owl.

Dear Harry

Happy 17th Birthday! Quite the young man now, aren't you? How's it been going with those stupid muggel relatives of yours? Been treating you alright I hope. If not, inform the Order and we'll send someone over again just to remind them not to get too mean with you. Hope you like you like your present; see you in September for school.

Love, Hagrid.

Wrapped in brown paper were a tin of treacle fudge (home-made) and a selection of photographs taken of him, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid from the last few years. They were all waving up at him from the pictures. Harry smiled to himself as he grabbed some parchment and his quill.

Dear Hagrid,

Thank you so much for the fudge and the photos. I love them so much! I miss you and I can't wait until September to see you again. Everything here is alright and my family are treating me fine.

All my love, Harry

Harry attached the parchment to the owl that delivered Hagrid's letter and present and sent it on its way. He grabbed the next owl.

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday. How are you? I'm fine. I finished all my homework during the first week so that I had most of the holidays to myself. I hope you have finished all yours. I know for a fact that Ron has not, but I am going to stay at the Weasleys soon so I can tell him off to his face and make him finish it! I have so much to tell you, but I guess it will have to wait until we get back to school, as you are not allowed to leave your family's home. I hope you are keeping your word, Harry, and not leaving your house because Voldemort could capture you if you did. Anyway, Harry, have a fine day.

Lots of love, Hermione.

Harry smiled at the letter, it was so Hermione. Even before he opened her present he knew what it was. He rolled his eyes in good humour and opened it to find out what kind of book she had bought him this year "Discover the Animal Within – A Guide to Animagi" by P. Hansworth. Harry raised an eyebrow, good choice, he thought to himself as he grabbed some more parchment.

Dear Hermione,

Thanks so much for the book. It looks very interesting! I can't wait to read it! Yes, I have finished all my homework and rechecked it about five times; there is not a lot else to do being stuck indoors all the time. Not that I complaining, I guess it's better then being Voldemort's new plaything. I also can't wait to see you when school starts. I miss you all so much! Also, be kind to Ron. He does try, you know.

All my love, Harry.

While tying the note to the owls' leg, Harry smiled to himself. He really did miss Hermione very much. Over the last year they had become closer to each other, spending lots of time in the library studying together. After Sirius' death, Harry had thrown himself into his studies, which pleased Hermione immensely. Not just that, she had helped him come to terms with a lot of things in his life such as his role in the war and the feelings of betrayal that he felt towards Dumbledore at the end of his fifth year. She also made him see the truth behind his feelings of anger, hate, distrust and blame that he directed towards his Potions Master, Professor Snape for Sirius' death. She truly was a friend and he loved her like the sister he never had.

The next letter made him giggle to himself.

Happy Birthday Harry,

How's it going in the muggle world? I'm in Iceland with my Dad trying to find proof of the Ice Snakes existence. For some reason, people don't believe they exist – nutter's the lot of them! Anyway I have to go. Have a good day, Harry.

Love, Luna

From her he received a very nice charm necklace. Not too feminine, he thought. It was an assortment of glass beads strung together; it was meant to be able to keep you safe from harm and keep away bad spirits. Might make Peeves stay away, Harry thought. He put the necklace on and admired it.

It fit snugly around his neck, he liked it and was glad to see he was right it didn't look to effeminate. With his new hair, which was slightly longer and hung almost down to his jaw, his feathered bangs (fringe) and new necklace, he thought he looked like he belonged in one of those British rock bands that he had seen in one of Dudley's magazines. He again grabbed some parchment to send his thanks to Luna.

Hey Luna,

Thank you for my necklace. I love it and I'm wearing it now. Even if I do say so myself, I think it looks kind of cool. I hope you have some luck finding the elusive Ice Snake. If you do bring one back, I will have a chat with it and find out its real name for you.

Keep the faith, Harry.

He sent her letter back with her owl. He liked Luna, she was fun and sweet and very intelligent, she was not in Ravenclaw for nothing! He didn't care what the rest of the school thought of her, even though he did agree a little with them. Yes, Luna was a little crazy but crazy in a good and nice way.

The next owl was Errol. He grinned to himself. He loved the Weasleys very much. They were his surrogate family – Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and all of their children.

Harry, dear,

We have wrapped up some sweets and pies for you and have placed a preservation charm on them so they will keep for the duration of the summer holidays. Headmaster Dumbledore has told us you can not visit us this summer, I guess he knows what's best. Anyway, dear, take care.

Love Molly and Arthur Weasley.

Next he grabbed Pig and detached him from his parcel and read the letter first.

Happy Birthday Harry,

Mate, mum told me you can't come and visit this summer, rotten luck, that. I was looking forward to some real Quidditch practice. Ginny's pretty good and all, but you're way better. By the way, Ginny says hello. Hermione is coming to stay next week. I can't wait to see her again, all though I know she is going to whine at me to finish my homework. Maybe she'll let me copy hers? Nah, doubt that - ha. Anyway, mate, hope things are going well and I'll see you at school soon.

Love, Ron.

Harry grinned, he loved Ron like a brother. He was so much fun! Hermione was his sensible friend and Ron was his fun mate. When he opened Ron's present he found lots of England Quidditch team paraphernalia and a practice snitch. He got some more parchment.

Thanks Ron,

I love my gifts, the snitch should help me keep myself amused. Sorry I can't come to the Burrow this summer. I'm so jealous of you and Hermione hanging out and having fun without me, but I want you to promise me something, put the time you two will be spending together ALONE and put it to good use, AND TELL HER HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT HER! It's been six years already, mate, time to get moving or else someone else will come along and snatch her away from you. Enjoy the rest of the summer, mate.

Love, Harry.

He smiled and sent his reply along with Pig. He then looked at the last owl in his room and laughed as quietly as he could, it was Joker, the twins' owl.

How's it going our most dear and cherished silent partner?

This summer has been great for our shop and our mail order side to the business has taken off. Included in this box is some of our newer inventions as well as some of our classic ones to help make your summer a little more fun. So, anyway, mate, happy 17th birthday. Welcome to the world of adults.

Your forever-grateful partners, Fred and George.

Harry rummaged through the box feeling apprehensive, he knew there could be a world of trouble in the box.

Dear Fred and George,

Thank you for all of the stuff! I think I will keep most of it until I get back to Hogwarts so that if things go wrong, at least Pomfrey will be there to fix it for me. Also, the first years are always more fun to trick then testing them on yourself. Take care guys.

Love, Harry.

***

With his last letter sent, Harry carefully packed everything into his trunk and tidied up. No need to provoke Aunt Petunia, he thought, not while they are at least feeding me and not locking me in. Though he was feeling a little peckish, after all, salad is fine but not when you have it every day, thanks to Dudley's health regime. He opened his package from Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and grabbed one of the pies. He noticed a flask in the box. It was labelled fruit punch. Perfect, thought Harry, he was feeling a little thirsty after writing all his letters and eating the pie. So he opened it and proceeded to drink it all down. "Didn't realise I was so thirsty, I just couldn't stop drinking it," he muttered to himself, while getting back into bed.

Next Chapter: Harry wakes up to a big shock. He runs away in panic to Diagon Alley and bumps into an old friend.