First fic I've ever had the courage to post. R&R and enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own it, but if she is offering...

Jack Briggs was a lot of things: an athlete at his school, a good piano player and (or so he liked to think) a good person. He is also the next door neighbour and childhood friend of one Hermione Granger, whom had just spent the last two hours in the old tree house in his backyard alternating between crying her eyes out, and single-handedly out drinking everyone in Britain. Another thing that Jack Briggs was, he decided, was a Hogwarts hater.

Yes, he admittedly did convince Hermione to go to the magical school all those years ago, but had he known then as he knows now, he'd do anything to have stopped her. Jack and Hermione were the best of friends as young children – his parents Rose and John are Hermione's godparents and Monica and Wendell are his. Throughout primary school the pair stuck together; Jack's popularity kept most of the bullies away from Hermione and in turn, she kept him from listening to the hype attached to his athletic stereotype. They were in their first year of high school when Hermione got that fateful letter, and through their families, they were able to help Hermione complete her non-magical education while she was at Hogwarts through correspondence and some well-crafted white lies.

Things changed so very quickly once Hermione left for that school. He still had a good group of friends of course, and until Halloween the year she left, it looked like Hermione would stay home permanently once the year was out. He received countless letters from her over the years she was away – anybody who asked was told she was at an exclusive girls school in France – and now, he thought idly as he carried the knocked out Hermione to his room, he should have picked up the signs that she would be a wreck after school.

Once he was sure Hermione was sleeping soundly in his bed, he reached for the box of letter that Hermione had sent over the years, kept under his bed, and started to re-read them. The letters had started out well enough, full of awe and love for this new world she was a part of, while missing the one she had left behind. As time passed though the details of certain things became more disturbing – he chuckled to himself at the memory of he and his little sister Donna (who got to read the letters too) yelling at Hermione till they were red-faced after her second year because she managed to get petrified. He remembered his worry when Hermione was somehow cramming in more school work than was physically possible in a day back in her third year, and her insistence that she kept ahead in her non-magical education as well. The main subject of her letters though, was one Harry Potter.

Harry Potter. Even thinking the name made his blood start to boil. It was clear from her many letters that Hermione seemed to have built her new life around this boy. While he had of course missed her terribly, he was glad she felt like she was making a place for her to be truly happy. Yes, many letters indeed were solely about her worry, or sorrow about the git it seemed.

"I owe Harry my life Jack, he was so very brave jumping on that troll"

"The whole school seems to hate him at the moment Jack. Honestly, just because he can talk to snakes!"

"I knew that turning in his broom would make him mad, but it has been months and he just refuses to listen to me…."

"Some bloody idiot decided a good challenge would be to face a NESTING DRAGON! Really Jack, I think it would have been safer for Harry to stand in the middle of a busy road and wait to get run over…"

"…really confused Jack. I have even been helping him with Cho and Ginny, but I can't seem to stop thinking about him"

There was no doubt in Jack's mind by Hermione's fifth year at Hogwarts that she had fallen head over heels in love with Harry bloody Potter. What made him worry was that, even though she went on the odd date with blokes when she was here at home, Hermione was not able to stop falling. No matter what the situation, whether she got hurt physically or emotionally. She would insist on staying by Potter's side. After both he and Hermione had graduated high school at the end of Hermione's sixth year at Hogwarts, they had gotten into a big fight before she went off to save the world. Hermione believed that should she die because of joining the fight with Harry that it would be worth it. He had, naturally, wanted her to be safe and go into hiding if need be. But ever the loyal friend, Jack had helped hide her parents in Australia, and kept an eye on them from afar.

It was nearly a year before he had heard from or saw her again. She had changed so much from the girl he knew. Her eyes – once warm, sparkling and alive – were now dull, tired and wiser than should be for someone her age. She was now scarred on the outside as well as emotionally. There was the long thin scar from her left shoulder down to her belly-button that she had gained at the end of her fifth year; even now it would cram up when she was too cold, or in early mornings. Now she had a thin scar on the side of her throat and the word 'Mudblood' scratched into her left arm.

Instead of the bouncing, bright friend who had left, Hermione now seemed to be constantly on guard. She had taken to sharing rooms with either him or Donna when she was home. Her general demeanour was sadder than ever before, and she had helped him write so many sad songs when she had returned. Even after Monica and Wendell came back with their memories restored, Hermione's happiness was a mask that only their families could see through. She had also taken to drinking and partying, at first Jack thought it was in celebration, but as the weeks had worn on, he had begun to see the truth. Hermione was hurting far more than just post-war trauma.

