Chapter Text
“Where the fuck have you been?” Pansy snapped as Draco strolled into the bleak, concrete, windowless room.
“Busy,” he replied, taking off his suit jacket and carefully folding it over a chair. He began to roll up his sleeves.
“That’s it? That's all you have to say? Busy?” She growled.
“Mate, we’ve been waiting for over an hour,” Blaise added.
“If it was important, I would have been here sooner.” He pulled a cigarette out and placed it between his lips, letting it dangle as he continued to speak. “No one said it was an emergency, so I made the executive decision that it was alright to be a little late.” He turned around and snapped his fingers to light it, before turning back and taking a long drag.
“You aren’t the one making the decisions, Draco. You had your chance, and you chose not to be fully involved. So when we tell you to be somewhere, then be there on time.” Pansy’s eye began to twitch, which was a sign she was livid.
Pansy was right though. Her and Blaise ran the enterprise, where Draco and Theo were technically their employees. Pans and Blaise usually let them chime in on important matters that would affect the entire organization. They were offered to split responsibilities at the beginning, but neither was interested.
They were both still in management type positions. Theo had always been proficient in Potions, so he made illegal ones for them to sell. He also organized the trafficking of the illegal ingredients they sold, and sourced many of them through his contacts.
Draco was the main…enforcer. Both the dark magic he used during the war, and frequent torture he received at that time, affected him more than most people realized. He didn’t go completely mental like his aunt, but it gave him a violent streak that had not been present before the war. If he didn’t exercise his violent urges frequently enough, he became a little unhinged. In one of those instances, Draco blacked out and apparently slaughtered half of a muggle drug cartel—without magic.
So, he doled out punishments to those who needed them, and eliminated anyone who got in their way. It worked well, except there were times he didn’t love having Pansy as a boss.
Below Draco and Theo were all other employees—dealers, transporters of the ingredients, and other enforcers or security that watched the factory where they ran and stored everything.
While that brought in some money, Blaise had the brilliant idea to expand–into the muggle criminal world. They did a variety of things there—organized illegal fighting rings and gambling, racketeering, and, for the right price, smuggled drugs or stolen property in and out of the country. The use of magic made it rather simple, and the muggles they worked with were always impressed by them. They had a large group of muggles who they employed for all of these tasks, and Draco helped keep them all in line as well.
They were victimless crimes, really. As long as no one wronged them, no one got hurt. If the Aurors found out though, Draco would likely go to Azkaban for life due to his prior war crimes. The others would serve time too. That was why Draco used a different name in the muggle world, so when he was arrested on occasion—always for fighting—the wizarding authorities shouldn’t discover his involvement.
Draco finally nodded before replying. “What do we have here?”
There was a short, stocky, middle aged man tied to a chair before him. He was gagged, and his eyes nervously darted between the three of them.
“This is the wanker that you lost weeks ago,” Blaise said.
Draco bent down close to the man and assessed him. Sure enough, Blaise was right, it was the bloke he lost the night he stumbled upon Granger. He blew smoke in the git's face.
“Oh yeah. I remember you, the one that got away.” Draco winked and stood. “What did we need him for?”
“He owes us money. Made a bad bet in our fights, and has been avoiding paying what he owes. We have given him multiple opportunities to repay us, but we are done being lenient. Decided you could give him one of your special talks. Help him see the error of his ways,” Blaise said before turning to Pansy. “Can I leave this with you, Pans? The wife is going to be furious with me for being late on her night off.” He gave Draco a pointed look, who simply shrugged.
“Yes, I’ve got it. Tell her I want to have lunch next week.” Pansy dismissed Blaise with her hand without looking away from the bloke tied to the chair.
“You can go home too. I’m sure Astoria’s missing you,” Draco said as he vanished the butt of his cigarette, without the muggle seeing of course.
“No. I’m staying. You obviously need a babysitter.”
“Pans-”
“Just get started, Draco!” She sniped as she sat in another chair across the room.
