I hate to tell you, but a negative HPV test doesn't mean that you never had HPV or that you cleared it. Something like 60% of sexually active people have contracted HPV. And HPV can go dormant (at which point it won't show up on an HPV test) but then recur even years later.

For anyone young enough, the HPV vaccine is strongly recommended. For the rest of us, recommendations for the frequency of PAP smears take into account the fact that most of us have dormant HPV.