Written for:

Hogwarts Funfair - Haunted House: Write about stopping to smell the roses.

Hogwarts Funfair - Carousel: (spell) Sectumsempra

Hogwarts Camp: Bi-weekly Relay Races - "Didn't it occur to you that you're hurting me, too?!"

Bad Movie Tuesday: The Swarm - [plot device] Character death

366 Prompts Challenge - Roses

Chocolate Frog Challenge - (Gold): Occamy - Challenge: Write about an overprotective mother.

Blood Roses

Mrs Zabini and Blaise

Mrs Zabini stood up from the ground and cast a cleaning spell on the area around her. She had been busy pruning and admiring her prize-roses.

She carefully removed the dirty gloves from her hands, dropping them down onto the ground nearby. She carefully dusted her trousers off, though no dirt clung to them, before reaching up to fix her hair.

"Looking as beautiful as ever, Mother."

A smile pulled at her crimson lips and she turned, her eyes falling on her son. She hadn't been expecting him that day, though there was nothing she would rather do than see her little boy. Blaise walked over, his lips meeting her cheek for a moment. "And the roses are blooming perfectly, I see."

She tilted her head. "I'm sure you had no doubt in my roses?"

"Of course I have no doubt, Mother. You have the most beautiful roses - we all know that the ladies at the Ministry are jealous of your garden. How do you manage to get them that deep shade of red?" Blaise knelt down by the flowers, taking a deep breath. "I've never seen a garden with that exact colour roses before."

...oOo...

"I'm leaving," the man spat. "Does this marriage mean nothing to you? Merlin, we have a son, yet all you care about is how your hair looks or what clothes you're wearing. Don't you even care about him?"

"Do not even attempt to say that I would ever put anything above my son," she hissed. "You know I would do anything for him!"

"Maybe I should take the boy with me," the man shouted. "He would be happier living with me, than me leaving him with you! You're just poison."

"You... you wish to hurt me and take my son?" Fury built up inside the woman at the very idea. "You would take my son away from me?"

"Didn't it occur to you that you're hurting me, too?! When I married you, I agreed to become a father to Blaise, not just a husband to you. He'll be better off in my care, rather than with a cold, twisted -"

Her wand was in her hand before the man could finish speaking.

"Sectumsempra."

The spell shot towards him three times in quick succession, before he could even get his own wand in hand.

"I was rather fond of you," she mused, moving towards the body. Blood coated his throat, making him unable to scream. "But you threatened to take my son away."

When the blood stopped running, the body was transfigured into a stick and thrown in the fireplace with all the rest. She allowed the blood to soak into the ground, where the seeds had been planted.

...oOo...

She moved away from the flowers, Blaise pulling his head from the one closest to him and standing up to follow.

"Those were my reward for keeping you safe," she replied. "Are you staying long enough to have a cup of tea?"

"Of course, mother," Blaise replied, following her into the house.

Review Please :)

506 words

Gringotts Prompt Bank

Descriptors: Shouted

Prepositions: Above, Falling, Following, Nearby, Towards

Nature Words, Flowers, Trees, and Plants: Roses

Sex and the City: Threatened

Various Prompts: Genre Specific: object - Wand, Flowers, Roses

Charmed (episode 4): Flowers

Phantom of the Opera: Plot point: a murder, Emotion: Anger

All Colour Prompts: Crimson, Red

Object Prompts - Magical Objects: Wand

HP Prompts: Spells, Charms, ETC: Sectumsempra

Friends and Family Vocab Prompts: Mother