INTRODUCTION
Welcome to UNCOUPLING!
UNCOUPLING is a Poly/Triad fic, featuring the pairing of Hermione/Draco/Blaise, although it starts off as Draco/Blaise with Hermione coming in slowly. When I originally posted this fic, it was literally a wild plot bunny that had no shape or structure and I had zero plan for how to continue past the first couple of chapters. After sitting with a little longer and figuring out what I wanted to do with it, the rewrite came in December 2019.
As of now, December 2019: UNCOUPLING has been completely rewritten and only parts of the original story remain. Luckily, I'd only posted two chapters and every chapter posted afterwards will be completely new material. I hope everyone enjoys the rewritten/reposted version of UNCOUPLING and this time, there is a plan and a solid outline for the plot and how to move forward.
Without further ado, here is UNCOUPLING!
PART I: The Djinn Unleashed
Saturday, 23 October 2010
Crisp autumn sunlight caught the pair of diamonds in his wedding ring and for a brief moment, his entire hand glowed like a constellation.
Draco paused in his hurried dashes throughout the bedroom suite.
He should have continued to move at his doubled pace, for he had overslept and would be late for his own vow renewal at this rate - but, he couldn't help it.
He and Blaise had been married for eleven years, as of today.
Despite more than a decade of sharing his life with Blaise and becoming a wizard he'd never thought he'd be, Draco still couldn't believe his fortune. His marriage to Blaise had given him a second chance at life and allowed him to become someone he couldn't have been, otherwise. The redemption and freedom that he found in his union with his husband was more than he could have hoped for. There wasn't a moment he took any of it for granted.
His wedding ring was simply a material reminder, a constant reassurance that this life he had now was real and who he'd been before now was in the past.
Draco kissed his ring briefly, smiling as he thought about how he would be standing with Blaise at the altar for a second time in about an hour or so.
A vow renewal had been insisted upon by his mother-in-law, for their first Bonding ceremony had been an elopement that was more practical than sentimental.
Lady Sarabi Shafiq had been quite sour indeed over the past eleven years that she had been denied the glamour and prestige of having a grand society wedding for her only son, bringing it up without shame at every October when Draco and Blaise celebrated their anniversary. It had only been last year, as they'd celebrated ten years, that Sarabi had finally worn them down into agreeing to a vow renewal, if she would never have a wedding.
As soon as she'd been granted their blessing, Lady Shafiq had begun planning the social event of the decade - and now that the day had arrived, Draco was far more keen on the idea that he had been at first.
Times were different from what they'd been, back when he and Blaise had their original ceremony eleven years ago.
This grand celebration that his mother-in-law had planned and his and Blaise's honor was something that couldn't have happened in back in 1999. Even a year after the Dark Lord was defeated and only a memory, the British Wizarding World had been too raw and too broken, everyone trying to discover how to live in the new world that Potter had ushered them into by becoming the Conqueror and slaying the Dark Lord. Nothing was as it had been before and nobody knew what would come next, engendering an instability that made it very risky to be on the wrong side - whatever side that was.
Blaise had been in danger of losing his life, Draco had been disgraced and disowned and had no life.
For the both of them - a Bonding Vow had been the only hope either of them had for having a future worth living for.
The marriage had been discreet, quick, and it took several months for it to become known, but by then, the purpose had been served. Draco and Blaise were both protected through the ancient, wondrous magic of a Bonding Vow woven into their own magic and into their very skin - and nothing would break that unless they decided otherwise.
A celebration had been the furthest thing from their minds back then.
However, Draco felt it was deserved, all these years later. All these years of protection holding strong and covering the pair of them without fail, despite the obstacles that threatened that strength.
In just a short while, Draco would renew the protection of their original vow with Blaise - and, then, the protections would only deepen.
While his mother-in-law seemed to see each decade of marriage that passed as a cause for celebration and glamorous events, Draco knew it far differently.
The deeper the protections of their vows, the more chance that Blaise had of staying human -
And Blaise desperately, fiercely wanted to remain human.
The knowledge of this spurred Draco out of his reflections and into motion with a renewed vigor.
His husband was depending on him to be there at the altar to renew their Bonding Vow for many reasons.
Among them was affection and love and friendship, but the chief and primary reason was one that Draco shared the same feverish commitment toward -
Blaise's continued humanity.
