Title: To Hedwig
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: T / PG-13
Pairing: Harry/Ginny (if you squint)
Warnings: Character death (after a fashion), angst, spoilers (after a fashion)
Word Count: 387
Summary: Harry misses his best friend.

Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

A/N: I got a call from my mum that we're going to have to put down another of our cats - he has cancer and has stopped eating because of it - so I got an idea for fic and here it is.

She had been my best friend since before Hogwarts. Before I knew Ron and Hermione, I had her. Even when Uncle Vernon locked her up, she was there for me. When Hermione and Ron couldn't actually tell me anything, she told me what she could and pecked them when they had no reply. When Sirius died, she comforted me with understanding coos. When Dumbledore was killed by Snape, she stayed with me in my room, even when there were letters to be sent. No matter what, she was there for me when I most needed a friend.

I remember the fear, the panic I felt when she got hurt back in fifth year, but it's nothing compared to now.

I sent her off with a couple letters - Ron wanted to write home and I figured I could sneak in a brief note to Ginny without fear. A spell from Hermione to mask her obvious coat was the best protection we could come up for her, especially since she nearly threw a fit when Ron suggested painting her feathers (not that I blame her).

She was gone for some time - which wasn't a surprise, as we were moving around quite a bit - but when two months had passed without her return, I started to worry. Ron and Hermione, knowing what she meant to me, agreed to put our Horcrux search on hold long enough to find her.

And find her we did, though it took us a week. She was laying in a pile of leaves, bloody and broken. It looked like she'd been shot out of the sky with some curses and left to die. When she saw me, she let out a weak hoot, and I couldn't help but cry.

When Ron suggested a mercy killing, I almost throttled him, but she hooted in agreement - she must have been in real pain - so I cast the spell the would take her away the quickest, the one I hoped to never cast. And when I emptied my stomach in some bushes nearby, Hermione couldn't comfort me like she could.

Hermione and Ron helped me bury her and I transfigured a stone into a small marker with Hermione's help. The marker reads:

'Hedwig
True Friend
Beautiful Owl
May She Finally
Rest In Peace'