Drowsy [Ares]

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December 23, 2028

Having collected a hot chocolate from Spellbucks about ten minutes prior, Flossie spun around in her chair that sat behind the cash register. No Hogsmeade trip for the younger students in December meant her weekends were…boring. Such a thing had never occurred when helping her father at the ice cream parlor, or even at the shop she worked at back in New York. With Christmas so close, she sort of expected there to be a bit more of a crowd. Last year was a bit of an enigma, with Hogwarts back open and families coming to the town to support it. It seemed like that had already died off within a year, and now she was stuck idly waiting for someone to walk into the shop. That wasn’t to say she had been lazily sitting behind the counter all day; no, there had been a few customers earlier in the morning, stopping by to place orders for a box of chocolates or picking up candy for stocking stuffers for their children. So for the Saturday before Christmas, she supposed that was pretty busy.

She took a sip of her drink. It was finally at the right temperature, the plastic top chilled still from the air outside. She could have prepared her own hot chocolate if she really wanted to. There was a fountain of the stuff at one end of her shop, and a cup of that mixed with a bit of the milk she kept in her fridge back in her office would go wonderfully together once heated up. The only real reason she’d walked over to the coffee shop was because she needed to wake up. Which the frigid air had done perfectly.

Gently placing the cup of cocoa back down on the counter, Flossie licked at her lips and stared across the shop. She could see shadows of passersby, but only because the sun was starting to set. It was going to be an early night tonight, unfortunately. And an early start tomorrow morning as well. There was no telling how Christmas Eve was going to go. If she got a call from Felix or her mum for backup at the ice cream parlor, she was ready to drop everything here and go. People were a bit particular about what they wanted to eat the night before a holiday. She had seen some strange things over the years. Yawning as she made up weird, probably impossible scenarios, she tried to fix it with another sip of her hot chocolate. Any longer and she was going pass out with the door unlocked again. Hogsmeade was safe though, so she didn’t feel too bad about doing that…

ares edward lestrange ● 448 ● Song by Artist

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[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

ARES LESTRANGE WAS FAR FROM the boy who loved sweets once upon a time. At his prime age of twenty-six years, with a child that was old enough to walk and talk and even chat back, Ares' only business in Honeydukes was picking up the sweets Sebastian had, had once and continued to beg for, every day of the week.

Sure enough, custody of his son was still shared between himself and the Oliveira's and with Christmas around the corner no less, Ares couldn't help but want to spoil his son. Already having his gifts prepared, wrapped and all for his annual 'pick-up Sebastian for some Christmas fun'.

Considering Ares also worked within Hogsmeade, getting to Honeydukes wasn't the issue, but in its prime time - it was hard to even get inside the door without some kid shoving in front of him, begging mummy or daddy for the biggest waste of candy.

Now, the store seemed quite..lonely. As the Lestrange pushed the door open, he wasn't anticipating to see such a gorgeous face, restrained to behind the counter. Ares' flirty nature meant the first words out of his mouth would've been along the lines of requesting her to somehow leave with him, but the Lestrange had other plans that day. Or more so that week.

"Hello." He began, flashing a smile in the woman's direction. She seemed just as bored and tired as the store did, but that wouldn't stop Ares of course. "Slow day?"

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sorry for the wait!

[florence violet fortescue]

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The foreign sound of the front door to the shop jingling open pulled Flossie straight out of her daydreaming, making her wonder for a moment if she had dozed off and completely missed the customer. Thankfully it seemed like it was someone entering, and she immediately straightened up behind the counter, putting her best smile and energy forward. Getting caught slacking, even if it was her own shop, was never a good thing. If she wanted to sleep or take the day off, it was better to close at that point instead of struggling through the rest of the day. But hopefully this was a sale!

She sort of recognized the man that had entered, having seen him around Hogsmeade occasionally but almost exclusively through the windows of her shop. ”Good afternoon,” she returned the smile to him. Hearing him call it a slow day almost made her laugh, which she exchanged for a knowing look and exhale. ”Something like that. And in a month, everyone will be expecting me to have Valentine’s themed candy out.” She liked the holiday, from a business perspective. Being a participant in it now felt weird, even almost two years later. Flossie knew she wasn’t ready yet, with her own store to worry about.

”Soooo…” she tapped her fingers on the counter, ”Looking for anything in particular?” There were still chocolates in the shape of Santa that occasionally uttered ’ho ho ho,’ until the mouth was chewed off, as well as advent calendars. Why anyone would want one of those with only two days until Christmas was beyond her, but she’d sold one the week before and didn’t question it. ”I’ve seen you around here, haven’t I? Do you live in Hogsmeade?” Flossie figured she’d ask. The more locals she knew, the more she could grow her presence in the town. She knew Honeydukes was an easy sell when she bought it, as long as she prevented any small children from almost choking to death inside the store.