Forty five minutes later Draco whistled as he scrubbed the blood from his hands, and cleansed his switchblade he had used to carve into the bloke. Draco made clear that he had one week to pay them back, or Draco would need to speak with him again. Since he was a muggle, they placed a tracking spell on him without his knowledge in case he fled.
He walked down the hall and opened the door to the potions room. It was half past three in the morning, yet he knew Theo would be there. When his partner was travelling, as he was now, Theo practically lived in his lab.
“Did Pansy tear you a new one?” Theo asked, not breaking eye contact with his wand as he moved it in elaborate circles over a cauldron.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. Hopefully Astoria fucks her tonight so she’s in a better mood tomorrow.”
“Charming,” Theo drawled, turning the fire off under the cauldron and turning fully to Draco. “Where were you?”
“Am I not allowed to have a life outside of here?” Draco asked irritably.
“You are, but you know we will find out eventually. Why not tell us now?”
“I like to be mysterious,” Draco replied sarcastically as he lit a dart. Theo huffed and vanished it before Draco could take a second drag.
“I’ve told you a million times, Draco, no smoking in here! It could contaminate the potions! Do you ever listen?”
“Obviously not,” Draco replied before pulling a potion vial from his trouser pocket. “Can you break this down for me and tell me the ingredients?”
Theo took the vial and looked at it closely. “Can I? Yes, of course I can. I think what you meant to ask was ‘Theo, will you please break this potion down and let me know what’s in it? I will be eternally grateful and owe you a favour.’” Theo stuck his lower lip out in a pout, and Draco couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Please, Theo, will you do that for me? It can wait until tomorrow, you look like you could use some sleep.”
“Still more handsome than you,” Theo replied. Draco laughed again as he Apparated home.
Two days later, Draco sat at a large table with the others, discussing… something. He wasn’t really paying attention, and instead tossing a snitch in the air and catching it as he sat relaxed back in his chair. Running the club was more work than he realized, and Draco would be very happy when Bruno could take over the majority of the work. He had other investments, but they all ran themselves with minimal input.
It was also difficult to watch the seedier patrons and how they would interact with the dancers. Draco had asked security to let him know if anyone tried to go too far– he would be more than happy to talk to them himself.
Aside from that, Granger was quite the distraction. He was currently picturing her last night—spinning erotically on a pole, wearing nothing but a sparkly neon green thong and thick black heels, her wild curls loose and dangling down her back.
Great, now he was half hard.
Draco didn’t even like her all that much. It had nothing to do with the pureblood bullshit he was raised on, since he stopped believing that during the war.
She was just so… Granger. Still a complete cow. Had he been a little fascinated by her ever since first year? Maybe. But fascination and liking someone were two very different things. She was also just so different then what he was taught about muggleborns.
Was buying the club, and keeping an eye on her Draco’s way of making amends for the years of torment? Absolutely not, it was both something to hold over her, as well as a good business decision. This was just another investment that would end up making him great money.
Draco was also extremely curious why she left the wizarding world at all. When The Daily Prophet announced she was reported missing, it was headline news for months. There were reports of her being spotted all over the globe. After a time, most thought she had either moved away, or offed herself. While the news cycle eventually moved on, there was occasionally still an article about her. The Chosen Scahead and his pet Weasel were primarily behind the crusade to find her, putting out a decent reward for information that led to her location.
Aside from all of that, Draco was still just a wizard, and could admit Granger was a fit witch. She finally learned how to control the bushy mop on her head, her curls now luscious and silky. Her skin was as soft as butter, he knew from lightly dragging his finger up her spine. Although, she was tinier than he remembered. Not just in height, but everywhere. Draco wasn’t one to judge others' bodies, but she was just too skinny, as if she wasn’t eating properly.
Maybe he could ask Whimsy to sneak some food into her flat—
Wait, why the fuck do I care?
“Draco, do you agree?”
He caught the snitch and sat up, and looked at Pansy, who had asked the question. She glared at him with a raised brow and scowl, as if she could tell he was not following the conversation.
A quick glance to Theo, who secretly nodded his head, and Draco confidently said he was all for whatever the fuck they were discussing.
A few minutes later the meeting finished. As everyone began to leave, Theo approached him.
