Part IV: Under Pressure
1 December 2010
"He is your son, Sarabi. Your only child! How can you allow him to suffer like this, as his mother? You're purposefully withholding your help!"
"I am not allowing him to suffer. I have told you what the best solution is. An entire month ago, I told you what the best solution is. It is you who has sat stubbornly for these past thirty days, refusing to move forward and apply the solution at hand."
"Your solution makes no sense and never will! Blaise needs actual help - not your Byzantine plots to use and discard humans for your own pleasaure!"
Sarabi looked up sharply from her teacup, her violet-and-aureate eyes glittering dangerously from across the parlor. Draco was aware two seconds too late that his outburst would certainly be taken as an insult, his emphasis on humanity construed as a slur - and he closed his mouth, abruptly.
He wasn't going to apologize, because he meant what he said.
It had been a whole month since Sarabi had suggested her unthinkable and unrealistic plan to somehow secure Granger as a Vessel for Blaise. A month and a week since Blaise had been sequestered in the solarium back at their manor, half-Creature, half-human with increasing strain on his simuraculum, his human body. Draco felt it had been an entire lifetime since their vow renewal and he was becoming more and more desperate, more afraid for his husband's safety and wellness.
He wanted Blaise to be human again. Even if he were a hybird human, pureblood wizard with Creature hertiage.
He wanted their lives to go back to normal and for this unfortunate period in time to serve as a reminder and lesson, nothing more.
Sarabi knew how to achieve to this. She knew exactly what was needed to master the wildness of the Djinn, contain it once more, and allow Blaise to become himself again. All of this could be a bittersweet memory of from the time of their vow renewal - not anything that Blaise had to suffer through or Draco had to witness the suffering of.
All that stood in bewteen this being talked about and being applied was this obsession, this fixation that Sarabi had on Granger.
Granger and her apparent rare and powerful value as a Vessel for the Djinn that resided within Blaise.
Draco tried to keep from glaring, as Sarabi continued to stare at him with those Creature eyes of hers. She was waiting for him to backpedal or cower before her. Perhaps to humble himself as he always did, no longer being in the same station in life as her and her inferior in society, if it hadn't been for Blaise legitimating him again through marriage.
He wouldn't.
After an incredibly uncomfortable stretch of time, where Draco felt as though he were being flayed alive by her eyes alone, Sarabi looked back down at her tea leaves. Her voice was cold when she spoke again.
"If you'll allow me to explain, you will - "
"I don't want you to explain! I want you to - "
"Silence, pauper! Speak no more!"
Draco was surprised when his yell choked off in his throat and he was made to exactly as she'd ordered.
"I am the Lady of the Ancient and Most Ethical House of Shafiq!" Sarabi sounded like low peal of thunder, her Creature eyes darkening into something chilling. "You are but a married presence in my House and I will not tolerate disrespect, derision, or scorn from you. Not even if you were still the heir of the Ancient and Most Sincere House of Malfoy."
Draco could do nothing but sit and accept her disdained rebuke.
"I have found myself without patience any longer for your churlish behavior as it pertains to my son and his dilemma, thus I will share with you the reasoning behind this solution - and you will listen."
Draco wanted to pull out his hair by the handful. Nothing he said or did or refused was getting through to her. No matter how he yelled or resisted or tried to stand like steel against her, Sarabi was determined that Granger was the key to moving forward from this nightmare and would not be swayed. Under the silence of the thick magic that was her birthright as the Lady Shafiq, Draco could do nothing but sigh irritably and nod as if he were in agreement.
Sarabi glared at him balefully as she began speaking.
"If Blaise had listened to me when he was a child and allowed me to teach him of his hertiage and culture, this could have been avoided. His Djinn could have been integrated into his half-human self and would have grown with him, able to be apart of him intsead of a supression within him." Sarabi sniffed, bitterly, as she revealed: "I know this, because I did not know of my own Djinn until I was out of Hogwarts. It broke free from me when I married my first husband, much the same as Blaise's Djinn has, and once an untamed Djinn breaks free - there are only two avenues to master your Djinn."
