Your Apathy Is Like a Wound in Salt (Ares)

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

Though Sarah was sure that there were parents who had lied to their children about the birds and the bees by saying something to the tune of, "When a Mummy and a Daddy love each other very much…", that wasn't exactly how things had gone between her and Ares, yet they had nevertheless ended up with their son Sebastian. Sarah herself had little in the way of maternal instincts, but knowing that Sebastian was growing up between her parents' care and Ares' frustrated her. As much as she didn't want the responsibility that came with raising him, she felt that she was owed it. She had still given birth to him; he was still hers, and being free of the temporary hell that was Azkaban meant that she was determined to do what she could to get the child back in her custody.

Unfortunately for her, that meant playing her cards right. She could do that, but she had never excelled at it. It was what had led to just about everything that had happened in her life, honestly, from her expulsion from Hogwarts to her possession of a legitimate Magical Interpol badge—purportedly working against the same criminals with whom she actually associated. What made it more frustrating was that she knew that Ares Lestrange himself could hardly be said to be a saint. He, too, was a Purifier, and they really could have made an excellent pair in another life.

That "nine lives" nonsense applied to cats, though, and not werewolves, so Sarah was forced to do what she could with the one she had. It certainly wasn't perfect, and the thought of meeting up with Ares to have a proper conversation about their shared child felt something like a joke, but Sarah wanted to prove that she was changed—in theory, anyway—and that she could still make the decisions that were in Sebastian's best interest.

Showing up to the pub in her work attire to give herself an added air of professionalism, Sarah glanced around until she saw Ares already seated at a table. She wasn't about to come up with something saccharine about how much she had missed him; it certainly wasn't true. She just had to work with him, tolerate him, and maybe get something decent out of it in the end.

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

TAKING A LONG DESERVED BREAK to eat and speak with Sutton - his current girlfriend on the phone, bickering when he would return home, Ares smirked to himself as he finished the call with her, dipping another chip into the ketchup sauce pot he grabbed for himself and lifting it to his mouth to chew away on.

Besides working another winter break period, despite being promised most of the month off to spend with his family, Ares knew it was seemingly a blessing in disguise. More money to spend on his girlfriend and kids and more of a reason to take the piss and not turn up for shifts. Especially since today, the Lestrange was working alongside new recruits while the experienced ones went on home. He never understood why the managers did that so frequently, hire new recruits and require them to work during the worst of days, like the holidays. Ridiculous.

Just as Ares was about to eat another chip, his eyes trailed upwards and he wished upon Merlin's grave that he could burn them out of his skull where he sat. The mother of his first and only son Sebastian, standing there before him in a ridiculous attire, somewhat matching what the new recruits would wear. And as if it clicked in his mind, the light from Ares' eyes disappeared all too suddenly.

"Fuck no." He announced, getting up from his seat, chips falling all over the place. "You're fired by the way. It's okay. You can leave now. Doors that way - see you in the century of never?" Sleeping with her was a mistake he ultimately regretted, but working alongside her? That was something that would cause a ruckus between him and Sutton. Something he definitely didn't want.

| sarah jane oliveira |

sorry for the wait!

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

The reaction that Ares had upon seeing her walk in solidified that he was clearly unhappy to see her, but the fact that the first word out of his mouth been an expletive didn't deter Sarah in the slightest. If she were one to back down at the least little provocation, she certainly wouldn't have ended up where she was. A better question might have been if Ares were truly capable of handling her. If his telling her that she was "fired" was anything to go by, he didn't even care to converse with her.

Not even giving her a chance felt like jumping to conclusions, thought Sarah, who was happy to milk her "reformed" image to her benefit for as long as she could. It wouldn't look good for him if he didn't give her the time of day, especially in the absence of evidence to support his position. Unless he were willing to expose the Purifiers' inner workings, face the wrath of Elaine Dupree herself, and potentially incriminate himself along with everything else, Sarah knew that she had the upper hand over him. And she certainly didn't mind having that leverage.

