A Taste of Honey

by ~ Princess Rosamunde

[A/N: A brief disclaimer. None of the familiar characters or setting are my own. They belong instead to the most talented, J.K. Rowling. Additionally, you may notice as you read, that Kit as the narrator stresses the beauty or attractiveness in others. The reason for this is that she is insecure about her own appearance (and talents).]

Chapter Two: All Together Now

As the train rocketed away from Platform 9 and 3/4, I made my way through the corridor, dragging my trunk along behind me. I needed to find a compartment with people that I knew but not too many people and it depended on which people.

I heard Cecelia Fletcher titter and then remark, "Sirius, you are too funny," from within one of the compartments, so I quickened my pace. Cecelia Fletcher is widely acclaimed as the third prettiest girl in the school. Ridiculous, I know, that the guys at our school have ranked everyone. In any case, despite holding that title, second only to Lily Evans and Kala Sarin, Cecelia is, well, to put it plainly: She's dumb. She's stunning; I wish I looked like her. She has perfectly fluffy and curly brown hair, a heart-shaped face, generous curves, and big brown eyes. She's nice. She's a flirt. She's friendly. But she's dumb. Truthfully, the only reason I think that she passed last year is because she cheats.

And the Sirius she mentioned is Sirius Black, one of my Yearmates. He's gorgeous. Utterly beautiful. He has black hair that falls into his face with a sort of casual elegance and grey eyes that always seem to be full of mischief. He has a fit body because he plays Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. He's widely considered the best looking guy in our school, although some would argue that that title should be awarded to his best friend, James Potter. I know, I know. My school is so silly. But I love it that way. James Potter is very good looking as well, although he's hung up on Lily Evans, which makes him less available. Looks aren't everything, though. Sirius Black can be a quite a bully, his humor tends to be a bit twisted, and both he and James Potter have fairly large egos.

I didn't want to go inside that compartment because I knew exactly what was going on. Sirius and Cecelia were flirting intensely, then they'd snog, and maybe a bit more because Cecelia will snog any male, and Sirius is a notorious womanizer. How unwelcome would I be?

I continued walking until I spotted a nearly empty compartment. Sitting inside were Emmeline Vance and Mary MacDonald. This was the perfect compartment. Both Emmeline and Mary were fairly quiet girls, that is I wouldn't feel too out of place, and they had both always been friendly towards me in the past.

I slid open the glass compartment door. Mary and Emmeline looked up. "Ummm, i-is it okay if I s-sit with you?" I stammered. My stammering was always at its worst right when we went back to school.

Mary smiled. "Of course. Sit down. Emmeline and I were just talking about Lily and James."

Emmeline nodded. "Would you like a chocoball?" She offered, lifting up a small box of them. "Benjy got them for me, and I couldn't possibly eat them all."

I set my trunk down beside the door, and took a seat across from Emmeline and Mary.

"S-sure." I said, picking a chocoball from the box. "T-thank you." I bit into it, tasting the strawberry mousse and clotted cream under the thin layer of chocolate. Mmmm, this was so bad for me but it tasted so very good.

"So," Emmeline went on. "Kit, I don't know if you've heard. Lily's Head Girl and James is Head Boy." I nodded my head. I hadn't actually. Lily as Head Girl was no surprise. Star student, prefect, well-behaved with leadership qualities. Everyone had to have expected Lily to receive the position. James, on the other hand, was a surprise. He's a troublemaker and he wasn't a prefect. Not to mention that he and Lily did not usually get along. They'd made a truce last year but all the same, I had been fairly sure Remus was going to be this year's Head Boy. I wondered what Dumbledore was thinking.

"Lily and James are inheriting a big legacy. Remember Alice and Frank, last year?" Mary mused. She was talking about last year's Head Girl and Boy, Alice Prewett, who had been a Ravenclaw, and Frank Longbottom, who had been a Gryffindor. Alice was like everyone's ideal big sister. She and Frank had fostered a lot of Inter-House friendships.

"Alice and Lily were close, though, Mary." Emmeline reminded her. "There will be even more pressure for her to keep up Alice's legacy. Did you know Alice?" She directed the last at me. Inside I bristled with indignation. Alice and I may not have been very close, but she was my cousin. I'd had my first kiss at age thirteen at Alice's parents' Christmas party. Her da was my mum's brother. Know Alice, really.

"Y-yes. I knew Alice." I said, shyly, wishing I had the courage to say what I thought out loud.

"Who will replace Lily as seventh year prefect?" Mary wondered aloud, snatching up another one of Emmeline's chocoballs for herself. I let out a nervous cough. The position had been offered to me but I'd declined it. I could barely talk to my professors, so how was I expected to discipline my Yearmates?

"M-Marlene or D-Dorcas, probably." I said, making sure to draw attention away from myself and assuming that neither Mary nor Emmeline had been offered the position.

"Marlene?" Emmeline snorted. "Don't get me wrong, I love Marlene, but she's not prefect material. It'll be Dorcas for sure."