“Hey, can you come to the lab? I have the results of that thing you asked me about,” Theo said seriously.
Draco followed him to the lab, and when they entered, Theo locked the door behind them. Then he spun around with a scowl on his face.
“Where the fuck did you get that potion from? You haven’t taken any, have you?” He asked sternly.
“I haven’t touched it. I pulled it off someone I know. Why? What was it?” Draco asked, his anger settling slightly and replaced with curiosity.
Theo sighed and sat down in a chair.
“It's a pain potion. Standard brewing for the most part, except something very specific has been added to it. An ingredient I know is illegal and heavily regulated by the ministry, and that I know we are now the only ones to distribute in all of Europe.”
Worry shot through Draco. Not for Granger, of course.
“What is it?”
“Acromantula venom,” Theo replied gravely. Draco felt his eyebrows shoot up as Theo continued. “Which, as you know, is not only expensive due to being extremely difficult and hazardous to obtain, but can also be very dangerous to add to a pain potion. The brew already works to block pain signals, and creates a sense of euphoria. The venom would add a numbing aspect, and further enhance the high. I’ve never seen it done before. In a fucked up way, it’s actually brilliant. Whoever made it thankfully only put a small amount in, but it wouldn’t take much more to be lethal. If whomever you took it from is distributing it, they could easily kill a lot of people. Not that it’s in our hands what happens to ingredients when they are sold, but it wouldn’t look good for business either.”
Fucking Granger.
“I highly doubt it's being distributed. Pretty sure she makes it for herself," he mumbled half to himself.
“She? Are you seeing someone?” Theo asked, looking intrigued.
“What? Salazar no. No, no, no. Definitely not. Not even on my radar as someone I would want to—just no. It’s someone from my past that I recently ran into. I suspected it was a pain potion, but wanted confirmation. Didn’t know about the venom though.”
The corner of Theo’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t push it.
“Well, whoever she is, I can almost guarantee either has debilitating pain and can barely move, resulting in needing to enhance the qualities of pain potion, or she's an addict. Either way, I’m shocked she hasn't keeled over yet. If too much is ingested in a short time, it would probably be fatal.”
Draco blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to do something. It was bad enough he knew Granger’s location and was now her boss. He couldn’t just allow her to accidentally kill herself.
When he was performing Legilimency on the staff, he wanted to see any memories they had of her outside of dancing. Draco saw that she would sometimes take more than one potion a shift. He didn’t need her dropping dead on stage. It would be terrible for business. That was obviously his only concern.
“Do all of our dealers distribute this?” Draco asked.
“No. Like some of our other rare or dangerous ingredients, only three would. Our usual guys–Flint, Montague, and Pucey.”
Whoever it was must know they were selling to Hermione Granger. Unless she was also using polyjuice, although Draco had the suspicion she wasn’t. It would involve using magic, and he had noticed that she never did. Not even for makeup charms like most witches did–she used muggle makeup.
How the fuck did she keep them quiet?
An image of her blowing one of the blokes popped into his head, and he tightened his fist. Theo noticed and frowned, so Draco shook it out.
“I assume she would need to stop taking them immediately?” Draco asked.
“She would likely need to taper off and detox. Withdrawal will be a bitch. Normal pain potion is one thing, but this venom… if she quits cold turkey, she could die. There are special potions that help with detox, I could make some if you like. I would need her weight though. Or, you could tell me who—”
“I’m not telling you who it is, Theo,” Draco replied sharply. Then he sighed. “That would be great if you make those potions. I’ll cover the cost. She can’t be more than seven stone. Any chance you could have them ready by Monday?” When Theo nodded, Draco asked him one more question. “Can you keep this between us, please?”
“You know I hate lying to Blaise and Pans—”
“They don’t need to know about this. It’s none of their business. Merlin’s saggy nutsack, it’s barely even my business.”
Theo stared at him intently.
“I won’t go out of my way to tell them. But if they ask about these extra potions I’m brewing, I refuse to lie. Deal?”
“Deal. Thanks, Theo. I appreciate it.”
“Whoever it is is lucky to have you,” Theo said seriously.
