Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, but it was this week that the teachers decided to give me a crazy amount of homework…so no writing for me. Sadly.

Note #2: Thank you to my third and fourth reviewers, Sassmaster Omega 620 and persevera; the third reader to favorite, Maximus Potter; and my two new followers, Sass and Maximus Potter! Thanks so much!

Disclaimer renewal: I do not own Harry Potter or Warriors.

Ashstar did not know why they were suddenly gaining visitors, but he welcomed the young cat all the same. "Hello, young one," he began. "What is your name?"

"Hermione," replied the small cat. With her tiny stature and overlarge eyes, she couldn't have been older than six moons.

"She's a kittypet, Ashstar," Raggedfur interjected.

"Yes, yes," Ashstar said absent-mindedly. "You may leave us now, Raggedfur."

The large tom glanced at the leader, then left the cave a bit unwillingly. Ashstar watched his retreating tail until it disappeared into the sunlit clearing, turning back to Hermione. "So, you live with housefolk, yes?"

"Yes, I did," Hermione whispered. "But not anymore."

Ashstar was intrigued. "And why have you come to visit HallowClan?" he pursued.

Hermione looked suddenly determined. "I want to be a clan cat," she said defiantly. "I had a dream where a silver cat with starry eyes visited me and told me that I should become a warrior in HallowClan. I think I belong here." Her voice had become much stronger as her speech went on.

"You wish to train as an apprentice of HallowClan?" Ashstar said thoughtfully, more to himself then Hermione. "We have no shortage of apprentices…then again, we can never have too many warriors…"

Pausing for a moment, Ashstar considered his options. He looked into the wide amber eyes of the cat in front of him, and he made his decision.

"Hermione, are you willing to train long and hard, fighting and hunting, to become a HallowClan warrior?"

"I am," Hermione said determinedly.

"And do you promise to learn as much as you can about clan life and the warrior code?" Ashstar continued.

"I do," said Hermione, her eyes shining.

"Then you shall become a HallowClan cat. There is much for you to learn, and you start learning right now.

"You seem to be about six moons old. This means that you are able to train as an apprentice. You will be given a mentor, and you will start at stage one of your apprenticeship, which lasts about two moons. When you think you are ready to move on to stage two, you will be given a small test, an assessment, to determine whether you are ready. You will move through all four stages, all of them about two moons long; at the end of stage four, you take a penultimate assessment. If you pass, you will become a warrior."

Ashstar stopped and dipped his head to the cat sitting at his side. She was completely enthralled by his words, and, without saying anything, he could tell that she was begging him to go on.

"But you have not ended your training. As a young warrior, you must learn mentoring skills and forest wisdom. If you pass another assessment, you will become a senior warrior, and you will be able to mentor apprentices and lead patrols. You will be a full HallowClan warrior."

He finished the monologue with a kind look towards Hermione and the words, "Now, let us introduce you to our clan members."

He beckoned with his tail, and large, old leader and small, meek kittypet (but not for much longer) started exiting the cave, when, suddenly, a small black shape ran straight into Ashstar.

A shining sunhigh came and went, and still Ashstar and the young visitor did not emerge from the darkness of the leader's den. Blackpaw waited fervently in the clearing, pacing back and forth in front of the mouth of the cave, until he could stand it no longer. He plunged into the cave.

…and cannoned directly into his leader. "Ashstar!" he gasped. "I—erm—I was just…"

"No need to explain, Blackpaw," Ashstar said understandingly. "Curiosity is not a curse. Now, I would like you to meet our newest clan member…Hermione."

The brown cat peered out from behind Ashstar, and Blackpaw looked encouragingly at the new HallowClan cat. "Hi, I'm Blackpaw," he said, hoping his tone was friendly enough.

"Hi," answered Hermione. "How old are you? I'm six mon-moons old." She had almost used the twoleg measure of time, but caught herself just before making too terrible of a mistake.

"I'm six moons, too!" Blackpaw said excitedly. "We'll be apprentices together!"

"Yes," Hermione replied quietly. "Yes, we will."

Ashstar looked proudly at his apprentice—he was acting so much like his kind mother. "Blackpaw, we will now hold Hermione's naming ceremony at the central rock," he told his apprentice.

As Blackpaw scrambled off, undoubtedly to secure a spot right up close to the ceremony, Ashstar lead Hermione up the craggy rock surface. He nudged her as she slipped slightly on a less jagged area, thinking, One day, this strong little cat will make a great warrior.

He kept that in mind as he yowled, "Let all HallowClan cats join around central rock for a clan meeting!"

It took no more than a few heartbeats for every cat to cluster around Ashstar and Hermione, and Ashstar wasted no time in waiting for stragglers. "Today, we had a visitor. Her arrival caused quite a commotion, particularly as we did not know who this cat was. Now, I am pleased to say that Hermione, who was formerly a kittypet, has come to join HallowClan."

If the clan was shocked they didn't show it. A few cats gave Ashstar questioning looks, as if to say, "A kittypet? As a HallowClan warrior?" but the leader was blind to them all and merely resumed the ceremony.

"I call upon my ancestors in StarClan to watch over this young cat. She has demonstrated exemplary skills that will make her a fine warrior, even if her origins were not in our clan. Therefore, I give her the apprentice name of Fawnpaw. I will be mentoring Fawnpaw until she can be given a proper teacher."

"Fawnpaw! Fawnpaw! Fawnpaw!" the clan chanted, as their object of praise beamed at them from up on the rock. Blackpaw looked at his fellow apprentice and howled her name louder than anyone else, as a cloud moved away from the sun. The shining ball of light threw its golden rays down on the celebrating clan, lighting up one particular apprentice even brighter than his feelings.

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