Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter.

AN: Hey everyone, just another little thing that was percolating around in my head. It will be another short story with only two chapters. I hope you enjoy. In other news, what's your take on JK's admissions of making a mistake on the Harry/Hermione relationship? I think it proves what many of us have felt all along.

One Act of Kindness

It was the sad look in his emerald green eyes that hurt the most. The regret she felt from the look of hurt and disappointment on his face was one of the worst things she ever experienced and something that she hoped she wouldn't have to live with for the rest of her life. It hurt even more was when he turned and walked away while the rest of her housemates continued to taunt the boy who was her friend and who she should have stood up for.

No one could ever call Pansy Parkinson a leader. In fact, when she was sorted into Slytherin instead of a more neutral house like Ravenclaw, she knew the life she wanted for herself would be a thing of the past. She learned that first night that she would never survive her life in Slytherin if she didn't follow their mandates. The scared and lonely little girl came back once again after one glorious month of happiness.

After the incident, she followed the others back to the Slytherin common room and then quietly made her way back to her dorm where she crawled onto her bed and let the tears fall. Amongst her fellow Slytherin first years, Draco Malfoy had quickly took control over their year. As he asserted his dominance over the other boys by using the political power held by his father and his 'girlfriend' Daphne Greengrass quickly rose to take control over the girls. It was why she dried her tears and quickly pulled a mask over her face when the other girls finally came into the room. Her own survival in the house depended on her not showing weakness in front of them as it was the 'pureblood' custom to exploit any weakness they discovered.

After dinner that evening, she looked around for her friend who was nowhere to be seen. She hoped more than anything that her lack of action wasn't going to derail the future she already planned for her life. It was a dream that she formed two weeks ago but one that held all her hopes.

The trip back to the common room felt like it took an eternity. Once behind the walls of the dorm, Pansy exchanged a few words with the girls of her year before excusing herself to go to bed. She pulled the curtains around her four poster bed so that she could have a few more minutes of peace in order to be with her thoughts. As her mind drifted, she thought about the month of August and the fun she had in Diagon Alley as well as muggle London.

**HP**

Her family was an old pureblood line that didn't follow a lot of the things the darker purebloods of Great Britain did. If she were to describe her family, she would say that they were more neutral than anything else. When the last war started up, her family was approached by Voldemort's followers and basically told to join or face the consequences. Her grandfather and father were shrewd men and came up with a solution that would appease the Dark Lord as well as maintain their neutral status among other things. While they were not happy about the agreement, it did allow them to move about in pureblood society. Most of the problems came after the first war. Her grandfather lost his life in the fight against the dark lord even if no one knew his identity. Even to this day, they weren't openly welcomed by either the light or dark magical families.

Her parents ran a lucrative business just off Diagon Alley that provided well for them. As Pansy and her parents were very close since she didn't have a lot of friends, they brought her to work with them quite often and whenever she completed her lessons for the day, her mother would often let her roam about the Alley if for nothing else than to go get an ice cream.

It was August 1st and she was walking around Diagon Alley when she saw a sight that caught her interest. She found herself chuckling at the image in front of her as it brought back a story she was once told about David and Goliath. Her curiosity got the better of her so she stayed in her seat at Fortesque's to see who it was that the gamekeeper at Hogwarts was leading around the alley.

She noticed the duo come out of Gringotts with Hagrid looking rather ill. She then watched as Hagrid left the boy alone as he went back into the Leaky Cauldron. Another glance at the boy and she could see he was nervous about being in a place he had never been before without anyone he knew. It didn't take long before she made a decision, one that would change her life. She got up from the table and thanked Mr. Fortesque on her way out as she made her way over to the boy.

When she was close enough, she said "Hi, my name's Pansy. You look a little lost. Would you like some help?"

She noticed the boy jumped a little when she spoke to him but he turned around and her eyes widened.

He replied "Um…Hi, I'm Harry. Um…I'm supposed to get my things for school but I don't know where to start. I've never been here before."

"But you're Harry Potter…surely you've been to Diagon Alley?"

"No…I didn't even know magic existed until last night."

"Wow…that's…I never expected that. Um...well…what do you need?"

"Everything I guess."

"Do you want new clothes too?"

