The clear, pleasant air and golden-orange sky of that evening were the last witnesses to the remnants of summer that hadn't left September yet. A tennis-ball sized scarlet sun was sinking slowly behind the high purple mountains surrounding Hogwarts, casting a reddish-gold sheen over the grassy grounds, the glassy surface of the vast lake and the trees of the Forbidden Forest. It was calm evening, the slight chill in the air reminding anyone who had forgotten that this was the autumn after all, but it was comfortable enough for the pair of walkers to enjoy their evening stroll, without the need for warmer clothing. A few owls fluttered overhead, their soft hooting adding to the scene of almost romantic serenity.

Harry couldn't believe his luck. Here he was, alone with Ginny, chattering amicably as they circled the banks of the lake. He felt like she was already his, like she'd flung her arms around him and told him she loved him…and yet the fact she hadn't yet, gave him an excited feeling of expectance and just the light-hearted feeling of being with her company… On the other hand, Harry felt a pang in his insides, a jab of guilt and uneasiness about the previous day's events and what he'd almost done to her. Somehow, he knew he hadn't heard the last of it…he knew Ginny must have realized what was going on…though how he knew was beyond him.

After completing their second circuit of the Hogwarts lake, Harry and Ginny made their way up the sloping lawns towards the castle. Harry leaned against the curved wall of the North Tower and Ginny stood at his side, as they both gazed in silence at the crimson orb gliding gently out of view behind the inky silhouettes of the mountains. Harry glanced over at Ginny and couldn't help marveling at how her hair glowed even redder in the ruby gloss of the setting sun, making it almost painful to look at, although the sight was so amazing it was hard not to.

"D'you think he's still up there?" Ginny asked abruptly, jerking her thumb upwards.

"Who?"

"Ron, of course."

Harry craned his neck to squint at the distant Divination classroom window, high above their heads. A moment later, he heard an outburst of frustration from the classroom and what sounded like an "infinite crystalline orb" being smashed against the wall into as many pieces as the vandal could manage.

"Sounds like it," Harry grinned at Ginny, who returned the smile.

"It does a little, doesn't it?" she laughed.

"Can't really blame him," Harry muttered, returning his gaze to the small window above, "If I was stuck in there all evening, I'd probably smash everything in there! I can't stand that class! I wish I'd quit when Hermione did. Bit late for that now, with all my exams coming up…Miserable old bat," he added with a growl at the window.

"You know, there's more to Divination than Trelawney teaches," Ginny said, apparently hoping to distract Harry from the bitterness he was feeling on Ron's behalf.

"I'll bet there is," Harry replied, still glaring at the small window. "Rotten fraud probably makes it all up as she goes along."

"No, but I mean there are other branches of Divination," Ginny said quickly. "Even if everything she taught was true - Divination is all about the unknown, not just the future."

"Really?" said Harry with interest, turning his gaze back to her. "Like what?"

"Well, I only know a few," Ginny said slowly, "but I know there are things like soul-searching and mind-reading… that's supposed to determine what kind of a person you are, and what goes on in your heart, and the things you value most…that sort of thing. I assume that's how Dumbledore made that Mirror of Erised of his work. All he had to do was put the right spells on it."

"I've been wondering how that Mirror worked!" said Harry. "How does this soul-searching stuff work?"

"Oh, I can show you, if you like," Ginny replied with a challenging smile.

"Yeah, sure, that'd be great!" Harry replied excitedly.

Ginny pulled her wand out of her belt and muttered "chafisat klafim", making a pack of playing cards appear out of thin air, hovering in mid-air between her and Harry.

"It's quite simple, really," Ginny explained, seeing the stumped expression on Harry's face. "If you perform the charm correctly, the pack will select the card that represents your personality and everything best. Most of the Slytherins, for example, would get the Jack of clubs, because they're all bullying idiots, see? A lot of people find their soul-mates through this system, too. All you need is matching cards…"

For a moment, Harry wondered whether this was such a good idea after all. This card trick could expose to Ginny the confusing emotions his heart was feeling for her, and was that wise at this stage? She was still a victim of Dean's carelessness, no matter what she said, and Harry felt he'd made enough mistakes on the subject to take the risk of hurting her any more. But on the other hand, he couldn't help feeling this warmth towards her, or the strange closeness to her, or any of the other symptoms he'd been going through since yesterday's Quidditch match. It wasn't entirely his fault…

"Now, could you take out your wand, please, Harry," Ginny requested, bringing the train of thoughts to an unscheduled break-down, "and place the tip of it on the top card."

Harry did as he was told, and Ginny did the same.

"Now repeat the spell after me," said Ginny, "Regashot halev!"

"Regashot halev," Harry repeated with difficulty.

Instantly, the pack began shuffling itself vigorously in mid-air, accelerating with every second, until it became a mere blur of white and grey. Harry watched in amazement as two cards blasted out of either end of the whirlwind of whites – one shot at Harry's chest, the other rocketed into Ginny's. Harry stared at the face-down card floating in front of him, unaware that rest of the pack had vanished into thin air, and slowly he reached up a cautious hand and turned it over.

It was the King of Hearts.

