A/N: Amazingly enough...I've already posted something on FanFic today. But, I thought that since I have the time for things like this at the moment, I should take advantage of that. Et voila! Thanks for the reviews on the first "sign"--hopefully this one won't disappoint. Review if you'd like!

Disclaimer: Most assuredly not mine.

The Seven Signs of Love

Noticing The Tiniest Things

James has a bump on the bridge of his nose. It's not a large one, and it doesn't make him look like one of those Romans you see on old coins, but it is a bump, I thought to myself that next Thursday in Potions.

I also had the sneaking suspicion that his right earlobe was larger than his left. It could have been a trick of the light, or maybe his glasses did something to that ear. It didn't matter, but…it was a bit odd. For instance, my earlobes were pretty much the sa—

No wait, I thought, my right earlobe is a bit smaller.

Well… at any rate, it was still odd. I'd never noticed that in anyone else before. His must have been more prominent than my earlobe difference was, seeing as I noticed his before mine. I'd have to ask Emmeline if she noticed as well…

At the same time—I couldn't believe my earlobes were different!

"Lily?"

Oh, right. I stopped staring at James from across the room and looked back down at the potion I was currently brewing. Next to me, Emmeline was watching me oddly.

"Are you, erm, quite all right?" Emmeline said in her timid voice.

"Oh, of course. Why do you ask?"

How many times was I supposed to stir the cauldron? Sixteen, or fifty-three? I couldn't remember. Not that it mattered. Slughorn would give me top marks anyway. After I brewed that Invisibility Potion last term, Professor Slughorn wouldn't leave me alone. He said I was one of the greatest potion students he'd ever had the "pleasure of teaching". But Emmeline hadn't brewed an Invisibility Potion, so it was better that I kept on for her sake.

"Well," Emmeline replied, "you were holding onto your earlobe and staring at James and Sirius."

"I wasn't staring at Sirius," I said quickly. "Nor James, of course... I wasn't staring at anyone."

Emmeline looked at me for a long while before saying, "All right… You can stop stirring that cauldron, by the way. It was only supposed to be stirred for four rounds."

"Ah, four. Not sixteen then?" I asked, taking the wooden spoon out of the large, black pot.

Emmeline didn't answer. She bent down over he Potions book and said, "Next we need…Root of Aster. I say—you haven't got any Aster, have you?"

"No. Don't you have some in your stores?"

Emmeline shook her head. "You used all of mine up when you made that Invisibility Potion. I didn't think to get more. I suppose that's where all of yours went to as well?"

I nodded. It did not appear as if this Potions session was going well. Still, I hadn't managed to break anything for the whole class, so that was something. And, it was a double Potions class, so perhaps we could turn our Aster-less potion into something even better?

"Emmeline," I said suddenly, my hand moving back up to my earlobe, "before we go on…do you think Potter's got uneven earlobes?"

Emmeline stared at me with her mouth slightly agape. She glanced over at James, who was stirring his potion four times as Sirius chopped up what sadly appeared to be Root of Aster, then she glanced back at me. There was another minute or so of codfish-like staring on her part as I felt my other earlobe. Surely, surely they weren't as bad as James's were!

"I don't know, Lily," Emmeline said. "How can you even see his earlobes from here?"

"Well, I'm not saying I've just noticed it," I replied. Why was she using that tone of voice—as if I were mad or something? "I'm just asking because I think it is very odd that he has such a large right earlobe…not to mention that bump on his nose."

"What?" Emmeline asked.

"Never mind," I said quickly, turning back to the potion. "Do you think we can turn this into something else?"

"Erm, like what exactly?"

"I don't know, Emmeline. That's why I'm asking. If I knew, certainly I would have done it already!" I exclaimed.

Things were starting to get urgent. Our potion was turning an interesting red color and the bubbles that came to the surface were starting to let off oddly lyrical notes. Then, quite suddenly, it dawned on me.

"Emmeline," I shouted, "give me that Potions book!"

Emmeline handed over the large tome, watching me expectantly. From across the room, I could hear Professor Slughorn berate some poor student for their sludgy mess of a Potion. I sat down in my seat and started to rifle through the pages. Where was it, where was it? Suddenly, a bright pink page caught my attention and I stopped abruptly.

"Em," I whispered, "do you have any Essence of Lotus?"

Emmeline rustled around in her stores of potion ingredients. "Yes," she answered happily.

"And what about Seaweed Extract, Root of Hyacinth, and fish scales," I asked quickly, looking up at her.

