Beaten

Since Monday at lunch, when he agreed to that week's flying lessons with Dumbledore, Hippolyta had not left Sev's mind. On Tuesday after dinner he had had the first one, two hours long, with his escort, the Rave Beaters, and the girl. They had had a great time, but he had not allowed himself to chat alone with her for more than a moment, so as not to arouse suspicion in others or in the girl herself, and he avoided looking at her the entire time.

"Hippolyta, do you have an exam on Thursday morning?" Sev asked her.

"I don't."

"Do you want to go to the pond?"

"Wow yes," she replied.

"Do you know anything about the Forest?"

"No, I have never been."

"And Hagrid's hut?" he asked.

"Yes, that I know."

"There is a path that goes into the Forest very close to it, it is on the right as you arrive from the castle."

"Okay."

"I'll wait for you there after breakfast, wait a quarter of an hour so they don't see us together," Sev continued.

"Okay."

"Go in until you are out of sight of the castle."

"Brilliant," Hippolyta agreed.

"Don't tell your friends where you're going."

"Of course not, everyone would want to come."

"Can you think of any good excuse to give them?" he asked.

"I don't need to make any good excuses, Prince. You know, I'm independent, no one controls me."

"Great. Also make sure no one sees you go there."

"Don't worry, Prince, I'm already telling you that no one controls me."

She has maintained complete discretion, not mentioning the curses or that we are going to fight together at all, Sev thought. Ugh… how suspicious, I'm getting sick, I don't like the impression I must be giving her.Well, she has until Thursday to think about whether she wants to come, and if she comes, as soon as we spend the morning together she will realize that I have no bad intentions.

"If you think about it better, just don't come and that's it," he said. "If you don't show up in half an hour I'll leave."

"Not at all. Of course I'm going," with absolute conviction and annoyance. "Don't leave in half an hour, wait for me in case I have to hide to escape."

"Okay, I'll wait all morning if necessary, but think carefully if you want to come. Do you have comfortable clothes to walk through the Forest?"

"I have trousers, but not good shoes," Hippolyta replied. "You know, my parents dress me up as a cute little girl."

"Oh... it doesn't matter, it's not going to rain, the uniform shoes will do. I always went to the Forest with them, even in winter."

"Okay, then I'll put my trousers on."

"Do you have short sleeves?" Sev asked. "At the end of the morning it will be hot."

"Yes, I have short sleeves."

"Put something else on top."

"My robes. I don't like the cute clothes I have," she said.

"Okay, your robes. Let's go with the others."

Ugh… only daughter, spoiled and overprotected girl. But she doesn't like that thing at all, she must have a lot of problems with her parents because she is very rebellious, and if she doesn't already have them, she will have them in the near future. For her it is a real liberation to live here. I'll talk to her about that on Thursday too, maybe she doesn't have anyone to tell.

. . . . . . . . .

Thursday finally, day off. Sev woke up very excited. I'm going to see my girl.Merlin, I love her more than any of them, because for her I have the feeling that I had for Lily, of deep adoration without anything else.And more and more I choose the option of never having anything with her, of maintaining that feeling without spoiling it with physical attraction, of loving her platonically all my life.

He dressed in his warrior's clothing, but instead of his raincoat he also put on his robes over the short sleeve. To go like her. He left the castle directly after breakfast, after apologizing to his Sly family, telling them that he was going to walk through the Forest, since he hadn't done it alone in a long time. Only Deborah knew what he was really going to do.

He went to where he had appointed Hippolyta and waited about twenty-five minutes.

The girl came and said, "Sorry, Prince, I'm a little late."

"It doesn't matter, just ten minutes. Let's get going."

They started walking down the road, he again avoided looking at her.

"Will we go this way or do we have to go cross country?" she asked.

"We can go down the path a little further, but then we have to cross the Forest. There is no path to the pond, so almost no one knows about it."

"Wow… great. I love walking cross country. In my town there are forests, and in summer I always escape and spend the entire afternoon walking there."

She likes action, Sev remembered. "You alone?"

"Of course. How many times do I have to tell you that I am independent?"

"Then it seems very strange to me that you have never come to the Forbidden Forest alone."

