After that little chaos that had happened in the hut by the Niffler, Regulus and Alexandra both had a good time at Hagrid's, as he gave them some cake to eat with their tea, and they talked about their day.
Regulus had already wore on his necklace, deciding not to speak about it any further as he hid it under his robe's collar.
"How's Buckbeak, by the way?" Alexandra asked Hagrid, putting down her cup of tea on the large table before her.
"Oh, he's doin' well!" Hagrid said cheerfully. "He's learnt how to fly an' all."
"Ooh, can we visit him now?" Alexandra clapped her hands together in glee. "I haven't seen him for months."
"Say what?" Regulus turned to look at her, but she wasn't listening to him, and neither was Hagrid.
"Yeah, sure!" Hagrid nodded in delight, moving toward the window to his hut to look outside at the sky. "But we better get goin' now if we wanna be back before it gets dark. The sunset has begun already."
"Where are we going?" Regulus asked again, but his voice was muffled out by the sounds of scrambling the other two had caused as they got up and made their way toward the door.
"C'mon, Reggie!" Alexandra gestured him over as Hagrid opened the door to the hut and walked outside, meanwhile she waited for him at the doorway.
Huffing in defeat, Regulus got to his feet grumpily, walking toward her. "Who the hell is Buckbeak?"
"You'll see." Alexandra sent him a mysterious look as they all walked outside and closed the hut's door behind them.
Regulus followed the two away, but he then came to a sudden halt and his eyes widened in shock when he realized that they were going toward the woods.
"Are you — are you actually going to the Dark Forest?" Regulus asked hastily, standing at the edge of the woods fearfully. Hagrid had already gone through.
"You're not scared, are you?" Alexandra asked teasingly, raising a brow at him.
"N-no," Regulus said quietly, shaking his head briskly. "I-I'm just saying that it might be dangerous in there. I've heard there are werewolves in the forest!"
Alexandra giggled at his state. "The moon's not out yet. And even so, it's not even a full moon tonight to begin with. So you don't have to worry about that."
"But — but there are other horrible beasts in there, aren't there!?" he retorted, glancing worriedly through the woods.
But Alexandra only smiled. "There are no horrible beasts. Only small-minded people." And so winking at him, Alexandra walked after Hagrid, disappearing into the woods.
"Oi! Did you just call me 'small-minded'!?" Regulus shouted after her, but there was no response.
There was only silence.
"Alex? Alex!" Regulus hissed, but he found himself alone. So grumbling to himself, he finally gave up and followed them away.
Quickening his pace, Regulus managed to catch up with Alexandra and Hagrid, making sure to keep a close distance to them, just in case something happened. He was scared to imagine what kind of strange creature they were going to visit, but he'd rather not find out.
"Here we are," Hagrid called out from the front after long minutes of walking, finally coming to a stop.
Regulus now stood behind Alexandra, which was a matter of amusement to her and yet she had decided not to say anything to him on the matter.
"Look, Reggie," Alexandra whispered, taking slow steps forward, "there he is."
"Where what is!?" Regulus mumbled with a frown, moving his head to get a better look.
But the moment Regulus caught sight of the magnificent creature, he froze on the spot, staring at it in awe. It looked like a large bird; half eagle, half horse. Its feathers shone through the dark shadows of the forest, standing there in full glory.
"That's a Hippogriff," Alexandra explained to him quietly, though her eyes were admirably fixed upon the creature. "His name is Buckbeak. He's rather young, but proud all the same."
"Can we get closer?" Regulus mused, his voice hollow as he watched the young Hippogriff. Although he found it weird that Hagrid had bowed to it before moving forward and feeding him a dead ferret.
"W-well, you might want to be careful," Alexandra told him rather worriedly. "Like I said, they're very proud creatures. Easily offended. Here — watch."
With that, Alexandra slowly moved toward the Hippogriff, coming to a stop a few feet away from him. She had her eyes fixed on him and then, ever so gently, she bowed. But a few moments later, to Regulus's astonishment, the Hippogriff bowed back.
Chuckling, Alexandra moved forward and started stroking his feathers, which as it seemed the Hippogriff was rather enjoying it.
"Hello, Beaky." She smiled at him lovingly.
"Come'n, Regulus," Hagrid gestured him over with his head, "take it slow, and I'm sure it yeh'll be fine."
Regulus gulped, his breath becoming slightly shaky. With that, he took a hesitant forward, his eyes fixed on the creature rather fearfully. And so, closing his eyes, he bowed down.
But the next moment when he opened his eyes again, his heart leapt with excitement when he saw that the Hippogriff had bowed back to him.
Laughing delightfully to himself, Regulus slowly moved forward until he reached Alexandra, and then raised his arm, running his hand through Buckbeak's feathers.
"This is amazing..." He breathed out, smiling in awe.
"Yes." Alexandra smiled, looking at him sideways. "Yes, it is."
***
Soon, as twilight fell upon the Hogwarts' grounds, they had to go back to the castle before it could get fully dark. So Regulus and Alexandra bid Hagrid goodbye after they were out of the forest, walking back toward the castle.
"Sorry about your watch, by the way," said Regulus as they entered the entrance hall. "I'll buy a new one, if you want. It was pretty much my fault that you had to give it away to that Niffy-thing."
Alexandra giggled. "No, it's fine. I'm sure Hagrid will find a way to get my watch back from the Niffler. They love shiny things. Besides... I knew that necklace meant a lot to you."
Regulus said nothing and just threw his gaze down as they walked up the marble staircase, and Alexandra decided not to say anything else on the matter.
Regulus had insisted on accompanying Alexandra up to the Ravenclaw tower, so they could say goodbye to each other for the night. But the rest of their journey was mostly spent in silence.
"Thanks, Alex," he said quietly as they reached the entrance to her common room. "And not just for the necklace... for everything."
"What for?" Alexandra chuckled, but then she gulped when she suddenly realized how close they were standing to each other.
"I — well — I've just been feeling so lonely... for so many years... but with you..." Regulus came to a pause, looking down at her. "It seems like everything has changed."
Alexandra's heart was beating loudly in her chest as she held her breath, unable to blink. But the moment soon came to an end, and so Regulus just shook his head and cleared his throat, taking a step back from her.
"Goodnight, Alex," he said without meeting her eyes and then before she could say anything else in response, he turned around and left the corridor.
Alexandra stood before her common room's entrance, feeling dazed and biting her lower lips as her mind wondered away.
"What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?" the eagle at the entrance spoke, but it was as if Alexandra couldn't even hear it.
But the next moment, as if suddenly coming back to her senses and a crazy idea making its way through her head, Alexandra suddenly turned on her heels and ran after Regulus.
He had already made his way down the corridor and so she had to pick up her pace even more as she ran, trying to catch up with him.
Upon hearing her footsteps approaching him in a rush, Regulus came to a stop and turned around, seeing Alexandra running down the corridor toward him.
"Alex?" Regulus blinked a few times at her as she finally reached him, now slightly panting. "What is it?"
"I — I forgot something," Alexandra stammered, staring up at him nervously.
Regulus looked back at her in confusion, his brows furrowing. "What?"
"This," Alexandra whispered, and before being able to stop herself, she went on her tiptoes and suddenly pressed her lips against his.