"If you truly cared about the pauper, you would heed my advice and stay committed to keeping the ceremony symbolic. Don't make the fatal mistake of going through with a renewal of the Bond, for your own good and his, as well."
Blaise did not look up from buttoning his cuff-links to the sleeves of his snow-white tunic.
"You will call him by the name I gave back to him or not speak of him at all, Ummi." Blaise shook out his arms, ensuring the tunic sleeves were comfortable and looked as he'd anticipated with the cuff-links - and only then did he look up, glaring with a bitter agitation at his mother. "As much as you've complained over the past decade about being deprived of such an occaision, this attitude was not what I expected of you on this day. Where is this coming from?"
Sarabi looked evenly at him with her unusual eyes.
A brief flare of resentment sparked within him, as Blaise hated how she left herself unveiled and in her pure form. They were the only ones in his bedroom suite, the one he'd chosen to prepare for the ceremony in - but still.
Today was his wedding day, the first he would have. The least she could do was keep up her illusion of humanity for the duration, out of respect for the occasion and in honor of his desire and preference for the illusion.
Instead, her aureate-and-violet eyes followed him as he continued to get dressed, the star-shaped pupils contracting and easing rhythmically, entrancingly. Just as she didn't see anything wrong with her continued private disrespect and disdain for his choice to continue his marriage well after she felt he should have, Sarabi see anything wrong with staring him down at him with those eyes.
The eyes that clearly marked her as a Djinn.
Blaise turned away from her, half-waiting for her response but half-hoping she wouldn't have one.
She did.
"You are determined to ignore your true heritage in favor of pretending to be human and your fortune won't last much longer." Sarabi had no expression, as she offered: "I'll bet you aren't even aware of what you'll be doing, by choosing to renew the Bond."
Blaise sneered. "Yes, I am aware of what I'm choosing. I'm choosing a healthy, stable relationship that will support and sustain me for the rest of my natural, human life." The love-hate relationship he had with his mother reared its ugly head at that moment, his voice brittle and biting as Blaise added: "Unlike you, I have no interest in making a Vessel out of my husband and intend to keep him as my only husband, thanks."
Sarabi's smile gleamed like the curve of a blade.
"You persist in your stubborn delusion that there is something perverse or shameful about our heritage, habib albi," Sarabi tutted, as if he were a child of ten instead of a wizard of thirty. "It pains me that you believe the natural mating of our kind is something immoral or an occurrence I should be ashamed of. For each of my late odalisques to become my Vessels so that I could harness their essence - it is the natural conclusion for our mating cycle. The creation of a Vessel is what is healthy and stable, an act that sustains you and keeps you interconnected with humanity you value so much - not this human construct of a husband or a marriage."
Blaise prided himself on keeping his face carefully controlled and not reacting to anything his mother said.
He studied himself in the mirror, hoping it wasn't clear that she'd rattled him. He hated moments like this, when he wasn't sure if she was sharing a truth about his heritage he didn't know or simply wheedling and manipulating him into acting as she thought he should.
Sarabi had embraced her biological mother's Creature heritage and exalted in being a Djinn, when she'd discovered the truth back in her youth - and she'd been living her life according to her nature, ever since. Each wizard that the public had known and assumed to be her husband had been nothing of the sort.
He'd been her prey, instead - a human drawn into her spiderous web by the supernatural allure of a Djinn, enchanted with the unearthly beauty of the Creature that lurked within her human body. The consummation of the predatory attraction was what anchored Sarabi into their mind, their hearts, their magic - their very souls, if Sarabi was as skilled as it was suggested she was. Once Sarabi was anchored, it was a matter of time before she consumed every spark of living energy within them, absorbing their essence within her and leading to their untimely but natural deaths.
Sarabi Shafiq was a purposeful and deliberate widow and if anyone was ever bold enough to accuse the beloved only daughter of the Lord and Lady Shafiq of foul play - they'd have a hard time holding her responsible for her alleged transgressions. She was Djinn, the product of an illicit affair between the Lord Shafiq and a wild she-Djinn. Nothing she did could be wrong when framed in the context of her beloved and valued heritage. She couldn't truly be blamed for being what she was and for the conclusion of a coupling with a Djinn taking the course that Nature meant it to take...
It would forever be a thorn in her side that her only son - the rare male Djinn, in a race of traditionally feminine Creatures - rejected and despised the hertiage she'd given him, while clinging mercilessly to the pureblood heritage his human father had passed onto him.
