Chapter 14 Damn Women

The next day Hydrus hunted down Skeeter. "

Rita, I have a job for you," he called, when he caught her coming out of The Times building. He knew she got the reporter's job. They had called him the day before, asking if he knew her. He told them he did and he suggested they employ her in the gossip section, she'd do well there. He also made sure they knew she was a sneaky bitch, and to make sure she took the vow properly, but left the hiring in their hands.

"Another one? You already have me looking for your 'Dark Lady'," she said as he came closer, lifting an eyebrow and folding her arms in a 'what do you want' manner. Yeah, she was still miffed that she had to work for this man and she couldn't even get blackmail on him. He had her so wrapped up in vows, though she was thankful that he put in a good word for her, kind of.

"Lily thinks that the person working for Walburga is Bartemius Crouch Senior. I think it's Yaxley, so, if you would, check on them for me," the immortal politely ordered, not the least bit put off by her attitude.

"Really?" the bug Animagus purred. It would make a good article to pin something like this on a well-known, Dark-hating, law-spouting politician. She didn't know anything about Yaxley, only that he worked for the Ministry as an Auror, and that he was low on the totem pole. Though, it was rumored that he was a Death Eater. Now, if she could get Crouch on something, her name would be known all over magical Britain. Yeah, she could do this, not a problem.

"Remember your oath; only the truth," Hydrus reminded her firmly. He didn't want to have someone's name tarnished by her poison quill if they didn't deserve it. He still didn't think the law-abiding man would work for a Dark person, even if some of his methods were a bit on the too staunch side. Then again, well, he had broken laws, in other timelines, when it suited him. No, he was still stuck on Yaxley.

She just gave him a wicked smile, a wink and then wandered away, swinging her ugly green and red dragonhide bag.

Damn Dumbledore and his all-knowing ways, he thought as he watched her go and shuddered. He really hated the fact that he had to deal with her. He shoved those thoughts away and then took himself to the Ministry to find James and Sirius. He located them in James's Wizengamot office.

"What's up?" he asked as he took one of the obnoxious chairs in front of the large wooden desk.

Like all Wizengamot offices, this one was a bit ostentatious; with a huge carved desk, flamboyant chairs, and portraits of former owners on the walls, giving unneeded and unwanted advice. Small statues and trinkets lined the bookshelves, which also hosted out of date and newer law books. There were tapestries where there weren't portraits and the all wall surface was covered in colorful art of some sort. It was cluttered and tacky in Hydrus's opinion.

With the paintings on the wall, they made sure to keep to politics while in the office. Or cast a Muffliato when talking about scheming, which wasn't often in the Ministry; people talked if they couldn't hear you.

"Nothing much, though we did get word that Smeller is going to back Lily's bill. The one on voted offices being on a four-year limit and only can be voted back in twice," James said with a huge smile.

They were hoping to pull some power away from Dumbledore. He simple held too many offices to be effective in any of them. If Lily's bill passed then the Headmaster would have to step down from at least the political ones soon after, since he had both voted offices far too long. The Wizengamot was holding off on the bill until a new Minister was elected.

"Really? That's great," Hydrus said with a great deal of hope. It was something they couldn't get passed in the last timeline, no matter who went into office.

"Yeah, but we have to get him voted in first," Sirius warned, not really worried, but they still needed some more people on their side.

"Right, let's get to work," James said as he stood and donned his good robes. So, the three set about doing some political maneuvering; giving 'gifts', using Rita's blackmail, which was more up to date and more thorough than Aunt Cassiopeia's, and generally making people understand who they wanted as Minister. It was good day and they got many people to see their side, and then they ran into Crouch.

"Potter, Black, and whoever you are," Barty said, looking at the three men with contempt. He knew who Hydrus was, but wouldn't lower himself to remember the name of a son of a squib, even if he was a Black and had pull in the Ministry.

He hated the three men before him on the principle that they were friends with a werewolf, and he heard the Mudblood had hired a vampire. The werewolf was reported to own a business, which he had tried to get it shut down, but since it was in the Muggle World, his hands were tied. He also tried to out the vampire, but no one wanted to deny the Witch Who Vanquished. These people were ruining society with their free thinking.

