disclaimer: i do not own the harry potter universe. i do not own hogwarts. the only things i own is the plot, and the original characters featured in this story which includes: shelly, clint, and Melinda as of right now.

pairing: severus snape X original character

genre: romance/general

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shelly charles, witch extraordinaire, tackles her work with single-minded determination that is truly to be admired. she picks up her quill and glares at the blank parchment sitting atop the library table. she will write her potions essay even if it is the last thing she does. shelly chalres, witch extraordinaire, puts quill to parchment and... has absolutely nothing to write.

shelly sighed and put her quill down. narrating her actions in her head sometimes helped to motivate her. and it was sort of working. she pumped up to write the essay. the only problem was, no matter how pumped she was, and no matter how heroic she made it sound, when she went to write, all that oomph went out the window. writing an essay was never as exciting as how it sounded in her mind.

'it's no use,' she mumbled. no amount of studying ever helped. information went in one ear and out the other. but shelly couldn't help it. she had always been that way. her mother had learned to be a little more tolerant of shelly's forgetfulness.

shelly slumped forward, cursing professor snape for being such a bloody git this early into her seventh year. he never gave the hufflepuffs a chance. because they were eternally paired with the ever-intelectual ravenclaws, snape hit his poor hufflepuffs students with everything he had because of those damned ravenclaws.

although shelly didn't have anything against the ravenclaws, she wished they would just play dumb once in a while. they were always antagonizing snape by knowing every answer to all his questions. and getting their potions perfect. and going above and beyond on the essays he assigned them.

shelly knew it annoyed him that the ravenclaws never set a toe out of line but still managed to underhandedly mock him. shelly knew that they knew it annoyed him. which snape was completely aware of but could never prove. it annoyed him almost as much as the potter kid annoyed him.

'shelly charles, witch extraordinaire,' shelly whispered, 'doomed to fail potions class.'

'slacking off again?'

shelly glanced up to find clint, a gryffindor and the resident playboy. shelly and clint winters had come to an understanding around the end of fifth year. shelly wouldn't ruin his rep by publicly refusing him and he wouldn't actually pursue her. although sometimes he would get a little handsy which is when shelly would give him a swift kick in the shin.

'i'm not slacking. i'm just gathering my thoughts to write the most awe-inspiring potions essay of the century.'

clint raised a brow and rolled his eyes. his amusement was apparent in his signature smirk.

that smirk was the cause of his status. he was always attractive but that smirk could make a girl go weak in the knees. he didn't know it's effect until he hit puberty which is when he started dating girls left and right. while also cheating on them.

shelly wasn't immune to it. seeing that smirk made little butterflies flutter in her stomach. the difference between shelly and the average teen witch at hogwarts was that she... well there really wasn't a difference. shelly wasn't completely sure as to why she hadn't caved and said yes to him. all she knew was that she hadn't.

'i see.'

clint sat in the chair across from her, leaning a cheek in one hand while making lazy circles on the table with his other hand. his eyes never left hers. and he was still smirking.

shelly realized she was holding her breath. she let out the one she was holding and had to walk herself through taking and releasing the next few.

shelly charles, witch extraordinaire, almost went over to the dark side but caught herself just before the plunge. shelly charles, witch extraordinaire, reminds herself that golden locks does not mean a golden heart.

shelly allowed her head to fall on the table. it hurt a little but at least it took away the sight of clint. that helped oodles with the rythm of her heart which had sped up and was trying to escape her ribcage to give itself to clint. and having a cool wood surface to stare at instead of clint made breathing a little easier.

' you need to stop that,' shelly informed clint.

'stop what?' clint asked with a teasing tone which told shelly he knew exactly what. shelly didn't grace this question with an answer. and she kept her head on the table.

'stupid boys,' she muttered, 'stupid hormones.'

'what was that? i didn't quite catch it,' clint said. he reached out and touched shelly's hair. he took a lock and began to fiddle with it.

shelly ignored it and replied, 'i need to write this essay so could you please stop distracting me?'

shelly charles, witch extraordinaire, bravely ignores temptation.

'you know,' clint said conversationally, glossing over shelly's request of him, 'most boys like blondes or the fiery redheads but me, i've always found brown hair quite charming. espcially honey brown like yours.'

'are you sure it's my hair that's honey?' shelly retorted, refering to clint's honey-sweet tone. he chuckled and continued to play with her hair while shelly continued to keep her head on the table. it was easier to form coherent thoughts that way.

'go away,' shelly whined a little too loudly because she was hushed by madam pince. clint didn't go away. he continued to play with her hair, twisting and untwisting a lock around his finger. shelly whined again.

'bothering shell again, clint?'

shelly's head shot up off the table, a wide grin on her face.

'mel!' shelly squealed happily. madam pince once again shushed shelly and gave her a warning glance.

melinda solis, shelly's wonderful best friend, always made dealing with clint easier. and, since melinda never showed an interest in anyone more than the friend level, clint could leave her alone without his rep being tarnished. shelly envied and idolized her.

'hey, shelly, working on the potions essay?'

shelly groaned and nodded.

'you don't remember anything he said in class, do you?"

shelly shook her head.

'you're lucky to have me, you know that?'

shelly enthusiastically nodded, a grin on her face that looked like it could crack her face in half.

'you're such a goof.'

'but i'm your goof,' said shelly.

mel rolled her eyes, 'i'm reminded enough without you telling me, thank you very much.'

clint, sensing shelly's attention completely diverted released shelly's hair and leaned casually back in his chair.

melinda took a seat next to shelly, removing her quill and a piece of parchment from her school bag. she placed it neatly in front of her then rummaged through her bag looking for a bottle of ink. shelly watched her, entranced.

shelly was always jealous of melinda's inheirent grace and her apparent ignorance of said grace. every movement and idiosyncrasy was graceful. while shelly on the other had was like a puppy who hadn't grown into her paws yet. she was shockingly klutzy compared to melinda.

'alright, let's get working on the essay. i already copied my notes from class for you to use. i will only go over your essay after you are finished. i will only point out grammar and spelling mistakes. the content is your problem.' melinda said in a business-like tone. shelly nodded, taking the notes held out to her.

'you're the best, melly.'

'get to work. and clint, don't bother her please, professor snape is already looking for a punching bag for the year. don't make that shelly again.'

clint just gave melinda his best innocent smile but it was tainted by the mischievous glint in his eyes.

'i mean it.'

shelly, unaware of the conversation, was pouring over the notes melinda had given her.

shelly charles, witch extraordinaire, read each word, letting it sink in. her brow furrowed in concenttration, she began writing her potions essay with confidence. shelly charles, witch extraorinaire, was confident this would be the essay of the century.

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author's note: this is taking place in harry's second year which, as the story progresses, you will find out. I just wanted to make that clear now, though.