Hey, guys. So, I've been sans computer for over a week now, but I've actually been getting a fair bit of writing done manually: I wrote about 40 pages by hand! Woo! Good news: there are three new lovely, finished, Louis & Ella themed Lily/James fics coming your way. Bad news: none of them have anything to do with Two Birds or TMBTM. Hopefully that doesn't mean you're going to kill me… Anyways, here's the first bit of one of the stories, and I'll keep typing up the rest and get them to you ASAP.

- Lorraine

P.S. Please forgive me if there are a few extra typos in here, I just wanted to get it digitized quickly, so I may have been typing a bit manically.

Disclaimer: I own neither the Harry Potter characters nor the lyrics to the song, I have merely spliced them together for your entertainment.

A KISS TO BUILD A DREAM ON

Lyrics:

Give me a kiss to build a dream on

And my imagination

Will thrive upon that kiss

Sweetheart, I ask no more than this

A kiss to build a dream on

Give me a kiss before you leave me

And my imagination

Will feed my hungry heart

Leave me one thing before we part:

A kiss to build a dream on

When I'm alone with my fancies

I'll be with you

Weaving' romances,

Making' believe they're true

Oh, give me your lips for just a moment

And my imagination

Will make that moment live

Give me what you alone can give:

A kiss to build a dream on

It was the end of this sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and James Potter was feeling glum. Despite what he considered to be his best efforts—though Remus thought otherwise—James had still failed to win over the girl of his dreams, namely Lily Evans. The spitfire redhead had spurned his every advance, and James didn't see her attitude changing any time soon. Needless to say, this is what had put the school heartthrob in a foul mood on the eve of his departure for the summer holidays.

Contrary to popular belief, James Potter's interest in Miss Evans went beyond a mere infatuation. Though many of the female Hogwarts population thought (hoped) that he was just rising to the challenge of Lily's refusals, James was in it for more than the chase. When he pondered his future—often aloud, much to Sirius' chagrin and Peter's amusement—he pictured himself with Lily by his side. Why? Well, he tried not to think too much about that, for fear that his heart might burst. Or perhaps because whenever he listed Lily's winning characteristics, he became invariably angry with her for not recognizing that they were meant for each other.

They were both extremely passionate.

She was the logic to his insanity.

She was gorgeous. He was, too.

She was particularly witty—one of the only people outside the Marauders who could keep up with him in bantering and arguments.

She was the perfect size for him, hr head reaching to just under his chin. (He had discovered this when he had gotten to hug her in the beginning of the year, when her boyfriend had been discovered with some Ravenclaw in a broom cupboard, doing rather more than "exchanging notes." James had later pummeled the scumbag, which had earned him a smack upside the head and a stern talk from Lily.)

She didn't idolize him or any of his friends.

And she was the most determined girl he'd ever met.

This last one was the sticking point. Lily seemed just as determined to refuse James for eternity as he was determined to make her fall for him. At the present moment, she seemed to be winning the competition. James was running out of time. "But he's got all of seventh year! You've got all the time in the world," you say, as do his friends. But James knows better. He's beyond sure that Lily will become Head Girl next year, and that means she'll have her own dormitory and common room, which, in turn, means that James will have no time outside meals and classes to work his magic. That didn't give him much to work with.

Ever since the "incident" by the lake after O.W.L.s, James had been trying the subtle approach—he had learned, that fateful day, that Remus' relationship was generally more reliable than Sirius'. So, there had been far fewer—which is not to say none—date requests, and thus fewer corresponding knockdown drag-out arguments in the corridors. He'd tried to keep the flirting to a minimum, and only stared at Lily when he was sure she wasn't looking. He'd toned down his stalkerish tendencies, too—no more buying her gifts on a whim and leaving them in her room (only to be alerted that she'd found the item in question when he heard the angry scream of "POTTER! Not again!").

So, really, he'd tried to be more normal around her, and he had been sure that this tactic would work on her eventually. But he was not prepared for her to hold out so long. That "eventually" was almost exceeding the school year, and now James was at a loss.

He knew that she'd be unwilling to start something serious so close to the end of term (not that she'd be willing to start anything ever, serious or not), so he figured his only shot was to somehow make her remember him fondly—miss him, even—over the summer.

In a stroke of brilliance, James decided to ask Remus for help. He found his lycanthropic friend in a shady corner of the lawn, under a familiar beech tree, playing wizards' chess against himself.

As he walked over, James smiled and rolled his eyes. "Really, Moony? Can you be any more of a stereotypical nerd? Honestly, I love you and all, but you've got to get out more."

Remus spoke without looking up from the chessboard. "And by 'get out more' do you mean sitting in my dorm pining over a certain redhead?" James' smirk slid off his face. "Because for one who has so much experience with living on the wild side, I must say I can't see how you work it into your busy schedule, as it's so completely filled with moping about." Remus moved his rook before finally looking up at a now scowling James, and sighed. "Sorry, Prongs. That was harsh. But even I, the supposed hardworking Marauder, can't understand how or why you've stayed so focused on Lily even when she's shown no interest in you. I'd say your strong will was inspiring, if it actually got you anywhere."

