This was so nerve-racking. She should have just owl'ed professor Airey the 'get well' card and the cupcake, but Mori the owl would have eaten it. The Eurasian Eagle owl could smell food miles away, so she didn't doubt he'd smell the cupcake and rip the box to shreds and eat it.

So now here she was - a white box with a blue ribbon on the lid in her hand - in her best jeans, green cardigan and beanie. The beanie to hide her grey hair. Too bad she couldn't hide the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth. They were hideous.

Breathing in deeply, she knocked on the door lightly then went to have a seat. Setting the white box on the coffee table, she rubbed her damp palms on her legs. No need to be nervous, right? To distract herself she picked up a magazine. StarDate Observer. Cool.