If Sarabi had her say, Blaise would have been well onto his third "spouse" by now, thirty years old and marriagable for the past fifteen years. He would have created and consumed three humans as his Vessels and the consumption of their essences would expanded his power as a Djinn and boosted his magic as a human wizard.
Instead, Blaise was preparing to renew his vows to the first person he'd ever loved and the only wizard he ever intend to love, after eleven years of a faithful, steadfast marriage.
Just as she'd wheeled and manipulated and worn down the resistance that he and Draco had towards having the ceremony that never happened originally, Blaise recognized that she could very well be doing the same for her desire to see him embrace his Creature heritage.
Or, she could be telling the truth - and that would be worse.
Blaise squared his shoulders, defiantly.
He wouldn't allow her to get under his skin like this, minutes before the ceremony would start and thus, his honored day with Draco would commence. He'd determine at a later time exactly how much of what she was saying was the truth and how much was simply...his mother being herself.
Right now, he had to meet his beloved at the altar.
The altar was where he and Draco had found salvation eleven years ago and saved both of their lives and the altar was the only place he desire to be in this moment.
There had been nothing that could move him from his path when they made this choice in the silence and desperation of wanting a future -
And, despite what his mother thought, there was nothing that would stop him today, either.
Their hands looked like copper and ivory clasped together under the sunlight.
Blaise had offered his right hand while Draco had offered his left and together, they stood underneath the awning adorned with fairy-lights before the officiant.
Three pale cords wound around their conjoined hands, waiting to be activated and sealed by the concluding words of the ceremony. The officiant drew his wand, placing it on top of their hands, and drew himself up purposefully, as he said the final words.
"By the power vested in me by the sacred rituals of Mother Magic, I now declare you to be bonded for life - husband and husband, mate and mate, spouse and spouse, until the Veil do you part. So mote it be."
The officiant tapped his wand once, soundly -
A supernova of aureate-and-violet light burst from the cords of magic that had been activated and consumed Blaise and Draco entirely.
Neither wizard could be seen through the cloudy light that was roiling and churning, letting off dark gold sparks and vapors that were rich purple and unnervingly vivid.
The exclusive collection of guests that were witnessing the ceremony gasped and made noises of awe and impress, dazzled by the unusual but beautiful expression of magic. Applause began as most of the guests rose to their feet in wonder. The small contingent of press that had been allowed snapped pictures furiously, not wanting to missing a moment of the rare and unseen moment of such aristocratic event.
Sarabi Shafiq was the only person who leapt to her feet in well-hidden distress instead of jubilation, understanding what she was seeing as the dreaded moment she'd warned Blaise about just for the ceremony.
Offering the impression that she was overwhelmed with joy and couldn't wait to congratulate her son and his husband, Sarabi rushed up to the altar as the gold and purple explosion of light began to fade.
Draco looked stricken as he stared at his husband, instead of jubilant.
Sarabi could understand why as soon as she got close enough to see her son clearly.
"What's happening to him?" hissed Draco. "This is - "
Sarabi turned to the crowd of guests, who were still applauding and dazzled by what they believed was an intentional display of celebratory, exotic magic. A Sonorous cast her voice loudly enough that she could be heard and her Allure ensured that she all eyes were upon her, as she announced:
"The House of Shafiq offers our gratitude and our joy that you have come to witness the nuptials of Heir Blaise and his chosen consort! We welcome you to attend the private reception that follows immediately after the ceremony. If you'd heed the ushers at the end of your aisles, you'll be taken to the reception location forthwith." Sarabi spread her arms wide, the sight of Blaise and Draco blurring behind her as she felt an unnatural warmth at her back. "Please, let us continue the celebrations and give honor and joy well into the night!"
With the prompt efficiency that she'd paid a pretty Galleon for, the ushers began to Portkey their guests to the gardens of her cliffside chateau in Jersey Island. Sarabi breathed a little easier as the guests began to swiftly disappear. Her Allure was holding well, but stretching it so thinly over a crowd of one hundred guests was pushing the limits of her power.
Draco made a low, fractured noise as the heat grew more unnatural and Sarabi began to smell spices in the air.
Just as soon as the last of the guests had disappeared with a pop, within minutes of her announcement - Sarabi turned and dropped the Allure that had distracted attention from her son and his husband.
