The next morning Dolores was surprised to see two owls fly into her office instead of one. The tawny one was the Ministry owl she had sent Lonely Soul the previous evening, but she had never seen the other one, a big imposing grey owl with white feathers on its belly that was carrying a square package wrapped in brilliant red paper.

Carefully, she untied Lonely Soul's letter from the owl's leg, not because she cared about hurting the owl, but because she didn't want to rip the parchment. It read as follows:

Dear Sweetheart,

Thanks a lot for your nice long letter. I was afraid you wouldn't answer me again. When you meet someone through a contacts add, you can never be sure for how long that person will be willing to wait until you meet them.

I'm glad you like Chinese food. Maybe we can go together to a restaurant when we meet? But I don't want to talk about that just yet, it's still too soon. Be patient, my Sweetheart.

I've only left England once, because of work, but I have a vast knowledge of our dear old island. I live in Nottingham at the moment, but I was born in Chester, quite near Liverpool actually.

I'm afraid I must leave you now, because there's some work I must finish. I'll be waiting for your letter, so please, don't make me wait too long.

Yours,

Lonely Soul

Dolores turned the parchment, but there was no postscript, no mention at all of the strange package the other owl was carrying. Maybe it wasn't from Lonely Soul?

Working in the Ministry, Dolores had come across some unpleasant things before. There were always those who chose to hate her without a reason, just because she did her best to defend the wizarding community from the obvious menace of werewolves and such. But, oh well, you get weirdos everywhere, don't you?

With some misgivings, she tapped the package with her wand and it unwrapped. Dolores gasped. Godiva's chocolates! Her favourites! She tapped the box and it opened to reveal a mouth-watering sample of milk chocolates. Dolores took one of them with trembling fingers, wondering it the chocolates could be poisoned. She took a bite and closed her eyes in ecstasy. Simply delicious.

She smiled to herself. Well, it looked like Lonely Soul was a very modest admirer. Not a single mention of the present. And he was very thoughtful too, because he had paid attention to the fact that Dolores liked sweets. She ate the rest of the chocolate and went back to working with a happy smile on her face. She would write to Lonely Soul in the evening.