Draco was indignant and fascinated, all at once.
Her confession that she had once been in the exact same predicament as Blaise was in now was something he'd never known before now.
Sarabi had always seemed as if she had been born knowing and thriving in her Creature heritage. She seemed to owe her successful integration into Wizarding society as a favor to the humans she was around, a token of her fortune to be the treasured only daughter of the late Lord Shafiq. By now, it was an open secret that the Lady Shafiq identified with her Creature heritage over her pureblood siring - and it was a bit disruptive to imagine that it had never been anything but. Never once would Draco had ever guessed that she hadn't always had control of the transcendant Djinn within her alluring human simaraculum.
His fascination pulled up short when he realized that with this very confession, Sarabi was admitting that she knew better than he could have guessed what Blaise was going through. And, still -
She refused to help him.
Nearly six weeks Blaise had been struggling and becoming worn down against the untamed Creature within him...and, Sarabi hadn't done anything about, despite knowing herself what it was like for him at the moment.
Sarabi ignored his glare, as she sat up straight and eyed him seriously.
"One of his two options is do to what you accuse me of desiring above all else: let the Djinn remain free and Blaise surrenders his Wizarding self to become a fullblooded Djinn."
Draco jerked forward, anxiously. His panicked outburst went unheard, his mouth moving but uttering no sound, and Sarabi nearly smirked with satisfication that her edict as the Lady of the House was still holding.
"This is not the option I want, despite what you may assume." Sarabi sniffed, clearly offended, as she continued: "If I never wanted my son to be a hybrid Creature, I would have never chosen a Wizarding man as his father. I could have allowed him to be a fullblood Djinn. He would have been entirely Creature with nothing of his grandfather's humanity passed along with him, if I'd chosen instead to birth with another Djinn. I deliberately did not choose this. My intentional choice to have a hybrid child should make it clear I want him to stay my hybrid child. I want him to continue as he is - but, with full mastery of his heritage, instead shame and self-loathing."
Draco was tempted to not believe her.
A tenderness that he had never imagined her to be capable of crept into her words, as Sarabi leaned forward as anxiously as he was, her eyes seeming to pierce through him with the intensity of what she said next.
"I would love nothing more than to see my boy returned to the perfect Creature hybrid I birthed him to be." Sarabi said, feelingly. "However, because his Djinn is now untamed, the only means of accomplishing this is now through the only other option he has. The ritual of Vesseling. He has to choose to create a bond with a Vessel."
Draco made an impatient motion, toward his throat. Almost distractedly, Sarabi snapped her finger, and the cinch of magic that has silenced him thus far was dissolved. Draco cleared his throat, trying not to sound too pointed, and took the moment to gather himself.
Knowing that his only other option besides this Vesseling act was to lose Blaise forever to the full-bloodedness of his Creature hertiage, Draco didn't see the need to interrupt, anymore. Sarabi had been correct.
He would listen and he needed to listen, for this was what he'd been desperate for since their vow renewal: Sarabi's knowledge, help, and support in restoring Blaise to his hybrid humanity.
With a nod, Draco quietly urged her to continue.
"A Vessel is a chosen human, who is able to become an outlet for the power of the Djinn. A part of the Djinn's power will flow through the Vessel from the Djinn, creating a continuous circuit of energy that gives the Djinn more control over itself - more room to breathe, as it were, for the Djinn will be contained over two human bodies, instead of just the one." Sarabi raised her rounded chin upwards slightly, sounding rather pleased with herself when she declared: "I want Granger to be the Vessel for Blaise, for I've worked alongside her and know her magic. For a human witch, she has a mightily powerful magical core and her magic has the mass capacity to support the magic of a Djinn without harming or overpowering her own core."
Draco closed his eyes briefly.
"You cannot just decide that she is the right one and have it happen." Draco looked at her, troubled and irritated once more. "Do you have any idea who you're speaking of, Mother Sarabi? She is Hermione bloody Granger - she's as impossible as Potter to touch!"