"Because I dedicate myself to other things at school," she replied. "Study, train, be with my useless friends. From now on I will come to the Forest alone."

"You shouldn't do it, Hippolyta. If you accidentally reach the nest, the Acromantulas can attack you."

"True."

"And the same if you meet the Centaurs," he continued. "They are very susceptible and may be bothered by you invading their territory. I have had problems with them on more than one occasion."

"You are recommending that I not come to the Forest alone and I'm sure you came whenever you felt like it. Since what year have you been coming to the Forest?"

Interest in getting to know me. "Since my first year."

"And in your third year you went to the nest," Hippolyta said.

"Yes, but I was lucky, I discovered it in the middle of winter, if I came across it in summer I wouldn't have told it. Be patient, don't come alone for the rest of the term. Next year I will come with you often and I will show you the dangerous places where you should not approach, in the rest of the Forest you will be able to walk as you please."

"Do you know the entire Forest, Prince?" amazed.

"Of course, since third year."

"Wow... Then I'm going to let you show it to me, we're going to have a blast."

"How did you escape?" Sev asked.

"I stayed in bed, I didn't go to the Great Hall to have breakfast."

"Haven't you had breakfast?" alarmed.

"Of course I had breakfast, Prince, in the kitchens, after all my stupid dormmates left for the Library, that's why I took a while," a little annoyed.

"They must be worried about you."

"Let them worry all they want," contemptuously and smugly. "I can stay in bed if I want. I already told you, no one controls me."

"You are doing very well," he approved. "Something else in which we are alike, no one controls me either."

"I already know. You are also totally independent. Before you were more so, you were always alone, now you don't separate yourself from the sixth-graders. Do they know you came with me?"

She's been paying attention to me for a long time. "Just Deborah."

"I like it that way, we don't have to air these things," she said, appreciative.

It's okay, she trusts me, understands why I've kept it so secret. "And with your parents, how do you handle control? If you escape through the woods they must worry."

"They don't know anything, I tell them that I'm going to play at a friend's house," contemptuously and smugly.

They laughed.

She's extraordinary, Sev thought. "But they can catch you."

"Let them catch me. What can they do? Punish me without going out? I would escape anyway."

They laughed again.

I'm going to tell her, let's see how she takes it, I think she's going to handle it well, robust as oaks. "I also always ran away when I was little. I ran away from everywhere, from school, from home... Sometimes I didn't even go to sleep."

"What are you saying?" she asked, amazed and interested.

"What you are hearing. I slept in a mill near my house."

"Wow… how good…" excited.

"No. How good, no," he denied. " I had nothing to eat and I was very cold."

"Booahh… How old were you?" somewhat alarmed.

"Eight years old."

"How awful... So, why were you running away?" she asked.

"Because my father beated me."

"Booahh… Since that little?"

"And much more little," Sev replied.

Hippolyta remained silent for a few long seconds. It has affected her somewhat.

"Ugh, Prince... what a life..." compassionate but not suffering. "And here I thought that my parents are annoying because they control me a lot."

It hasn't taken her long to accept it. "Well, you see, there are much worse things than being controlled."

"And then you arrived at school and the Gryffs harassed you."

How awake she is, she alone associates ideas, he thought. "That is."

"How have you been able to endure it?"

"Hardening myself, making myself bad."

"Sure. Can I ask you a question?" Hippolyta asked. "If you don't want to, don't answer me. When you were with the malefics, did you want to become a Death Eater?"

She has drawn all her conclusions on her own, hardly needing to think or be explain.She is extraordinary, she deserves to know. He looked at her for the first time. "For a season, yes."

"Nothing surprises me, with the life you have led."

She doesn't have to think anything, she has understood my life in a few questions and sentences, in two minutes.She is magnificent. "Thank you for understanding, Hippolyta." He stopped looking at her.

"Luckily in the end you didn't do it, I would have killed you sooner or later."

Wow… how sincere.Me too. "Or I you," he sentenced.

"Or you me," she too.

They remained silent for a while. Maybe I went too far telling her such strong things, but I think not, she accepted them immediately, even better than Valerie, who is three and a half years older than her.She hasn't censored me at all.