So tonight Jack had decided to be sneaky and see how much information he could get out of drunken Hermione. After all, he knew that words said while drunk are often the most hidden of truths. During the last two hours his shirt had been soaked through from her tears as she spilled her sorrows and it all lead back to one man. Harry Potter. His fears that she was irrevocably in love with the tosser were proved correct indeed. In fact many of his old fears from school – such as Hermione being used as someone's walking, talking encyclopaedia - were realised tonight. Hermione was lonely, and now that there were no more assignments or adventures, she hadn't been checked on or heard from either Potter or the rest of her so-called friends. Worst of all today was her birthday, and only the Grangers and the Briggs families recognised the occasion. Not a single card or quick note.

Cringing to himself as he finished up on her old letters, Jack got up quietly and headed to Hermione's bedroom in the Granger house. Monica and Wendell had spent the day with Hermione, but in typical Granger fashion – had to leave shortly after dinner to a health conference in Nairobi, Kenya. The Grangers were after all, a very affluent couple who spent a lot of time doing dental work in areas that lacked proper health care facilities, so nobody was upset that they had to leave. Carefully avoiding the sleeping ball of orange fluff that was Crookshanks, who was sleeping on Hermione's desk, Jack began his self-appointed mission. Get in touch with Harry Potter and give him a much deserved talk, and if the opportunity came around – a good kick in the balls.

By pure luck he found on the desk an opened letter by one of Hermione's classmates. This bloke, Neville – he corrected himself, was writing to tell Hermione that he was having a good holiday at a beach house right here in this very town! The letter went on describing how Harry, Ginny, Ron and Luna were acting like super couples and had been dubbed by Neville and some other Weasley named George as the 'Fantastic Four'. The letter was finished with Neville asking why Hermione hadn't come along, as it was a great trip to the muggle world.

Jack had to sit down quickly, based on the descriptions of the beach house, Jack was almost certain that his family OWNED it. The Briggs and Grangers had many investment properties together and Jack was certain this was one of them. Stuffing the letter clumsily into his jacket, Jack raced to his car to drive down to the office that dealt with all the properties his family rented out. Luckily he knew the way around the filing system like the back of his hand – his family had made him work for his own money once he was fifteen, and he had done weekend shifts at this place – and he was able to locate current residents within minutes.

There. In black and white was the name Weasley. He knew the name well, as the infamous Weasley children had also been starring figures in Hermione's letters, and she had spent many a vacation with them instead of coming back home. Carefully noting the address in his mobile phone and grabbing the spare keys, Jack ran to his car like a bull after a bull fighter. This was it. His chance. Perhaps his one and only chance to make these wizards see reason and get them to help bring Hermione out of her current state of mind and back to a happier place.

Sending a quick text message to Donna letting her know what he was about off to do and asking her to keep watch on Hermione, Jack drove off to the beach house. Thoughts were racing through his mind quicker than he could make sense of them all. As Jack pulled up, he saw his sister's reply, a simple 'be careful and don't kill anyone'. Jack snorted, knowing that if Donna had come along too, then he would be the one holding her back. After all, she was quite protective of Hermione, and in the past weeks had expressed her wish to do many things with the Potter boy's genitals, including something involving a toothpick and a hammer, should she ever get a hold of him.

Not caring that it was nearly midnight – the lights were on and he could hear some music playing in the background – Jack started banging on the door, yelling. "POTTER! OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

Less than ten seconds later the door opened and Jack found himself staring at four wizards pointing their wands at his face. On the left was a glaring, tall and lanky redhead wearing a pink party hat, next to a dark-haired boy whose expression was wary but calm, who was standing next to another redhead – this one bulkier, and wearing and missing an ear, and finally him. Potter. Jack recognised him instantly, not from the scar on his head, but from the green eyes Hermione had described at length tonight in the tree house.

"Who are you and what do you want?" scowled the party hat wearing redhead.

Jack squared his shoulders, brought out the letter he had grabbed off of Hermione's desk and held it out as he said in a deathly calm voice "My name is Jack, I'm a non-magical friend of Hermione's. I said that I'm here to see Harry bloody Potter. Or are you wizards hard of hearing?"

"Oh I heard!" snarled the redhead. Jack supposed this one to be Ron. Hermione had said that one of the Weasley boys – George – had lost an ear, and had always maintained that Ron had a temper.

