Magic Can't Help

Chapter 1

On the train

Lily Evans leaned casually against the solid brick barrier between platforms nine and ten. This would be the last year she would do this, seeing as how it was her seventh year at Hogwarts. She couldn't wait to see her friends, Hannah, Olivia, and Taylor. There was only one thing she was regretting this year, and the moment she slipped through the barrier, it was standing before her. James Potter. She loathed him with every liter of blood in her body.

"Well, hello Evans," came the smooth-talking voice of James Potter. She felt herself go cold and shut her eyes, praying for patience.

"Potter," she said, giving him a nod and quickly ducking away from him. She scanned the crowd for any sign of her friends, and then she heard: "Lily, over here, Lily!" she spun around, her auburn hair twirling as she did so. There, on the other side of the platform, was Olivia and Taylor.

"Hey! Oh my gosh I haven't seen you guys in forever! Hey, where's Hannah?"

"Take a look," said Olivia, pointing to a small crowd over near the train. She could just see Hannah's dark blonde hair, and the shaggy, long, black hair of Sirius Black. They seemed deep in conversation, with Black leaning casually against the train, and Hannah laughing at practically every word.

"Hey, at least he's talking to her," said Taylor. Everyone in their year knew that Hannah had a huge crush on Sirius. Then, immediately after that, Taylor yelped and leapt behind Olivia. Olivia being much taller, she made a good shield. Lily knew what she was hiding from. Remus Lupin was standing talking to James near the train. Taylor had such a huge thing for Remus that she was afraid of him.

Olivia rolled her eyes and shoved Taylor out from behind her. "Let's grab Hannah and find a compartment." And the three of them started toward Hannah and Sirius, with Taylor trying as hard as possible not to be seen.

"Hey Black, we're gonna steal Hannah from you and find a compartment, so why don't you just go and join Remus and Potter," said Lily, grabbing Hannah by the upper arm.

"You don't have to treat me like a baby Evans, oh, but wait, I'd better watch myself seeing as you're head girl,"

"Thanks, bye," and with that Lily pulled Hannah away from Sirius and onto the train.

The four of them found a compartment near the back of the train and hurried into it before someone else could take it.

"Oh thanks, I finally get to talk to Sirius Black and you go and annoy him!" whined Hannah, sinking into a seat.

"Don't worry about it, Black had secretly liked you as long as Lily has secretly like Potter," said Olivia, throwing the subject aside

"Excuse me? I do NOT LIKE POTTER!" fumed Lily, annoyed that her friends always point this out

"She so does," said Taylor to Olivia.

"Totally in love,"

"No doubt about it,"

"I wonder who the head boy is, ooh, I hope it's Amos Diggory," said Lily, desperately trying to change the subject. No sooner had she said that, James Potter poked his head into the compartment.

"Did I hear my name?"

"NO, GET OUT!" shouted Lily, slamming the door on James.

James walked slowly back to his compartment. He had heard Lily ask about the new head boy. She probably expected Remus, or Amos Diggory. Anyone but him. Even he wasn't sure that Dumbledore had really picked him to do the job. He even wrote to him asking if it was a mistake.

He slid the compartment door open and sank into a chair and sighed.

"Oh, you did NOT just go into her compartment," Remus scolded when he saw the look on his friend's face.

"Er, ya, I kind of did,"

"He's a madman," said Sirius, coming briefly out of his daydream. He had been thinking about how he had finally spoken to Hannah.

"She's never going to go out with you if you keep bugging her," Remus continued.

"I know, it's just, I can't help it, I want her to go out with me so bad. Well, she's head girl now, so, at least we get to patrol the halls together." He said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a shiny badge that read Head Boy.

"Well, I'm going to go and see if Taylor's in the prefect's compartment yet, so I'll meet you there," said Remus. He wouldn't admit it, but he gets as nervous around Taylor as she does around him.

"Meet you there mate," said James, clearly distracted. He had just seen Lily, Olivia, and Hannah walk by on the way to their compartment. As Remus left, James noticed him walking slightly taller then usual, and he had his chest puffed out, showing his prefect badge. James heard Sirius whisper to Peter (A/N: DIE PETTIGREW, DIE!) "He's hoping he'll run into Taylor."

Suddenly James' expression went blank. Lily and Taylor were walking past again, evidently heading up to the prefect's compartment. "Uh, got to go," said James, standing up and hiding his head boy badge in his hand. And he slid the door open and quickly moved out of sight.

By the time he caught up, Lily was reaching for the handle of the compartment door. "Oy, Evans!" he shouted. Lily turned and looked, and a look of annoyance spread across her face. She whispered something to Taylor, and she went inside, leaving Lily in the corridor with James.

"What do you want Potter?" she said tiredly.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted me to walk you in," he said innocently. There were so many things he wanted from Lily that they were crammed into every corner of his mind.

"First of all Potter, I wouldn't want you to do anything with me or for me, and second, you're not allowed in, you're not a prefect, and you're definitely not head boy," she snapped, her face looking more frustrated then ever.

"Ouch, that hurt, but you were wrong on one statement. You may not want me in there, but unfortunately for you, I have to be," and with this, he lifted his hand to show his shiny head boy badge.

Lily felt her jaw drop. Potter, head boy? No way. This had to be a nightmare. But if Dumbledore made the decision, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Let's just get this over with," Lily said, still in shock. She opened the door and sat down, and with no acknowledgement to James, began reading the prefect requirements off of her parchment.

After what felt like hours, she read off the last requirement, and everybody filed out of the compartment. Lily was the last to leave, and she entered the corridor, she saw James shut his compartment door. She was alone in the corridor. Suddenly, the train came to an abrupt stop, knocking Lily off her feet. She rubbed her head and started to get back up, when the lights flickered off. Her insides went cold. Her mind was filled with horrible memories. People screaming, houses burning, she felt empty, except for the horrible thoughts swirling around in her mind.

She turned and saw two hooded figures moving quickly toward her. Frightened, she tried to move, but she was weak. She recognized them as dementors, but there was nothing she could do. She fell completely to the ground, and she saw one of the dementors close in on her. Her vision was blurred, but suddenly she heard a voice.

"Expecto Patronum!" and a silver figure was running, no, galloping towards her. The dementors were flung backwards and she recognized the figure as a stag. She turned and tried to look at her savior, but all she saw was someone lower their wand, and then everything went black.

Hope you liked it! My first fanfic so R&R please! And I hope I didn't accidentally copy anyone! If I did, please don't sue me!