Thanks to everyone who read the first two chapters, and especially to those of you who commented. I got a burst of inspiration yesterday evening and was able to get this chapter typed out. It will be slow going for a while, but I will post chapters as I finish them and promise not to abandon this story unless something devastating happens.
I hope you all enjoy chapter 3. The chapter titles are all going to be movie titles of films that take place in Las Vegas. As such, we will skip "The Hangover Part 2" and go straight to Part 3. Feel free to leave any comments/critiques you have. They will only make me a better writer.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any character in the Harry Potter Universe. If I did you can rest assured that I would be lying on a beach drinking rum instead of working full time and posting fanfiction online.
Chapter 3: The Hangover Part 3
The boys and Pansy spent some twenty minutes sorting through the rest of the items they had discovered in their pockets. Blaise didn't have a knut to his name and held a smug look on his face despite being able to offer no clues as to the path their journey had taken the night before as he recalled nothing after leaving Glitter's Gully at one in the morning.
Neville had a receipt from Bertram's Bonding, a note stating that their pictures would be ready for pickup at eleven and a voucher for fifteen percent off a return visit for another ceremony. He also had a phone number scrawled on a bar room napkin with lipstick on it that read: Call Me. He recalled meeting Gwenog at the bar with Harry and Draco, and arriving at her room, but nothing in between.
In Draco's pile, they found a receipt for a limousine service to the tune of six hundred dollars, a spent bullet casing, a lock of white hair, and a five-hundred-dollar chip from the Rio. Meanwhile, Pansy had Lady Potter's ring, a receipt for dress robe rentals at a place called Wendy's Wardrobe, that was located down the alley, a periwinkle handkerchief with the initials T.D. on it, and a slot machine voucher for fifteen dollars from Excalibur. She was also wearing a diamond and garnet bracelet that she couldn't remember ever owning.
Harry, apart from the picture of himself dueling with a phony Merlin, had a voucher to pick up a car at the valet service of the Bellagio, a pack of "Natural American Spirit Cigarettes" (even though he wasn't a smoker), a rusty link of chain, and what appeared to be a human tooth.
Their natural first stop was the valet in the lobby of the Bellagio. They waited with bated breath to see what drove around the corner as all of them had apparated to their hotel from the Portkey Point and none of them had rented a car. After two minute's wait the valet turned the corner in a black 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with hand-painted flames on it. It roared loudly in the front of the hotel as the valet pulled up.
He handed them the keys with a wink saying, "She sure is a lot roomier on the inside, isn't she?" Harry took the keys from the valet and sat himself in the driver's seat, knowing that he was the only one of his friends that knew how to drive muggle automobiles. As he sat, the cabin of the vehicle expanded outward so that ten men could comfortably sit in the back seat. Draco, Neville, and Blaise crawled into the back while Pansy took her place next to Harry in the front. The car roared to life and Harry made his way out onto the strip and back towards Freemont Street. Noting that there was no gas gauge, and that the vehicle handled much smoother than a muscle car from that era should, Harry declared, "Well it looks like we stole a wizard's car. And from the sound of that engine, and the custom paint job, this thing belongs to someone important."
They pulled into the self-service parking garage at the Golden Nugget to search the car for clues. In the trunk, they found a duffel bag that appeared to contain the remainder of their winnings from the night before, three sets of wrinkled dress robes that had rental tags in them, and the empty bottle that had been the firewhiskey they were drinking when the night first started. They had just concluded that there was nothing of note under the seats when Pansy called out from the front, "Well now we know whose car this is." When the boys turned to see the name typed on the registration, which she was dangling above them in her right hand, they saw that the car belonged to Criss Angel, a wizard who was known for using his talents to entertain muggles.
"How the hell did we get mixed up with him?" Neville asked. "We aren't going to find out sitting here," Draco said, "We need to keep going so that we can put all of these pieces together somehow."
With that, they parked the car and made their way back to Horizon Alley through Glitter's Gully. Blaise made a scene of catching the glances of a few call girls he seemed to be familiar with. Pansy huffed and led the distracted men through the gilded lobby and into Horizon Alley proper, which was now bustling with adult wizards with doe-eyed young children who were looking around and taking in all the wonders that Wizarding Las Vegas had to offer.
At half past eleven they knocked on the door of Bertram's Bonding and waited for the door to open. A middle-aged man wearing large round glasses opened the door. His features brightened as he gazed on the couple standing at his front step. "Ah, the Potters! Come to collect your wedding photos I see. Come in, come in."
Once they were all seated in the lobby, Harry spoke first, "Actually, we were hoping you could clear some things up from last night. None of us remember the wedding, among other things." A flash of horror appeared briefly behind the man's eyes as he gazed back and forth from Harry to Pansy, Neville, Draco, and back again. "My word," he said. "You don't remember a thing?"
They all shook their heads.
"Well then I suppose introductions are once again in order. I am Bertram Bennington, and I own this establishment. Now I assure you, we take every precaution to be sure that our patrons are absolutely coherent when they come looking for our services," Bertram said. "We are not Muggles. The service we provide is life-long, and therefore as a Director of Bonding in Las Vegas we take our line of work very seriously. I assure you that the four of you were completely of sound mind when you took your vows."
"The four of us?" Pansy asked.
"Why, yes. Mr. and Mrs. Potter of course, and your two witnesses, Messrs. Malfoy and Longbottom. This other young man was not in attendance." He explained, finishing by indicating Blaise.
"I was a little tied up." Blaise said with a smirk. Harry rolled his eyes before saying, "But Blaise doesn't remember anything after one o'clock this morning. That means we all must have been hexed or drugged or something. Is that a common problem in Wizarding Vegas?"
"Hardly," replied Bertram. "Witches and wizards come here to make memories, not to lose them. The ones who want to forget usually go for the bottle. No, the only possibility I can see is that you were all slipped some sort of Muggle drug at some point last night, or perhaps there is someone out to get you who is very good at memory charms?"
"Whatever the case, I am sorry I can't be of more help to you. You were talking about going to go see a show later, and said you had to meet up with another man soon. Mortimus, or something like that."
"Mundungus?" Draco asked.
"Yeah, that's the one. Anyway, here are your pictures. You may as well take them since you paid for them already. Now I hate to leave you, but I have a marriage counseling session scheduled and the young couple is due any moment."
With that, the man led them back out into the Alley. They thanked him for the information and set off down the Alley together to get away from the crowd. When they were alone again Harry spoke, "We have too many leads to follow, and not enough time. We better split up. Pansy and I will go to Wendy's Wardrobe. Draco, you and Blaise try and track down Mundungus. We must have met up with him again at some point last night. His name coming up is too big of a coincidence. Neville, try and meet up with Gwenog Jones. I know you said you remember everything about meeting up with her at her room, but you must have called her at some point. See if she remembers anything and send my deepest apologies for Draco's intrusion this morning. We all have phones. Call me if you guys find anything out and we'll meet back here in an hour."
With that, Pansy took her husband's arm and they began to stroll down the Alley at a brisk pace, hoping that their next stop would offer something more substantial.