"Really Ronald? It is Ron right?" asked Jack in his calm voice. Surprised to see the man nod as he read the letter being passed among the wizards and silently motioned for him to come into the house.

It was eerily silent in the foyer of the house. Standing cautiously to the side were two girls, one blonde and calm, and one redhead who looked to have the same temper as her brother. Jack assumed these two to be Ginny and Luna. He waited till all of them were standing across from him, still wary looking, but now not pointing wands.

It was the calm wizard that spoke first "Hello, my name is Neville. How did you get this letter between me and Hermione?"

Despite all of his best efforts, Jack felt years' worth of anger and resentment boiling up inside him and quickly lost the battle to keep things polite as he spat. "She happens to be my dearest friend. Don't suppose you know what they are though. You lot wouldn't recognise a good friend if one fell on your heads like anvils!"

"What exactly are you implying there?" snapped a scowling Harry.

"Ah, finally! The man speaks! I know who all of you are! Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, George Weasley and Neville Longbottom" said Jack, nodding to each of them as he spat out their names as though they were insults. "Don't reckon you've heard of me, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that today was Hermione's birthday and not one of you did anything about it! She is meant to be your FRIEND, is she not? Was she really just there for you lot to use for school and your little adventures? This is letter here from Neville is the first she has heard from ANY of you since she helped win that war with your world! It's been months! I've seen her write letters to you people since she got her parents back from Australia. Would it have killed one of you to reply with at least a thank you for everything she has done in the last seven years?"

Jack noticed with a grim satisfaction that they all looked speechless. Good, he thought, they are actually listening. He waited for a moment to see if any of them would speak, but quickly filled the silence with more of his anger, his words getting louder and louder.

"Do none of you care about what she has been through, what she has done, all for you so called friends and that bloody world you lot live in? Her parents barely even know her anymore; she can't sleep on her own now because of nightmares and pain, she WISHES SHE WERE DEAD!"

"What?" whispered George.

"I just spent the night trying to convince her she has a life worth living for. That she has friends, that she has a future and that Harry FUCKING POTTER DIDN'T KILL HER!" screamed Jack, trying his best to not lose what was left of his control and beat the snot out of the Potter boy. "The only reason I haven't beaten you into a pulp Potter is that Hermione would kill me if she ever found out. Same goes for the rest of you bastards. Hermione has been drinking herself to death these last few weeks. Have any of you ever said thank you for anything she has done? She could have died in that war! She left behind a home with family, true friends and a secure, safe life. All for you lot! She even kept up her non-magic schooling at the same time as your Hogwarts stuff, JUST in case it would be helpful for you Potter and Weasley!"

Harry had been slowly getting paler as this Jack bloke yelled and asked back in as calm a voice as he could manage, "What do you need us to do?"

This stopped Jack in his rant. He looked at Harry in the eyes, with a look of complete desperation and said quietly, "Bring her back to life Potter. Bring back my best friend. If none of you have the intention of sticking around her, let me know right now, because I don't want her to get her hopes up and have you lot break her heart again. Give her closure so she can move on in life, one way or another."

The room fell silent, George conjured up some couches and armchairs as all of the young people in the room fell into them. It was while looking at the sad and concerned faces of Hermione's magical friends that Jack was finally convinced that they genuinely cared about her. It formed a lump in his stomach as he knew that what he had to say next would throw these people into even more of a guilt spin, but he knew he had to go through with his plan.

"She's in love with you Potter" said Jack sadly. "She's so stupidly in love with you that she would give her life, her soul and everything else she could for you."

Ron, Ginny and Harry looked at each other in shock while a knowing look passed across the faces of George, Neville and Luna.

"I know you are in a relationship, and that Hermione insists that you are in a happy place now, and that that matters to her more than her own happiness. But I can see that it is killing her. Being happy for you, is killing her. I'm not asking you to dump your girlfriend or anything" Jack continued quickly, worried that tempers would flair. "What I want is for you to be the friend you claim to be. Be there for her. Don't let her think you were just using her friendship. She had enough of that as a child. She doesn't need it from you too." Jack paused and looked around the room of dejected faces, "She doesn't need it from any of you. I'll let myself out now. I've said my piece. Just think on it for a day or two. I know you have the place booked a few more days – my family owns this place – and let me know what you lot plan to do. I work at the office that runs the company you rented the house from; you can reach me through them. But don't any of you come near Hermione until you make your choice." And with that Jack left the house. Making the faithful journey back to his broken friend.

