What use is History when you've lived it?

Marguerite's eyebrows furrowed as she continued to read from a book on history, much younger than herself. It was entitled "The Salem Witch Trials and Why They Didn't Have an Impact on the Wizarding World." She had a sheet of parchment spread out before her, nothing on it but a small drop of ink which had fallen from her quill poised over the parchment.

Marguerite just couldn't get it out of her head that this assignment was stupid. If the Salem Witch Trials did not have an impact on the Wizarding world, then why were they required to write a foot long essay on the matter? The assignment would have been made much easier, had Marguerite been allowed to write from her own memories, but the professor had made it clear that she must have sources cited in the paper.

The book she was reading was just too dispassionate, too uncaring about the atrocities that had happened to the women from that time period. It had been written too many years after the fact, and with a scholarly eye. The author was merely echoing facts he had learned from other studies done on the time period. There was no essence. No emotion. None of these students would be able to fully realize the travesties which muggles could commit when confronted with something they cannot explain. If they could, she would not see so much flagrant displays of magic right under muggle noses during the holidays. Sure, wizards didn't have to fear for their own well-being when muggles began their little rampages, but other muggles sure did, and she wouldn't wish what muggles can do to each other on her worst enemy. She supposed they would learn after the next muggle crusade against 'witches' and 'warlocks.'

Marguerite threw her quill down, now annoyed. She could explain in great detail what happened during the Salem Witch trials, without the help of a useless book, which had sprung into existence centuries after her own birth. Sometimes being tied down to the standards of the mortals could be a real headache.

This was why she never tried to be good at anything. One time you do something right, and everyone expected you to be the best. At everything. Obviously that was impossible, yet it still happened and it was happening to her now. She had had a great class where she actually participated and did the work correctly and even helped others. Now the other students and even the professor were expecting her to do it all the time. That wasn't going to happen. It just wasn't.

It wasn't that Hitamé couldn't help anyone, she just didn't like too. It gave her too much importance, that she didn't even want. That's why she always preferred to be that quiet kid in the back that no one ever really noticed unless they said something to you. But of course, she just had to actually try in the class for once. Now she was expected to hand in a great essay for homework. Just because she said some rational things, doesn't mean she actually knew what she was talking about. You'd think she did know, but Hitamé just restated things she remembered in that moment, it wasn't like she would always remember it. As soon as she said it outloud she usually forgot what she had been talking about.

The best place to actually try and get some work done without interruptions was the study room on the fourth floor. Sure others would be in there but they would at least be working, most of them. She'd gathered her things in the dormitories and headed down there after taking a few moments to look for one last thing she hadn't even noticed she'd lost until the last minute. Humming softly, she made her down from Gryffindor Tower and quickly entered the room when she approached it. The girl took a seat across from a brunette, and rather pale girl and she put her supplies out around herself.

That didn't keep her eyes from wandering to the girl though. She was curious as to why she seemed so pale and the more she glanced at the girl the more clear the reason became to her. Hitamé bit her lip so she wouldn't say anything stupid, but as soon as she realized the girl was probably a Vampire, no one else was that pale, her eyes immediately lit up. She kept her head down and looked at the piece of parchment in front of her though, sometimes looking at the open book she had and glancing up at the other girl too.

Marguerite barely stirred as another joined her table in the study area, merely raising her eyes for a brief second to see if it was anyone she knew. The girl looked vaguely familiar, so Marguerite assumed that she must share a class with her.

For a few minutes, Marguerite continued to look blankly down at the book she was supposed to be reading; her eyes flicking from the book to the blank piece of parchment beside it. However, She kept feeling the eyes of another on her which was distracting, and after catching the other girl glancing up at her out of the corner of her eye, she decided it was time to address the girl.

"I'm sorry," she spoke up suddenly, raising her eyes to look upon the girl, "I do hope I am not disturbing you, but I suppose it is awfully rude of me not to introduce myself since we are sharing a table. I am having a very difficult time working on this fool of an assignment anyways."

Marguerite inclined her head gracefully towards Hitame, trying to remember how women in this day and age greeted one another. She had always viewed the act of a handshake as being unladylike, as it had been something exclusive to men up until more recent times, and she had only seen it among those without any knowledge of culture. Had she been standing, she may have curtsied. For now, she would stick with what her mother had taught her in courtly manners as a child. She figured that her point would get across regardless.

