Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell belongs to J.K Rowling

Chapter Twelve: Bachelorette Bingo

27th August 2005

Harry's POV

"That was AMAZING!" Mr Weasley was beside himself with glee and I couldn't help feeling quite chuffed with myself at the pleased look on the faces of our party-goers. Thankfully I had planned most of Ron's Stag Party well in advance, so unlike every other part of my life, this was going smoothly.

I had popped into work in the morning for a brief meeting with my boss, Robards, to drop off my most up to date report on Ky's appearance, and get his on the investigation into who had been pursuing her remains.

We had collated information from Ky herself, my first hand account of the fight in Shell Cottage and Ridley's feedback on his initial report from Hannah's tip off in Diagon Alley, but it would seem that we were nowhere closer to deducing the identity of her assailants, though the search was still quite fresh.

I had also left a list of attendees at Bill and Fleur's Anniversary party, as requested, but I highly doubt it would be anybody there. Healer Albright had been sent by the Ministry to meet with Ky, who was spending the morning with Hermione, just to confirm her identity, but that was pretty much just for protocol sake, I was positive it was her.

"Can we go again?" I chuckled at Mr Weasley's excitement. I knew he'd love karting, the muggle enthusiast that he was.

"We've got the track booked for the next," I glanced at my watch, "Fifteen minutes. So if anybody does want a few more rounds, feel free."

Mr Weasley and Dr Granger rushed to their go-kart, followed by Charlie who dragged Percy along. Dean and Seamus hadn't even bothered getting out of their vehicle, just swapped places so that someone else could have a go at leading, whilst George hadn't even bothered stopping at all and had been hurtling down the other end of the track.

"Do you mind if I sit this one out?" Neville's face was going a sickly shade of green as he looked at the oldest Weasley sibling, "I don't think motor vehicles and I go very well together."

Bill laughed, "You and me both, Nev. Harry, do you mind having a word in private?"

I cleared my throat, glancing at Ron who had already been walking Neville off to a corner to recover from his driving experience,"Yes, sure."

I was dreading this.

After my chat with Robards, I rushed off to start my best man duties, leading the Stag Party which commenced with a friendly quidditch match at Richmond Park, to Dr Granger's delight. We then headed to lunch at Ron's favourite place, Fernandos, a little muggle Italian sandwich shop near Diagon Alley that we had discovered in our first week as roommates living in London, which helped us fuel up for karting.

Of course, a somewhat anxiety inducing factor of the weekend was that most of the party attendants were Ron's brothers…who also happened to be the brothers of the girl that just dumped me because my dead lover was back on the scene. The Weasleys' were kind and reasonable, but also extremely loyal, and I couldn't blame them for being angry at me for my part in this situation, and any resultant unhappiness it would cause Ginny.

"Bill, I just want to say, I'm incredibly sorry about not moving Ky's grave. It was absolutely unacceptable, not understanding the severity of the situation as to the difference between magical remains and non-magical remains, is no excuse." I glanced up, catching Bill's whisky-brown stare, my heart sagging as it reminded me of Ginny who shared his hue.

"It's fine Harry. I know you would never have done it if you knew better. I actually just called you aside to check on you?"

"What?" My mouth dried up as it hung slightly open, the noise from the go-karts growing softer as I concentrated on our conversation.

Bill shrugged, "Well, a girl you loved very much, we all loved very much, was gone, and now, suddenly is back. People are again after her, for whatever reasons. That's a lot. I mean," He chuckled, "A normal bloke would be well within his right to not even show up today, let alone have a grip on it all as much as you seem to have."

I swallowed, not at all expecting this, "Well, it's Ron and Hermione's wedding, and they deserve everything." I let out a shaky laugh, "I don't really have the time to…not be good right now."

"Hey, if you need to not be good right now, you can not be good right now. I can take whatever you can't have on your plate."

