A/N:

Written as an assignment and for the 2 Week Drabble Wars: International Women's Day over on Hogwarts School of witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments)

Task: Write about someone who doesn't want to live anymore

Scenario Prompt: Write your character going through mental illness/dealing with another person's mental illness.

Dialogue Prompt: "When people put you down enough, you start to believe it." - Pretty Woman

Chocolate Frog: Gold – Erkling – Challenge – Write about an unsettling childhood trauma or experience.

1000 Word Challenge: Bedroom

Word Count: 789

Notes: Self harming reference

Hurt

Kendra looked up at the sound of the door slamming shut behind her followed by heavy, loud footfalls going up the stairs accompanied by the quiet sobs of her daughter, Ariana.

The witch briefly thought about following her little girl, but decided to give her a few moments to compose herself.

At the tender age of six she was already ashamed to let her mother see her upset. Kendra wished that it want so, but she respected Ariana's wishes.

After she had given her daughter several minutes, she followed in Ariana's footsteps, hoping that she would open up to her.

It seemed like not a day went by when Ariana didn't come in crying her eyes out. She had been going through such a tough time lately and she wished that her daughter would finally let her in.

Kendra rapped quietly on the door, "Ariana may I come in sweetheart?" she asked through the door.

When she received no reply, the witch pushed the handle down and opened the bedroom door and found a horrific sight. It was something that no mother should ever have to see.

Her daughter was passed out on the floor with blood pouring from her forearms, holding a small pen knife loosely in her right hand.

What could possibly have happened to her daughter to make her feel this way?

"Ariana," she cried, her eyes filling with tears as she crouched down next to the limp body of her daughter. "What have you done?"

She should have followed her daughter straight upstairs, like any normal mother would have, instead of waiting. If anything permanent happened to her daughter because of her failure, Kendra would never forgive herself.

She pulled her wand out of her pocket, and began to mutter healing spells under her breath. She moved her wand up and down above the deep lacerations and breathed a sigh of relief as her skin began to knit back together.

Kendra scooped her daughter up into her arms and carried her over to her bed and placed her on it carefully, and began to stoke her hair soothingly.

A few minutes passed by before her daughter's eyes flickered open.

"Is this heaven?" she mused quietly to herself with a smile on her face as she gazed around her room. "It looks just like home."

When her eyes fell on her worried mother's face the smile quickly vanished and was replaced by the forlorn grimace that Kendra had become well acquainted with over the last few months.

"Ariana, why?" Kendra asked, with a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Why did you hurt yourself? You could have died."

The witch continued to stroke her daughter's hair as her blank face changed to one of anger

"I wish that I had," Ariana bit back fiercely. "I hate my life and everything about it. People are mean and hurt me."

"Who hurts you baby?" Kendra asked.

Ariana turned over onto her side so that he back was to her mother. "I don't want to talk about it," she grumbled.

Kendra stood up and moved around to the other side of the bed so that she could look at her daughter again. "Ariana, I'm your mother. You can talk to me, please."

Something must have reached her daughter, whether it was her words, or the look in her eyes, but Ariana cracked and as soon as she began to talk, she didn't look like stopping any time soon.

"The boys and girls say mean things. They say that – I'm not – wanted, that I don't belong – that I'm weird," she sobbed. "And when people put you down enough, you start to believe it."

Kendra pulled her daughter into a tight embrace and kissed her hair.

"Ariana you are beautiful, you are loved and you are special," she muttered in her ear. "And don't you ever let anyone ever tell you any different. I love you."

Her daughter shifted out of her arms and looked up into her mother's eyes. She had an unreadable expression on her face, but if Kendra had to guess she would say that Ariana did not believe a word she had just said.

"I love you too mother," Ariana yawned before she slid closer under her covers. "May I have a nap before dinner?"

"Of course sweetheart, take as long as you need," Kendra replied, kissing her daughter on the forehead and leaving her to sleep.

Once outside the bedroom the concerned mother cast a charm that would enable her to keep an eye on her slumbering daughter to ensure no more harm could come to her. She was determined to pay more attention to her suffering child and keep her safe from her own demons.

A/N:

Let me know your thoughts in a review

All feedback is appreciated

xoxo