She saw him blush and look down in embarrassment. His look caused her to feel bad about saying that. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay…and yeah, I think I'd like new clothes." She heard him mutter "I'll have to figure out a way to hide it from my family though."

She smiled. "How about we go find you a trunk first? How much money do you have?"

"I got two hundred galleons from my vault. Didn't know about that either."

Even at eleven, she knew something was wrong here. She would bring it up to her parents when she got back. "Tell you what, we'll go get it and do what we can and then we can go back for more money if you need it."

"Okay"

She held out her hand and said "Come on."

When he didn't grab her hand, she huffed out "I won't bite. I promise."

It took a minute but he eventually reached out and took her hand as she led him to a store. As they walked she asked "What kind of trunk do you want? What you said earlier, do you need to be able to hide things?"

He quietly said "Yeah, my family…"

She could see he was uncomfortable talking about it and said "It's okay. You don't have to tell me. Now, there are all kinds of trunks. Mine looks like a plain old trunk but it was two extra compartments in it where I can hide stuff that I don't want others to see. Why don't we get you one of those for now?"

He nodded and soon found himself in the trunk shop. After Pansy told the man what they were looking for, Harry quickly decided and they were on their way back out. She asked "What do you want to do next?"

"I don't know. You're doing pretty good so far."

She gave him a smile and once again held out her hand. He took it a little quicker this time and they were off once again. The next stop on her tour was Madam Malkin's. As soon as she passed the window, she paused and took another look. Harry looked to see what she was looking at. "We're not going in there right now. See that boy?"

Harry nodded. "Well that's Draco Malfoy. He's one of the meanest boys I know. We'll do something else first."

She led him around the alley until they had almost everything on his list. They made another trip into Gringotts which turned out to be a good thing. The Goblin that took care of him seemed pleased that Hagrid was not around. "Mr. Potter, now that we don't have watchful eyes on us, I need to ask you to return as soon as you can so that we can discuss a few things concerning your family's accounts."

"Um… accounts Sir?"

"Yes, it may even be a good idea to have someone with you that you trust completely."

"I…there's no one like that Sir. It would just have to be me."

"Very well, I feared as much. Would it be possible for you to come back tomorrow around 10am?"

"I really don't have a way to so that"

"I see. I would offer a port key but you're a little young to be doing that on your own. Maybe the Knight Bus then?"

Harry gave him a blank look before Pansy spoke up. "I'll explain it Harry."

He looked at her and nodded before softly saying thanks. He then looked at the Goblin and said "I will try Sir but please don't be angry with me if I can't get here."

The Goblin smiled at the young man and said "Just try and get here as soon as you can."

"Yes Sir, I will."

It was then that his comments earlier and his lack of any knowledge began to confuse Pansy. It was another thing she would need to speak to her parents about since they were so good at explaining things. As soon as she realized they were done, she grabbed Harry's hand and led him back out into the alley. They had almost made it to their next stop before they were caught up to by Hagrid.

"Ah Harry, there ya are. Sorry about that, I got caught up with some old friends. I was beginning to think you left."

"No sir, I was lost and Pansy helped me."

Hagrid gave her a funny look before saying "Thank you miss."

"You're welcome Sir."

It was then that a couple walked up. "Where have you been Pansy? You were supposed to be back hours ago. The only reason I didn't come for you then was the appointments we had scheduled."

"I'm sorry Mummy. I've been helping Harry get his things for Hogwarts. We were having fun and I lost track of time."

Her father looked down and recognized the young man immediately. "That was quite nice of you escorting around Heir Potter but you know the rules. You should have come and told us what you were doing."

Hagrid was looking nervous at the way Harry was addressed and it was picked up on by the Parkinsons. Harry then said "Please don't punish Pansy for helping me. It's my fault that she was gone all day."

Mrs. Parkinson smiled at him. "Oh she won't be dear. We just need to remind her every once in a while to let us know what we are doing. It was nice meeting you Mr. Potter. Come along Pansy, it's time to go home."

"Mummy, one second pleeeease?"

At her smile and nod, Pansy grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him aside. She then began whispering in his ear. "The Knight Bus is the wizard's bus and goes really fast. All you have to do is step out to a curb and hold up your wand. You can ask them to bring you back here."

"Okay, thanks Pansy."

