For the Ultimate Pairing Drabble Comp – Dean/Lavender with the prompt lock and key.
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Lavender sits in the spare bedroom, reorganizing it because it's been far too long since it's been cleaned. She moves the boxes around and goes through most, trying to clear out the clutter. On the top of a box, it says, "Dean's Hogwarts stuff."
She gives a faint smile before opening it up and shifting through it. It holds his old Hogwarts robes and most of his textbooks. Among the items are his Quidditch posters.
At the bottom of the box sits a stack of sketchbooks. Dean had told her that he lost all the sketchbooks he had while at Hogwarts, but she doesn't have to look to know that these are the ones from then. She pulls out the sketchbook on top and flips it open.
September 1, 1991.
It's his first year sketchbook. She lightly runs her hand over the picture of the train station and the scarlet train. The drawing is less than what she's come to expect from him – dark lines and imperfect shading, but for an eleven year old, it's beautiful.
She flips through the books, watching as Dean's talent grows with each year. When she gets to the fourth book, she hesitates. She knows that while Dean excels in drawing scenery, he does draw people and she's afraid that he's drawn her during the Yule Ball. But she takes a deep breath and opens it.
Christmas Eve, 1994.
There she is, standing next to Seamus. The drawing looks like it could be a picture. Dean managed to capture every emotion of the scene – the pure bliss, the excitement, everything. Her eyes rake over herself at fourteen. She's forgotten how she looked without the scars covering thirty percent of her body.
Before she can stop it, tears streak down her face. She pushes the sketchbook away from herself, and brings her knees up to her chest. Her body shakes with the force of her sobs.
"Lav?" Dean's voice calls out from the living room. But her voice is too raw for her to answer. It takes him moments to realize where she is. When he opens the door, he spots her. He moves quickly to her side and wraps his around her. He's about to ask what's wrong when he sees the open sketchbook on the floor.
He understands what is going through her mind. It had taken years for Lavender to be okay with her scars, and he didn't want to ruin that; that's why he kept his old sketchbooks under lock and key, but she found them anyways.
He forces her to look at him. "You're beautiful, Lav. Don't ever forget that," he whispers. She starts to protest, but he cuts across her. "You're the most beautiful woman in the world to me. You always will be."
When she doesn't say anything, he presses a kiss to her temple and just holds her. He continuously repeats, "You're beautiful," in her ear, even though she's having a hard time believing him now.