"Crouch," Sirius sneered as he walked closer to the man. "I've been meaning to talk to you. I, being the Head of the House of Black, don't really like the things you say about my dear friend Lily." He glared at the older man. James and Hydrus added theirs and stood to the side letting Sirius handle his family member.

"Black, I could care less about what you think," Crouch spat, folding his arms and looking down his nose at the upstart. When he got into office he was going to do everything he could to make this man's life miserable.

"Right, just thought I'd let you know that if you continue to say things about Lily, I'll do my best to bury you. I've already made sure you never see any money from the Black vaults, and that your Death Eater son doesn't either," Sirius said, very seriously. "If he is ever found," he tacked on ruthlessly, knowing that if Junior was ever found this guy would be booted out of the Ministry. He'd have to talk to Hydrus, if it was discovered that Barty Jr. was a Death Eater, there would be no chance of Senior becoming Minister.

"Like I said, you pathetic man, I could not care less what you do or say, but know this, my son is not a Death Eater. I would offer you a good-day, but I sincerely hope you do not have one," Crouch sniffed and then turned away and went back to his office.

He was still doing damage control over the article in that blasted liberal newspaper. He tried to buy a retraction, but the stupid paper made their reporters take a vow against that so he didn't have that option. He went to the Floo to talk to The Daily Prophet. They'd listen to him.

"I'm still not sure about him being the backer," Hydrus said, after throwing up a Muffliato, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, he is a right bastard, but he follows the law almost to a tee."

"Yeah, unless you count using Unforgivables, breaking his son out of prison or throwing people in Azkaban without a trial," Sirius rebutted, ever since Hydrus told him about that timeline, he hated Crouch with a passion.

"Right, forget I said anything," Hydrus said and took down the silencing spell, not wanting to argue that it was the man's wife's idea to break Junior out or that he was the one to put him there in the first place. Or that Senior was only trying to keep Junior from running amuck. No, the past, future, whatever, crime against Sirius negated all of that.

The three dropped the subject and went about their business until lunch. They went to Lily's Book Corner to have some tea and pastries. Vicky and Colette took turns waiting the table, flirting with Sirius and Hydrus, which Sirius had a great time returning, though Hydrus kept his tone respectful.

After the light meal they separated. Sirius went to check on the orphanage, James went back to the Ministry and Hydrus decided to pay Remus a visit, to see if they couldn't further along the tentative peace they had going. That and he had never been to his store and felt it might be one of the reasons the werewolf was so standoffish, everyone was just too busy for the only person who couldn't work in the Magical World.

The immortal left the Alley and drove the short distance, he wanted his car for later, to Remus's book store, named Reader's Paradise. It was a quaint shop with a checkout counter, bookshelves, loveseats and small tables. The lighting was dim, but there were lamps on the tables to read by, which you could only do if you bought the book, since there was no way to spell this area. It was a quiet atmosphere. Tea and coffee offered, but no food.

A door on the back wall was warded and it led to the magical store, which had the same charms on the books that Lily's did. It too had beverages, seats and tables. This section of the store sold mostly fictional reading both magical and non. There was a display for the book-readers behind the cash register.

Remus was doing some stocking when Hydrus came in. "Hey, Remus, what's up?" he asked as he approached, almost making the man drop the book he was shelving.

"Hydrus," the werewolf said with a great deal of surprise. "Not that I am not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" he asked.

None of the pack had come to his shop since it opened, being too busy with their own shops or work. To tell the truth he was a little put out about it, though he did understand that what they were doing was important and it was working, still, they could have dropped by at least once. Sirius was always complaining that there was nothing to do, but then again Padfoot and Prongs weren't bookworms like he was. And Lily was occupied with her fame, Harry and her own café.

The older man shrugged and said, "I realized that I've never been here and wanted to see how you were doing. This really is a cozy place you've got going," waving at the store in general.

"Well, then I thank you for that. Did you have something in particular you wanted to talk about or were you just killing time?" Remus asked, putting the book on the shelf, not knowing what the man was doing here. He figured one of the Marauders would come to visit before the time traveler.

"Killing time," was the answer. "Did you need help with these?" he asked as he waved to the box of books.

