"Why, why does this always happen to me?" Virginia asked, face down on her bed, and then screamed into her pillow.

"It doesn't have to be Jacob," Alice reminded her. "You can marry anyone you want; you just have to do it when you're eighteen."

They were alone in their room. Donald had been thoughtful enough to drag Ellen out to build a snowman with him, just in case a little bit of privacy would make things a bit better. She guessed that it had actually been Clark's suggestion as Donald didn't always think of details like that.

Her roommate lifted her head up from her pillow. "I can't be an athlete because of magic. I can't compete against anyone normal because of magic. And now I have to get married because of magic! It's not fair!"

"At least your soul didn't nearly get eaten," Alice noted, and Virginia's face lost it sulkiness.

"Oh, Alice, I'm sorry," she apologized. "I must sound like a big baby to you."

Alice smiled. "I can empathize, though."

"But I didn't run into a manus," Virginia started. "I don't have to marry the scariest teacher on campus, the wedding doesn't have to be today, and I don't have to keep it a secret from my friends and family."

"Unless you want to do so," Alice reminded her. "Keep it a secret, I mean. The scary teacher is mine and you can't have him," she finished, grinning.

That got Virginia to laugh, and she finally sat up in her bed, still holding her pillow. "You can keep him, no competition here."

"He's not so bad," Alice teased. "Although…I can see where my father-in-law could frighten you away."

Virginia squeezed her pillow. "And your husband didn't rip him apart for that why?"

"Because he'd have to take his seat on the Council, or make me do it," Alice deadpanned. There had also been the fact that Aloysius appeared to at least have considered Hieronymous' feelings in the action, thinking that she had planned to abandon him when Hieronymous loved her and that she might not do so were she pregnant. It had surprised him, though he did believe the primary reason for his father's action was to perpetuate the House. He had been even more surprised that Aloysius had seemed to have considered her feelings, even if it had only been in passing. "And it's probably illegal, and would take too much work to make it look like an accident. But we're getting away from the subject."

They sat in silence for a minute. "So, all I need is the single-year contract? It doesn't have to be in anything but name only?"

"That's what Potsdam said," Alice confirmed.

Virginia drew a deep breath. "And Clark…I…you said that Donald showed him the contract, and that he was the one who suggested bringing it to Potsdam, so he knows."

Alice nodded.

"Did he say anything?" Virginia wanted to know. "I mean…we just started going out, and…."

Alice raised an eyebrow. "Why, are you thinking about just marrying Jacob?"

"What! No!" Virginia said. "I just don't want Clark to think…."

"What?" Alice asked. "That you're just using him because you have to get married? That you decided the money would be nice? That he is simply convenient?"

Virginia drew herself in a little bit. "Something like that," she whispered.

"He knows that you are an honest person," Alice said. "If you simply want to marry him because you want to see where this goes, and you can't do that without marrying him, just say so. If you're not sure about what you want to do, then say that. Since you don't turn eighteen until late this summer, it's not like you have to decide now."

"I suppose," she said slowly, "that I could Teleport to the school or your town during the summer, and he could come and see me? I mean, it would have to wait until I'm eighteen anyway, and it would give us a chance to get to know each other a little better."

"I don't think Mom or Dad would mind that…well, as long as you don't say that you're getting married when you get back to school," Alice said.

Virginia turned to watch the snow lightly falling outside their window. "It's just…I had always dreamt that when I got married, it would be for forever. Under the circumstances, I couldn't ask for more than the year-and-a-day contract. We've only actually been on one real date."

"You're afraid that you'll fall in love with him, but that he won't with you…or perhaps the other way around?" Alice guessed. Virginia squirmed uncomfortably so she guessed she had hit the nail on the head. "Any relationship has that risk. Just don't rush things, and it should be fine. I'm not saying that there won't be any problems, but just look at it like it's a year of courtship before you two decide if you want to really be serious or not."

Virginia was quiet for a minute before saying, "I think I can do that."

Alice gave her a hug, which her roommate returned. "Which means that you and Clark need to talk about it, then."

"Do you think he'll say yes?" Virginia asked.

"I think so," Alice said, "but you'd better ask him to be sure about it. If he does do it, I know he will want to keep it secret." He would want to keep it secret for Adelaide's sake. If her parents found out that he had married someone else, her reprieve would be gone and there would be no stopping them.

...

The next day Alice walked into her room after a Red magic period to find it already occupied. Virginia was sitting Indian style on her bed, and Minnie was with her, knees drawn up under her chin.

"Am I interrupting?" Alice asked, shutting the door behind her.

"No…we were just talking. I actually wanted to talk to you too," Minnie said.

"It's about that marriage contract?" Alice asked, suspecting she already knew the answer.

Virginia nodded. "She's worried that if Jacob marries me, they will have to break up. She's also worried that if she marries him, that'll leave me hanging. She also feels like she doesn't want to be pushed into a marriage."

Alice had the feeling that Virginia had just summarized more than half an hour of Minnie's gushing in a few sentences. She sat down on her own bed, prepared to listen.

"Well, I do have some experience in the area," Alice said, which prompted a shy smile from Minnie.

"I know…I just…I don't know what to do. What I should do, or what I want to do even," Minnie admitted.

"Well," Alice started, trying to break the big overwhelming problem into smaller pieces. "Do you want to keep dating Jacob?"

"Yes, but…."