She smiled back at him. She didn't have many friends and liked how she got on with him. "If you send Hedwig with a note before you come, I'll try to meet you. Besides, we never did go get new clothes for you."

"Okay"

It was then that they parted company but not before giving each other a smile.

**PH**

Harry arrived at home and was ushered into his 'new' room once Hagrid was gone. Just to prove how big a man he was, Vernon decided to show who was boss and roughed Harry up a bit. By his reckoning, Harry would have a month before he was seen in public which should be plenty of time for him to heal.

After the kindness that Pansy showed him that day, Harry just couldn't imagine having to deal with his family any longer. He knew he had some money and if it took everything he had, he would rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the summer and then perhaps next summer as well. The next morning, he got up and took a quick shower. He activated a rune on the trunk that Pansy had shown him and soon the trunk was small enough to fit in his pocket. He stuck his head out of his bedroom door and listened for any voices. When he didn't hear any, he went out the front door and took one last look at his relatives' house. With it being so early and no one up and around yet, Harry stepped to the curb and stuck out his wand. With a bang, a large purple triple decker bus appeared.

"Where to young sir?"

"Um...Leaky Cauldron?"

"That'll be fourteen sickles young sir."

Harry dug around in his bag until he came up with the right amount and then took a seat after the conductor waved his hand at a seat. Ten minutes later, Harry was walking up the steps to the Leaky Cauldron.

"AH…young Potter. Back so soon?"

"Yes Sir. I didn't finish yesterday and thought I'd get an early start."

The innkeeper looked at him closer and noticed the bruises on his face. "Do you need any help? It looks as if you've had an accident."

"Um...no Sir, I'll be fine. Er…would it be possible for me to rent a room for the rest of the month?"

Tom wasn't as dumb as everyone thought he was and could see there was something wrong here. If it would help pay back the debt owed the young man for what he had done all those years ago, he didn't see the harm and would also make himself available to help him in any way he needed. He also noted how small the boy was and would at least make sure the boy ate properly. It was obvious that someone wasn't taking care of the young man.

"I think that could be arranged. Where are your things?"

Harry patted his pocket.

"One of those special trunks, huh?"

Harry just nodded.

"Alright then, why don't you sit down and have a proper breakfast?"

"Thank you sir."

You're welcome. If you need anything, you just come to old Tom here and I'll help you any way I can."

"Thank you Sir."

**HP**

At quarter till ten, Harry made his way down the stairs of the pub after settling in. As he headed towards the entrance to the alley, he asked Tom to show him how to get in and out as well as asked for directions to the Parkinson's business. After getting the directions, he thanked Tom once again and made his way to the white marbled building.

As soon as Griphook saw him, he escorted Harry to an office where he began to pull out several files. He took note of Harry's appearance and how it looked like he was beaten. He made a note of it but didn't react to it as it could be considered offensive to the client to ask such personal questions. Griphook patiently went through everything with Harry so that he would know about his family's accounts. Harry was doing pretty well up until this point until Griphook started asking him to make decisions. It was then that Harry became confused and started to panic. He looked around for the one who helped him yesterday and remembered she wasn't there this time.

"Is something wrong Mr. Potter?"

"Um…yeah…I don't understand most of this. I need help."

Griphook nodded as he feared as much. Harry's isolation from the world could be very costly to the young man unless he got help and quick. "Why don't we take a break to allow you to think about things?"

"Thank you Sir. Would it be okay if I went and tried to find my friend?"

"Of course. Just ask for me when you return."

"Thank you Sir."

As soon as he left the bank, Harry walked around the alley asking for directions to the Parkinson's business. Once he knew where to go, he made a beeline for their building. When he entered the office, he was greeted by a receptionist.

With an amused grin, she asked "Good morning young sir. What may I help you with?"

"Um...good morning. Is…is Pansy here?"

"Yes, I do believe she is. Hang on."

She touched a button on her desk. "Mrs. Parkinson, there's a young gentleman here to see Miss Parkinson."

A few minutes later, Pansy came out followed by her mother. Her smile grew wide until she paid closer attention to his looks. She ran over to him and asked "Harry, What's wrong? What happened?"

"Um…I was just at Gringotts. They wanted me to tell them what to do but I didn't understand most of it."

"What happened to your face?"

"Um…never mind Pansy. I'll just figure it out on my own."