"If you wish," Remus said and the two men set about restocking the store and talking of mundane things and getting to know each other better. Both were hoping they could maintain the harmony.

It was time for closing and Hydrus helped Remus secure the store and they set out to the immortal's car, so he could drive the werewolf home. When out of nowhere spell fire shot over their heads. Both men ducked behind the car and looked around for the caster.

"Beast! Foul creature! You dare sully the name of Black by befriending my loathsome son! I was told you were the reason I lost my oldest son. I will kill you, cur!" came the shrieks of Walburga. She was walking down the middle of traffic, making cars swerve and honk and drivers yell. She was frazzled and completely out of place with her witch's outfit and wild black hair. The people shouting at her confused her and she started screeching back at them, firing spells.

Hydrus and Remus quickly raised shields around them or banished junk in front of them and shouted at them to move. Since it was traffic hour and the street was full, the men had to be careful with what they would do. Remus, remembering Hydrus's last encounter with the woman, turned to watch their back while Hydrus fired off shields and some transfiguration spells.

The Master of Death had a fleeting thought about why Arcturus hadn't warned him that his daughter-in-law was going to attack. Then he got too busy with the fight to worry about it.

Walburga was still in the middle of the street, weaving her way through the noisy cars. "Foul creatures! Scum of the earth! I will kill you all!" she started casting more curses at the non-magicals.

Hydrus was hard pressed to protect them.

Three people fell to her curses, but nothing deadly. The place was chaos; the non-magicals didn't know what was happening. All they heard was yelling and all they saw was bright lights.

"Hey, bitch, leave these people alone!" the immortal shouted, only to be drowned out by the crowd.

People were running and screaming and one got in the way of Hydrus's spell and was transformed into a button, which was good because it was the same time that the batty old woman fired a Killing Curse.

Hydrus levitated it out of the way and undid the spell. "Dammit, I can't do anything with all these people running about. Why don't they get out of the way?" he yelled as he cast one more shield on an unsuspecting woman, who was crouched in the middle of the road. "Move!" he shouted and the woman scurried away. "I'm going to try and get closer. There are too many people in the way," he told Remus, who nodded and took over protecting the public, since his senses told him there was no one hidden behind them.

So the immortal came out from behind the car and put up a strong shield and walked to the old bat, dodging the running people and cars. He still couldn't fire off deadly spells, with so many non-magicals running about.

Walburga spells were wild. They kept hitting objects, which exploded on impact, making the crowd scream more and duck down, some right in the middle of the road. Then the barmy cow saw Hydrus coming towards her and focused on him.

Spell after spell hit his shield and was absorbed or he had to banish junk in the way of the Unforgivables. He shielded the crowd for those that missed him. He wanted to get close enough so that no one else was hit; he had faith in his shield and banishing skill.

People were still running between them, confused and disoriented.

As he walked his hand, that wasn't holding his wand, was tightened into a fist. He was radiating anger and the crowd started getting out of his way, though he still had to protect them from the stray spells. He approached her with malice in his eyes, when he got about ten feet from her, a man darted between them.

Her eyes widened when she realized that he was getting too close. She ducked behind one of the cars that had been abandoned in the middle of the road, turned and threw a curse Remus, whose head was just peeking over his hiding place as he scanned the street and the alley behind him. His eyes, however, were not toward the crazy woman.

"Remus, Look Out!" Hydrus shouted as soon as Walburga's wand pointed in that direction. He tried to transfigure her again, but A Good Samaritan saw that she was the bad guy and tackled her, only for her to port away.

"Fuck!" Hydrus bellowed. He thanked the man, who was looking confused at the disappearance of the woman, then turned to see if Remus was okay.

Remus, upon hearing the time traveler call his name, turned back to the fight just in time to see a Reducto aimed for his head. He ducked back behind the car and felt the curse fly by, missing by mere millimeters. It slammed into his storefront, breaking the window and scarring the wall.

Twenty people in red robes popped into the street and started calming the milling crowd, questioning witnesses, healing the injured, changing their memories and sending them home. They came up to Hydrus and Remus, after the street was finally cleared and asked what happened, checked their wands and sent them on their way. An hour later the two men went to the car.

Remus would have to repair his shop the non-magical way, since the Aurors and Obliviators only changed the story to a crazy woman with a gun. There was too much irreparable damage to do otherwise.

