"I'm back!" Honey called to her friends.
They were gathered around the common room fire, staring intently at an old piece of parchment. They waved their arms but seemed rather preoccupied until she stood behind Sirius and laid a hand on his arm.
"Hullo?" She asked, a smile on her face.
"YOU'RE BACK!" Sirius shouted, pulling her into a huge hug.
"Yeah," She laughed into his chest. "I just announced that!"
"Sorry, Pup, we were engrossed in our project," Remus explained, pulling Honey to him.
"Don't worry about it, Remmie," Honey said, hugging him back.
"How were my parents?" James asked, taking his turn to hug her.
"They were great," Honey grinned. "I now have the room next to yours."
"Perfect," James grinned.
"And my parents?" Remus asked as Honey hugged Peter.
"Great as always," Honey said.
"And your brother?" Peter asked.
"He said my name!" Honey gushed, sitting on the couch.
"That's adorable!" Sirius said, sitting close to her.
"Yeah, we were very excited!" Honey said. "I miss him so much! He's amazing. And he's getting so adorable!"
"Well, I can't wait to see him this summer!" James said.
"Good, cause we have to put up with him," Honey said.
They all laughed and sat down on the sofa next to her. She picked up the piece of parchment and looked it over. She was utterly confused, but James took it from her and tapped it with his wand. A string of words appeared on a banner and Honey gasped.
"From Messr's Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail," He read aloud.
"And that's all we got," Peter said. "Any ideas?"
"Also, we're calling ourselves the marauders," James added.
"That's great," Honey said, looking it over.
"Join us?" James proposed.
"Of course!" Honey cried.
"Add her name," Remus said.
"I can do it," She said.
She pulled out her wand and encrypted her name under the same charms. It now reads 'Messer's Moony, Padfoot, Prong, Wormtail and Miss Pup'. She grinned at her handy work.
"How did she do that so quickly?" Peter cried. "It took us 2 entire days!"
"I'm smart?" Honey offered.
"Yes, my very smart girlfriend!" Sirius said proudly, pulling her closer by the waist.
"I am, indeed," Honey smiled, kissing him.
"Can you help us with the map part? We aren't artistic enough. Nor are we smart enough," Remus asked, passing her the map.
"Of course," She grinned, beginning to map out the entire school.
She finished quickly and set off to her dorms. There, she met Lily and Marlene talking on the beds. The two jumped up and launched at her with a volley of hugs. They spoke over each other with so many questions she couldn't keep track of them all.
"Ladies!" Honey laughed, setting down her travelling trunk. "I'll answer your questions when I change into something more comfortable."
They blushed and sat back on their beds, waiting for her to change.
"Honey, we missed you so much!" Marlene said.
"Don't think I didn't hear about your little escapade the other day, Marlie," Honey warned with a giggle, walking out in her shorts. She pulled on Sirius's hoodie and sat on her bed. "When's your detention?"
"Tonight," Marlene blushed. "But, really, it was nothing!"
"I'm sure," Honey laughed.
"How was your time in Godric's Hollow?" Lily asked eagerly.
"The Potter's were so kind! Cole started speaking yesterday, he started with my name!" Honey said. "That was so great! And, now I live with the Potter's. I have a beautiful little room next to James's with nice little yellow walls, a desk and a piano!"
"Oh, that's amazing!" Lily said. "We had some fun, too."
"Ooh! Fill me in!" Honey said, pulling some snacks out from under her bed.
"Okay, so," Lily started. "The first hour and a half were crazy! Marlene and Dorcas got detention for snogging in the hallway, I snogged with Ian Harold, James tried to kill Sev, Sirius cried that you were gone, Peter took notes for you, and Remus went missing for the entire day and a half. I missed you a lot and scrapped 4 letters before sending one to you."
"Wait, that's a lot of information!" Honey said, putting her fingers on her temples. "You snogged Ian Harold? And Jam tried to kill Severus?"
"Yep," Lily agreed.
"Ian Herald the chaser?" Honey asked in disbelief.
"That's the one," Marlene giggled.
"And what about you, Marlie?" Honey asked in mock sternness.
"I got detention and earned a few other ones, luckily no teachers were around," Marlene said.
"Marlie!" Honey gasped.
"It's fine," Marlene said. "Just loads of snogging!"
"Fine," Honey said with a laugh.
"What did you say to the boys? We heard them yelling all the way up here!" Lily said.
"I said that I was back, but they didn't hear me. So, I snuck up on Star and said hello. They finally noticed," Honey said with a grin. "Damn, I really missed you guys."
"We missed you too!" Marlene said, walking into the closet.
"You missed my clothing," Honey corrected with a grin.
"Well, can I not have missed both?" Marlene asked, coming out with one of Honey's cardigans.
"Sure," Honey chuckled.
"GOLDMAN!" The trio heard Sirius's voice call up the stairs.
"BLACK!" She shouted back.
Lily and Marlene were rolling on the floor with silent laughter.
"COME HERE! NOW!" He yelled back.
"GIVE ME A MINUTE FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!" Honey shouted.
"FINE!" Sirius huffed.
"I'll be off," Honey said in her normal tone of voice.
