CHAPTER TWO: Confidences

Sitting up, her hair ruffled from the heat of love-making, Ginny kissed her husband on the lips. "Happy birthday, Harry."

Harry was breathless for a while, then nodded his thanks to his wife and kissed her, then picked up the paper again, re-reading the headlines. Thinking for a few moments, he said at last, "I'm not sure a child is really a good idea right now, Ginny."

"Why?" Ginny sounded scandalized. "Why wouldn't you want…? Oh," she said softly, as she read the banner headline. "But seriously, Harry! I know you don't trust the whole Great Healer business, but what does that have to do with us having a child?"

"Because, Ginny, the European Union might as well be called Healing Hands! They effectively control the entire continent!" Picking up his wand, Harry conjured a glowing gold barrier around their bedroom. "That will keep out anyone trying to watch or listen to us, for a while."

Ginny nodded silently. "What is it?"

Harry nodded back. "From what I have discovered, Healing Hands may be a wolf in sheep's clothing, and is, perhaps, more dangerous than Voldemort ever was. Voldemort had agents everywhere. Healing Hands is everywhere! They don't just have eyes and ears inside the Ministry, they effectively are the Ministry! And now that Europe is actually one nation, Healing Hands is effectively the ruling force behind all of Europe! All you have to do is read any one article in any one newspaper to realize how much of a hold they have on the people."

Ginny was quiet for a few moments. "And because all of their actions have been for good, no one even realizes that they've been conquered." She paused uncomfortably. "That we've been conquered." Thinking for a few moments, she looked at her husband with a piercing gaze. "You're not telling me everything."

Harry nodded. "I've been investigating the history of all this, and since we effectively work for those I'm trying to investigate, I've had to keep a low profile." Looking down, Harry appeared to be in pain. "I've been overseas, where Healing Hands is spreading like a virus. These are stories that won't be told as is in public." Taking a deep breath, he continued, "A group of Muggles are walking by on the street and hear someone preaching. They think at first that it's just some whacko trying to earn a bit of money, but they inexplicably find themselves drawn to this voice, and the more they listen, the more they want to stay and hear more. Finally, at the end of the sermon, the preacher proclaims the miracles of The Great Healer and spreads a 'blessing' over the crowd, which immediately falls to the ground in a state of euphoria that nothing natural could induce. By the time they get back to their feet, they are shouting out with all the air their lungs can muster, 'Long Live the Healer!'"

Ginny's eyes went wide, suddenly afraid. "You saw this?" she whispered, unable to speak any louder. "If these people are using magic on Muggles, and their Ministry isn't doing a thing to stop them … the government is sanctioning all this!" Ginny stiffened and took on a hard look. Though still naked in bed, she looked as though the first thing to cross her would be dead within seconds. "How do we stop this?" she asked through gritted teeth.

Harry sighed. "That's the horrible truth. I'm not sure we can. From what I have seen, and what is carefully hidden from most, you either convert, or you die." Harry suddenly paled. "My cousin, Dudley, was with some friends when he fell under the spell. He went home to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, and he tried to convert them. They wouldn't have anything to do with that sort of 'riffraff nonsense,' and tried to talk sense into Dudley. Dudley stormed out of the house and brought back that little gang of his, and they … killed my aunt and uncle."

Ginny did not gasp, or cry, or make any outburst of any kind. Her face hardened though, and her eyes were steel with repressed rage.

"It took me months to discover the truth; I won't tell you how. But someone called the police, I don't know who, but all they did was arrange for the Dursleys to be buried without ceremony." Harry silently let tears come to his eyes. "They may have been miserable people, but they didn't deserve this! No one does. But it's happening all over the world, more often every passing week."

Ginny was silent for a little longer, then she spoke up, her voice trembling. "Have you told Ron and Hermione? They should know about this."

Harry smiled. "I haven't told them, but they know about it. If I know Hermione, she probably knows more than I do. But the two of them are afraid to have a kid as well. They're afraid that if they do, the Dursley family will repeat itself with theirs, or else their child will be on the receiving end of such zealotry."

The gold barrier began to flicker; it was dying. "Cutting down to it, Ginny: uniting Europe brings an entire continent into Healing Hands' grasp with one fell swoop. This has been long in planning, and I doubt it will stop with Europe. We need to act."

Ginny stood up and with a wave of her wand, she was clothed in red and gold robes. Though it was the weekend, she knew they had hard work ahead of them. "And we will act, Harry. We will."