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[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

LISTENING TO THE WOMAN SPEAK, Ares Lestrange couldn't help but let his eyes wander just a little. She seemed a little older than him, but Ares wasn't fussy with his options. He was open to anything of course. Laughing along quietly at the mention of business needing change in a month or so, Ares nodded, agreeing in some way. "It's the same with where I work..tons of patrons now..tons of single patrons later." Ares grinned, eyes wandering else where, curious about the sweets amongst him.

"Nothing in particular..But what would you recommend for a child? A boy if that makes it any better." The nice thing about Sebastian is that he had picked up some of his fathers traits. He wasn't picky - just like Ares - but if he liked a certain thing, it would rank at his number one for a long while. For Sebastian, his current number one was toys. For Ares...Women.

At the woman's question about him living in Hogsmeade, the Lestrange raised a brow. "Who's asking?" He joked, turning to face her completely while standing near the Christmas sweet stall. "I do. I work here also. You probably know it..the Hogs Head?"

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sorry for the wait!

[florence violet fortescue]

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Single patrons? If she had seen him in the area and he worked with a contingency like that, it had to mean he was either at the Broomsticks or the Hogs Head. As far as she was aware, those were the only two pubs in Hogsmeade. Unless Spellbucks counted as a singles hangout now? Sure, there were always Hogwarts students hanging around there studying, but she hardly counted it as a place to meet people. Then again, the first few dates she’d had with her ex-husband had been at muggle coffee shops, as a way to get to know one another better without committing too hard to expensive dinners that neither of them would have ended up liking. She hadn’t known that then but did come to find out later that those sorts of restaurants weren’t their thing.

The customer went on to ask what she would recommend for a young boy, and that was honestly a difficult question. ”Hmmm…” Flossie hummed as she stepped around the counter and walked over to an aisle and looked at her selection. She grabbed a few different items off their respective hooks and held them out for the man to look at. ”Depends on if you want the little guy floating around or not, but Fizzing Whizzbees have always been a hit with younger children. And then these as well,” she also showed him a pack of Jelly Slugs. There was nothing too special about them, as they were merely gummy worms. But the fun of ripping off bits of the slug was what made kids giddy.

”Of course I know it,” she laughed. So she’d guessed correctly that he worked at one of the bars. A bartender at the Hogs Head, most likely. ”And I’m sure you know that I’ve never been there when you’ve been working, right?” He was obviously trying to imply something between this comment and the one about there being lots of single people earlier. Flossie wasn’t obtuse. It was sort of fun to play around like this sometimes. Which was why she purposely didn’t tell him her name when he asked. ”So, Mr. Hogs Head, do these look good, or do you want some Chocolate Frogs too? Can never go wrong with them.”

ares edward lestrange ● 376

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[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

SNEAKILY CHECKING OUT THE WOMAN AS she stepped out from behind the counter, Ares put on his best fake smile as she then turned to face him, introducing her recommended product. Taking the products into his hand, Ares gave them a quick inspection before looking back up at the woman before him. Chuckling a little at the thought of a floating Sebastien, Ares shook his head and the thought along with it. "Probably..wouldn't be the best idea for him to float. He's already full of energy the moment he wakes up."

Looking over the Fizzing Whizzbees and the Jelly Slugs, Ares decided he would at least buy a bag of the slugs. Seb wasn't too picky with his candy, instead he usually just stuffed his face with whatever, but Ares wanted to be extra special, and try to pick up at least something Christmasy themed. "I know..Christmas is just a few days away but..do you have any Christmas-themed types?" Ares recalled both Mina and Callisto talking about Seb being 'happy' with the taste of peppermint lately.

"Anything pepperminty but...fun?" Simply so the Lestrange could shove it in front of Callisto and Mina and prove his point that he does in fact listen to their little requests and tips on 'keeping Seb happy'. As the woman laughed, saying that she clearly knew Hog's Head, the Lestrange couldn't help but grin at her comment that they had always...missed one another. Maybe she had caught on to the flirty comments he was dropping.

"Mr Hogs Head?..I like that." He began, browsing around once more before looking back at the lady in front of him. "Hmm..Hold the Whizzbees, one bag of Slugs, some Frogs to anddd whatever Christmas stock you got left please." Ares wasn't close to giving up in the slightest, he was determined to learn more about this..fine fine woman before him, even if it meant spending a pretty penny.