"Right," Lily managed between bouts of laughter.
Honey went into her closet and pulled on a pair of leggings before marching down the stairs to the common room. She hadn't bothered to change her sweater, so she looked like she was swimming in the folds of the cotton.
"Star," Honey said, plopping down on the couch next to him.
"Bee," He replied, a grin smeared over his face.
"Glad you could make it," James said, still a touch red in the face from laughter.
"Oh, shut it, Potter," Honey snapped with little conviction behind her words.
"Alright, we need your help to put people's names on the map. It has to track every single student and teacher ever to enter Hogwarts. Everyone," Peter said, reiterating his point of 'everyone'.
"Right, that should be simple. But, you four are going to do it as I watch," Honey said, kicking her slippered feet up on the table.
"What!" James cried dramatically. "We have to do it? But we are your intellectual inferiors!"
"Speak for yourself, drama queen," Remus snorted.
"Alright, tell us what we have to do," Sirius agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"And it's finished," James sighed, leaning back into the couch.
"Perfect," Honey said.
She had gotten cold, so she sucked her legs up into the huge sweater. This caused her to look like a huge grey lump on the couch. Sirius's legs were trapped beneath her head, and he had wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"How are you cold?" James asked.
"I'm Honey," She answered. "I'm supposed to be warm!"
"Are you serious?" Peter asked.
"No, I'm Honey," She answered with a laugh.
"Honestly!" Remus sighed exasperatedly.
"Hey, I have to make jokes!" Honey said with a smile. "Otherwise, who would I be?"
"A boring version of you," James offered.
"Exactly," She said, burying herself further into her sweater.
"Honey Goldman," A little second-year said, going up to the group. "A boy wants you outside."
The small child then rushed off, leaving the 5 in immense confusion. Honey pulled her legs out of the sweater and stretched her arms. Sirius looked at her curiously as she stood.
"Come, Star, let's go meet this boy," Honey said, pulling his hand.
"Must I?" He complained.
"You're going to whine even more if you don't," Honey reminded him.
They exited the portrait hole and found the boy she had punched a few days before. He was standing with 5 of his friends, they all looked a little angry.
"Honey Goldman," The brunette said.
His brown eyes glittered with malice and revenge. There was a large purple and green ring around his left eye, and his nose was slightly swollen.
"Sorry, you are?" Honey asked, crossing her arms.
"I'm Charles Brown," He introduced. "And you punched me in the face."
"You tried to kiss me, Brown," Honey shot back.
"But a punch?" Charles Brown said. "I thought you would have been honoured to be noticed by someone like me!"
"Honestly! How thick are you?" Honey snapped. "If you honestly think that I would enjoy that kind of attention, then you are going utterly MAD!"
"Tell your little boyfriend to leave us," Charles Brown demanded of her.
"Tell yours to leave us, and maybe I will. Or do you need a bunch of big huge boys to be safe from a little tiny girl like me?" Honey asked innocently, knowing full well that she could beat them all, and Sirius single-handedly.
"Fine," Charles agreed. "Go."
The 5 large boys gave Honey a look up and down before leaving. Sirius set his hand on Honey's shoulder, and she turned to face him.
"Star, it's okay. I've handled him before, and I can do it again," Honey said kindly.
"You sure?" He asked.
Honey nodded, but he looked unsure. She pulled down his tie and kissed him gently.
"I'm sure," She agreed.
He looked at the boy grimly and went back into the Gryffindor common room. Charles Brown took a step towards Honey, but she pulled out her wand.
"Come any closer and I will hex you," Honey warned.
"Fine," Charles said, raising his arms in surrender.
"What do you want? On a Saturday afternoon at," She looked at her watch. "Noon?"
"I want you to apologize for hitting me," Charles Brown demanded. "Now."
"No," Honey said firmly.
"I'm sorry-" He said, and Honey cut him off.
"Thanks, I don't accept your apology," Honey said, turning to the Fat Lady.
He caught her forearm and turned her back around.
"I want your apology now Goldman," Charles Brown growled.
"Never, Brown," Honey said, breaking off his grip. "I will never apologize to you. Not until the end of time. Not until the day I die, and not even then."
"Fine. You just earned yourself an enemy," Charles Brown huffed, turning on his heel.
She caught his arm and he spun to face her, trying to pull his arm from her iron grasp. She saw the fear in his eyes and let go.
"Brown, you better watch your mouth. I know that you're little friends come to me for help in their classes. If you continue with this, I might have to stop helping them for fear of impending death," Honey said, fire blazing in her eyes. "And maybe, I will have to stop helping your girlfriend, Brown. If this continues I can report you for assault."
"Fine! Stop helping them, I don't care! But it's your fault if someone learns a little secret about you," He threatened, marching down the steps with finality.
Honey's eyes grew wide and she slumped against the wall. The portrait hole swung open to reveal James, Remus and Sirius. The trio marched out and sat around her.
"Bee? What was he talking about?" Sirius asked, looking into her eyes.
"He- he knows something. Something's wrong, I can feel it," Honey said, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"What does he know?" James asked.
"It's not what, but who," Honey said, burying her head in her hands.