Completely thrown by this, Harry cursed the blood that had rushed into his face as he looked up and saw Ginny eyeing his card with interest. Ginny, he saw, was clutching the Queen of Hearts. What did this all mean? Was this the matching cards thing she'd mentioned before?

Harry raised his eyes to Ginny's and felt his heart spring as a warm twinkle sparkled in those orbs of caramel-brown. They held each other's gaze for a few moments, and a beam of mutual understanding formed between them. It was obvious just from the other's eyes that they wanted to say a lot but couldn't quite say it. Harry jerked the corners of his mouth into a small smile, which Ginny returned.

It was as they gazed at each, clutching their cards in silence that Harry felt it again – the flick of the mental tape-recorder switch that made him hear, almost physically, the words…

"Yes, you want her,

Look at her, you know you do,

Possible she wants you too,

There is one way to ask her,

It don't take a word, not a single word,

Go on and

Kiss the Girl."

"Um, Ginny?" Harry began quietly. "Can I ask you something a bit…personal?"

Ginny's eyes glowed. "Sure, Harry. Anything you like."

"I'm not sure I should be asking you this," Harry muttered awkwardly, "but, well, how much did you really like Dean?"

He lowered his eyes to his card, carefully avoiding her eyes, but Ginny gave his chin a quick tap with her finger, making him resume their eye contact.

"Dean?" Ginny smiled. "Dean who?"

Harry was unsure how to take this, so he returned the smile. Without a word, Ginny pressed her card, the Queen, into Harry's hand, next to the King.

"I'm not sure I liked Dean at all, to be honest," Ginny smiled, as Harry raised his eyebrows at her questioningly. "I suppose I just reckoned that if he actually asked me out, it meant he didn't think of me as the doormat everyone else uses." She shrugged cheerfully. "I guess I just wanted to know there was one person in the world who cared about me for who I am. That's why I was so upset yesterday. I'd never felt so alone."

"Well, there is one person who likes you for who you are," Harry said gently. "And it's not Dean."

"I know," Ginny said warmly. "Thanks, Harry."

She took a very small step forward and seemed to be inching her face towards Harry's. For a moment, his mind flew back to the previous day's events and all the self-disgust he'd been feeling all day. He had half a mind to just back off and glance at his broken watch and loudly comment on the time being so late, but the other half of his mind was listening to next few lines of the song…

"Sha la la la la la
My oh my
Look like the boy too shy
Ain't gonna kiss the girl
Sha la la la la la
Ain't that sad?
Ain't it a shame?
Too bad, he gonna miss the girl
"

"Potter! Weasley! What in the world are you doing?" barked Professor McGonagall's sharp voice.

The two teenagers jumped and turned to see their Head of House striding down the stone steps towards them, her glasses flashing in the setting sun.

"Get back up to the common room this minute!" she snapped, as Harry opened his mouth to demand whether there was any law against it. "You know very well that leaving the castle after dark is strictly against the rules."

Ginny shrugged helplessly at Harry and the both hurried up to the great oak doors of the castle before Professor McGonagall could take any points off Gryffindor.

They ran all the way to the portrait hole, pausing only to hurriedly return the "good evening" Professor Dumbledore had wished them when they nearly knocked him off his feet halfway through the Entrance Hall.

Once in the common room, Harry leaned against the wall, catching his breath. He was half relieved half terribly disappointed that McGonagall had interrupted them, but decided on reflection, that it was probably for the best.

"Well, we should really be getting bed," he said, once his lungs had re-inflated. "It is quite late."

"Yeah, you're right," Ginny nodded. "See you tomorrow."

She hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and very quickly kissed an extremely stunned Harry on the cheek, before winking at him and turning towards the girls' dormitories. She had just reached the door to the dormitory staircase, when Harry, feeling dazed, called her back.

"Um, Ginny?"

"Yes, Harry?"

Harry's mind spun like a top and his heart beat vigorously as she turned around to face him with that gleam of what looked like affection in her eyes.

"You forgot your Queen of Hearts," he said, holding out the card.

"Keep it, Harry," Ginny smiled, starting to climb to stairs with a backwards glance at him. "She's yours."

AN – There we go. That was chapter three. Hope you liked it. Good good, that's what I'm here for. I don't suppose any of you noticed that the spell for conjuring playing cards means "pack of cards" in Hebrew? Or that the one for finding the card that represented you means "feelings of the heart" in the same language? Well, okay, fine, so I know one of you will have noticed that, right Mordy? Please don't think of me as corny, it's all I could think of. Oh, what I wouldn't give to be in Harry's shoes right now… it's all I've ever wanted, you know. To love and be loved. Still, what the heck. As long as Harry's happy, I can pretend to be him and well….hope for the best.

Reviews couldn't be more welcome, you know that. I dunno when chapter four'll be up, but I'm sure it'll be here a lot quicker if you wonderful people would encourage me to write it. Meanwhile, the first page of my cartoon version of The Commentator's Day Off (also on this site) is up on the website on my profile, so if you read it and drop a review in the story itself, I would be very grateful, because it's hard work drawing those things.

Cheers muchly!