"Hey, Bear?" James asked, sitting on the sofa next to her.
"James," Honey said, putting her book down as she sat up.
"What are you doing for Christmas break?" He asked.
"Staying here at Hogwarts. And you?" She replied, adjusting her shirt.
"Staying too, but Peter's leaving for home tomorrow," James said, reclining as he set up his feet on the coffee table.
"Oh, that's nice. I've heard that Remus and Star are staying too," She said happily, picking up a set of knitting needles and some pale orange yarn.
"Nice, nice," James smiled.
"What's up?" Honey asked.
"I had to take a potion from Slughorn because I was really sad, so now all I can be is happy. Well, for the next 10 or 11 hours," James said, closing his eyes.
"Cool," Honey said, knitting a scarf, or at least the beginnings of one.
"Bee, do we have to buy Christmas presents for each other?" Sirius said, sitting down on the other side of her.
"If you would like," She said, beginning the second row of knitting. "I've already got something for each of you. Peter already has his because he's leaving."
"Okay, well that's good. I bought something for everyone too," James said.
"I'm getting one of my cousins to get something from Hogsmeade next time they're there. So, earlier today," Sirius said, reclining like James.
"Where's Rem?" Honey asked, starting the third row with her thick yarn.
"He's coming, he got stopped by a girl in the halls," Sirius sighed, and James giggled.
"Who?" Honey asked, getting fed up with her knitting.
"I don't know her name, but she's a Ravenclaw!" Sirius laughed.
"Oh! That's Kinna Brean! He helps her with charms!" Honey shook her head, causing the boys to roar with laughter.
"That makes more sense," Sirius said as he gasped for air.
"Oh be quiet. Just because nobody wants to date you just yet doesn't mean that you have to be quite so bitter about one of your best friends possibly having a girlfriend." Honey reprimanded them. "But, we're only 11, and you have the rest of your life to find the special someone. I mean, there's also a chance that you won't and that's okay, too. So, stop being bitter, and stop your moaning."
"Yeah, okay," Sirius said, raising his hands.
"Okay, alright!" James said quietly.
Silently they were both impressed by her strong will and courage, but they were also stunned at her sharp tone. She threw aside her ball of yarn and picked her book back up from the table.
"What book is that, Bear?" James asked, trying to peak at the cover.
"It's a muggle book, called Sherlock Holmes. He's a detective. Brilliant, really," Honey smiled at his interest.
"Interesting," Sirius said with a smile.
"Indeed," James agreed.
"What is going on? Why are you suddenly interested in my book?" Honey asked suspiciously.
"We care," Sirius said.
"And it looks interesting, as you have forgotten that we were speaking to you. We asked you several times before you answered," James smiled.
"Oh, sorry," Honey smiled weakly.
"Don't worry, we found it funny. Also, you look like a cute little child when you scrunch your brows like that," James said.
"Did you just call me a 'cute little child'?" Honey asked her eyes widening in fear.
"I'm sorry, does that offend you?" James asked.
"No, I'm just wondering why," Honey said, throwing her legs across James and her head onto Sirius's knees.
"Well, you look like a child when you're interested in something, and when you're happy" James shrugged, putting his arms on her legs.
"Oh, okay," Honey smiled.
"What are you guys doing?" Remus laughed, walking into the common room to see quite an odd sight.
Honey's head was in Sirius's lap and her legs were slung across James. Sirius was putting a small braid in her blonde hair right near her ear. James was tying her shoelaces and then untying them over and over. It was almost as if she were their sister, or something closer. Nobody was judging though, as she had only just started to trust them. Honey had her book open flat on her chest, and they were all talking quietly.
"Talking and reading," Honey said with a smile. "I hear you were helping out Kinna again. They thought she was your girlfriend, and they got jealous."
"Ooh, that's fun!" Remus joked, hearing the light and teasing tone in her voice. "No, chaps. I'm tutoring Kinna on charms, she can't seem to get the levitating charm."