As I said, Hippolyta and I understand each other perfectly, and she also tells me everything to my face.She just told me that she would have killed me, with that word, not snacked.We're having a very, very serious talk.I'm sure she has thought a lot about me since we came into contact on Friday, as I have about her.Let's reduce the tension. "Come, let's take a shortcut now, so we can have a good time," cheerful.

"Brilliant."

They left the path to their right and Sev preceded her, guiding her through the Forest. "If you are used to walking alone in the forest, I imagine you don't need help to follow me."

"Well, this is more rugged than the forests of Godric's Hollow, huh?"

"Then ask me for help if you need it."

"I don't think it's necessary, I manage well on my own, you know, I'm independent," said the girl. "Can I ask you another question?"

I'm not going to think about it, I'm going to answer her right away. "Sure."

"Why don't you look at me? In all the time we've been on the road you've only looked at me when you said you wanted to become a Death Eater, and on Tuesday, when we talked about meeting, you didn't look at me even once."

Booahh... it's a very tricky question. "I don't know if I want to answer that."

"Ugh, Prince... that way there can't be trust," somewhat recriminatory. "People look each other in the eyes to know what others feel, if they are telling the truth or not and if they are trustworthy. I am totally honest with you, I just told you that I would have killed you if you were a Death Eater."

Sev stopped, turned to her, and looked into her eyes, which reflected maturity and gravity. "Okay, I'm going to tell you the truth. I am a boy, two years older and much stronger than you. I have met you in the Forest secretly from your friends, only one other person knows that we are here. I could have other intentions with you other than taking you for a walk, teaching you curses and how to fight, and I don't want you to think for a moment that that's the case."

"Okay, Prince, now I understand. You can look at me, I'm not going to think that. I haven't thought that at any time, I know you better than you think, but even less now. If you had other intentions you wouldn't have told me to my face, you would have gone off on a tangent, and now I also understand why you told me on Tuesday to think carefully before coming. You are a very honest guy."

"You too."

"Know that I like you a lot."

Booahh... He closed his eyes, overwhelmed, breathing deeply. He opened them again, overcoming himself. "And I you, Hippolyta."

"I already knew it."

"I knew it too."

"Come on, let's go, I'm dying to get to the pond," she said.

He turned and continued walking, very disturbed. Booahh… she beat me up.I am completely crazy about her, I have no words to describe what I feel and she knows it, I feel naked, discovered, it will be impossible for me to hide anything from her.She is far above me, a fourteen-year-old girl who is not yet a woman.

And she had the delicacy of not asking me until we were out of the road, making me turn around right away and not speaking to me for a while, because she knows very well how I feel, she has seen it in my eyes, in my attitude. She is sensitive and intuitive to the fullest, which is what characterizes her. I think she did it precisely to test me and prove that I feel the same way about her as she feels about me.

But still, she was the one who told me first. She is brave, the bravest. She also wants to win me over, in her own way, sincere and honest, down to earth, her characteristic. May things be clear between us, may we not have secrets, may we be as we are from now on.

She has discovered in me her soul mate, and I in her. This is forever, because for her it is something early, I am her first love. I have to treat her very delicately, never hurt her, never disappoint her.

What I'm feeling makes my chest burst and Merlin... I want to tell her, I don't want to wait two years or maybe keep it to myself all my life.I can't take it anymore, I'm going to cry. He cried silently, as he continued walking through the Forest followed by Hippolyta, who did not say a word for almost ten more minutes.

She finally spoke, "Have I crossed the line, Prince?" somewhat worried.

"Not at all," silky.

"Did I upset you…?" she too.

"Not at all, quite the opposite."

"Then why have you gone so long without speaking to me?"

"Because I was very moved," Sev replied.

"Me too."

Wooow… "I have even cried."

"Oh... I like it better that you laugh. Are you better?" Hippolyta asked.

"I am."

"Is it far to the pond?"

"Another quarter of an hour or so," he answered. "In reality it is closer to the castle, but as we came along the path we detoured a little way."

"Oh... You know the Forest very well, huh?"

"This is nothing, I know everything. I've been coming often since my first year."

"What a great time with you, what a blast we are going to have," she said.

"Indeed, I'm looking forward to September."

"It's going to be great, Army training, coming to the Forest, flying with you. The best year of school."

"For me too," Sev agreed.

