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“Can’t, unfortunately. It’s a wedding announcement. She’s getting married.”

“Is that a good news, or a bad one?”

“Good. Bad. Both. I dunno. She’s engaged.”

“Is that why we’re drinking wine on a Wednesday night?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of wine Wednesday, Lucy?”

Joey kicked the chair out opposite her, looking up to Lily with an expectant expression. “Saw the red hair. Thought you were Daisy Hookum.”

Lily smiled, sitting in the chair. “Wow, that’s a huge compliment. She’s awfully pretty. I’ll take that mix-up any day.”

“Are you speaking to me?” Rabbit looked a little confused, glancing around but he soon realised she must have been. “Alright, go on?”    

"No, I’m speaking to the wall.” she raised her eyebrows at him, “She’s getting married to her lard of a boyfriend. If your sister was willingly marrying somebody awful, what would you do? I mean, I don’t even know if you have a sister, but the question still stands.”

“Sister? You mean that girl that hates your guts for having magic?”

“She doesn’t hate me. It’s- It’s complicated.”

“Oh, wow. You don’t like this guy, do you?”

“He’s awful. Awful. They’ve been dating forever, I should have seen this coming, but I thought - Maybe not! But nope, here it is, wedding announcement and all.”

“From the look on your face I take it you were… surprised?”

“She’s marrying her lard of a boyfriend. Or lard of a fiancé now, I guess.”

“Okay, how old do you think is too old to order from a kid’s menu?”

“I don’t think too old to order from a kid’s menu exists. The barmaid, however, may think otherwise.”

“I’m sorry. Are you under the impression that I actually wanted to start a conversation with you? I had no idea that six books and a pile of notes actually made me look inviting in a library. I suppose I will have to be more careful next time,” Joey drawled.

“I only came over to ask if the seat next to you was taken...” Lily raised her eyebrows, “But I’ll take that as a yes and just leave you be.”

“Okay, but in my defense I did tell them if they gave me the chance I’d hex them up and down this fucking castle.”

“That’s an awfully lousy defense.”

“And it turns out you’re not one of those nerds either,” she said, not realizing that might come off as offensive.

“Those nerds are my friends, Mara.” she was still smiling - she knew the girl had been drinking, so she gave her the benefit of the doubt, “And they’re really not nerds. Most of them, at least.”