It was two days later that he received a call on his mobile from Harry Potter. Jack knew that a meeting between Harry and Hermione was for the best, but it still worried him to no end as he grudgingly agreed to let Harry come over to the house that evening, on the proviso that Harry not mention that he now knew Hermione was in love with him. Getting his parents out of the house for the night wouldn't be a problem – they were just as concerned about Hermione's behaviour as Jack was – it would be keeping Hermione sober before letting Harry see her that would be the challenge. Hermione had been drinking so much more over the last two days that he was honestly surprised that there was any alcohol left in the house. And considering that at the beginning of the month the bar in the games room had been restocked, Jack was grateful that he hadn't had to take Hermione to a hospital to get her stomach pumped yet.

The day had gone by pleasantly enough; Hermione was not in the mood to drink to everybody's relief. However once she noticed Harry at the door of the Briggs house she had begun to fidget nervously. After an awkward reunion where Hermione quickly figured out that this wouldn't be a happy visit, Jack lead the silent Harry and Hermione to the home theatre, for reasons being that it was on the ground floor and there was nothing that could be thrown about. With a nod he left them alone in the room, closing the door behind him.

Harry moved a chair across from Hermione so that he could look at her properly and saw sadly that Jack was right. Hermione looked awful. Not in the way of clothes or prettiness of course, but she did indeed look like a shell of herself. Her eyes looked empty, with a barely discernible spark of warmth.

It took a while but Hermione was the first to speak. "What are you doing here Harry? What's wrong? It's been months so something must be wrong or you wouldn't be here."

Harry took a deep breath and tried as hard as he could to keep tears threatening to come forth at the sight of his friend, his companion, his…well, his everything looking so dead and alive at the same time as he spoke gently, "I'm here to apologise, for being such a right bastard to you since the war ended. I'm here to try and be half as good as you have been to me over the years."

"Jack has spoken to you hasn't he?" observed Hermione sadly.

"He only opened my eyes to see what a prick I've been, what pricks all of us have been when it comes to you. There we were not five minutes away from you and we ignored you on your birthday! That fact that Neville of all people has been the only one to contact you since you left is one of most disappointing reflections on me. I should have kept in touch, not act like I had forgotten you." Harry had to fight to keep his head up as he said this, wanting nothing more than to fall to his knees and beg Hermione for her forgiveness, for her to laugh, or even scowl at him. He wanted anything but the blank look currently covering her face.

Hermione nodded when Harry was done speaking and gathered all that was left of her Gryffindor courage to ask the question and speak the truth that had been haunting her for months. "What am I to you Harry? Because I've been in love with you for so long that I cannot take another minute without knowing. I can live without you; I have been since I brought back my parents. It's hard and painful, but I can do it. What I cannot do anymore is to be just your friend. To stand by you as you marry Ginny or some other beautiful woman would be even harder though."

"STOP" begged Harry, no longer caring about tears. "Please stop. Please."

"Stop what Harry? Speaking the truth? I never expected you to return my feelings and…" was all Hermione got out before completely breaking her calm stance and started crying. "I don't want to be an obligation Harry. I know you don't need me anymore, b-but…"

It was more than Harry could take, he scooped Hermione up onto his lap and held on to her as though she would disappear should he let go for a second. "Don't leave me," Harry whispered to her. "I never knew what love was really all about. After all those years with the Dursleys, you were the first person to believe in me, to hug me, to really love me. And I've just been in some kind of different reality this ever since I never thought you'd not be by my side. I'm not interested in a life without you in it Hermione."

Hermione forced herself to look in Harry's eyes as she asked, "What about Ginny, I know you two were happy together?"

"We've been having problems for the last few weeks, and after the wakeup call all of us got from Jack a couple of days ago, it just cemented things. When he pretty much told us you would die, my world crashed. Then I knew. I need you with me. I never want another wasted minute without you knowing that you are my everything." Harry pressed his forehead against hers. "You are the one who sees beyond the scar, the hype. Just Harry James Potter."

"I don't know if I can do this Harry. Be an us. After all these years I'm tired. Being angry at you, waiting, all of it has just been exhausting."

Hermione shifted a bit and looked at Harry inquisitively. "If I told you that I needed time to get better, to find out who I am now that this war is over before I can be with you. Would you leave?"

"Never." Harry promised and then kissed her forehead, "You and me, as long as we are in things together, it'll be alright. When you are ready I'll be right there with you. Now I know I'm in love with you. Nothing will separate us again."

And nothing ever did.