The Devil Works Hard

by blessdtoaster

Draco Malfoy is not, necessarily, a good guy. Maybe he could have been, once, but he chose differently. Some (everyone) might say he chose wrong.

After years in Azkaban and an extended house arrest sentence, he is released unto a world that somehow has only gotten worse while he was away… and rather than fix it, he falls right into step.

Or does he?

700 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 2026

Reviews

[Manon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing like ugly crying over a 2,000 page fic on a Friday night. I’ve had to take a paracetamol.

If I drew a triangle and at each point labelled it thus:

- Alcohol dependent, French breakfast aficionado
- Severely traumatised, gift-giving business mogul
- Very good swimmer

In the middle would be the Draco of this fic.

A plot-driven, slow-burn masterpiece. A 15 hour redemption arc. ‘I tried so very hard’ ❤️

… also takes the cake for being the best epilogue ever written, just saying…

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so excited to read another fic by blessdtoaster, who wrote my all-time favorite, A Hard Row to Hoe. I didn't realize before starting that this was a companion book, the same world, but if paths had diverged at a certain point. It was great to see familiar characters like Gemma and Wiggins.

The first half of this story really gripped me and sucked me in, though not as much for the second half. I think this book caters to people who like specific tropes: enemies to friends to lovers, primarily. Malfoy felt particularly Darcy-ish for quite a bit, which part of me really enjoyed. However, I really missed the Tuna of it all, and the general tongue-in-cheek tone that seemed to permeate AHRTH so delightfully.

I did enjoy that we had another villain origin story, and it was interesting to have Harry and Ron be so much more present. I missed the Theo of AHRTH though. All in all, a great way to start off the year Dramione-wise, even if it wasn't enough to supplant A Hard Row to Hoe. The writing was solid, as always, filled with a good amount of moments that made me laugh (though none that made me cry). It was cute to see things come full circle with Draco ending up in the therapist's office. And as always, BT does a great job creating original characters, which is so hard to do well in this genre.

- Draco went to Azkaban after all
- On house arrest, writes letters/sends packages to Hermione regarding her column in the Daily Prophet (including a piece of cake that he made himself by hand!!)
- Ron and Pansy are together, Ron's obsessed with a magical spoon given to them by Draco as a wedding present; also uses the pool at Malfoy Manor a lot and gets rather chummy with Draco
- Slow burn from enemies to friends to lovers
- Draco takes on a healer apprenticeship in France
- Rookwood instates himself as minister, Will and Hermione as undersecretaries
- Draco buys the Daily Prophet when they fire Hermione so she can do her column, lots of things like that where he uses his money in order to help Hermione (often without her realizing it)
- High Draco makeup scene in bathroom

[Elley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually crying. This fic is so important to me— I started this from the beginning when it was still a WIP. Blessdtoaster has my heart! She takes an intricate childhood fantasy world and turns it into something entirely prevalent. The character development was UGHHHH so good. I loved this. So much.

That EPILOGUE!? Yeah… give me a few days (years?)

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

looooved this very much. blessdtoaster is truly one of the best writers in the fandom. A Hard Row to Hoe was remarkable and this was also just as great.

[Amanda McIntyre]

Starting the year with a lengthy dramione fanfiction. This is by the same author as Hard Row to Hoe (one of my top 5 favorites). While I enjoyed my time here… I would read that one instead.