A/N: Written for the Dramione Fanfiction Writers Groups Deal or No Deal Competition for July 2021! Thank you so much to the modmins for all their hard work on putting this amazing comp together! The theme this month was Magical Monstors! I was given a minimum word count of 2000 and my monster was Dementors.

Grammarly kindly beta'd this for me. All mistakes are mine.

Enjoy!

If you liked this (or hated it) let me know about it in a review! You can find me on Tumblr at crochetawayhpff or Facebook at Shan Crochetaway. Enjoy!

Summary: Hermione tames a Dementor.

Pairing: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy

Rating: T

Warnings: Dementors, Sexual Tension

Miseria

"'Mione, what the fuck is that?" Ron yelped from the doorway of her office. He had his wand out and pointed behind her when she looked up at him.

"That's Miseria," she said, standing and walking quickly over to him to push down his arm.

"That's a fucking Dementor!" Ron shouted, trying to push his arm back up as Miseria drifted closer.

"Ron, seriously," Hermione said, crossing her arms over her chest. "The language is completely unnecessary. Miseria wouldn't hurt you or anybody."

"I don't know what you've done that you've... tamed a Dementor, but I do know that whatever it is, it's crazy, 'Mione. You understand that right? This..." he pointed at Miseria hovering over Hermione's shoulder, "is a bloody abomination."

"Ronald! You can't say that about her! You'll hurt her feelings," Hermione scolded him and gave Miseria a comforting look. "He didn't mean it, he doesn't understand. But I'll explain it to him, I promise."

"Are—are you talking to it?" Ron was practically apoplectic. His face was red and he was getting all shouty.

"Miseria has feelings just like any other magical being, Ron," Hermione replied in her best lecture voice. "Dementors can seem rather soulless, but the truth is, they're not. Treating others with kindness is the first step in understanding them."

Ron's eyes were wide as they took in both her and Miseria. "You're bloody demented," he replied as he slowly backed out of her office.

He slammed the door shut and she could hear him running away. She sighed. Surely, he was off to get Harry now. What a mess this was turning out to be.

"I'll get it all sorted, Miseria, don't you worry," Hermione muttered to her new friend before sitting back down at her desk. She still had several more parchments to go through to see if she could refine the hunger-suppressing spell she'd cast on Miseria. It would be most beneficial if she was able to cast it for every Dementor in Britain, but it was a very draining spell. She'd had it cast on Miseria for two days now and already she was flagging.

Maybe if she could figure out a way to tie it to a runestone? Or even a lodestone? She'd have to ask Malfoy his thoughts on it. Maybe Harry would bring him when Ron went to sound the alarm. That, at least, would be very efficient.

"Very efficient, indeed," she murmured to herself. Miseria made an agreeing groan.

It wasn't too much longer until Harry was bursting through her office door, startling both her and Miseria. Ron and helpfully, Malfoy, were right behind him.

"What in the bloody hell is going on here?" