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?

Genres: Fan Fiction, Fantasy

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…

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah I am absolutely sobbing. What a masterpiece this turned out to be.

[Ashley Chantelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLESSDTOASTER DOES IT AGAIN🙏🏼 the bar was high after Hard Row but this fic lived up to the expectations. Loved the way these characters were written, loved the character growth and all the friendships, and always love a good side of Theo 💚

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my heart, this fic is so special to me. How lucky are we to have this little gift! What a redemption arc, what a beautiful Theo friendship, what a gang in general.

One of my favourite Dracos (I fear I say this always!)

Shout out to my other fav Mother Wampus Wiggins you were so much fun ❤️

[Brenna Weaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

lovely and enjoyable but not more than AHRTH

everything she writes is magic though!!!!

[Henna Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already knew blessdtoaster could write amazingly complex and compelling (😉) antagonists. This fic taught me she can also write an epilogue for the ages and that we both love Noah Kahan. If you’re familiar with Hard Row to Hoe, this is an AU where Draco actually serves time in Azkaban and then must determine if he will be a waste of a soul or seek a road to redemption. This fic is a love letter to friendship and how it can sustain and save. We all deserve someone who will sit in the darkness with us without letting us succumb to it. We all deserve someone for whom we are not too much.

[Meghan Evans]

I loved the aspects brought over from HRTH

[Luisa]

2.25 ⭐️

Oh man. I was expecting so much from this one. Especially after such an action-packed, plot-heavy AHRTH, and with all the amazing reviews saying this was even better… hard disagree (A Hard Row to Hoe is INCREDIBLE).

I enjoy fluff. I enjoy low-plot fics. But this was so long, so repetitive, and the chapters were absurdly long.

The BEST part of the fic was Will’s backstory: how he was actually coming from a good place, how everything spiraled, and what he did to cover his tracks. That part was genuinely interesting. But the 80% before that (which felt like 600 pages…) was mostly just relationship building.

Don’t get me wrong, Draco and Hermione’s dynamic was great. The banter, the slow shift, and Draco’s personality? Amazing. I love a Draco who’s posh, confused about his attraction, and loyal af. His sexual inexperience also made sense for his character, though… yeah, still a tiny bit icky at times.

Theo and Draco’s friendship was a huge highlight.

But the jealousy? Unbearable. I’m with Wiggins on this one 100%.

🚨 Story

Draco has just been released from Azkaban and is under house arrest. Hermione works at the Ministry and writes for the Prophet. Draco hates her column, so naturally, he starts sending her hate mail.

Pansy and Ron are together after the death of Parvati (Ron’s ex and Pansy’s friend), and now they’re pregnant and getting married. Every time Draco and Hermione are forced to be in the same room because of them, they argue. Constantly. They hate the pairing… and each other.

Then Rookwood becomes Minister in a shady vote and starts making terrible decisions. Hermione ends up quitting the Ministry and getting fired from the Prophet… only for Draco to buy the newspaper and hire her back because he can’t live without arguing with her column.

She confronts him and realizes he’s not the same prejudiced person she thought he was.

Then things escalate.

Hermione gets poisoned and goes straight to Malfoy Manor. Draco takes her to St. Mungo’s, then goes full unhinged: he tracks down everyone from the bar she was at, uses Imperio and Legilimency on them, finds nothing, and ends up buying the bar. Harry shows up, covers for him, and sends him away to France to study healing. Draco also stops drinking after realizing how out of control he was.

Meanwhile, he keeps buying entire publications anytime someone writes something against Hermione.

For her birthday, Hermione gets a Portkey necklace from Harry and a protection ring from Draco. When she has a date the next day, Draco literally obliviates the guy and goes in his place. Chaos. Flirting. Perfection.

They grow closer, flirt constantly, and eventually get invited to a Quidditch match by Rookwood… which turns into a terrorist attack. The field is gassed, and Draco uses his healing knowledge to save people, including Rookwood, earning his trust.

Around this time, Will rises to power and becomes obsessed with finding the terrorists.

Things finally escalate between Draco and Hermione, but just as they’re about to kiss, Dolohov breaks in and reveals he’s been behind everything: the poisoning, the attacks, even past incidents tied to Hermione. Draco kills him, and Wiggins and Washington (two WIE) arrive (via Hermione’s necklace) to clean up the situation.