Now it was James' turn to sigh. "I know, I know. I'm about ready to give up, anyways." Remus gave him a skeptical look. "No, for real this time! Merlin knows I've got no shot next year once she becomes Head Girl and moves in with whatever pompous Prefect becomes Head Boy—no offense, mate."

"None taken."

"So what I need now is a way to make her see me in a good light, so that she doesn't just stew in her anti-Potter juices over the summer. Any ideas, ol' buddy, ol' pal?"

"That seems a bit of a long shot, Prongs, seeing as we leave tomorrow."

"I'm quite aware of the fact, thanks. That's why I need your help, O Mighty Relationship Guru."

"I still don't quite see how the most eligible bachelor at Hogwarts still asks me—the one who's never kept a girlfriend for more than a month—for advice on women. You're just a lazy prat, that's what I think."

"Lazy? Who, me? No, the reason I come to you is because girls like you for your personality and sensitivity. They just go out with me because I play Quidditch and am supernaturally handsome. So, obviously I'm hopeless when in comes to Lily, as she's not nearly so shallow as all the birds who want me. That's why I love her, too. How's that for irony biting me in the arse?"

"Yeah, yeah, stop complaining about your stupid good looks, I'm trying to think."

"Right, sorry." James promptly shut up, and Remus eventually continued.

"Alright, so, think of something unique about her that you notice, but not many other people do." James opened his mouth to spout out what Remus was sure were hundreds of little-known facts about Lily Evans, but the werewolf held up a hand to stop his friend. "Not something creepy, Prongs, something normal. Like a book she likes, or some muggle band or something."

James' eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated on this task. He'd spent the better part of the past four years gathering snippets of information about Lily, and now he was sifting through it for a valuable piece, much like panning for gold. He tried to think of one that would encapsulate his true feelings for her, without making him seem overly obsessed. After a minute or so of wracking his brain, James' eyes lit up and he smiled.

"Got it! I've got the perfect song. She got the album form her dad last Christmas and I've heard her playing it in the girls' dormitory…"

Remus frowned at the amount of attention James paid to Lily's every day actions, but decided not to comment. "Okay, excellent. So now you've just got to get her alone and bring this song up in conversation, and tell her that you like it and you think she's got good taste and so on. Make sure you sound sincere—you know how she can tell when you're lying—and just keep the conversation going. Pretend she's a friend, like a female Marauder. Talk for a while and then tell her you'll see her next year, and you hope to bump into her at Diagon Alley. Keep her wanting more—but not in a weird, sexual way. You're not Sirius, thank Merlin."

James had been picturing the suggested conversation in his head as Remus described how he should act. He was a little put off by the "pretend she's a friend" bit, because he'd be hard-pressed to think of her platonically. He was also slightly offended that Remus thought he'd have to lie when telling Lily he like her taste. Of course he liked her taste! Was she or was she not brilliant in all respects? Silly werewolf.

James was generally disappointed by Remus' advice until the end of his speech, where he suggested that James "keep her wanting more." Now that was more like it! And it would work perfectly with the song he'd thought of.

James resolved to put his plan into effect the following morning, when Lily was packing her trunk while her friends were down at breakfast. (This was a tradition the girls practiced, James had noticed in his years of diligent Evans-watch. Lily was the only muggle-born Gryffindor of their year, and she liked to have a couple hours for a private farewell to the castle, to the magical world that she could only call 'home' half the time/)

And so, at 9 o'clock the next morning, James told his friends to go on to breakfast without him, Peter had been confused and Sirius worried ("You're not hungry? What, are you sick? You haven't skived off a meal since the Great Doxy Egg Prank of 1974!), but Remus, shrewd as ever, had quickly ushered the other two boys out of the dormitory,

James spent a few more minutes finishing up with his own packing before checking the Marauder's Map. Excellent, he thought, the girls' dorm is all clear except for Lily. And so, without even checking his appearance (because A. Lily didn't care about that sort of thing, and B. He always looked bloody good), James made his way across the landing to the foot of the girls' staircase. He twisted the knob of the banister with the precision of one who's known the secret for years, and quietly marched up the steps. Once in front of the door, he knocked.

"Who is it?" said the voice of Lily Evans.

"It's me. James."

She opened the door—he'd expected yelling, or at least hesitation—giving him a confused and wary once-over, as if she could detect malicious intent from his posture or the jumper he was wearing. He just smiled, and her frown grew more pronounced.

"Uhh, hi, Potter. What can I do for you? Did you lose your way to the boys' dormitories again?"

"No, actually, I just wanted to ask you for one thing before we go away for the summer hols and you come back all Head-Girl-ified." She bristled at his implication. "Relax, Lils, you'll be a marvelous Head Girl. It just means that you'll have even less time for lowlifes such as myself, which I'm sure you see as yet another perk."

James' serious tone surprised her, and she eyed him more warily than ever. She raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to continue.

He looked her straight in the eye and did so.

"I would like for you to give me a kiss to build a dream on," he said calmly.

"Come again?" said Lily, still looking confused and a bit alarmed at this proposition.

"It's easy, Lils. Just leave me one thing before we part: a kiss to build a dream on."

One more chapter of this coming soon. Please review!