What Masterpieces are Made of
Name: Courtney Kathrys

Title: What Masterpieces are Made of

E-mail: Faeriedeath@hotmail.com

Summery: Susan can't recall when she started painting Lavender Brown, or even why

Notes: Written for the Springtime Seduction challenge over at hp_girlslash

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters are by JK Rowling. I only own the plot.

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Susan never considered herself to be a beautiful girl. No one ever really looked twice at her dark red hair and normal blue eyes; her chubby cheeks and stout body. She was the quintessential Hufflepuff girl everyone envisioned. Maybe that is why she found beauty in so many things around her, and why she immersed herself in the unintelligible colors of art. The world was far prettier when you didn’t have to focus on yourself.

She can’t recall why she started painting Lavender Brown, or even when. Perhaps she always had, looking back at the ghostly figure that surreptitiously haunted all of her paintings. But Susan didn’t like to dwell on the past, for now she was contented with studying the Gryffindor girl and immersing herself in her beauty.

Lavender was the girl Susan had always wanted to look like. A tall, slim blonde with long legs and shiny hair and a smile that could make the heart of Queen Elizabeth herself flutter. She was the type of girl who looked beautiful wearing anything and rolled out of bed without a hair out of place. She was perfect, in Susan’s opinion, and therefore the perfect candidate to draw.

She approached her one evening while she sat drawing, Lavender in her school uniform which always seemed too small and just right at the same time. She peered curiously over Susan’s shoulder and gasped slightly at viewing herself. “Why are you drawing me?”

Susan looked at her curiously for a moment, her chubby cheeks resting thoughtfully on her paint stained hand. “Why shouldn’t I draw you? You’re what masterpieces are made of.”

Lavender stood still for a moment, pondering the meaning before smiling vainly and shaking out her mane of honey gold hair. “I am, aren’t I? Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked. I could model for you, if you’d like me too. That way you don’t have to sneak looks at me from across the Quidditch field.”

So with embarrassed red cheeks and a shaking hand, Susan and Lavender began a tentative professional relationship. They would meet in the Room of Requirement each week, and Lavender would assume numerous silly poses, and Susan would indulge her girlish amusement for the sake of being given this uninterrupted opportunity to openly gaze at her.

In the beginning they talked about Lavender; both enjoying the topic at hand, a shared interest between them. Lavender would extol her virtues and her love for the subtle art of Divination. Eventually Lavender moved on to complain about her relationship with Seamus, and Susan envied his luck to be able to run his hands freely through her hair.

“He is such a boy sometimes, honestly! All he ever wants to do is snog. I mean, I can hold a conversation you know. Like us for example, I have such wonderful conversations with you Suzie. We have so much in common!”

Susan’s heart leapt at the off handed comment, and their talks began to deepen. Insecurities, prejudices, and matters of the heart. Lavender was lying on her stomach one evening, her luxuries hair hanging in her face and her hand dangling precariously. She was lovely and Susan was rushing to instill the image in hardcopy before Lavender got the brilliant idea to move. But she was still, pondering her secret thoughts. “Susan, do you have a boyfriend?”

She vaguely head her brush clatter to the floor, and felt her face drain. “No… I don’t. Not many boys find me appealing.”

Lavender gasped, sitting straight up, her cheeks pink with indignation. “Not find you pretty? How not? Come here.”

Obediently, Susan made her way over to the chaise and sat demurely beside Lavender. The beauty studied her face for a moment, chewing on her glossy pink lips before bringing out a hand to finger one of Susan’s red curls. “You have such unique hair. This lovely dark red is such a beautiful color. You should let people see it more.” With a sudden movement she tore out Susan’s ponytail holder and began to run her fingers through her locks, arranging them around her face. “There, that’s beautiful.”

After another moment of pondering, she placed a delicate finger on Susan’s cheek. “Your eyes are this shocking blue. They’re gorgeous… you just need to bring them out more.” Lavender quickly applied a few subtle cosmetic charms.

Suddenly the blonde smiled, her entire face glowing. “Susan, you look beautiful.” She handed her a mirror from her pocket and Susan took it shyly, daring herself to look. A girl with shadowed cheeks and big blue eyes framed by dark lashes and pretty auburn hair stared back at her, not the ordinary plain Jane she was used to staring at.

Susan looked up at Lavender quickly, her eyes widening. “Thank you. This is so nice of you.” Lavender smiled shyly, taking one of Susan’s hands in hers. “That’s what friends are for, Suzie. Now you can have any boy you want.”

She felt her face pale before she could will it not to, and cursed at the curious look Lavender gave her. “What’s wrong, Suzie? Don’t you want a boyfriend?”

Miserably, Susan shook her head no and quickly got up and ran from the room, Lavender, and demure painting. Lavender’s calls for her to wait were drowned out as she sobbed herself to sleep into her pillow.

Months went by slowly, and Susan carefully avoided the blonde girls detection, returning to her ponytail and hidden eyes. When she did spot Lavender, she was pushing Seamus away from her, and glaring at him reproachfully before her eyes welled up and she ran off.

That night Susan found herself returning to the Room of Requirement. She entered quietly, and turned to find herself in the room they had occupied to paint in. On the chaise sat Lavender, starring miserably at her hands. “I come here every week you know. I wait for hours, sometimes all night. Just in case you decided to show up. I was beginning to lose hope.”

Susan stood there, rooted to the spot and gazing at Lavender. The blonde looked up at her, her chocolate brown eyes rimmed with red, and still looking like a Goddess. Susan opened her mouth and closed it again several times before she found her voice. “I’ glad you didn’t.”

Lavender smiled and held out a piece of parchment. “I made something for you. I’m not nearly as talented as you, but, I was compelled to make this.”

With careful trepidation, Susan made her way over to the outstretched parchment, and Lavender’s trembling hand, before taking it and sitting down beside her. Slowly she unfolded it and her eyes widened as she looked upon a stunning girl with blood red hair and sapphire eyes. With the same wide eyes she turned to blushing Lavender. “That’s how I see you, Suzie. I think you’re what masterpieces are made of… more so than I am.”

Before she could stop herself, Susan felt her face moving towards her, and the soft texture of Lavender’s lips, with their sticky glossy coating were pressed to her own. Immediately she jumped back. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to do that. I’ll leave.”

With lightening speed Lavender reached out and grabbed Susan’s hand, pulling her back down to her side. “Susan Bones, you insufferable idiot. Why in the world would you want to leave? I finally understand why all Seamus wants to do is snog.”

Without another word, Lavender’s soft, sticky lips were pressed forcefully back onto Susan’s and they moved languidly beneath hers. She felt her own lips respond and the grainy feel of Lavender’s tongue tracing her bottom lip before claiming the rest of her mouth. Susan felt her hands travel tentatively to Lavenders hair, and was relieved to find it as smooth and soft as she’d always imagined it to be.