"I am Lady Marguerite de Lancret, Contessa of Gaeta...though I suppose that was quite some time ago. You may address me as Marguerite, though some of the more lowly rabble address me as Maggie."

Marguerite wrinkled her nose in distaste to the nickname Selwyn had begun to refer to her by. She was slightly worried that the name would catch on, as it seemed that most students of the day were too lazy to pronounce a name properly. She supposed that it was at least somewhat pleasant-sounding. A sight better than Margie. A fellow third year had referred to her by that particular nickname a mere fortnight ago. In that case, she had firmly put her foot down. Of course, also in that case, the student was thoroughly susceptible to being intimidated. Selwyn was not.

Shaking off her wandering thoughts, Marguerite politely kept her interest on Hitame as she awaited the young girl's reply.

((Zero is one of my favorite anime vamps, btw *looks at siggy...can't quite stand against Alucard in regards to being a bad-ass, though. ))

Hitamé continued to look down at her work, looking carefully through the book, trying to find something that would be useful for what she needed. It was beginning to really annoy her though, she didn't want to be called out for passing in a bad essay, but then again she didn't even know how to make the 'perfect' essay that the professor expected. Then people wondered why she hated Divination. It wasn't because of the subject itself, it was because the professor immediately believed that you were some kind of genius if you had one good class.

Hitamé sighed softly, her breath blowing the parchment up slightly as she looked away from it, when the girl she'd been sitting across from suddenly began to speak. The way she spoke was so proper and different from how she heard everyone else speak, and that began to confirm what Hitamé had been thinking about the girl. She spoke as if she was from a long time ago, centuries maybe. The only reason she knew this was because she actually paid attention in class, that and because Sophia had told her a lot about those times.

Lady ... Cortessa ... She has to be a Vampire. No one else would talk like this now, and if she really is a Cortessa then she has to be one. No one besides a Vampire could live through that time and then be here now.

Hitamé smiled slightly at the girl, careful not to seem eager about her possibly being a Vampire. She felt a strong urge to just ask though, she'd never met a Vampire, or anyone for that matter, from that time. She'd always wanted too though, that time period did fascinate her for some reason, she wasn't exactly sure why but it did.

She looked at the girl, who introduced herself as Marguerite de Lancret, and Hitamé bobbed her head to acknowledge the girl's introduction. "Pleasure to meet you Marguerite. I'm Hitamé Higurashi." she told the girl, smiling. She bit her lip when a sudden urge to ask her if she was a Vampire came but she tried not to ask at all. If she wasn't that would just be embarrassing, but for her it was obvious that she wasn't from this time period, which could only mean she was one.

[OOC: I have to agree there, Alucard is a bad-ass ... But Zero is just my all time favorite anime Vamp xD]

"Ah, Higurashi-san," Marguerite echoed, sounding a bit delighted, "Douzo yoroshiku! I know your name to be Japanese in nature, but forgive me for saying that you do not look oriental. Do you perhaps have ancestors who hail from Japan? I, myself, actually paid a short visit to Japan in the past.

A friend and I had been on the run from vampire hunters for many years, and we spent a short time there after giving our pursuers the slip somewhere in what is now North Korea. It was during the Edo period then, so it was very peaceful and a nice change from many of the lands we had been through which were embroiled with war. Unfortunately, it seems that they were a very astute people, and it did not take them long to guess what we were. We fled, for the samurai were formidable enough for us to fear. They seemed have an unusual understanding of vampires. We often wondered whether their period of peace had some outside help by a few members of the wizarding world..."

Marguerite fell silent, having already assumed that Hitame knew her to be a vampire. She was used to the curiosity, and couldn't help but to show off her age at times. She found that it fascinated many of the students, many times intimidating them as well. This was useful, so she found no reason to hide what she was anymore, especially considering wizards' shifted views on magical beings.

When she spoke in Japanese, Hitamé's eyes brightened and she smiled at Marguerite. "Amarini mo anata ni aete yorokonde!" she replied to her words. She said that Hitamé didn't look very oriental and she gave a sheepish laugh before looking down with a gloomy look in her eyes.