My bottom lip trembled as I processed what Bill was saying. In the years, being Ron's best friend and Ginny's boyfriend, I had grown extremely close to all the Weasleys'. They really did feel like family to me, and the way Bill was talking to me right now, like a big brother, the care he was showing, it filled me up with appreciation and guilt.

I didn't deserve this.

Ginny wanted to wait till after the wedding to announce our breakup, and I had to respect her wishes, but how could I let Bill keep treating me like I was part of the family, caring about me…

"I appreciate that." I cleared my throat, "I'm okay." He cocked a brow, and I raised my hands, "I have been better. But, I've also been worst. And, I really want to do this, for Ron and Hermione. They're my family."

He nodded, completely understanding fraternal duty, "I know Ginny stayed at her place last night." It was his turn to raise his hands in defence, "I know better than to pry into my sister's affairs, and I only know that things are rocky between you two because she came over to mine this morning to talk Bachelorette things with Fleur, and mentioned not staying at yours. Look, this is an unprecedented situation, and I'm not here to give you some threatening talk about not hurting my baby sister. I know you care about Ginny. But I also know you care about Ky." He took a deep breath, buying himself time as he seemed to be choosing his next words carefully, "I just want you to know, that you don't have to feel solely responsible for Ky. She's lost a lot of people, I know that, but we all care about her. I mean, Lenzo and Linus," His lips quivered, "You lot were at school so I don't think you may have realised, but we all had become extremely close. Fleur and Agnes were fast friends, and," He took a deep breath, "And I've never quite related to someone as much as I had to Linus." He remained silent as two fat drops escaped his eyes, as I stared at him, amazed. I knew the Weasleys' and Ky's brothers had been friendly, having both served in the Order of the Phoenix, but I had no idea they had been close. "All this to say, you don't have to feel like you have to step up because Ky's all alone. Because she's not alone."

I nodded, understanding Bill but not completely agreeing with him. Ky was my responsibility, and that's not because there was nobody else to step up to be there for her, but because, whether I liked it or not, I wanted to take care of her.

"Ready for the whisky tasting!" Seamus shouted, clearly tired of the sober half of the day's activities. Bill quickly wiped his eyes and clapped me on the shoulder, and I returned his gesture with a swift but comforting pat on the back.

I had set up a private whisky tasting after karting, which was more or less just an excuse to get sloshed, which I knew primarily was what Ron wanted. He was also a big fan of muggle whisky since they had such a wide variety.

The tasting flew by, and my eyes stung after the last shot we had, and I had to blink a few times to regain focus. This was a surprisingly strong reaction as I had only been sipping a bit of each drink offered, wanting to keep a clear head even if I wasn't on duty.

"Pub!" Seamus bellowed, gesturing to the bathrooms and Bill shook his head, leading him in the opposite direction.

I took a deep calming breath, following the rest of the boys to the Portkey I set up that would take us to a pub where we were going to merge the Stag Party and bachelorette…

We arrived in bustling Covent Garden. We walked over to the pub, which had actually been where the Drs Grangers had their first date, so Hermione wanted it as part of the Wedding weekend as a bit of a homage to her parents.

I knew the girls' schedule as well, having to update the task force of Aurors that were watching over Ky. First they were doing Brunch in Brixton, followed by a few hours at the Emory Hotel spa just by Hyde Park, and then they were going to meet us here. Thankfully most of what they planned had already been in muggle places, so Ky's identity wasn't a problem.

"Mione!" Ron shouted, pink faced and happy as he descended on his bride to be.

"Baby!" Cooed Hermione and I rose my brows…if she was at baby levels she was properly wasted. She was in a tight short white dress, a sash that said 'Bride to Be' and a veil. I glanced at Dr Granger as his daughter pulled Ron in for an aggressive snog, but the man was too busy explaining the cricket match that was on at the other end of the room to Mr Weasley to notice.

That was going to be a great friendship.

"Harrrrrryyyyyy!" Hermione flung herself at me, and I hugged her back, still looking for the familiar red strands or dark tendrils, "I missed you! Oh I love you! You're the best best best friend ever!"