They reveal they need Draco to spy on Rookwood, suspecting deeper corruption. Draco is brought into Rookwood’s inner circle.

Meanwhile, Draco and Hermione’s relationship is a mess of jealousy, miscommunication, and tension. They hook up, keep things secret, and continue being chaotic at public events.

Then everything shifts.

Theo, who has been distant, is revealed to be involved with Will… and that’s where the real plot begins.

Will is a Mutare, someone who can influence and control minds almost like a living Imperius Curse. He tried to suppress it his whole life after seeing the damage his father caused with the same ability. His intentions were good, he genuinely wanted to make the world better.

But he lost control.

He starts subtly manipulating people “for the greater good,” which escalates into full control. He can’t control Rookwood directly, so he manipulates those around him instead. He falls in love with Theo, but is also unknowingly damaging his mind.

To isolate Theo, he pushes him away from Draco, which only makes Draco more suspicious.

Eventually, Will goes too far. He raids Malfoy Manor, plants evidence, and sends Draco back to Azkaban. He polyjuices Theo as his secretary and kills someone disguised as Theo, making Draco believe Theo is dead.

That’s when everything collapses.

Draco is broken out of Azkaban by Wiggins, the truth comes out, Will is captured, and Theo is rescued. After months of healing, Theo recovers, but he’s deeply hurt because he genuinely loved Will.

Will pleads guilty.

The fic ends with an epilogue showing Draco’s full life, outliving everyone he loved, including Hermione… by only 11 days.

[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

[Emilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me costó un poco conectar debo admitir ,pero una vez ya en la historia no la solté, los personajes se me hicieron vibrantes , bien caracterizados y me encanta un personaje con defectos porque lo hace humano.
Dracooo lo amo , algo que lo caracteriza siempre es que es un personaje que siente todo y todo le importa mucho y en este fic se pudo notar , como eran tan considerado en sus regalos (la cuchara!!! Jajaja .
El trope de he leído todo lo que escribes lo amo y no decepcionó respondiéndole a su columna, ya que era lo único que le provocaba algún tipo de felicidad y cuando se la quitan él la compraaa y también el restaurante ya la revista donde sufrió algún mal ,lo que más me encantaba de eso es que él decía que no sentía nada por ella y el enemies to lovers si dio ñ.
Me encantó su redención y como por haber fallado una vez decidió cambia todo para nunca sentirse inútil.
Lo que sentí un poco fue que la mitad del libro se siento diferente a la primera pero no es queja aunque si diría que me gustó más la primera.
El villano me causó conflicto porque si no le hubiese hecho hecho a Theo no sé si lo hubiera odiado,osea si fue malo pero no taaaan malo con el villano del otro libro que verla aquí me daba mucha risa y miedo.
Me encanta como escribe esta persona y si leeré todo lo que vaya sacando

[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?)

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what Remain Nameless would’ve been if it had been funnier. What a ride this story was! I loved every second of it.

An ode to the epilogue that brought me to tears and made me nostalgic:

“I look at this beautiful piece of writing you've come up with, and I am struck with the idea that after all, I did try. I tried so very hard.”

I love Draco Malfoy. Nothing more to say.

[Imvni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true enemies to lovers dramione fanfic *chef’s kiss* I’m so sad that it’s over, this story was such a treat, one of my favorite characterizations of Draco (top 3 fosho, along with AHRTH and DMATHOOBIL)

god bless fanfic authors, gifting us with gems like this for the love of the game

[Jessica - How Jessica Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one started out DARK. For the first 20% or so I was wondering if I made a mistake reading it. But then it’s very witty in the 20-40% era, and while there some dark stuff later too, it’s more manageable. Blessdtoaster really is a great writer!

[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.

[liya · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.85 | throughly enjoyed

[Katie Houk · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Amanda Perry-Larkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved💕

[Crosby Treadway · Rating 5 out of 5]

The end of this one 😭😭 they GET it. The character development, the plot, the yearning. Ugh another banger

[Nina Pavozova]

I didn’t think it was possible to like this one even more than AHRTH.. but here we are…

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!! She’s such a talented writer and I love this world and the way the author writes these specific characters. I loved it.

[szonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

i wish i could add a picture here as i am bawling my eyes out in the kitchen.
that would be telling enough, that this was a masterpiece.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

(325k words)

[Hollie Charlebois]

This fic is one of the best I’ve ever read and I’m never gonna shut up about it