Author's note: This ficlet was inspired by this drawble of Harry, Hedwig and a leaf. Thanks to my friend myrafur for the inspiration.
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The Plane Truth
Harry Potter's twentieth birthday was not what he had hoped for. The weather was warm and muggy, his Auror training was wearing him down, his girlfriend was several thousand miles away, and nothing had seemed to go right all day. Apparating into his flat at the end of the day, Harry was pleasantly surprised to see Hedwig on her perch, a small envelope lying on his desk near her feet. Harry knew that his owl couldn't smirk, but he could almost swear she was raising her owlish eyebrows as if to say I knew it all along.
Seating himself, he tore open the envelope and was surprised to find a single leaf from ...well, he wasn't sure what kind of tree. Perhaps the note inside the envelope would tell him. Unfolding the note, he found the small, neat handwriting he'd come to know and love during the past nine years:
Gortyna, Crete
30 July 2000
Dearest Harry,
I'm so glad Hedwig found me here. I hope you've missed me as much as I've missed you. My Unspeakable training is going very well, and I wanted to share something I found today. This leaf comes from a plane tree under which, so the myth goes, Zeus and Europa first made love. While I can't be there on your birthday to show you how much I love you, I hope you know that, like the leaves on this tree, my love for you will never die.
Now I'll shut up before I kill us both with sappiness. Happy birthday, darling.
All my love,
Hermione
Harry held the leaf up to the light, examining it as if it were made of gold.
The next day he took a Portkey to Crete. He found Hermione, and the tree. Many leaves fell, but none died.
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