I laughed, letting her kiss me drunkenly on the cheek at every word. "I thought you girls were just getting brunch and massages."

"Shows how much you know about brunch and massages." I found the voice quickly, and swallowed involuntarily. I don't know why I was complaining about the dresses Narcissa had bought for Ky, the ones she chose for herself had always been diabolical in their own right. She was currently causing heart palpitations in a tiny red number that left very little to the imagination.

"Oh Ky! You're the best best best friend ever too!" Hermione pelted Ky with kisses, "You're just slightly less best because you know, the whole faking death thing BUT!" She shouted, "We're not talking about that anymore! We're not!" She snapped at me as if I was the one that brought it up.

"Yes mam." I gave Hermione a salute and she giggled.

"Here, love." Ron held out some water for her and shook his head at Ky with a playful smirk, "What have you done to my bride?"

"Me!" Ky gasped in mock outrage, "Aunt Jean was the one who turned brunch into bottomless brunch! I just may have…kept her at a nice level throughout the day." Ky took the proffered cocktail from the nearby waitress and passed it to Hermione, who slurped it after her water.

I shook my head as Ron chuckled, and Hermione wagged her finger at me.

"Oh don't you pout. She's just doing a good hob, hob, hob?"

"Job." Ky muttered into her ear.

"Yes! Job! As maid of honour!"

My mouth hung open at that, looking at my very drunk best friend. Wasn't she the one telling me this morning that she was going to give Ky a right talking to because she knew I didn't know how to remain immune to her 'feminine wiles'.

Hermione hiccuped and Ky took the orange cocktail from her, downing the rest of the contents in one go. My brows rose at that, not ever having had the luxury of a night out with Ky before, so not knowing what to expect. It would seem, like most things in life, she didn't do this in half measures.

Ron pulled Hermione to the bar where he could at least get caught up with her inebriation.

"What?" Ky mirrored my look and I shook my head.

"Nothing."

"Clearly you have something to say. It's written all over your face."

"Is that so?" I smirked, "Well, you're so good at reading me, tell me, what am I saying." I gestured at my cheeks and she made a show of tapping a finger at her chin. I couldn't help noticing she had makeup on, the red lipstick she wore making her lips even plumper than they usually were.

"Something something bad influence."

"Well what do you know. You still speak Harry."

"Oh…" She tottered forward as someone nudged her. I was grateful that we were stood at the entrance to the pub, everyone else had disappeared into the private room we booked at the back. We were clearly in the way and I let her move closer to me to let people get through, "Who said I stopped speaking Harry."

Godric her scent, I tried to hold my breath so as to not take too much of it in. "Well, I thought if you don't use a language often, you lose it."

"Oh." She whispered, and I registered the scent of champagne on her breath, "So have I lost it?"

I had no idea what we were talking about any more, but my whole body heated at her gaze and her closeness, "When do you ever lose, Kyrianna."

She smirked and leaned forward, in her teetering heels she was at my ear, "I suppose when you win. And you always win."

"And why do you think if I win, you lose. Are we on different teams in that head of yours?"

She laughed, "You don't want to know what we're upto in that head of mine."

I closed my eyes, I was not drunk enough to get away with the conversation she clearly is not going to remember by morning, but by Godric her flirting was more intoxicating than the strongest firewhisky.

"Ky! We're looking for you, we're about to-" Parvati glanced at Ky who was practically pressed up against me, and then me. Her face fell in disapproval and I took a step back.

I am the worst human on the planet.

Ginny, and almost her whole family, is here, somewhere, and I'm flirting with someone else! Even if that someone else is Ky.

Fuck.

Ky apologised to Parvati and made her way to the table, and I made to join but felt a hand on my arm.

I let out a breath.

"Nothing happened. I know that it looked like it did, but nothing happened."