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Sugar was a double-edged sword. Flossie knew that all too well. When it came to children, you wanted to be able to let them have the fun tasting things, whether it was ice cream, candy, or even butterbeer. Everyone deserved a little treat now and again. Luckily for magical kids, the assortment of candy was beyond impressive. And she controlled one of the main distributors of it now. But she could also see the side of the parents too. No one wanted to load their child up with an insane amount of sugar and fake energy if they already had it naturally. That wasn’t healthy, even in moderation.

When it came to Christmas themed candy, there wasn’t a whole lot, especially not left in the store. All of the generic stuff had sold out weeks ago. ”Hmm…” Flossie hummed as she went towards the practically barren shelf that had once been home to all of her seasonal items. ”I have one foot-long candy cane left,” she pointed at it. ”And then a chocolate unicorn? I know that isn’t very Christmas-y, but it has a red nose to make it look sort of like Rudolph.” Did this guy even know who Rudolph was? Flossie had discovered that it was sort of a spread when it came to witches and wizards knowing the normal Christmas fairytales. Obviously, the kids knew Santa was a wizard, but the more mainstream things didn’t get retold. So at the very least, he could get some peppermint. The giant candy canes had been a hit this year.

He ended up going with Jelly Slugs, Chocolate Frogs, and the remainder of her Christmas candy. Which worked perfectly, because selling it half-off in a week was not what she wanted to do. ”Good choices,” she waved her wand at the giant candy cane and the chocolate Rudolph unicorn. They floated over to the register, and Flossie followed. ”How old is he? Because I might have some edible ornaments in the back too. Just don’t want to give them to kids who think any old decoration can be eaten, you know?” The thought had only come to her as she saw the small tree she had sitting by the check-out counter. It was covered in candy themed ornaments, both magical and not.

ares edward lestrange ● 382

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[ares edward lestrange]

━ wasted on sunday, erase you on monday ━

KNOWING A SUGAR FILLED SEBASTIAN would probably run the risk of a mouthful from both of the Oliveira sisters, Ares felt relieved that he went against it. He loved his son and the chaos he produced, like a true Lestrange no less, but less was more when it came to his son and his aunts. Especially for their dynamics and overall custody shares.

Eyes wondered as the shopkeeper? walked towards the shelf that held seasonal items, leaving the Lestrange a little curious. He knew he was way too late with any surprise gifts, considering the date and how close Christmas was, but he was just in a spoiling mood. The other side of Sebastian's Christmas gifts had been bought and dealt with.

"Interesting..I'll take both then? The candy cane isn't...edible is it?" While candy canes tended to have that pepperminty flavour, he couldn't imagine Seb along with his aunts powering through such a large amount of candy before it would turn terrible.

With all the things he planned on buying floating over towards the counter, eyes lit up at her suggestion of additional things. Sure, it would probably burn a small hole in the Lestrange's pockets, but he felt - more things added to his son's happiness. Being asked Seb's age resulted in the older Lestrange lifting his hands up, working out the maths while taking his own age into account...

"Seven, he'll be eight next spring." There were times the Lestrange felt old, being only twenty-six with a kid that was reaching closer to his schooling years. But considering how young he was when he fooled around, having a one night stand with a woman he didn't even know... "But he's a real kid at heart still. Enjoys stories, family time, the works." Something Ares himself never even had...

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”Of course it is,” Flossie confirmed, not even thinking for a moment that the question was serious. This was a candy store after all! If she really wanted to go full Hansel and Gretel and make the building out of candy, she could probably do that. But replacing chocolate doorknobs or peppermint bark floorboards seemed problematic, if not costly. The mere thought of some first year trying to gnaw on a piece of her candy-built shop made her stomach flip. All of the dirt and grime…but eleven-year-olds were resilient. She certainly had been her first few years at Hogwarts. ”If you want a decoration or something, a muggle store might be better.” While the times were definitely changing, she still encountered some in the community that only shopped at magical owned stores. Flossie was never going to completely argue against that since it gave her business, but…

The man explained that his son was seven, and she hummed an acknowledgement in response. How old was this guy? Because he looked similar in age to her. The mere thought of currently having an almost eight-year-old made her skin secretly crawl. ”They all deserve to be like that after these last few years,” she said as she busied herself with the candy that had been chosen so far. Maybe that was a bit presumptuous of her to say, as she had only just come back recently, after everything had all blown over.

”I’m sure he’s getting excited for Hogwarts? Only a few more years now.” Her own run up to Hogwarts had been a little hectic. Every August, watching the families bring their own children by Diagon to shop for supplies before stopping at the ice cream parlor had drove her nuts. She had been surprised her parents hadn’t begged Professor McGonagall to let her in a year early, just to get her to shut-up about it. Finally, she got her way once she was eleven. And then she wouldn’t stop blabbering about school until she graduated. Thinking about it made her giggle. ”Anything else?”

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