They drove in silence to the Potters and went inside. It was late so everyone was there. Lily was on the floor playing with Harry. James and Sirius were reading from the book-readers. Everyone looked up when the two men came into the living room and Lily saw their angry —Hydrus— and thoughtful —Remus— faces.

"What happened this time?" she asked, panicked as she picked up Harry, her eyes roving their bodies, looking for injury.

"Walburga," Hydrus said as he flopped into his chair.

"She attacked us in the middle of the street my store is on," Remus furthered the explanation as he wearily dropped on to the sofa.

"Was anyone hurt?" the redhead asked, worried that they wouldn't tell her if they were.

"Well, there were three hit with something nonlife threatening, the Aurors had a Healer and he fixed them right up. But her shots were wild, there was too much traffic, so she mostly missed. She did hit my car, some lampposts, maybe a postbox and the storefront. That and I did a lot of shielding. The damn crowd wouldn't get out of the bloody way," Hydrus groused, still pissed she got away —again. "We were damn lucky there was no collateral damage." He sighed and ran his hand down his face.

"Thank Merlin," Lily sighed as she sat on the sofa with a wiggling Harry. "I know you're angry, but please watch your language," she requested softly when little Harry said, "'oody 'ay".

"Sorry."

"I want to know how she knew where my store was. It is not like she shops in the non-magical London," Remus wondered out loud, his face still thoughtful.

"Well, both of our suspects work at the Ministry, so it's rather easy to find out, since you're registered," James said, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Yeah, I guess. I am just glad that Hydrus saved my life," the werewolf offered. "If he had not called my name, my head would be decorating my storefront." He gave a full body shudder at how close that had been. "Thank you." He turned to the time traveler with admiration in his eyes.

"Right, it was nothing. So, anything we should know about?" the immortal asked, not wanting everyone to think him some hero. He had enough of that in his first timeline.

"Hydrus," Lily chastised, "take the compliment." She bounced the fussy Harry who wanted down. Finally she gave up and put him on the floor, where he got up and toddled back to his number board, making her smile at his progress in walking.

"Right, no worries, Remus, you're my friend," Hydrus said softly, then got the niggling feeling that maybe this was the Light person he was supposed to let die. Dammit, but Death and Fate were cruel if that was true.

Then he shrugged off the thought, what's done is done. He wasn't the type to just let someone die if he could stop it. He knew sooner or later Fate would step in and someone would bite it, but he'd be damned if he didn't do his best to stop it from happening, angry deities notwithstanding.

"Nevertheless, I thank you for saving me," Remus said, reaching over, putting a hand on the immortal's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. More determined now to make sure he didn't fight with the man.

"Right, you're welcome. So, anything else happen today?" once again trying to change the subject.

"Nay, we didn't get much done after you left," Sirius said with a negligent wave.

"Well, hmmm, what should we do about Crouch and Yaxley? I talked to Rita this morning, but it might be weeks before she comes up with anything," Hydrus said, rubbing the back of his head.

"There really isn't much we can do, until we find out the truth. So we're just going to have to watch them," James said with a shrug.

So the conversation turned to unimportant things, but all of them wondered what Walburga would do next.

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Both The Times and The Daily Prophet reported the incident, citing that Walburga Black had snapped and everyone should be cautious and not approach her if seen. The DMLE should be called at any sighting and a reward was posted for information leading up to her capture.

The public was making sure they were careful. Lily's victory over Voldemort was encouraging them to step up and protect themselves. Defense books were flying off the shelves in all book stores.

A few days later a headline appeared in The Daily Prophet:

Vote for Bartemius Crouch: Staunch Supporter of the Light

The article expounded the virtues of the man who did everything he could to get Death Eaters off the street. It gave his views on the Dark elements who sullied the community and his ruthless attacks on them during the time of You Know Who. On and on it went to make him an asset to the Light, even going so far as to telling how he was grieving over his missing son.

"I have to say, they make some valid points," Hydrus said, after reading the column. He passed the paper around the table he, Sirius and James were sitting at in Lily's café. They had taken a break from the Ministry and the stores. Remus was busy at his shop and Lily was waiting tables today.