Ares might have pointed out the door to her, but Sarah continued to make her way into the pub. She stopped short of where he had gotten up from his table, not wanting to end up with his spilled food on the bottom of her shoes. "I don't work for you, Ares," she told him plainly. It looked like he could probably use a maid, though she certainly wouldn't volunteer herself. Thinking on it, however, she paused and summoned Ares's leftover container of ketchup into her hand and changed her tune completely. "…Unless you're offering to pay me for my time?" In that case, that was awfully sweet of him, and she would consider taking him up on it. "I hope you're not teaching our son these manners, by the way," she added, sticking the side of her finger into the ketchup and licking it off as she watched him. "Leaving chips all over the floor… Such a dirty habit…"

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

ARES KNEW HIS REACTION WAS probably unnecessary but when you were suddenly paired to work with the woman who ultimately ruined your life - birthing a child and not bothering to inform you of his existence after two-ish years...Ares felt his reaction was fine. Ares didn't care for a word the woman had to say for herself, especially since every time he had saw her previously, all she could mention was Sebastian. For now, their child was off-limits around her and would potentially continue for the foreseeable future. Depending of course on however long Sarah actually planned to stick around.

"Technically you do. I'm the one in charge today, everyone else is home." He retorted with a tut, clicking at his fingers to clean up the mess he had made, while walking away from the Oliveira, heading to the back to conclude his break - despite it only beginning five or so minutes ago. "You can honestly go and fuck yourself if you think I'll pay you for anything." Sticking his head in the back as he scraped away the remains of his food, Ares' head popped out once more, his facial expressions filled with frustration and anger the more she spoke.

"Our son." He chuckled angrily. "You don't even care for Seb. At all. He's just your little toy to obsess over." Watching as she licked away at ketchup, Ares' pulled at her arm, heading to the back. "What do you want Sarah?" He questioned, eyes narrowing and the gap between the two of them slim. The Lestrange felt no attraction for the woman by any means, but considering the history they shared, with Sarah disappearing and reappearing each time...It only meant something new for her return.

| sarah jane oliveira |

hehe im enjoying their dynamic already

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head

"Technically you do," came Ares' response when she had told him that she didn't work for him. "I'm the one in charge today," he said. "Everyone else is home." Again, she was really only willing to play that game if Ares planned on giving her an apron and a few Knuts for her time, at the very least, but Ares made it plain as day that he wasn't interested in that.

He put more distance between himself and her, though Sarah was equally grateful for that. She was unimpressed that he didn't really want to have a conversation with her, but that was another matter. He also didn't sound particularly thrilled about her calling Sebastian "their" son and called her out on it, saying that she didn't even care for him at all. "He's just your little toy to obsess over," Ares observed, although he still demanded to know what she wanted and took her by the arm.

Sarah let Ares pull her without putting up a fight and sighed through gritted teeth. "So much for attempting to 'co-parent'," Sarah remarked, making an air quote with her free hand and glancing in the direction in which they had come before meeting Ares' eyes. "It's no surprise you're the unreasonable one, keeping a mother from the very child she birthed after she's paid her debts to society and turned her life around," she observed. "Is it because I'm a werewolf, Ares?" she then asked, cocking her head. "Is that why I'm not fit to parent him, hm?" Unless he wanted to go the route of engaging in some anti-werewolf discrimination, he had no reason to be skeptical of her motives without incriminating himself as another one of Elaine's followers. As for her? She'd gone to prison, and she had the job tracking down hardened criminals. In comparison to her, he was just a bitter bartender.

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

SARAH'S WORDS WERE ENOUGH FOR the Lestrange's anger to rise once more before the male took a deep breath, steadying out his anger just like his dearest Sutton taught him. Between the two of them though, Ares always believed Sutton was more hot-tempered than he would ever be, but given his previous actions and even behaviour...He couldn't really compare. The more Sarah spoke however, randomly bringing up the topic of co-parenting and that she was a werewolf, only resulted in Ares letting out a tired sigh, while his hand rose to pinch at his nose.

"You know.." He began, moving his hand away to tilt his head to the side as he peered over at her, presenting a condescending manner. "For the record, you're not the first werewolf I've slept with. So don't flatter yourself, or even suggest that shit." Ares wasn't the type to discriminate. He'd kill or love any kind of wizard or being, no matter where they came from.

"Secondly, even if you have cleaned up your act and 'want to co-parent'-" He continued, raising his fingers to make quote marks as he spoke. "Then we can absolutely go the legal route. With your parents as our witnesses of course. Especially since...Oh that's right. I've been co-parenting with them ever since I was told about Sebastian." He shot her a grin then, knowing that with Sarah's parents' support, Ares could definitely claim one full custody over Sebastian. He wasn't cruel enough to do such a thing, but he also wasn't open to the sudden fact of somewhat re-introducing his son to his always absent 'mother'.

| sarah jane oliveira |

sorry for the wait!!