Draco disagreed and remained silent, his thoughts too busy raging about the curly haired muggleborn.
Draco Apparated to the alley outside of Pucey’s flat. He had already spoken to Montague and Flint—total prats—but they knew what they were doing, and would never sell out anyone if they were caught. They, along with Pucey, were entrusted to sell their most dangerous, illegal, and expensive potions and ingredients. It didn’t sound like Granger was buying from them, although it was difficult to know for sure. He obviously couldn’t ask if they had seen Hermione Granger.
Pucey was a large, intimidating bloke, who Draco occasionally brought as backup if the situation was going to be precarious. He could both take a punch, and dole them out beautifully.
Aside from looking mean, and the occasional bout of violence, he was really a big teddy bear. Always gave Draco a hug whenever they crossed paths, consensual or not. Sometimes it was handy when Draco needed his spine cracked.
“Draco! Mate, how are you? Come in!” Adrian ushered him into his flat, closed the door, and gave him one of the bone crushing hugs.
“I think one of these days you are going to snap me in half,” Draco said with a chuckle, although he wasn’t entirely joking.
“Ahh, if Pansy can handle them, you can too.”
Adrian forced him to sit at his bar and have a coffee, that he added a large splash of firewhiskey to.
“I’m happy you're here, but I can tell something’s up,” Adrian said after some small talk.
“How often do you sell Acromantula venom?” Draco asked. If Adrian was surprised by the question, he didn’t show it.
“Every few months. I have a couple of regulars. I’ve never had issues with them,” he replied.
“Can you tell me about them? Do you have names?”
“One is a redheaded Scottish witch—Rowena. She’s tiny, but I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. I actually suspect she's immortal…” Adrian trailed off, as if deep in thought.
“Alright, and the other one?” Draco said to get him to focus. Adrian shook his head.
“I don’t really know much about that one. A witch by the sound of her voice. Short, but hard to say how big she is otherwise since she always wears an oversized robe. I’ve never seen her face, and she’s never given a name. Although she’s been coming to me for about three years or so.”
This wasn’t strange to Draco, as there were often buyers who didn’t want their identity known.
“The mystery one always pays in full?” He asked curiously, wanting to ensure no favours were being given.
“Of course, Draco. I wouldn’t give discounts, especially not on something like that.”
“Would you be able to show me? You’re not in trouble, I just really need to get in touch with this individual,” Draco asked, and Adrian nodded. Their employees were used to random Legilimency checks like this, and we’re all extensively trained in Occlumency as well in case they were ever captured.
Draco pointed his wand at Adrian’s face and whispered “Legilimens.”
Adrian willingly let him in, and pushed memories he had of the witch forward. Everything he had said was true, the oversized robe, barely saying anything to Adrian. She even wore gloves to cover her hands. Draco was about to pull out of his mind, when a more recent memory made him pause.
Draco hadn’t fully assessed Granger's tattoos as of yet, except for one. On her left forearm, where his aunt carved into her. There were flowers now covering it—marigolds and poppies—along with vines of ivy. They wrapped around her forearm, up around her bicep. One of the vines extended down to her hand and onto her middle finger.
Mystery witch just happened to have the same one.
First morning of club renovations
Draco knocked on the door of the flat and assessed the hallway of the building as he waited. It was despicable. Paint peeled off the walls, the lights flickered, and the floors were sticky. He might need to burn his dragonhide boots after this.
No answer, so he slammed his fist against the door harder. Frankly, he was worried his fist would go through the wood.
He finally heard footsteps on the other side, and some grumbling. Were the walls made of paper?
“You better have a good reason to be waking me up this early— what the hell are you doing here?” Granger shrieked.
“It’s half past ten in the morning, Granger. Bit pathetic you were still asleep.”
She ignored the jab, still looking shocked he was there.
“How do you know where I live?”
“Your file at work has your address. I can tell from the chicken scratch that you wrote it. Do you have a brain injury, or are you always this forgetful?” He taunted.
“Gary assured me that once he submitted the forms for payroll and banking, that he would shred it, because he knew I was adamant that I didn’t want my address on file.”