Blaise had been brought to his knees by the Djinn within him breaking free.
He loathed his Creature blood and suppressed it at all costs, therefore had never once tapped into it to become familiar with the powers of his Djinn nor did he know how to control it. The Creature within had been stirred by the strength of the bonding renewal and after getting a taste when the officiant had sealed their marriage for a second time -
The Djinn had broken free and risen to the surface, with Blaise finding himself unable to control it.
"Mother Sarabi," Draco said her name as a plea, turning towards her as Blaise began to rise up from the ground without standing, pulled upwards by the sheer force of Djinn magic. "What's happening? What does this mean?"
Sarabi didn't answer immediately. She was far too enthralled with witnessing her boy finally, finally merging with the hidden half of him, the mystical Creature that was a manifestation of pure magic.
Blaise was hovering in the air well above the ground, his arms spread wide and welcoming, his head thrown back as if in ecstasy. A misting of deep gold and vivid purple light was building around his lower half, a cloud of magic that was thick with the cloying smell of spice and something unearthly and unnamed. The glow that surrounded his upper half was what was creating the unnatural heat, a radiance all its own and rival to the Sun itself.
Blaise finally looked down at them, opening his eyes as a newborn would for the first time.
Draco made a dreadful sound as Blaise gazed upon them down on the ground, with eyes of aureate and violet, his star-shaped pupils obvious even at the height he was floating.
Sarabi could remember only two other times in her life that she felt tears prickling her eyes: when she'd given birth to him and knew he was Djinn and when he'd rejected his Djinn heritage to pass as a pureblood wizard.
Here, in the private moments after he'd renewed his vows and had the wedding she'd never thought she'd see, Sarabi's amber eyes blurred with tears as she looked upon Blaise.
Briefly, her own eyes flashed gold-and-purple, her veiling slipping for a split-second, but it was enough for the Djinn in Blaise to recognize the Djinn in her.
Blaise made an unnatural sound that only Sarabi recognized to be happiness in al-Djinn, the language of Djinn that had no words, only octaves and frequencies of sound. He rocketed upwards, higher than he'd been before - and then, in an explosion of light and vapor and sparks of all shades of yellow and purple, he was suddenly himself again, floating suspended in the air for one long moment.
Draco cried out as Blaise began plummeting back toward the earth, graceful and regal even in unconsciousness.
"He won't be hurt, son-in-law," Sarabi said with rare affection. "Observe."
Draco seemed scandalized at her utter calm, pulling out his own wand to break or cushion his husband's fall - but, as Sarabi had promised, it was unneeded. Just before he would have hit the ground with a force that would have crumpled him, Blaise stopped short and began drifting as if a feather back down to the smooth crushed velvet of the altar he'd been levitated from.
Blaise settled onto the ground at his husband's feet with a groan, rolling over onto his back and sitting up, blearily. Draco dropped to his knees, worriedly, his hands already reaching out to touch Blaise - but, when Blaise opened his eyes, Draco let out a strangled gasp and scooted back before he could stop himself.
Draco was clearly taken aback by what he saw, yet Sarabi had no such qualms, instead delighting at what she saw looking up at her from Blaise's betrayed and shaken face.
The aureate-and-violet eyes of the Djinn that was now fully unleashed, after thirty long years of Blaise deliberately repressing and denying the Creature beneath his human illusion.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: In this fic, the lore for a Djinn will come from both pop culture (where we know them as "genies") as well as traditional Islamic folklore. So, expect the traditional Islamic folklore coupled with concepts like genie lamps, three wishes, and more!
As you can see, I made Mrs. Zabini/Blaise's mum to be a witch of the Shafiq family (one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, according to Pottermore) and that plays hugely into the fic and the place of Djinn in this fic, as the name Shafiq has Islamic/African/South Asian origins; her name is taken from Disney's The Lion King, where Sarabi is Simba's mum and a name I could see a pureblood witch of Afro-Islamic origin.
I hope everyone is liking the rewrite so far and please, let me know what you think of the changes and the new spirit of UNCOUPLING! Reviews are welcomed!
Arabic-to-English Translations*
Ummi = my mother
habib albi = my darling
*All translations are only as accurate as Google translator and other associated online translation services. No accuracy is claimed or implied!
[Edited/Rewritten: Dec. 2019]