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head

Ares pointed out that she was neither the only werewolf nor the first werewolf with whom he'd slept, countering her point about his possibly being discriminatory towards her on that basis. He told her not to flatter herself—or even to go so far as to suggest that that was the case. Sarah wanted to laugh but kept herself from doing so. She was there to make a point to him. Whatever it took, she wanted Sebastian, and she knew that her son's father, despite what he was trying to portray to her, was no angel.

"Secondly," he pressed on, "even if you have cleaned up your act and 'want to co-parent'"—a comment that came accompanied by finger quotes—"then we can absolutely go the legal route." He added, too, that he wanted her parents there as witnesses, given that he had been co-parenting alongside her own parents ever since he'd been told about Sebastian's existence.

"You're going to make it easy on me?" Sarah asked Ares, her voice rising slightly as though she actually thought that he might be so considerate of her. "That's very sweet of you, Lestrange. Are you hoping for an Order of Merlin?" She was almost cooing, mostly because she knew that it would frustrate him that much more. There was nothing wrong with what she was doing; she was just making his life harder than it needed to be, as was her prerogative.

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

THE LESTRANGE COULDN'T HELP BUT raise a brow at Sarah's response and questions, a quiet chuckle leaving his lips while he shook his head. "Not only..Did you make me waste my break..But you're still wasting my time with your shitty jokes." The more Ares spoke to the Oliveira, the more he could feel some kind of venom fill in with his tone - it would only be a few more extra moments, shitty, teasing 'jokes' and more 'what the fuck do you wants' before the Lestrange would do something he'd ultimately regret.

"Pretty sure I'd get an Order of Merlin from helping someone who actually needs it. Unlike you..Clearly." The Lestrange shrugged, noting that a few things by the bar were out of place, and so with some quick wand-less magic, a cloth rose from the bar, giving it an overall wipe down. "Do your parents even know you're back? For the five minutes you've planned anyway?" He began, facing her completely. "Especially since last time you were here for maybe..Two weeks, off on the same tangent to get Set back before you disappeared all over again. Tell me...Oliveira, why must you make my life hell again?"

| sarah jane oliveira |

sorry for the wait!!

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

Ares was livid, and it was satisfying for Sarah to watch. It was almost sexy, though she wasn't about to tell him that his practically spitting at her was a turn-on. She had wasted his break, he said, and she was still wasting his time with her jokes. It could have been worse, though; at least they were only sparring verbally… that time.

In response to her comment about an Order of Merlin, he said that he thought that he would get one for actually helping someone—unlike her. Sarah wanted to say that Ares seemed to have forgotten who was the bartender and who was working for Magical Interpol. (That was called upward mobility, she wanted to tell him, considering the speed at which she had gone from Club Indigo to Azkaban to Interpol.)

"Do your parents even know you're back? For the five minutes you've planned anyway?" Ares dug into her. She had been back, he claimed, for about two weeks the last time, and then only to get Sebastian back. "Tell me… Oliveira, why must you make my life hell again?"

Sarah jutted her lower lip out in a fake pout. "I'm so sorry you decided not to keep me around," she said in a voice that was obviously baby talk. Then, she cut the act. "Working for Magical Interpol requires travel now, sweetie. And I've been there for almost a year now."

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

SIMPLY EVERYTHING ABOUT SARAH IRKED the Lestrange and he couldn't just detail one aspect of her that didn't annoy him. Of course, the annoyance stemmed from their risky one night stand, but the consequence of it resulted with the birth of his first born. And Ares couldn't trade the love he had for his son for nothing else. But as the male looked up, an eye roll ready in response to the Oliveira's fake pout, Ares' hand rose once more, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm his frustration.

"Magical Interpol?" He repeated, somewhat intrigued as he looked over at her. "Who did you sleep with to end up with a job like that?" Sarah wasn't the type to earn or pick up a job so easily without some strings being pulled.

| sarah jane oliveira |

sorry for the wait!!

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

Getting under Ares's skin was so easy that it shouldn't have been as thrilling as it was. It was like taking a Chocolate Frog from a baby, though, and Sarah relished knowing that Ares would remain hers to annoy. Between having a child with him and their both being Purifiers, he was stuck having to deal with her—whether he liked it or not.