He turned to walk out the door but Pansy stepped around him. "Harry, I thought we were friends now. Friends help each other. Let me help you. Please?"

"Um…I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll see you later."

Mrs. Parkinson's voice cut across the conversation. "Mr. Potter, do you consider my daughter a friend?"

He softly said "I guess so; I've never really had a friend before. She's nice and I had fun with her yesterday."

"Good, I can say that you were all she talked about last night and she hasn't had many friends either." Pansy blushed.

"Why? She's so pretty and nice. Who wouldn't want to be her friend?"

"That Mr. Potter is complicated. I would have to give you a history lesson for you to understand."

He looked up at her and said "I like history."

She chuckled. "Very well then. I don't have any appointments for several hours. I guess I could give you the short version."

Pansy smiled and grabbed his hand to pull him along just like she did yesterday and took him to the family lounge at the office. Pansy told him it was really her office which served as her classroom while her mother taught her.

Once they sat on a couch, Mrs. Parkinson looked at him for a second before going and standing in front of him. She reached out her hand and pulled his chin up so that she could look at him. "Before we go into the history lesson, I don't like the way you are bruised on your face and would like to help you. Would you allow that?"

He shyly nodded. She took out her wand and waved it around his face making the bruise disappear. As she completed her work, a frown formed on her face and she waved the wand around his scar. She stared at it for a minute before growing pale.

"Mr. Potter, does your scar ever hurt?"

"Yes ma'am. I have a headache most of the time."

"Will you allow me to look at it more closely?"

His eyes cut over to Pansy. "It's okay Harry. She just wants to help. She's my mum, you can trust her."

He nodded again. She studied it some more and ran more tests on it before getting up and walking out of the room. A few minutes later, she came back in dragging Mr. Parkinson with her. "What was so important that you had to interrupt my…oh hello Heir Potter."

"Good morning sir."

"What's this all about honey?"

"Check the scar and tell me what you think?"

He did his tests and at the end, he was very pale. "Heir Potter, I have a couple of questions for you."

"Yes Sir?"

"Headaches?" Harry nodded.

"I can see you're already wearing glasses. James didn't really need them until he was out of school. He wore them most of the time because he said they made him look smart and was willing to do anything to get the attention of your mother."

Mrs. Parkinson said "Not surprising where that scar is."

"Indeed. I'm not saying you're dimwitted or anything like that but do you have trouble thinking?"

"Yes Sir. I get confused a lot and my teachers say I have trouble 'staying on task' whatever that means."

Okay, that helps me understand. Last question young sir, do you get enough to eat? Regularly?"

Harry couldn't answer and just looked down at the floor. "I see. I seem to remember Dumbledore taking over your guardianship saying you would be safer there. Can you tell me who you've lived with all these years?"

"My mum's sister and her family."

Mr. Parkinson's eyes cut over to his wife. She said "I remember Lily once said that she and her sister did not get along."

"Okay Heir Potter. I have a good idea of what we can do to help you but it would mean that you would have to come live with us until school starts so that we can fix all the things that are wrong with you. Some of it will be painful but others not. If it helps you to make your decision, I would be willing to bet that you would have your very own private nurse looking after you."

Pansy was bouncing excitedly in her seat. "Please Harry…say yes."

Mrs. Parkinson asked "Are you still staying with your relatives?"

"No ma'am. I got a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the month. I…I didn't want to be there anymore."

She nodded.

"May I ask something? Can all wizards and witches do what you do? Is this what being one means?"

Pansy chuckled "No silly. My parents are healers…like doctors in the other world. They had to study for a long time to be able to do what they do."

"Oh okay. Um…Mrs. Parkinson…you promised me a history lesson?"

"Not that the lesson depends on it but do you agree to come live with us and let us help you?"

"If it will make me feel better and I…yes ma'am."

**PH**

The lesson was pretty simple to understand for Harry since he could relate to what Pansy went through. Due to her parents' and grandparents' choices, they straddled wizarding society in order to keep their family safe. While they tried to maintain their neutrality, she explained they tried to be like Switzerland and not take sides; they were still forced to do some things for the darker side. Most of the time, it was just healing people who didn't want any questions asked. She also explained that the wizards' hospital, St Mungos, was required by law to report anyone who was treated for spell damage. In their case, they were not subjected to the same requirements as they were a private practice but still were required in certain cases. In the case of the Death Eaters, the treatments were conveniently forgotten in order to protect the family.