She shook her head when the girl asked her if she had ancestors that hailed from Japan. "Honestly, I do not. I'm not even really Japanese." she said with a sad tone to her voice. "I was adopted by the Higurashi family when I was about two years old." she explained. That was all she said about her family though, she wasn't sure if anyone knew about her real family and how her parents were Death Eaters.

Some knew that her brothers were Xemnas and Sora Charcovix. But no one paid it much attention, with them having different surnames and all. Hitamé looked back up at Marguerite and smiled sadly, "But I suppose I can consider myself Japanese. I know the language and culture pretty well. What with being raised by a Japanese family and all." she laughed again and kept her eyes focused on the girl.

Marguerite mentioned something about Vampire hunters and Hitamé's smile lowered into something like a frown. "I don't like Vampire hunters ..." she muttered softly. "But, I guess I was right in my assumptions then, correct?" she asked, mostly herself. "You are a Vampire then?" she asked, now directing it at Marguerite. "What's it like to be one? Especially one from so long ago ..." she asked her.

Marguerite cocked her head slightly as she considered what would seem to most a simple question, but for her immortality was a complex and complicated thing. On the one hand, it was interesting and fulfilling to live through all these changing time periods. She has seen the best of humanity, the fun of humanity...but she has also seen the worst. While she has lived through the happiness of peaceful and fulfilled societies, she has also lived through painful and agonizing periods as well.

"To be a vampire," she said slowly, "though mortals view it to be a blessing, it is really a curse. Never-ending youth at first may seem like it would be a wonderful and blessed thing to have; however, after you've lived for a over a century you begin to become disillusioned. To be forever a teenager in the eyes of others, while inside you are older and wiser than they shall ever hope to be can be extremely frustrating. Especially back in the days before this new-found tolerance of vampire kind. Back when we were relentlessly hunted, we were forced to disguise ourselves as normal human beings. Can you imagine trying to pass yourself off as a teenager when you yourself are centuries old? You knew things that you should be too young to know, and used verbage that was popular before your time. It was not long before people became suspicious of the fact that you never aged, and you would be forced to move on....leaving any attachments behind, and breaking bonds which may have been formed. Soon, it becomes prudent to keep to yourself and avoid forming friendships. You would be forced to leave them soon, and if you weren't, then you were merely going to have the pleasure of watching them die. Being a vampire is a very lonely life, and to put the powerful thirst we have for human blood on top of it....yes, it is a cursed life."

Marguerite looked into Hitame's eyes as she explained this, wanting desperately for her point to be driven through. She had met several students now who were fascinated with vampires, and the conversation always turned to their wishes that they could be immortal too. Marguerite has learned that mortals seem completely unable to comprehend exactly how long eternity it is. They always were living in the moment, planning ahead only years at a time. She fervently wished that more of them knew the true consequences of receiving everlasting life by dying and being reborn as a vampire. Had she known, she would never have chosen this life for herself, and though her loneliness had once nearly driven her into creating another, she had resisted all her might. She could not condone afflicting another with this curse.

As she listened to what Marguerite said, Hitamé felt saddened by her words. It didn't change her views on Vampires though, she might be naive to some people for liking "the creatures that only want us for blood" as some people call them, but Hitamé saw them differently. Her best friend, though he was older, is a Vampire and he never tried to do anything to her. Neither had Sophia and she was one as well. Some people never took the time to actually get to know one of them because of their fears.

Hitamé tilted her head to the side as she continued to listen to Marguerite. She still held her quill in her hand, though the ink had splattered on the parchment long ago thanks to her being distracted by the other girl. Being a Vampire really did sound like it was a curse, not being able to age, having to move from place to place so you wouldn't be discovered, and especially sometimes having to watch a loved one die when you can't do anything to help them and you living forever - literally, without them there with you.

She could somewhat understand the lonliness of a Vampire who loses someone they love. Not even her empathetic abilities were needed for that. It had happened to her before, with her adoptive parents. When they had been killed, and she had been helpless, all she could do was run away with her sister not knowing exactly what was going on. "I can't imagine having to live through all that, but I can sort of feel the pain of the loneliness your kind goes through. I know what that's like ... I've lost everyone except my siblings and slowly, I know I'm losing them as well." she told her.