"You don't have to explain the complicated pile of shit you're in right now Harry. I'm not here to remind you that your girlfriend has had to spend half the day with the woman you were madly in love with, and is now in some stupid competition with her."

"What? What competition?"

Parvati shook her head, "I knew it was a bad idea to play games. I told Fleur to take it off the schedule, but Ginny insisted Hermione wanted games. So we're playing Bachelorette Bingo."

I frowned, "Bingo? Like the muggle card game that old people play?"

"Oh you wish it was the muggle card game that old people play. Bachelorette Bingo is a list of sinfully daring tasks that makes even me blush." She gestured to the sheet in her hand.

"What?" I grabbed the parchment deftly, "Get a photo with a policeman. Extra points if he is fit?! Dance with a stranger! Get three men to let you put lipstick on them. Extra points if it's from your lips itself. Dance on a table." My voice went high pitched at that one, "Get a piggy back from a bloke, the further they take you, the more points. Kiss the barman on the cheek. Get a stranger to buy you a drink. One point for each drink, extra points for getting their number?"

"Yeah like a mobile phone number. You know, the thing that muggles use to communicate," Parvati whispered, clearly misunderstanding my outrage for confusion.

"I know what a number is!" I snapped, "And Ginny and Ky are competing in this!"

She rolled her eyes, "Not just Ginny and Ky, all of us of course. But, I dunno, Ginny's acting weird. And she and Ky kind of got into it at the spa."

"Wait wait wait, what? What do you mean, got into it?"

She sighed, "I don't want to cause problems. But I'm the only sober one because I'm breastfeeding, so I'm bloody bored. But I'm trying to gossip less, and I did tell Alex that I'd try and stay out of whatever drama you're in, because he doesn't want it to affect your friendship. But Good Godric, Harry, Ky's back!" She ended with a huge grin.

I glanced around, obviously happy at her ending revelation but also eager for an explanation. Maybe I could ask Fleur what had happened, Hermione was too drunk and Parvati too Parvati to get the proper story. Or should I speak to Ginny? Or Ky?

"Oh what the hell." Parvati pulled me over to a corner, clearly failing at her attempt to withold good gossip, "So everything was going weirdly fine! Like, weirdly fine! Brunch was super civil, and Hermione took Ginny aside to let her know that she asked Ky to be Maid of Honour, and Ginny was all understanding and fine with things, which again, was weird, but we were all pleased. Hermione's mum is hilarious by the way! Anyway, we get to the spa, and they're all a bit tipsy, but it's still fine. And then we're doing our massages, and somehow we're all doing pretty well not mentioning the elephant in the room, you know, where in Gryffindor's name Ky's been in the last seven years. And then…Audrey asked Ky if she's seeing anyone. Which, was dumb, but in Audrey's defence, she was just trying to get to know the new girl, I mean Ky's a complete stranger to her and now she's Maid of Honour? I wonder whether Audrey's pissed off because maybe she expected Hermione to ask her since she asked Fleur, and thought another Weasley sister-in-law was better than some stranger, but then Hermione didn't ask Angelina either and she gets on better with her than she does Audrey."

"Wait, what did Ky say?"

"About?" Parvati asked confused, clearly still thinking about bridesmaid selection.

I growled, "About if she's seeing anybody!"

"Oh! Well, that's when everything got a bit weird. Ky got cagey, she didn't want to like, say. And Ginny kind of lost it, because she was like so what, you get to know every single thing about us, but we don't get to know what's going on in your life? Which, I get where Ginny's coming from, Ky is being weirdly secretive, but it's been like two minutes. You know let the girl breathe. Let her have fun with her best friend, and it's a bachelorette party, not the Spanish inquisition. It's so not the time for big emotional conversations. Anyway, Fleur manages to calm things down, but then!" I could tell Parvati was enjoying her art of storytelling right now but for my heart's sake she needed to be succinct just this once, "Ky mentions she has a dog."

"Yeah?" I knew about that.

