"That's what the many layers of dress are for, Alfred," Jo laughed. "A woman can hide a great many things beneath her skirts." Liquor bottles, relics, anything really. The bustle helped, too.

She tensed at the mention of marrying Zach. It was a tense conversation, one the pair was leaving unaddressed for the time being. "No plans," she said a bit mournfully. Jo had eventually confessed her lie to Zach and left it at that, though she was beginning to itch for the open seas, for the fruitful labor of work. "He hasn't managed to convince me yet, either. He owns a shop — Whizzard's Books in Hogsmeade. Only way I'd be talked into marriage is eloping, and he can't risk it for the sake of the shop. It's a mess, really." She took a heavier drink of her rum then. "We don't talk about it much."