"Right-o," Sirius said, a pink tinge creeping into his cheeks.
"Are you lot ready for Christmas?" Remus said, squeezing himself onto the couch.
"Yeah!" Sirius whooped, and James agreed with a laugh.
"I presume so," Honey sighed, shifting her feet so Remus could sit down. "And you, Rem?"
"Yes, I really am," Remus smiled happily. "Are we doing presents?"
"Yeah, only if you want to. It's not mandatory," James said, continuing to play with Honey's laces. "We all are though."
"Okay, because I already have something for each of you," Remus grinned widely.
The four sat laughing and talking until they were off to bed. Peter refused to come and talk to them since he was off doing his homework so he didn't have to during his precious time at home. Honey bid them goodnight and went up to her room where Marlene and Lily were waiting.
"So, did you have fun?" Marlene asked, laying on her stomach with her legs in the air behind her.
"What do you want to know about, Marlie. Me or Rem?" Honey laughed, putting her stuff away in her trunk.
"Okay, you got me there, Bear. I want to hear about both!" Marlene defended.
"Well, we decided to do presents for Christmas, and I just have to find their gifts in my trunk," Honey said, tearing her sweaters and long sleeve shirts out of her large trunk. "I got them each a sweater by mail order, and gave Peter his earlier because he's leaving tomorrow."
Honey found three brown paper packages tied with different coloured ribbons to signify what colour the sweater was. Remus's was a dark green, Sirius's was a sky blue, and James's was brown. Each was made of soft wool material and would expand to fit them properly.
"Did you get us anything?" Lily joked, putting her pyjamas on.
"Actually, yes I did," Honey said, pulling out two other packages. One had a black ribbon, and the other had a ginger ribbon. "Here, Lily the black one is for you, and Marlie, the black one is yours. I thought it would go nicely with your hair."
Lily carefully untied the ribbon as Marlene unceremoniously ripped the brown paper open. They each contained a cardigan in the colours of the ribbons. Lily and Marlene gushed to Honey, thanking her kindly.
"It's so beautiful! Thank you a million, Bear!" Marlene said, putting the cardigan over her shoulders. "It's so comfortable, and soft!"
"It does go well with my hair," Lily said, looking at herself in the mirror. "I love it a lot!"
"Of course," Honey smiled. She loved giving gifts more than receiving them. She loved the looks on everyone's faces when they got a gift they liked. It was like a little bit of sunshine had descended on them.
"Do you want your gift now?" Lily said, pulling a small square package with muggle newspaper wrappings.
"I have one for you, too," Marlene said, pulling out a slightly larger square package.
"Really? I wasn't expecting that!" Honey said, shock overcoming her features.
"Yeah, here!" Marlene laughed, handing her the shiny package.
Honey gingerly took the package from her friend, and carefully slit the tape open. Inside was a gorgeous notebook with Honey's name printed in shiny golden ink. The pages were stained beautifully with tea.
"OH MY GOODNESS MARLIE! THANK YOU SO MUCH, IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL!" Honey said, hugging the notebook to her chest.
"Of course," Marlene said suppressing laughter.
"Okay, okay, now mine!" Lily said smiling, handing her the package.
Honey pulled the newspaper away from a blue jewellery box and gasped.
"Oh my gosh, Lils!" Honey said excitedly, carefully setting the notebook on her side table.
Honey opened the box slowly to find a beautiful ring. Honey knew Lily was good at crafting, and she also knew that it was Lily who had made her new treasure.
"You made this, didn't you?" Honey asked, smiling and blushing happily.
"It didn't take too long. I made one for Marlie, too," She blushed.
"And you made the notebook, yes?" Honey turned to Marlene.
"I did, did you make the sweaters?" Marlene returned.
"Yeah," Honey agreed with a small laugh.
"That is truly amazing, Bear," Lily said in awe.
"It was nothing," Honey remarked.
"Thank you," Lily said, walking over to where Honey was sitting on her bed.
"Thank you a lot," Marlene agreed, following Lily.