She then explained that because they wouldn't join the darker side, they didn't trust the Parkinsons and shunned them. On the other hand, the lighter side knew what they were doing and in turn painted them as a dark family for the treatments they performed.

"I don't understand why all that means Pansy didn't have friends growing up."

"Well Mr. Potter."

"Please call me Harry. Especially if I'm going to be living with you for the next few weeks."

"Okay…Harry. Well when we are out in public, neither side wants to have anything to do with us because neither side trusts us. I'm an adult and can live with our choices but I do feel bad that Pansy has suffered for what we had to do."

Harry smiled. "She doesn't have to suffer anymore. She has a friend now."

"And for that, I am very thankful to you Harry. We've never seen Pansy as happy as she was yesterday and as a mother, I would do anything to see that beautiful smile on her face."

Harry blushed and said "Me too."

Mrs. Parkinson sat there for a minute before asking "You came in asking for help with something. Would you tell me what it was?"

"I was at Gringotts this morning and Griphook wanted me to make some decisions about my family's accounts. I didn't know what to do and thought that Pansy could help me since she helped me so much yesterday." He turned red at admitting his inability to think for himself.

She smiled. "Well, I don't know if Pansy would be the right person for that but it touches me that you place so much faith in her. May I suggest you take her and my husband with you?"

"Thank you ma'am. I would really appreciate it."

She walked out of the room and left the two kids there to talk. When her husband was free of his appointment, she stepped into his office. "Well, I had my suspicions last night with how that poor young man was dressed but the bruises he had just told me everything I needed to know. James and Lily's son has been abused ever since he disappeared."

He nodded. "Yes, I do believe you're right. My scans showed a lot of physical damage and his mannerisms suggest emotional and mental as well. We will have our work cut out for us in the next month."

She sat down heavily in a chair. With a sigh, she said "The Potter heir looking like a street urchin. Not only that, why wasn't the scar treated when he was a baby?"

"I don't know. I just hope we can do what we promised. My only concern is that the damage done by it is permanent."

She nodded her head. "On the lighter side of things, he is quite taken with Pansy."

"Yes, it seems she feels the same way."

"It would be good for them both."

"It would. I'm sorry Faith. I should have taken you both away from here a long time ago. My stubbornness has led to a very unhappy life for our daughter. I'm scared to say that this friendship could mean trouble for us but her happiness is what matters most."

"I feel that the boy-who-lived coming back will see a turn in society once again. People will start choosing sides again."

"Yes but if we were to steer him away from Dumbledore…maybe society would turn more neutral instead of having Dumbledore parading Harry around as the new icon of power."

"Perhaps but right now, I just want to help that young man as well as our daughter. They both deserve it."

"I agree. What can we do?"

"Well, we can be there to help Harry. I don't think anyone else has ever done so before. You can start by going to Gringotts with him. That's what started all this today."

"What's the problem there?"

"He was asked to make some decisions and he didn't know how to respond. He ran to your daughter for help."

"I'll go with him but you know how the Goblins feel about someone butting into another house's business."

"You can at least try."

"You are right."

**HP**

It wasn't long before Mr. Parkinson came in and said "I am free for the next little while. How about we go see to your business and then the two of you can continue where you left off yesterday."

"Thank you sir."

They went back to Gringotts where Harry asked a teller if he could speak to Griphook. When the Goblin came to the lobby, his eyebrows arched at who Harry had with him.

"Mr. Parkinson, how are you this fine day?"

"I'm doing fine Master Griphook. However, my daughter's friend needed some help and my wife volunteered me."

Griphook chuckled "Yes, wives will do that. You are aware of our policies."

"Yes Sir but I thought it might be a simple matter of just explaining things better to Heir Potter. He has not been trained for these things and feels a little out of his depth. If it would ease your concerns, I merely seek to be an advisor to Heir Potter and not make his decisions for him."

Griphook nodded. "That is a very fine line in a situation such as this. However, the Potter accounts must be brought out of lockdown now that Mister Potter is eleven."