"Well, can you think of who else it could be?" James asked. He was on the fence over who the backer was.

"Sirius, has the Greengrass boy been brought to Barkley's?" the older Black asked, turning his attention to the younger Black.

"I think so, I'll have to check," Padfoot answered, going over what squib children had been given to the orphanage.

"Well, there you go, another person we'll have to think about," Hydrus said, reminding them about Lady Greengrass' prior actions.

"Right, I forgot about her. She's not part of the Black family though; at least I don't think she is. I'll have to check the family tree again." Sirius said, rubbing his goatee. Hydrus was right the Blacks seemed to be related to everyone.

"Well, there's still Yaxley, the Flints, Narcissa and all those widows that wouldn't conform," Hydrus said, thinking of some of the people he knew. He knew Marcus Flint was a Death Eater in the second war, but he didn't think his father was.

"Cissy swore she has nothing to do with Mum and I believe her, since the only way she's staying afloat is by my money. And the Flints, well, I never thought of them," the dogman said, thoughtfully. Colette came and refreshed his tea, he gave her a wink, which was returned and then turned back to the conversation.

"Might be someone you should look into," James suggested, taking up his cup and sipping the fine tea.

"Right, I'll get right on that."

The three men finished their tea and biscuits and parted ways at the door. Hydrus went to Fun For All Pranks and looked around the store to make sure it was fully stocked. He made the rounds of his other stores and then decided he was going to spend a quiet evening at home. He phoned Lily and told her he wouldn't be at dinner. She asked if he was okay, which he replied that he was and that he just wanted some downtime. He went home and meditated a lot on the happenings of the last week.

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"I'm worried about Hydrus," Lily said as she settled on the sofa and tucked her feet under her. She had just come downstairs from putting Harry to bed.

It had been a long night and Harry kept asking where 'unca 'ydrus' was. They tried to tell the toddler that he was at home, but Harry kept insisting that this was his home. It made the tyke fussy and he fought going to sleep for a long time. It took Lily an hour to get him settled.

"Why?" James asked confused.

They were alone early in the house, a rare occurrence. Remus and Sirius had just left; both men stayed to dinner, pork chops and mashed potatoes, and then they both spouted they were tired and Sirius drove Remus home. They really needed to get the werewolf to buy a car.

"He just has so much on his mind. With the businesses, our family, the politics, his investments, his inventions, Walburga, her accomplice and that secret store he's building. I think he's putting too much on his plate to make sure we have a good life. It's all happening so fast that I'm worried he's going to burn out," she sighed and leaned into her husband.

James put an arm around his lovely wife and thought about what she said, "Well, we'll just have to make sure he gets some relaxation. How is the matchmaking coming along?"

"He is, oh, so, polite, but that's it. I think he's made friends with Vicky, but they never see each other outside the café," she said, tapping her chin. "When he comes for lunch, she sits and talks to him, but she seems just as exasperated as I am." She shrugged her shoulder in a 'what can I do' way.

"Well, we'll just have to let it run its course. How about you and I doing some of that relaxing?" he said, nudging her shoulders.

"Let's."

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A day later The Times gossip column had the headline:

Bartemius Crouch Having an Affair?

This article was by Rita. It said that Crouch Sr. was seen with a cloaked woman in Knockturn Alley. It did state that it was only speculation and that there was no proof, but what was a fine upstanding politician doing with a woman, not his wife, in the seedy Alley? Crouch's quote was 'I love my wife. How dare you accuse me otherwise.' There was no comment from Mrs. Crouch, who was ill, making Rita venture that it was a good reason for Barty to be 'stepping out'.

From her spying she only got that the woman he was seen with wasn't his wife and that they were buying something from one of the Darker stores. She never got close enough to hear what they were saying. It seemed the woman, who remained hooded, had a dislike for bugs and tried to kill her every time she got near. With the Killing Curse no less, which made her demand more pay from Hydrus for putting her life in danger. He just shrugged and said he'd see what he could do.

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Time passed and the New Year went by without much fanfare. James and Sirius did a lot of politicking and they stopped a few biased laws from being voted in. The Wizengamot was slowly improving and Smeller was at the top of the polls, even with The Daily Prophet backing Crouch.