"Let's stop there," Alice suggested. "One choice in that case is to break up with him now while he marries someone else, and possibly get back together with him after the year is up. The risk here is if he decides he prefers whoever he ends up married to rather than you. Or, you could go through with the one year contract marriage, which is all his promise would demand. If you did that, you could continue to date him, and work out between yourselves if you want to make it permanent or not. The only problem with that choice is if you decide you don't want to be together, you can't date anyone else until the contract is up."

"I should tell you," Virginia started, "that no matter what you decide, I have no intention of marrying Jacob." Her roommate turned to her with a smile. "Clark said he would if it was I wanted, by the way."

"I get you for a sister then, for a year at least," Alice said with a grin. "Good…just two of them wasn't enough."

Minnie nodded slowly. "Well, I don't have to worry about my choice impacting you, then. I just keep thinking about how Kyo pushed me…."

"Jacob and Kyo are nothing alike," Alice told her. "Jacob listens to you, doesn't make people's doors flammable when he's angry at them…."

Minnie's eyes widened. "That was Kyo?"

Alice nodded. "After you three had that fight outside, I told Hieronymous about how Kyo had been behaving towards you and that I suspected he might have had something to do with the fire. Hieronymous searched his mind for memories, found that he had 'altered' Jacob's door, and that's how Kyo got expelled."

Minnie gulped. "I seem to keep running up a tab with you. I had no idea why he left school."

"Well, now you know," Alice said.

"Alice just isn't much of a gossip," Virginia cut in.

"I still feel terrible about that," Minnie said, unable to meet her eyes. "Especially after all the help you gave me. And I didn't mean for it to happen…that Mr. Grabiner was married just kind of slipped out when I wasn't paying attention."

Alice gave her a small smile. "It's in the past, and it was probably for the better in the long run. We've even decided that we want to stay married."

That jolted Minnie, who then sat straight up on the bed. "What? I mean, I know everyone thinks you and the professor are dating at the least, but I didn't know if it was just a show to get people to leave you alone or not…. Though as much time as you spend together, it would seem a bit much for just a 'show.'"

"The answer to that would be 'not a show.' You should see the flowers he sends her," Virginia teased. "Every week, it's something different."

Minnie's eyes drifted over to the vase that held a Rose of Sharon this week. Her eyes widened, and then she blushed. Alice suspected that Minnie knew more about floriography than her roommates did.

"Well, I'm glad you are happy with how things turned out," Minnie got out. "And he still doesn't pressure you, expect you to obey him, or anything like that?"

Alice smiled. "My husband is quite the gentleman; he never pressures for more than I want to give in any way. But back to the subject, have you decided what you want to do about Jacob?"

"I think…" Minnie trailed off and was silent for a moment. Her gaze came back up to the flower, and she nodded to herself. "I'd be taking more of a risk if he married someone else than if I married him myself. And a year can go by fast if it doesn't work out, and it would mostly be in name only."

Alice grinned. "We are having our ceremony if a few days if you and Jacob want to make it a double wedding…it was Potsdam's suggestion actually. I know it's soon, but if you wanted a wedding with some flowers and a cake I don't mind sharing. I would have to ask Hieronymous, but we need more witnesses anyway so I doubt he would mind."

Minnie smiled at her. "That might be nice…I'll go talk to Jacob about it. But why would you need more witnesses? You only need one to get married."

"Well, you'll have to keep a secret, and whomever you want as your guests, too," Alice said. "I'm marrying into Hieronymous' House permanently, so I'll have to leave my own and abdicate my position as its presumptive heir, and that involves the additional witnesses."

Minnie frowned. "Your House? But aren't you a Wildseed?"

"Come to find out, no, I'm not really a Wildseed. And we're kind of rich." Virginia started laughing. Alice guessed it was at the understatement, but she continued as if she had heard nothing. "Clark just doesn't want to have to hold off socialites with a chair like he might have to if this gets public, so we're keeping it under wraps right now," Alice explained. She suspected, though, that secrecy would become irrelevant as soon as her grandfather or father-in-law announced the marriage. This would probably happen as soon as they agreed on what they would say about it. After all, the two men certainly were not friends, so there would have to be a trade of some sort that they could both stomach as no one would suspect that the marriage had been a love match—at least not initially. This was especially true considering the difference in her and Hieronymous' ages.

"And I'll be glad to help out there, if it comes to that," Virginia said with a grin. "Putting the gold-diggers in their place, that is."

Minnie eyed her gingerly. "Your family must be loaded."

Alice nodded. "It turns out that I didn't exactly 'marry up.' And I'm perfectly happy letting Clark take Grandfather's position on the Council someday. It's just that my brother doesn't feel like shouting about it for now. And he would also want you to keep quiet about him marrying Virginia in the fall."

Minnie nodded slowly. So, their family held one of the hereditary Council seats rather than one of the elected ones. That spoke of a powerful, old family. If that was the case, though, why had Alice presented herself and acted as a Wildseed last year? There should have been some reason, but it was not her place to pry. "Ok, considering how much else I have to make up to you, I'll do my best not to screw this up. And I know Jacob can be good at keeping his mouth shut when he wants to." Her roommate could not come for the obvious reason; Pastel was the blabbermouth that had told everyone that Professor Grabiner was married in the first place. They had remained friends after the incident, but Minnie was much more careful about what she told her, and she suspected Pastel knew it. Minnie knew that to tell Pastel that she was marrying Jacob would be as good as telling the entire school, so she had no plans to invite her anyway.

"Good," Virginia said. "And if you fail, I'll blab about your marriage." There was a small grin on her face, but neither of the other girls thought that she was teasing.