Albus watched as his older brother and Laurali waltzed around the ballroom, capturing the attention of every soul in the room. But the funny thing was, they didn't seem to noticed at all; that every important wizard and witch within their government was watching them. No they were too busy gazing into one another's eyes, completely and utterly in love.

Albus rolled his eyes 'weren't in love' his arse. He didn't understand why they just wouldn't get together already. They were both single, and obviously felt the same way about each other. Nauseas from the two, Albus scoffed.

"What? Are you jealous that that isn't you Laurali is staring at?" A voice whispered from behind him, their tone joking.

Cracking a smile, Albus recognized the voice immediately. "No just trying to keep the vomit down. Besides why would I care how Laurali is looking at James, when I have your attention Paige?"

Turning around, Albus was lucky enough to catch one of Paige's infamous blushes. He loved it when she blushed, which basically happened every time Albus opened his mouth.

Albus had grown quite close to the brunette over the past month or so. And he had to admit there was no else like her. She was a spit fire of wit and charm.

"So what are doing here? I didn't think this was your scene." Albus asked, completely turning his back on James and Laurali, to face Paige.

She gave him a weird look, "Well I kinda had to with my dad being the Minister of Magic and all." She explained, laughing at him.

Albus screwed up his face in confusion, "Wait what?"

Paige finally seemed to realize that Albus was being completely serious. "Seriously? You didn't know the Minister of Magic was my dad?" She asked, mild disbelief lacing her words.

Albus messed up his hair, a nervous habit, "Um I guess I didn't really put much thought into it, but now that you mention it, it's kind of obvious." He admitted, a pink blush painting his cheeks.

Paige just shot him a smug smile, "Yeah I guess us sharing the same last name is hard to miss." She joked.

Albus nodded in embarrassment, "I just thought it was a coincidence you know, Minister Gregory Nightingale and Paige Nightingale. I don't know, I don't really think of your lineage on daily basis." He defended which only made Paige's laughter grow louder.

Offended Albus turned away from her, only to see his brother bowing at the onslaught of applause that followed his and Laurali's little dance. At least Laurali still had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed.

Albus sighed at the sight of her. Laurali had changed since she had come back. It wasn't bad, but she wasn't the Laurali that Albus had fallen in love with. This new Laurali, she was perfect for his older brother.

She wasn't a carbon copy of James now, she seemed to have matured and lost her childishness. She was still intelligent, witty, and liked quidditch. But now she didn't pull pranks or jokes at other people expenses, she focused on school, and seemed to reign in her temper.

"You're still in love with her aren't you?" Paige whispered softly, her voice void of all emotion.

Albus shook his head, "No. No I'm not in love with her anymore. I was just taking a moment to appreciate how much she's changed. Even if she's no longer the girl I fell in love with." He explained quietly, more so to himself than to Paige.

Turning slightly Albus gazed at the girl next to him. The girl he had slowly fallen for over the past month or so. Her brunette hair was curled, and spilled elegantly around her shoulders. She wore a modest dress, that was a deep violet. The entire top was bejeweled including the three-quarter sleeves. Albus was absolutely amazed at the sheer beauty of Paige. Swallowing Albus leaned in, so that his lips brushed her ear and whispered, "Besides I'm much more taken with the Minister's daughter to really care about Laurali."

Paige froze, after a second she turned to face Albus, "I swear if this is some kind of joke Albus-." But Albus cut her off by putting his finger to her lips.

Staring at her chocolate brown eyes with his emerald ones, he replied, "Why would I joke about something so serious like telling the girl I care about so dearly my true feelings for her?" Paige stared at him in disbelief. Smiling Albus leaned in and gently kissed her cheek. He wanted to kiss her on the lips, very desperately actually, but he wanted to save that for midnight.

Paige grinned, "What happened to the womanizing Albus that has been a terror to the young women of Hogwarts for the past two years?"

Albus simply shrugged, "He finally met the girl that knocked him on his arse. Quite literally actually." He joked, causing Paige to burst into laughter.

"Really because I remember you running into me." She countered, inching closer to him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Albus rolled his eyes, "Sure Nightingale, if we're just rewriting history, then I'm Merlin. And you're not an impatient, rude know-it-all!" He fired back.

Paige took one last step closer to Albus so that they were mere centimeters away from each other, "You're right Albus, I am a know-it-all. So I know that you're trying to save our first kiss for midnight, but like you said I'm rather impatient, and what I'm about to do is going to be quite rude." With that Paige grabbed his head and smashed her soft lips onto his.

Albus responded immediately, overjoyed this one time that Paige had been rather impatient.

-o-O-o-

Laurali pulled away reluctantly, completely out of breath. Staring up at James, Laurali couldn't help but beam at the boy she had come to love. Still her chest heaved, desperate for some much needed air.

James smile back at her, he was equally out of breath. "Well that was fun!" He whispered, his eyes sparkling with happiness. Rolling her eye Laurali punched him the arm. James just grabbed her arm and pulled her in for another kiss.

This one was hungrier, slightly rougher. James kissed Laurali like he had been waiting years too, and she welcomed it. But this one was cut short when they heard the echoing of footsteps.

Trying to act normal, Laurali took a micro step back from James. Laurali watched as his face fell slightly. "What's wrong?" He asked quietly.

Laurali glanced down, realizing the full gravity of what was going on. "Nothing…It's just…what are we going to tell Fred or Albus? I just don't want to cause your family anymore drama." She admitted, feeling her happiness start to quickly drain away.

James lifted up her chin with his forefinger and his thumb, "Hey leave my family to me. And if you are honestly that uncomfortable telling them, then we can wait till you're ready." He said firmly, reassuring her.

Laurali looked up and smiled at him. Laurali didn't want to hide her new 'relationship status' with James, but Fred was still not talking to her, and Albus…well she wasn't exactly sure. They made strained small talk and shared the occasional polite smile, but she didn't want to rock the boat with admitting that her and James were together now.

Laurali groaned, but still smiled, "You know when everyone does find out about us, they'll all say 'I told you so'." James chuckled and nodded.

"What exactly are we Laurali?" James asked slightly seriously, but mocking still twinkled in his eyes.

Laurali's face lit up with challenging stare, "I don't know. What do you want to be?" she countered.

He shrugged, knowing full well that it would irritate her, he blew the question off. He wrapped his arm around her and started to steer her towards the ballroom, and just when Laurali thought he wasn't going to answer her at all, he simply replied, "I guess will see and find out? Won't we?"

Laurali smiled, her worries of Fred and Albus fading. She was finally with James. Wrapping her arms around his neck she leaned in and kissed him.