"What a shame that you only have two years left."

Oh… I'm going to cry again, she would like us to be the same age so we could spend more time together.I'm going to tell her everything. "Maybe I'll still be at Hogwarts when I graduate."

"And so?" Hippolyta asked, interested.

"The old man has requested a new Chair from the Ministry for an optional subject, Dueling. If they grant it, it will initially be under the charge of an Auror, but I will remain as an assistant, learning, until I am old enough, three years after graduating, to be the teacher myself."

"Wooow... fantastic," admired. "Dueling Professor at Hogwarts, the best we could have. So we have four years left," excited.

"If everything goes well," he said.

"It will come out, you'll see," very sure. "You didn't tell me if you had a good time on Tuesday chasing the Snitch with me."

"It's true, I'm sorry. I had a great time."

"But you didn't hunt it even once," she said. "You have a lot of training left to do if you want to play next year."

"True, I already told you that I would never reach you as a Seeker."

"I will let you play anyway even if you lose the game. I'm going to win all the others."

"For sure yes. Thank you, Hippolyta," Sev said. "I already know which one I want to play."

"Me too. Let me guess?"

"Sure."

"Against Gryffindor. Against Potter," the girl said.

He stopped and turned to look at her, they laughed wickedly.

"That's how I like it, that you laugh, I already knew I was going to make you laugh," she said. "If you play against Potter you're going to beat him, he's a package."

They laughed again.

"Go on, keep walking and go faster, we will never get to this pace," she urged.

He did so, continuing to walk faster. "Can I ask you a question now?"

"Of course, Prince, but don't be too serious, huh? We have already gotten serious for today."

"A bit serious, yes it is."

"Well, go ahead," Hippolyta agreed.

"On Friday, when we were returning from the Quidditch pitch, you told me that we had done wrong by not lynching the malefics at home before they left. And after dinner, while we were chatting with the team, you said that you were going to dedicate the championship to me for having kicked them out. Did you do it to avoid reproaching me in front of others or do you really think so?"

"Yes, the question is quite serious, huh?"

"Don't answer it if you don't want to," Sev said.

"I do not know what to think. I guess you didn't expect the whole school to take your side like that, and then you didn't have time to give them a good beating, because they left while you were training. If they had stayed you would have lynched them."

"Maybe not, because there were too many of them and they could have reported us. We would have ended up in Azkaban."

"Of course…" she realized. "Then you did it right, we'll take them out when it's time. Do you know where they live?"

"I don't, Hippolyta."

"Ugh, Prince… Five years with them and you don't know where they live," a bit recriminatory.

"Luckily, because in that case they would also know where I live and I wouldn't be able to go to my house this summer nor would my mother be able to live there since the mess."

"Of course..." understanding.

"But maybe I have a way to find out," he said.

"I know how. Black."

"How smart you are, Hippolyta," admired.

They laughed.

"You really are smart," she said, also admired. "You have become friends with a spy."

"And how did you find out that I have become friends with him?"

"Because I find out everything that happens at home, I would also be a good spy. I found out about the revenge you planned and then that you had canceled it. And also, on Tuesday Valerie talked about him, she said that he is going to come see us train on Saturday."

"True, she said it," Sev confirmed. "You have a very good memory, huh?"

"Of course, I already told you that I get better grades in Defense theory than Ariel."

"Indeed you have a good memory, you told me that at the first party," admired.

"You have it too, huh?" Hippolyta said.

He stopped and turned to look at her, intently. "Because I don't forget anything that happens to me with you," with absolute seriousness.

"Wow… Prince…" with deep feeling. "That is quite a declaration, how beautiful. I won't forget either."

He turned and continued walking, breathing deeply, again deeply moved. Booff… I'm going to get for the drag.I hadn't felt this way since that February night with Lily at the Haven, when we first arrived together.It was the memory of my Patronus until Easter.I dare to think that I already have a fifth Patronus.

They continued walking in silence. She has also spent all this time moved.She is very sensitive, as much as I am, but she doesn't take it to heart, she doesn't cry, she handles it very well.And that for her must also be a real dilemma, a storm of emotions, if until recently all that stuff about boyfriends seemed like nonsense to her and one of her characteristics is that she doesn't like changes.