A/n: First of all, I want to say that all places and characters, except Cassandra, her family, Shanria (both the kitten and historical figure), and all other names you don't recognize, were made-up and are copyrighted by J.K. Rowling (at whatever dates, I'm not sure of). Second of all, I want to say I've worked very hard on this chapter (writing flashbacks aren't exactly my specialty), but I think it turned out okay. Anyway this was, well not my first HP fic posted, my first one that I wrote.
Chapter 1
Her First Surprise:
It was a hot, spring day, although Cassandra thought it felt more like summer. She didn't really mind summer weather though. It meant she could play outside with Shanria. Shanria was Cassandra's new kitten. Her dad had given it to her for her birthday. Cassandra laughed when she remembered waking up to her kitten's face. She had sat straight throwing Shanria of her chest. Then, seeing it was a kitten, Cassandra had picked it up to look at it. Then she gasped. At first glance Cassandra had thought the kitten was gray, but now she saw that it was silver. She quickly got over her surprise though, when she saw a card sitting on her window sill. She set the kitten down and picked up the card.
She opened it up and read, "Dear Cassandra, I hope you like your new kitten. I saw her in rather an unusual pet store and, since eleven is such an unusual age (especially for you), I thought you deserved to have such an unusual pet. Aside from all that, she might come in handy to you. You can name her whatever you want. Hope you like her. Happy Birthday!!!! Love, Your father,"
Remembering her father's letter Cassandra's face frowned as she again wondered what exactly her father meant by "unusual". Her frown turned suddenly to a laugh as Shanria pounced on a grasshopper only to have it jump out of her paws.
"She certainly suits her name," Cassandra thought, "Her name.....". She again thought back to this morning. She had tried to come up with a name while getting dressed, but she hadn't been able to think of one that her "unusual" golden-eyed kitten. She mentioned this to her dad after she had gone downstairs for breakfast. Her dad had casually mentioned the name Shanria. Cassandra was startled at the name. When she had been younger, Shanria had been the name of the heroine in the stories her dad had told her. Cassandra had once asked her dad where he had gotten the stories from. He had only said they were from a very special book. Cassandra got over her surprise and looked at her kitten. She was exploring over the whole entire kitchen, looking into every corner.
"Just like Shanria in the stories would do," she thought and turned to her dad.
"Shanria's a perfect name," she stated with such finality that she surprised even herself. Her mother looked startled, too. Cassandra was usually very shy and unsure of herself, but her dad only smiled at her.
Cassandra suddenly blinked and there was Shanria looking at her as if to say, "Well finally! I thought you were going to day dream all day!" Cassandra smiled and started to pet her kitten. She looked around herself and sighed contentedly. The sun was shining, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
"I love Ireland," she thought to herself.