Harry spoke up. "Mister Griphook, I just needed some things explained to me. If it would make things easier, I would be willing to let you manage my accounts while I'm in school. I would like to become more involved with them as I learn more but for now, could you handle them and maybe let Mr. Parkinson take a look at your decisions?"

Griphook looked at him and then said "We could do it that way. The standard contract for me doing that is one percent of the profits as compensation."

Harry looked at Mr. Parkinson and then whispered to Pansy. "If I offered him two percent, do you think he would work harder at it?"

She looked back at him and nodded. "Mr. Griphook, I would be willing to increase the rate to two percent if it would mean you would help me more and then teach me about all this."

Mr. Parkinson smiled and thought that Harry was a lot shrewder than he originally thought. He also realized that with his upbringing, Harry had more than likely grown nervous this morning when asked things such as this. With a safety blanket in the form of him and Pansy, Harry was able to overcome his nerves and forge ahead.

"That is more than the normal rate but I can agree to your conditions and I would be glad to help you learn more about financial management. There are many wizards who never learn these things like they should. Mr. Parkinson, as Mr. Potter's advisor, would you agree to his terms?"

"Yes as long as the conditions are met. I think he has made a very wise decision."

Griphook gave a feral grin. "If it would make everyone more comfortable, we could put it into a contract so that the terms must be followed."

"Splendid idea but who would sign for Mr. Potter?"

"I think in this situation, Mr. Potter could sign for himself."

"But that would mean …"

"Indeed, it would make Mr. Potter his own man so to speak. I think it would be for the best."

Mr. Parkinson looked over at Harry and said "Perhaps you are correct."

Harry leaned over to Pansy and asked "What are they talking about?"

"I'm not sure but I think they are trying to make you an adult in the eyes of everyone."

"But why?"

Griphook heard the conversation and said "To be honest Mr. Potter, I think it would be in your best interest to be able to make your own decisions about where you live and maybe a few other things. All this will do is give you some protection in lieu of a magical guardian."

"What's that?"

"That is the person who was assigned to look out for you in your parents' will which is a subject we will need to deal with soon. In your case, your assigned magical guardian has been indisposed for the last ten years and unable to handle your affairs. Albus Dumbledore usurped his position and placed you with your aunt and uncle."

"Mr. Griphook, is this Dumbledore a member of my family?"

"No, he is not."

"Then how could he do that?"

"I don't know young Sir. All we can do is try and fix things now."

Harry nodded as everyone grew quiet in order for Griphook to prepare the paperwork that needed to be done. As soon as he had it ready, he took out a red quill and slid the contract over to Harry.

Mr. Parkinson grabbed his hand as he reached for the quill. When Harry flinched, he said "I'm sorry Heir Potter but as you don't know our ways yet, I thought a little warning might be in order."

Harry nodded.

"That quill is called a blood quill. It's called that because it signs the contract in your own blood which makes the document irreversible. I wanted to tell you this because it will hurt a little."

"Will this get me away from my relatives?"

"Yes Heir Potter, it will."

With a gleam in his eyes, Harry said. "Then it can't hurt anymore than the things they did to me."

As soon as the contract was signed, it flashed blue accepting the magic of the promise as well as Harry's legal status. On Privet Drive, there was another blue flash as the 'blood' wards collapsed and left his former home unprotected. At Hogwarts, in the Headmaster's office, a little device that sat on a shelf flashed blue as well signaling the wards were gone. There were several devices beside it that emitted a puff of black smoke before continuing to spin as they always had. The only being to witness the display of magic was Fawkes the phoenix. Upon seeing what happened, he trilled happily before bursting into flames and forming a pile of ash underneath his perch.

Once their business was complete and they left the bank, Mr. Parkinson asked "So what do you two have planned for the rest of the afternoon?"

Harry's stomach grumbled and Pansy snickered at him. "I think we need to go feed Mr. Potter and then we will go get some new clothes for him."

"Alright but you may want to hold off on buying a lot right now. Whatever you do get, make sure it has expanding charms on it that will grow with Mr. Potter. I think that once we start treating him, then he will grow quite a bit."

"Yes Daddy."

"Thank you Sir, for everything."

"You're welcome Heir Potter. Our last appointment is at five today so I expect you both back at the office by six so that we can go home and have dinner."

Both kids replied "Yes Sir" and as they walked away from him, he smiled as she saw them reach for each others' hands.