From what all we know, Honor progress is a fairly large amount of math that gets done to determine if a player should go up or stay still in level. Here's what we know:
Things that we know increase progress:
- Playing games without getting validly reported.
- Getting Honored (by non-premades - premade Honors mean virtually nothing)
- Getting the Team Honor Bonus (for everyone in the team having honored someone)
Things that we know hamper or stall progress:
- Getting validly reported (Note that there's a distinction between "validly reported" and "punished")
Things that we know decrease progress:
This is pretty much what all we know about Honor progress - outside of that, we have been told that an average player should be able to reach Honor Level 5 over the course of a Season - not the whole of the season, of course, but the majority of it.
It's hard to say exactly how it works between players - do infrequent players who show good behavior gain Honor progress faster than frequent players who show equivalent behavior? Does neutral behavior gain progress slower than positive behavior, regardless of other factors? (like Honors and Team Honor Bonus)
Ultimately, we just know that Honor progress does occur just from playing games - which...Does answer your question pretty concisely, but, hey. Might as well go overboard, right?
Pardon that it took so long to directly answer the question, but I felt it'd be good for you to know what all else affects Honor progress to try and reason out the difference between you and your friend.