“In a shocking turn of events, Granger, he lied. Who would have thought that the bloke who whored out his dancers would do such a thing!” Draco mockingly gasped.
She glared at him and, quicker than he thought, slammed the door in his face and locked it.
“Salazar, give me strength,” he muttered, before pulling out his wand and uttering an Alohamora. He was genuinely surprised it worked, the silly bint didn’t even have wards.
Draco strolled in and closed the door, giving the space a quick assessment. While it was also run down, at the very least it was clean and tidy.
He looked back at her just in time to catch the couch pillow she threw at his head.
“What the fuck are you doing?! You can’t just break into people's homes! I’ll call the police—”
“I know you heard when I told Gary they were on my payroll. They won’t come if I tell them not to,” Draco said smugly.
A noise that sounded alarmingly similar to a growl slipped from her mouth.
“Why are you here?” She hissed.
He lifted his wand again. “Accio Acromantula Venom.”
Granger paled as three small vials of liquid came shooting out from what looked like a bedroom.
“MALFOY! You can’t—” she yelled, but he interrupted.
“Do you even realize how dangerous this shit is to add to pain potions? I thought you were supposed to be smart!” He bellowed back.
“I am fully aware of the consequences of what the venom can do! If you’ve forgotten, I was first in our year! Now give those back, I don’t know how you know I have it but I need it,” she lunged forward to try and grab them, but he held them above his head. She jumped and scratched at him, although she wasn’t doing any damage. She really was quite short, which in different circumstances would have been mildly arousing.
After a bit more yelling and jumping in a lackluster attempt to grab them, Granger again moved fast—and punched Draco right in the nuts.
“FUCK!” He bellowed, and promptly dropped the vials. His vision went blurry from the pain, but he heard as they crashed to the floor and shattered.
“NO! No, no, no! What have you done?” His vision cleared enough to watch as she dropped to her knees, looking like she was trying to salvage some of the venom.
It was…sad. Watching this incredibly brilliant and talented witch, look so panicked. If he didn’t already know she had a problem, her current display would have been more than enough proof.
Draco wandlessly performed a numbing charm to his testicles—which was an incredibly bizarre feeling he did not enjoy— so he could think clearly.
“Granger, I know how smart you are. Why the fuck would you be adding something so toxic to an already potentially addictive potion?” He asked softly. Her head snapped up, cheeks pink and stained with tears.
“Because I needed it! Without it I would need to take quadruple the amount of potions I consume in a day, just to barely take the edge off! Even then, it’s not the same without the venom! And you’ve broken them, I can’t afford more!” She cried.
“If you added too much, it could kill you!” He snapped, feeling less sorry for her and more irritated.
“MAYBE I DON’T CARE IF I DIE!” She screamed, causing him to immediately bite back the retort on his tongue.
She stared at him for a moment before her face crumpled further. After a beat, she made to stand. Draco gently grasped her arm to help, but she roughly pulled away.
“Get away from me. Just leave, Malfoy,” she said in a hollow voice. When she managed to stand, her hands and legs shook.
“Accio pain potions,” Draco said quietly. This time, Granger didn’t even try to stop the eight vials that flew at him. He knew it was a mistake, but he set one down on the small table in the room. Then he pulled the ones Theo made out of his inner suit pocket and placed them beside it.
“I’ll leave one, but that’s it. Your last hit. You’re done with them, Granger. You have the week to detox while the club is closed. These other potions will help you come down, there are instructions there. I’ll be back to check in.”
“You can’t be serious. You can’t force me to quit! I’ll just find a way to make extra money and buy more.”
“You could try. However, I know where you were getting your venom from, and I’ve already made sure the wizard won’t sell to you anymore. Good luck finding more in Europe,” he walked to her door and opened it. Turning back once more. “If you don’t get clean in the next week, I’m telling Potter you’re here.”
Even across the room, he saw her clench her jaw. He strolled out, slammed the door, and proceeded to place wards up around her flat, locking her in.
Was it excessive? Maybe.
Would he get another punch to the nuts? Probably.
Was it worth it? Only time would tell.