Sarabi looked down her nose at him, haughtily.
"So you think. I have all the confidence in the world that I can not only touch her, but have her come willingly." Sarabi smiled in a way that could have been pretty - on a witch that was fully human. The curve of her mouth was like a honeyed blade, her Creature eyes glittering predatorily.
Draco was both curious and uneasy, all at once. "You seem so very confident. Just how do you suppose you'll make this come to pass?"
Sarabi's smile became wider. "All you need to be assured of is that I have a plan. Every detail is ready to be put in motion and Miss Granger will come without being called. I shall take care of everything myself, but not until you do your part. I've been insisting this entire time that it is critical that you get Blaise to accept creating a Vessel and that is for a reason, aibnih qanuniaan."
Draco rubbed at his eyes again. His mind was racing thousands of meters per minute, his thoughts crashing around frenetically in his head. There was so much he wanted to say - so much he should be saying, as he engaged in this unthinkable conversation with a woman who he both feared and respected. After a few minutes of trying to decide where to start and failing, he asked the question he should have been asking all along.
"You keep saying I have to do my part - but, why would this be my part?" Draco eyed her, both thoughtful and wary. "You just made it clear that this is a solitary ambition that you need no companionship for, yet you seemed quite dependent upon me, for whatever reason."
Sarabi appeared to be trying not to roll her eyes at him.
"For the simple reason that you are his husband. His Wizarding blood recognizes the unity of your magic through marriage, though the Djinn is untamed and has no such restrictions. If your martial bond believes that Blaise is trying to stray from its commitment, his Wizarding magic may strike against him - and we don't want that. Therefore, as a bonded union, the decision to allow Granger into your bond as a Vessel must come from the both of you, not just Blaise."
Draco sat back in his armchair, heavily. "I suppose you would have just gone to Blaise and made the offer, it were only up to him," he mused, suddenly resentful of everything about this and the unusual choices that would have to be made because of it. "What if I don't want to open our marital bond to anyone? Granger, of all people, at that!"
Before Sarabi could answer, the chime of her Floo went off. She had a visitor, one she was expecting, and this seemed to be where their conversation would stop for now, as Sarabi rose to her feet.
"If you don't want to open your bond, then you must want a fullblooded Djinn as your husband." Sarabi pulled herself together, everything about her a glowing, beautiful human woman, instead of the Creature-dominant witch she allowed to be seen in the privacy of her own home. "I'd think carefully about wants versus needs at this time, aibnih qanuniaan. There is a limited frame of time in which to execute this plan and you'll want to make your decision - and make it soon."
Sarabi swept from the room, leaving Draco alone with the roar of his thoughts crashing around in his head.
Either he did nothing for Blaise and allowed him to fade into a fullblood Djinn, no longer possessing his human self nor his Wizarding magic - or, he did the impossible and allowed another person into their union as a third bonder, a Troth.
He had a decision to make, indeed.
Draco just didn't have any idea of how he could possibly decide something as unexpected and unthinkable as this.
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many people have asked why divorcing Ron would lead to the outcomes stated in the summary - nameless and destitute. There were hints all throughout this chapter as how this is possible, but what's most important is now we see where this road starts. However, just because Sarabi is plotting on Hermione doesn't mean it will have a negative outcome. UNCOUPLING is not a dubcon (dubious content) fic by any means, but we are dealing with a family of Slytherins that have designs on the thoroughly Gryffindor Hermione. She will come willingly, she'll just have her path guided in a way that she may or may not appreciate, once the truth is revealed.
In the next chapter, we see more of Hermione and things start taking a turn for her, quite noticeably. A fair bit of angst ahead, but don't worry - we're almost to the steam and romance of this tale. It's coming, I promise!
Thank you very much for your reviews and continued interest, even after the rewrite. The next part should be ready to post fairly soon, for most of it is written and almost ready to be uploaded. Until next time!]