"No, thank you. I loved the looks on your faces when I gave you your gifts. You looked like I had just given you sunshine!" Honey smiled, standing up to hug them.
They stood there giggling and smiling for a minute or two. Honey began to tear up and cry. She wasn't sad, however. She was in shock at the amount of happiness the other two girls made her feel. She didn't know she was even allowed to feel that happy.
Lily and Marlene were worried about the girl but didn't dare to say anything to her face. She already had enough to worry about, they didn't need her worrying about them, too.
"Honey Bear, what's going on with you? Are you sad?" Lily asked kindly.
"No," Honey laughed. "On the contrary, I'm really happy."
"That's great!" Marlene said, jumping up and down with joy.
"I'm so happy that you're happy!" Lily said, dancing with Honey.
The girls laughed giddily until one of the fifth-year girls came down and told them off for their rowdiness. The girls laughed quietly even as she yelled at them wearily. Her voice carried up to the other first-year girls' dormitories, and even the common room. As they figured out, the acoustics in their room was amazing. The sound reverberated through every corner and bounced off the bed frames.
"Ooh! We should sing! It would sound amazing in here!" Lily said, bouncing on the balls of her toes. "And Honey, I know you have a beautiful voice!"
"Only," Honey agreed. "If we close the door so that they don't hear it very well in the common room. My boys are still down there, and they can wait until at least summer to hear me sing."
"Your boys?" Marlene giggled.
"Yes, that's what I said, isn't it?" Honey agreed, fixing her hair back behind her neck.
Marlene smiled and shook her dark hair out of her eyes. Lily pinned her hair back with a ribbon and pulled out a sheet of music.
"Okay, how about this one?" She said, showing it to Honey.
"Sure, give me a moment please," Honey smiled, pouring water into her glass from the pitcher on the windowsill.
"Do you play the violin, Bear?" Marlene asked, looking over the music sheet.
"I do, Mar," Honey smiled, pulling the case out from under her bed. "I thought that you knew."
"I knew there was a case under your bed, but I thought it was a guitar or a ukelele!" Marlene laughed, taking the glass from her hand.
"Interesting," Honey sighed, polishing her violin.
"Alright, ready?" Lily asked, setting up the music on her music stand.
"Yeah," Honey said shakily.
"Take it
If she gives you her heart
Don't you break it
Let your arms be a place
She feels safe in
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She always has trouble
Falling asleep
And she likes to cuddle
While under the sheets
She loves Pop songs
And dancing, and bad trash TV
There's still a few other things
she loves love notes and babies
And likes giving gifts
Has a hard time accepting
A good compliment
She loves her whole family
And all of her friends
So if you're the one she lets in
Take it
If she gives you her heart
Don't you break it
Let your arms be a place
She feels safe in
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you
If you love herOn days when
It feels like the whole
World might cave in
Stand side by side
And you'll make it
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you
If you love her like that Kiss her with passion
As much as you can
Run your hands through her hair
Whenever she's sad
And when she doesn't notice
How pretty she is
Tell her over and over
So she never forgets
Take it
If she gives you her heart
Don't you break it
Let your arms be a place
She feels safe in
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you
If you love herOn days when
It feels like the whole
World might cave in
Stand side by side
And you'll make it
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you
If you love her like that she'll love you
If you love her like that
She'll love you
If you love her
She'll love you
If you love her like that she'll love you
She'll love you
She'll love you
She'll love you
If you love her
On days when
It feels like the whole
World might cave in
Stand side by side
And you'll make it
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you
If you love her like that."
Honey sang beautifully, playing the violin alongside her melodious voice. The song brought tears to her companions' eyes. Her voice carried down to the common room, and up to the highest dormitories on both the girls' and boys' sides. No student in the Gryffindor tower had a dry eye and was left speechless after her performance.
"Wow," Lily sighed as Honey put her violin away.
Down in the common room Sirius, James, and Remus were stunned. They knew that it was Honey who sang, but they didn't know that she could sing like that; with so much passion and sincerity.