Mary stood up, brushing lint off her jeans, and flounced back down on the seat. "Remember when Lily found out who the Head Boy was?" She smirked. "She was furious out of her mind. What do you think Dumbledore was thinking?"

Emmeline pressed her face against the glass. "She was fuming, that's for sure. Who knows what Dumbledore is thinking at any time? Let's go find Marlene and Dorcas. Lily'll be at the Prefect meeting, and there's nothing to do here."

Mary repositioned herself, so that she was lying down. "Naw, Emmy, I'm going to just stay here. You can get the girls if you'd like."

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "You are so incredibly lazy, Mary. Alright, I'll go." She clambered up off the seat, and walked out of the compartment.

The door slammed shut behind her. Mary sat up, crossing her legs. "Let's be silly and gossipy." She said. "Emmy's dating Benjy now. They got together over the summer. Don't tell Emmy I told you. I mean, it's not like she wouldn't want me to tell you but she might get mad that I told you the moment she left."

Mary didn't need to worry. I could keep secrets. After all, I'd kept one for nearly seven years now.

"Now, it's your turn." Mary said. She was close enough that I could see almost all of the faint freckles on her face. "What's your hot gossip?"

"Umm." I felt like such an idiot. I was always out of the loop because I was too shy to talk to people most of the time. "Sirius Black is going to get with Cecelia Fletcher." I blurted out. "I h-heard them on my w-way over."

Mary laughed. "Anyone and Sirius is hardly exciting, but I'll let that pass. Let's see. What else can we do?" She sighed, and twirled a strand of her dark brown hair around her finger.

Mary got bored really easily. She couldn't sit still, and fidgeted all the time in class. She couldn't pay attention in class, as she was always daydreaming. I knew because she got that dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. I think Mary is very pretty. She has olive green eyes, really good skin, I know that sounds weird but trust me if you met her you'd agree, a good figure, and really nice hair. "Oh, okay. How about marry, shag, kill? You do know how to play, right?" She tacked the last on, hastily.

I nodded. I may not have been in the loop but I wasn't that out of it. "Y-yes."

Mary flattened her hands out, and looked at her nails. "Alex. James. Sirius."

I ducked my head and pretended to be smoothing a crease in my skirt to hide my blush. "I-I-I." I hated my stammering and my shyness. I didn't even know why I was so shy. "K-kill J-James. M-marry A-Alex. Shag Sirius." I looked up again to see how Mary was going to react.

"Relax." She laughed. "I dated Sirius, remember? It's no big deal. I think I'd probably kill Sirius, marry Alex, and shag James. Of course, that would never happen in real life because James is too busy stalking Lily's life." This time we both laughed. It was so nice that Mary was talking to me. I knew it was probably just because Emmeline and the other girls weren't here, but still. "Shall we do another one?" Mary asked.

I didn't get a chance to answer because just then Emmeline and Marlene came into our compartment.

"Party's here times two." Marlene said. "Just kidding. I have the most annoying cousin who says that whenever she walks into the room. I almost slapped her half a dozen times."

"Where's Dorcas?" Mary asked, jumping up to hug Marlene, who she hadn't seen since the end of last year.

"She's at the prefect meeting." Emmeline said, settling down next to me with a copy of Witch Weekly.

Marlene and Mary sat down together, catching up on what had happened since they last saw each other. "Emmy, did you tell Marlie about you and Benjy?" Mary asked, abruptly.

"Yeah, I did." Emmeline said from behind her copy of Witch Weekly. "I was going to wait until we were in our dorm but I figured you'd tell her if I didn't."

Mary pouted. "I'm not that much of a gossip, am I?" She asked. Marlene raised her eyebrows. "Okay, fine, fine. Don't answer that."

She turned back to Marlene, and soon they were chatting about some friend of theirs in Paris. Emmeline was engrossed in her magazine. I sighed and pulled out my book. Normally, I loved to read, but now I kind of wished I was still talking to Mary.

Around an hour passed. I glanced out the window; it was beginning to get dark outside.

Lily opened the compartment door and walked in. "Hey, girls." She had a smile on her face. Lily, the prettiest girl in our school, has almond shaped emerald eyes, creamy porcelain skin, cinnamon freckles, a mane of auburn hair, and a figure any girl would kill for.

"Lilyyy!" Mary exclaimed, bouncing up like a puppy to greet her friend.

"Hey, Head Girl." Marlene chimed in.

Emmeline dropped her magazine and rushed to be the first to hug Lily.

I had the worst feeling of intruding. Lily, Marlene, Mary, and Emmeline (and Dorcas) are best friends, and they know everything about each other. I didn't belong here. I clutched my book, and didn't know what to do.

"Kit." Lily said, putting her arms on her hips. "Don't I get a hug from you too?"

I smiled, a little smile, but still a smile, and walked over to hug her. This is precisely why Lily's popular. She's just that nice.

I wrapped my arms loosely around Lily's slender, tall frame. She tugged me in close and squeezed me. She released me and then set up court in the compartment.