The Times made it very clear that they were supporting Smeller and that it was time for change. Many people rallied around the Half-blood and were supporting him to the fullest. They liked his platform and agreed that it was time for a new government.

The gossip on Crouch's affair died down when he wasn't seen with that woman again and Mrs. Crouch made comments to The Daily Prophet that she 'trusted Barty with her life' he was a 'kind and caring husband' that took care of her in her 'time of need'. This led to people coming back to his side.

The muckraking was getting out of control as the two newspapers battled it out. It was only the vows that The Times reporters took that made the public believe that paper more.

Rita had made no headway on finding out who was the backer, but she did pick up some dirt on Crouch and had no problems running his name through the mud, making sure she only reported the truth, as she knew it, which was easy if you didn't dig deep enough. It was simple things like he hated Dark creatures and would back any bill to put them 'in their place', which did hurt him politically in the more free thinking society.

The bug made sure to get the other Black relations and ran the name Yaxley down with her poison quill, though right now he was keeping within the law. There was no concrete proof the man had been a Death Eater, so she could only speculate that his morals were Dark. Her gossip column was going well and she liked this job. She had had to print a retraction on the whole Crouch having an affair business, but the seed was planted, so she really didn't care. Hydrus made sure she was well paid for her spying.

The mall was going well, business did drop after the holiday season, but that was to be expected. Hydrus's stores pulled in a great profit and the immortal was now in the papers more and more as the wealthiest single person in all of magical Britain. That didn't include what he still had in his pocketspace or his non-magical investments. He took it all with a grain of salt and just continued about his business.

Albus still attempted to get the Potters' location, but was coming up empty. He did have a lot fun trying and Hydrus was getting to like debating with the quirky old man and his lame excuses. They had many talks about morals, but never saw eye to eye. Dumbledore was thinking of restarting the Order, in case 'young Walburga' got more out of hand. Hydrus just shrugged and told him to do what he thought was best, but he wouldn't join.

Walburga made a few attempts to get to the orphanage, but the wards were too powerful for her and Hydrus made sure they were shored up every time that woman tried to blast them. He hoped she tried to enter, then that would be the last of the woman, but all she ever did was attempt to take them down.

Arcturus' excuse about not warning Hydrus about the attack was that he could care less about the werewolf and had no idea that Hydrus was there.

The immortal chastised him firmly and threatened to remove his soul from existence. He made sure that the spirit knew that he wanted a warning every time the woman was going to attack.

So the disgruntled ghost stalked her and warned Hydrus whenever she attacked the Barkley's. He would try to talk to his daughter-in-law, but she refused to listen to a dead man, that and she still blamed him for the fall of the Blacks. It was only after he couldn't talk her down that he went to get the Master of Death.

Hydrus would then Apparate to the front garden of Barkley's when he got the ghost's warning, but she would port way as soon as she heard the 'crack', screaming at the top of her lungs.

School started again and they were worried about the orphans. They decided to put some guards at the building, disguised as counselors. These bodyguards would watch the kids when they went outside the wards. The Potters and the Blacks also gave the kids and workers emergency portkeys.

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Around the third week of January there was a headline in The Times:

A New Bank? Is it Legal?

Rumor had gotten out that the store under construction in the mall was going to be a human run bank. The article stated that it was only rumor, but did ask if it was legitimate. No one really knew and Hydrus wasn't talking.

The goblins went up in arms, demanding that it be closed before it opened. They had a treaty that stated quite clearly that they were the only bank allowed in this community. The Wizengamot hired lawyers to find out what was going on and if someone was trying to start a rebellion. They beefed up the DMLE just in case. They had just finished one war and didn't want another. Thanks to the three men's politicking the Aurors were at full force.

Hydrus's solicitors were stating that nothing illegal was happening. They had not and would not be breaking any treaty. Though they didn't divulge what was being built. Client confidentially was a good thing.

Lily's matchmaking came to a standstill, though all three men were friendly enough to the two beautiful immortals, only Sirius showed any hint of flirtation and only to Colette. Hydrus and Remus were polite and cordial, but they didn't appear to be overly attracted to the two women, which made Lily and Vicky frustrated as hell, but they kept trying. At least the men were friendly and took time to chat with them during breaks.