Emmeline was rummaging through her stores, pulling bottles and labeled packets out left and right. Some kind of a dark powder had spilled out of a broken package, but Emmeline didn't seem to notice. She was too wrapped up in the task at hand. I looked quickly up at Professor Slughorn, who had seated himself in his large chair at the front of the room, dipping his hand into a box of candied-pineapple.

"Seaweed Extract…Root of Hyacinth…" She mumbled to herself. "Fish scales? Fish scales…I don't have any fish scales!"

"Oh, bugger," I said.

I set the book to the side, and pulled out my own stores. I shoved bottles left and right until I came upon the one I wanted. I pulled it out and shook it at Emmeline, the scales shining from inside of the glass bottle.

"Fish scales," I said proudly.

"What are we going to brew?" Emmeline asked.

"Well, my friend, I will tell you once you've answered me this simple question: does James Potter have uneven earlobes?"

I stood up and grabbed Emmeline by the shoulders, turning her around so that she was staring at James. I had no idea why this was so important to me, but surely I couldn't be the only one to notice such an oddity in the boy!

Emmeline squinted her eyes and said, "Y-yes?"

"Good," I said, a little more than relieved. "Now just stand there and stir that pot."

"For how long," Emmeline asked, looking very concerned, as if she'd been too distracted with looking for ingredients to worry about just why she was looking for them in the first place.

I shook my red hair out of my face and stood up straighter. "You stir until you hear singing," I said simply. It would do no good to tell her what it was we were actually brewing—Emmeline was a worrier.

I took pinches of the ingredients in my fingers and sprinkled them into the pot Emmeline was stirring. In went the Seaweed Extract, its ropey contents disappearing quickly. The Hyacinth floated on the surface for a moment before slowly sinking. And as soon as the fish scales hit the already red potion, it boiled violently before turning a deep-hued scarlet color.

Suddenly, voices bubbled up from our cauldron. The cacophony of sweet tones, notvoicing lyricsso much as singing notes, forced everyone to look over at us. Emmeline jumped away from the cauldron, squeaking with fright in the process.

I glanced at James, who was staring at me with an open mouth and a puzzled expression. How long had his eyes been that odd bronze color, I wondered. Strange, the bump on his nose seemed to set his eyes off nicely…although that earlobe did nothing to help him out in the looks department.

James ran a hand through his dark—unusually dark—hair before a voice boomed across the room, "Ms. Evans, Ms. Vance, please explain to me what that heavenly music is!"

"Er, well Professor Slughorn," I began, dragging my eyes away from James, "neither Emmeline nor I had any Root of Aster, so we improvised."

Professor Slughorn made his was over to our potion station, pushing past students until he stood before us, breathing heavily. He leaned down to the cauldron and listened for a moment before straightening up and saying, "My word—it sounds as if that's an immature batch of Siren's Song Potion!"

I nodded happily and said, "It certainly is, Professor. Because the potion we were supposed to be brewing started off the same as this one, I though—Emmeline and I thought that we would just…work our magic on it. Give it a good two weeks and I guarantee that Emmeline and I could trap any males who come across our paths."

Professor Slughorn chuckled and said, "No doubt you could, my girls, no doubt you could!" He turned to the rest of the class and shouted, "You see class! Ms. Evans and Ms. Vance have turned a mess into a magnificent potion! Well done, you two! Well done! Twenty-five points each, I think!"

I grinned at Emmeline, who was looking very relieved as she clutched the wooden spoon tightly to her chest and sat down on one of the stools next to our potion station.

I leaned down to her and whispered, "I bet we get full marks for the rest of the term…"

Emmeline shook her head in amazement and said, "I don't believe how you did that, Lily."

"Neither do I," came a voice from behind me.

I turned around quickly to face James as he stood sniffing our potion and listening to singing that was welling up from it. Funny, I'd never noticed before that he had a slight swirl of hair on the crown of his head, as if it decided to grow like water going down a drain in that one small part.

James stood up and I couldn't help staring at his earlobe.

"I wonder, Lily," James said, grinning cheekily at me, "just who you are going to use this 'magnificent potion' on?"

I glared at him suddenly. "Why do you care, Potter?"

"Oh, no reason," he replied slowly. "I just hoped it might be…me?"

I snorted with indignation as he turned and walked across the Potions classroom, swaggering the whole way. He reached his own cauldron, turned around, and then winked at me! I turned to Emmeline, who was watching the whole scene with an amused expression.

"Not only does he have an abnormally large right earlobe," I said loudly, "but that impudent prat also has a cowlick at the back of his head!"