"I haven't had a chance to see any of you girls since last term. I'm so glad that we're all together now. Tell me all that's new." Lily demanded, but it was Lily and it was so good-natured that nobody minded.

Emmeline fussed with her hair. "Of course, Lily. Just, where's Dorcas?" She worried.

Lily flashed one of her glowing smiles. "Oh, Dorcas is with Remus. They're probably in some dark compartment alone. If you get my drift." Lily said mischievously. "They left the prefect meeting together. Dorcas promised she'd be here soon, though."

The corners of Emmeline's mouth twitched up. She was satisfied with the words of Lily the Queen. "Well, then I guess." She began, shyly. "Benjy and I are together. It happened over the summer."

Lily squealed. "Oh, that's perfect! You absolute doll!" Lily hugged Emmeline. "Tell me everything." She insisted. Emmeline's cheeks were flushed pink, but I thought she was liking the attention a lot. Emmeline told Lily the whole story.

"Marlie?" Lily asked, after receiving sufficient details from Emmeline. "Any men in your life?"

Marlene quirked one eyebrow up. "No. I snogged my cousin's best friend. It was okay. I just needed a good snog, is all."

Mary shrieked and threw her jacket at Marlene. "You little heartbreaker, Marlie!" Lily and Emmeline laughed. Marlene looked a little embarrassed.

Lily slung an arm around Marlene's shoulder. "Marlie, as long as you take care of your own heart, I don't care how many you break."

I understood now why Lily is so well-liked and sought after. You craved her approval.

"Mary, how's your Mum?" Lily asked, seriously. "Is she any better? I loved the cookies that she made for my birthday. I adore your Mum."

There were shouts from the other two, declaring their love for Mary's mum, too.

Mary tried to smile. "She's some better. She wanted to know how come you girls weren't screaming and running through the house. I'll tell her how much you liked the cookies. She'll be happy."

I didn't know exactly what was wrong with Mary's mum but from the way that she and Lily were talking, it sounded serious.

"We'll send her chocolates from Hogsmeade." Marlene declared.

"And flowers." Emmeline chimed in.

The atmosphere in the compartment was very quiet and sad right now. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to say something comforting to Mary, but I was afraid it'd come off as insincere.

Remus and Dorcas showed up on the other side of the glass door. Remus slid it open. "Hi, Lily, Marlene, Mary, Emmeline, Kit." He said, easily.

Dorcas stepped in. "Hey." She said, breathlessly. "Lily, you left really fast. James wanted to talk to you."

Lily rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "God, seriously? We were talking literally five minutes ago. He's not planning on asking me out, is he?" She said this last bit sarcastically but I could hear a little worry in her voice.

"No, no." Remus promised. "Nothing like that at all. Give him a chance to talk to you, Lily. Well, I'm going to leave Dorcas with you. Take care of her, please." He planted a quick kiss on Dorcas' lips, and left the compartment.

"Awww." Lily and Mary said, collectively. They shared a grin when they realised that they had awwed simultaneously.

Dorcas blushed. "We're nearly at Hogsmeade. We should put on our uniforms."

"Okay." Mary said, pulling off her shirt.

"Mary!" Emmeline said, scandalized. "Don't strip in front of me."

"Why not?" Mary asked, pulling her robes on over her head. "We're all girls here. Besides, you know you like it." She teased.

"Uh-um. I-I'm g-going to go to the bathroom." I whispered, sure that I was scarlet, bundling up my robes, and nearly running out of the compartment.

I heard them whispering as I leaned against the wall next to the compartment. From this angle they couldn't see me.

"Mary!" Lily hissed. "It's one thing to tease Emmy, who knows what you're like, but I think you embarrassed Kit."

"I didn't mean to." Mary whispered. "I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know? I'll be very polite and normal when she comes back, I promise."

I rushed to the nearest bathroom, and latched the door behind me. I didn't care that the other girls were stripping. I mean we were all girls. It's not that I was embarrassed about my body either. At least not really, it's just that there were fading black and blues along both my arms and my stomach was still a little sore. I couldn't possibly let anyone see or they'd ask questions. And I couldn't mess this up. I pulled off my sweater, followed by my button-down. My skin got goose bumps. Skin looks really weird when there are goose bumps on your black and blues. I pulled my robes on, straightened them while looking in the mirror, and gathered up my clothes.

I unlatched the door, and rushed down the corridor. I passed a Slytherin in my Year, Avery. I nearly squeaked and tried to pass by without him seeing.

"Pathetic excuse for a pureblood." Avery muttered. Blood rushed to my cheeks but I ignored him.

I reentered the compartment. Mary offered me a peppermint. I accepted her peace offering even though I actually hate the taste of peppermints. It wasn't even her fault. I wasn't mad, but I couldn't explain. Everyone else was already dressed.

With a lurch, the train stopped. The six of us rushed out of the compartment, joining the throngs of students pushing to get off the train.

Even from Hogsmeade, Hogwarts towered up, dominating the landscape. This was home.