"Bear, that was wow. Just wow," Marlene said.
"Thanks," Honey giggled, putting her violin away.
Hair had fallen from her ponytail in ringlets around her face and ears. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes shimmered with joy and kindness. Lily and Marlene were beginning to cry, so Honey decided to flee before she was overcome with tears herself.
However, the common room wasn't much better. Her best friends were hardly restraining tears but cleared them up by waving their hands over their upturned eyes when they saw her.
"Hey, boys," Honey said, squirming in between Sirius and James.
"Hey, Bee," Sirius said, his voice becoming a little deeper from emotion.
"How are you guys?" Honey asked, settling in under their blankets.
"Fine," James said in a squeaky voice. He turned faintly pink and cleared his throat. "I mean, fine."
Honey laughed melodically and smiled. "I guess you heard me singing then?"
"Yeah," Remus said, twidling his thumbs. "Your voice is amazing."
"Thanks, Remmie," Honey blushed.
"That was a beautiful song. Who did you sing it about? Or for?" Sirius asked.
"Does that really matter?" Honey asked, nudging him with her elbow.
"Yes," James, Sirius, and Remus said in unison.
"Fine, it was about..." She said, building up dramatic tension by pausing. "Nobody and nothing!"
"Yeah, right," Sirius snorted.
"We all know it wasn't," James said.
"Fine, someone in my dorms likes a guy, but he doesn't like her!" Honey said shortly.
"Ooh, who are they?" James said, wiggling his eyebrows.
"None of your business," Honey smiled.
"I'm assuming we know them both, otherwise you would have told us," Sirius sighed, getting comfortable.
"Yeah, you do," She said, and then muttered under her breath; "You are one."
"I have a feeling that you might be lying," Remus said, putting his book away.
"I have a feeling you might be right," Honey grinned slyly.
"It was about you, and someone you like, isn't it?" Remus further prodded.
"Will you ever know that?" Honey asked.
"No," Remus sighed, and then smiled. "Actually, maybe."
"When do you think that's going to happen," Honey tilted her head.
"When this lot leave," Remus smiled.
"Hmm, maybe," Honey contemplated.
"Ooh," Sirius said. "Who's this new crush of yours?"
"What crush? I said that it was a possibility," Honey frowned. "Are you jealous?"
"Of what?" Sirius shot back.
James and Remus made quick excuses to leave, and ran off. Honey and Sirius moved to opposite ends of the couch, crossed their arms and legs, and glared at each other.
"Are you kidding me?" Honey seethed.
"No, I'm Sirius," He grinned, but her glare continued, eb¡ven though it slightly lessened at the attempt to a joke.
"Please, Sirius," Honey groaned in frustration. "Are you honestly jealous? And I, too, would like to know of who or what."
"Why would I be jealous?" Sirius said, jerking his head back. "There's nothing to be jealous of."
"Right. And you aren't, perhaps, jealous of me getting closer with Remmie, are you?" She asked.
"Why would I be? I know that we can both be your friends." He shrugged.
"Star, you've been acting off since the middle of November. What is going on?" Honey said, scooting closer to her best friend.
"It's nothing, really," He said quickly, reassuringly. But there was no conviction in his voice, and he looked guilty, like he was lying.
"Star, I know you better than that. You are a really bad liar," Honey sighed.
"Fine, but never mind about it," He snapped.
"You can talk to me, Star!" Honey said. "I'm here for you."
"I don't want to talk right now, Bee," Sirius said tiredly, running his hands through his hair.
"Okay," Honey nodded respectively. She checked her watch, and then smiled. "Star, it's midnight. I'm going to bed."
"Okay," Sirius nodded. "Me too."
Both stood up, and looked around for a minute. Honey hugged him, taking him by surprise. He overcame his surprise, and hugged her back. The two stood there for a minute, patted each other on the back, and walked off in the wrong opposite directions.
(Song is: If you love her by Forest Blakk)