Ruby Dellamark ⍎ The Snake Prince (Sequel)

5~ The Fickle Finley Forester

They apparated out of the mass destruction, and they found themselves in East London. They had gone from upscale flowers and silverware to trashcan fires and gang shootouts. Luna took a look around, not quite sure of what to make of it. 

"It's quite rustic," she said.

"It's also got a high murder count, so don't look at strangers, and if somebody asks you for money, stun them," Ruby said. They started walking quite quickly down a street and into a dark alleyway.

"Where are we going?" Luna asked.

"I got a mate in town, he'll be able to help us until this all dies down," she then turned to the younger witch, "Whatever you do, don't mention Bellatrix Lestrange," 

"How come?" she asked.

"He doesn't like her," was her only response.

They soon came to an apartment building ten stories high, with only a set of stone stairs as their way up. They came to the sixth tier and Ruby approached a blue painted chipped metal door. Ruby raised her fist and knocked on the door.

But nobody came. 

Luna shrugged, "Maybe he's asleep?" she said.

"Nah, Finley stays up till late playing video games until three in the morning," she banged on the door again, much harder this time, "Finley! Open up! It's Ruby!" she shouted.

"Ruby who?" a voice called back.

"Dellamark!" Ruby groaned anxiously.

"How do I know you're not an imposter?" he asked. Ruby just rolled her eyes.

"Finley! Open the God forsaken door you paranoid nit wit!" she shouted. Luna just watched with curious eyes.

"Do you think that worked?" she asked. Ruby just held up a hand, motioning for her to wait. Just as Ruby guessed, the several locks in the door clicked, and it opened wide, showing Finley wearing a pair of can-like headphones over his head.

"Blimey, Ruby! You told me you'd send me an owl before you dropped by first," he said.

"Do forgive me. It didn't really strike me to write while I was being hexed," she sneered back as she pushed her way in. Luna followed and smiled at the tall stranger.

"Hello. I'm Luna," she said. That just seemed to tick Finley off even more.

"Who is this?" he asked Ruby.

"She just told you," she replied. 

"I don't know who she is, why should I trust her?" he asked.

"You don't have to. Trust me," she then went into the bedroom, "We need clothes," 

Finley tried to run after her, "What the hell is going on out there? The Floo Network is all up in a fritz," 

"Maybe if you stopped playing video games every now and again, you'd know," she replied.

"Know what?"

"The ministry has fallen. Dammit! Where's that jumper I left here?" she asked.

Finley looked down at his smushed arm chair, "You mean this one?" he held up a piece of red fabric, to which Ruby could only scowl.

"Tell me you haven't been using that as a pillow," she said.

"The stuffing's going hard in the chair, I needed comfort," he replied. Luna took a peek at the TV screen with the image of an old scroll with fancy cursive writing spelling out the word PAUSED.