"Magical Interpol?" he echoed in surprise. "Who did you sleep with to end up with a job like that?"

It was lovely of him to think that she had gotten her position just from sleeping around, thought Sarah, but typical of him to think that she couldn't have done it on her own. Technically, she had had some help, but getting and keeping her job despite the idiocy of the people she had to deal with was all her own. "At least I didn't make the mistake of shagging a Hogwarts student again," Sarah smiled knowingly at Ares. His frustration was amusing, though he couldn't pretend that they hadn't slept together. If he wanted to act like sleeping with her was some crime, he was including himself there. She didn't mind his thinking that there had been some additional favors thrown into the mix. So what if she had?

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

ARES WAS MOST DEFINITELY A typical man who got frustrated or angry when his buttons were pressed, compared to other individuals who rose to anger at the smallest things. The Lestrange liked to believe that he had his temper under control most times, but on the odd occasion - probably from the build up of unknown stress, he did snap. Who wouldn't? When they're holding the weight of the world on their chests anyway. But for some reason, Sarah knew how to irritate his mind, body and soul with the simplest of words.

At her attempt of a remark, Ares only replied with a snort, his lips curved upwards into a small smirk. "You act as if you were a million years older than me back then. How old are you now, ninety? You look remarkable." In fairness, the Lestrange was...more of a risker teenager than he was an adult, which of course led to the birth of his son so unexpectedly. But truthfully what was life without risks? "Won't lie, sex was pretty good though. Considering the place it was in." Two could play that game.

| sarah jane oliveira |

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

"You act as if you were a million years older than me back then," Ares informed her. For good measure, he then added, "How old are you now, ninety? You look remarkable."

"Oh, yes," Sarah stated dryly without missing a beat. "I'm turning ninety-one on Tuesday." It was sarcasm, clearly. She hadn't been "robbing the cradle," so to speak, but the gap between their ages had been more significant at the time of their rendezvous because he still had been a student back then.

"Won't lie," continued Ares, mentioning that the sex between them had been "pretty good."

If he had been attempting to insult her with that one, Sarah didn't think that it was a very good insult. "Glad you enjoyed it," Sarah smirked. "You've had loads more practice since then, obviously, so it's wonderful to know I rank so highly."

ares edward lestrange

[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

KNOWING SARAH'S RESPONSE WAS DRIPPING with sarcasm, Ares' smirk remained the same as he looked across at her. "Ah well. Happy early birthday Grandma. Should we get you back to the nursing home anytime soon? I hear they're serving sugar free butterbeer. It should be good for those dentures huh?" Given their difference in age in their younger years, the gap between them now wasn't so bad. It just wasn't ideal for student Ares to be an upcoming father.

"Rank highly?" Ares began, feigning a pout. "You're just as good as whatever escort I got hooked up with during my trips abroad." Ares liked little benders here and there, many he couldn't remember whereas others he simply remembered waking up in either a bed that wasn't his, or with people he had no clue of. But times had changed, the Lestrange was finally a family man. "The only person who ranks so highly now is the mother of my daughter."

| sarah jane oliveira |

[sarah jane oliveira]

December 2025
The Hog's Head, Hogsmeade

Ares continued to play along with her joking about her age by talking about how he should get her back to the home in time for her sugar-free butterbeer. (The very prospect of sugar-free butterbeer sounded awful, but Sarah was sure that someone had made or requested it at some point.) His tune changed rapidly, though, after she mentioned how highly she must have ranked in terms of his lovers. No longer on their discussion of the elderly, however much in jest it had been, he wasn't afraid to let his real feelings show.

For one thing, he said that she was as good as some of the escorts he'd been with. Sarah could have taken more offense to that remark, but she had been close to being one herself. She'd worked as a dancer at Club Indigo before she went to prison, and she knew people who did that sort of work on the side. What did get to her, though, was when Ares told her, "The only person who ranks so highly now is the mother of my daughter."

"Oh, yes," Sarah replied with no enthusiasm whatsoever. She was sure that the mother of his daughter was just excellent. There was a lot that she could have said—some of it more vulgar than not—but held back from the worst of it while she was in public. "I've moved on to bigger and better things, too," she agreed, fully aware of the double entendre. Sarah then paused, though it was intentional. "By the way, have you found a potion for that yet?"

ares edward lestrange