"And she shows us this photo of him and he is sooooooo cute! But then, Ginny looks at the photo, and she's like, glaring at it. And she's like, this looks like Sirius. And Ky laughs and says yeah, and that's why he's called Padwalk or something. Anyway, Ginny did not like that. She throws Ky's phone across the room, it's cracked but still working, and then storms out before the manicurist finishes with her right hand. Now she has nail polish just on her left hand."

"Wait, why would Ginny be upset that Ky named her dog Padfoot?"

Parvati shrugged, "I dunno. Anyway those two are not talking to each other which to be honest, I'm kinda happy about because the whole pretending things are normal was super weird."

I rubbed my eyes, suddenly feeling the lack of sleep. Oh man, why did anybody think combining parties would be a good idea. We should have kept them separate once we found out about Ky.

I glanced around the room, catching the flame red hair. "Excuse me, Parvati." I crossed the room quickly, Ginny and Luna had been talking to a group of guys at the bar. "Ginny, Luna."

"Harry!" Luna beamed, pulling me into a hug, "It's so good to see you!"

"Likewise, how was…where were you again?"

She laughed, "Peru. Great! I think we found a nargle nest!"

"Excellent." I added, glancing at the redhead at her shoulder who was busy in conversation with a very large man.

Of course he had to be large.

"Excuse me. Ginny?"

Ginny turned to me and sighed, "Excuse me. Oh, just in case I lose you in this big busy bar," She passed a napkin and a pen to the man and he smiled smugly, scribbling out his number on the sheet of tissue.

I cocked a brow, really? I know I don't have a leg to stand on here, but at least I wasn't flirting with Ky right in front of her.

She took the napkin and walked to a quiet corner, "What?"

"I just. I just wanted to." I let out a sad groan, "I don't know. I wanted to say hello."

"Hello."

"And I wanted to say sorry. And I want you not to hate me. And for you to be happy."

"Then you shouldn't have said hello." She bit out, and my face fell. I knew she was hurt, and that I deserved to be hurt right back, but it didn't make the look on her face sting less. "Look, I saw you talking to Parvati, and she's probably told you about me and Ky having a little bit of an argument at the spa. It wasn't about you. It was about her double standards and I'm annoyed that the rules keep changing. You and Hermione, and even Ron, just let Ky do whatever she wants, you always have."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the fact that she lied to you guys for seven years, and not even a day later she's Hermione's maid of honour and she's staying at your place."

"She's only staying at mine-"

"Oh don't you dare! Oh don't you dare!" She spat, "You don't lie to me again." She growled, "This has nothing to do with her safety." She shook her head, clearly furious.

"Ginny, I don't understand. You were the one that chased after Ky yesterday."

"Yeah, because I didn't want her to disappear again. But I didn't expect you both to be so pathetic!"

"Pathetic!" I snapped, I knew Ginny was hurt and lashing out but she sounded much too alike the voice in my own head.

"Yes! Yes! She just gets whatever she wants from you two. She always has. I don't know how?" She laughed, "It's like she's doused you on love potion or something. You're like an idiot for her."

"Ginny." I said softly, encouraging her to calm down.

"No, no. I'm the idiot. I'm the idiot for thinking that you would pick me."

"Ginny you broke up with me." I mumbled.

"If you think I left you, Harry, if you honestly think that, you're an even bigger idiot than I am."

She turned to walk away and I grabbed her, "Ginny, you're not an idiot, please, you're drunk."

She burst into laughter at that, "I'm drunk? I have never been more sober in my life! Did you see the picture?"

"What?" I asked, confused. "Of Padfoot?"

She laughed bitterly at that, "Of course you did. You must have been soooo happy. You both deserve each other."

"Ginny!" But she pushed me off and quickly got lost in the crowd.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, trying to figure out just where I messed up this time…

A/N: This chapter was more a setup for the next chapter, sorry if it was a bit boring to read. I hope you're enjoying this so far!

Kalina