Heaven in Hiding [H.P.] ✓

A heart behind treebark

Hearing a chuckle Juniper spins around to look at her fiance. "What's so funny?", she asks, a small smile on her own lips. Three weeks of constantly living together, even under the watchful gaze of her parents, had done quite a lot for their relationship with one another and brought a harmony to their actions.. a kind of trust that felt warm and comforting. "Look at you.. And I was scared I'd marry a stuck up pureblood princess. Turns out I am marrying one that likes to dig around in the dirt." Juniper scoffs, elbowing his leg as she was currently still crouching on the forest ground of the woods that surrounded her families main estate. "Shut it.. I am looking for something." "Did you lose your wand?", Atlas asks, now a bit intrigued. "No.. But it is not something you can exactly summon with an Accio. You have to be patient.. and lucky." "What is it then?" The witch hums when her eyes widen and she hurries to a moss covered, tree. She opens the bark, pulling it away and the wood splits apart to reveal something glittering. "What is that?" She smiles, taking the shimmering object before rising to her feet, hurrying over to him. "Stretch out your hands.", she tells him and he does, looking with fascination at the glowing pearl. "It's for you.", Juniper hums. He looks into her blue eyes. "What.." "It's called a 'Juniper-heart.'", the witch admits, making his gaze flicker back and forth from the pearlecent object in his hands and her face. "The Juniper trees around our property have been here for as long as my family has.. and every time one of us is to marry.. a tree births a Juniper-heart. It is the heart of the tree.. but also a very powerful magical object.. seeing as these trees have been living off the Winters magic for centuries..", Juniper explains. "Tradition asks that the Winters heir or heiress locates the one pearl hidden in one of the hundreds of Juniper trees.. and hands it to their One to be for them to add it into molten gold, infusing it with the magic of my family before it is poured and becomes their wedding rings." Atlas smiles. "Let's go do that then, darling."
He holds the Juniper-heart tightly in one hand, taking hers with the other. Juniper follows him out of the forest, her gaze flickering over his form.
Atlas Pucey truly was beautiful.. and it was rather helpful for their relationship that he was unafraid and able to openly show her affection and express his feelings and sentiment. They didn't have to be afraid. She didn't have to be a secret. And though her mind oftentimes wandered to messy, jet black curls and grey eyes.. Juniper had staid true to what Bellatrix had asked of her.. She was giving him a chance to make her fall in love with him. And Salazar.. he was doing an incredible job. 

Visiting the magical crafting station her father was already waiting in they are greeted by him. "So?" Atlas lifts up the iridescent pearl and Silas Winters smiles. "Good work, Juniper.", he tells her, accepting the pearl and dropping it into a small puddle of already molten gold. The scent of the forest spreads through the room and the gold glimmers with magic as Silas pours it into the molds that cool the gold instantly. He then uses magic to place them into the ringbox. "Last day before the wedding and you've finally found it. About time." "Well.. In my defense.. It was the oldest Juniper on the property.. And I didn't think it would produce another heart..", Juniper shrugs and her father stills. "Your marriage is fated for greatness then.. If it truly is the oldest.. our heritage tree.. then this is the first time since our family was created and settled here.. that it has produced a heart." Atlas and Juniper exchange a glance and the witches heart races in her chest. She was confused. Her trust in her families legacy and heritage was unwavering. And she understood the greatness of those words. But if she had been fated in such a way to be with Atlas.. then why had she fallen in Love with Bellatrix first? Why did it not once feel like a mistake?
Her breath stills in her chest as Atlas kisses her fingers and gives her a heart-stopping smile, even though her skin is still dirtied from the searching and digging. She smiles back on instinct, no second thought. "How about we see to cleaning your hands and nails before having some tea in the gardens, darling?", Atlas asks and she nods. "That sounds lovely.", she responds, letting him, once again, whisk her away.. and yet still.. walking beside him that moment she felt as though she were floating.