She was mostly losing her twin sister the fastest. Naomi now refused to speak to her, except on the rare occasions she 'forgot' she was mad at her. Mad for what, Hitamé didn't even know. All she knew was that she and Naomi were gradually growing further and further apart and though she tried to stop it, Naomi seemed willing to allow it. "I can understand the loneliness well." she repeated with a sad smile and the sadness evident in her eyes.

"Have you ever been tempted to turn someone into a Vampire because of that though?" she inquired. "I imagine that it gets hard to just be alone, having to break any ties you have to someone because of certain things that happen." she added softly, slowly looking down at the black splotch of ink on the parchment in front of her.

Marguerite smiled a bit sadly at Hitame's story. It was never easy to lose a loved one, but at least the mortals had the hope of meeting again in some sort of afterlife. She had no such option. Even were she killed, Marguerite always felt that her soul was damned. She would never know the pleasure of eternal bliss.

"Treasure mortality," Marguerite advised softly, averting her eyes, "You have the release of death available to you. No matter how much pain and suffering you may feel, you always have that comfort that someday it will end....and the hope that you may see your loved ones again in some version of afterlife."

A slight shadow passed Marguerite's pale face when questioned about the temptation of creating another. Under any other circumstance, she would have refused to answer the question...however for some reason she found herself a bit drawn to Miss Higurashi. She could not put her finger on the exact reason why; however, she had a vague feeling that she could sense a kindred soul. This was someone who had felt that dreadful loneliness, and tasted the bitter side of life. She seemed to be someone she was able to empathize with.

"I...." Marguerite hesitated, not sure how to form the words, "It...it is something that has entered my mind before. Before I went underground, I was severely tempted to turn a charming young boy, who's beauty had captured my heart....but...I just could not bring myself to turn that golden and joyous face who loved to bask in the sunlight into a cold, pale face of death. He was so full of life, and saw the good in everything. I could not destroy that. He would, of course, have died by now...."

Marguerite fell silent, the boyish face of the mortal she had loved flashing into her memory though she had talked to him only yesterday. She could still remember the exact shade of his eyes, and the softness of his golden curls....the perfect way they had framed his face. She was not sure whether a vampire could really feel any sort of true love, however she knew that she loved him as much as a tender old farmer would love his old plow horse....a more material love, than the sort of deep lasting love one should feel for their lover.

Hitamé eyes flashed a sense of insecurity as she listened to what Marguerite said about treasuring mortality. Mortality was something that Hitamé didn't even want to think about. Thinking that some day she was going to die without having done things she wanted too.Thinking that her family hated her and wanted nothing to do with her. But with immortality it was pretty much the same. Ryo had told her the same thing as what Marguerite was telling her now. That she should treasure mortality, but honestly Hitamé didn't want to.

She thought it was pointless because for her, no afterlife existed. She didn't believe that she would be able to ever see her parents again. All of the hope she had initially was gone, thanks to Felix Barker. Everything he had done to her showed her that there was no afterlife, those few seconds she was gone had been nothing. No meeting with her parents, nothing had happened. It was just a pit of darkness that she had seemed to fallen into and she wouldn't be able to get out of it. Until Barker brought her back that is.

"There's nothing much to treasure about it though ... I know I might seem naive to think that, but I don't find anything to treasure about it, or immortality for that matter." she said softly. "I know most Vampires must think that it is a curse, but honestly I think mortality is a curse of its own." she continued. "For me there is no afterlife either. I believe that after you die, it's like you're sleeping. Nothing happens, you're just in a pit of darkness that you can't escape from." she told Marguerite sadly.

"It was hard to control yourself though, wasn't it?" she asked. Hitamé understood what it was like to control strong feelings you had to do something, although it wasn't as bad as what she might have felt, of course. She had never had to make the decision of turning someone into something other than a human. "I understand why you didn't do it though." she said. "You didn't want to ruin anything about how he was, I would've done the same thing as you." Hitamé added.

Hitamé looked down again, her bangs covering her dark brown eyes by falling in front of her face. "What if someone asked you to turn them though?" she asked quietly, seriously. The answer would probably be that she wouldn't do it, but she just had to ask. She finally dropped the quill in her hand and lowered her hand to her lap as she continued to look down, not wanting to see Marguerite's reaction to her question.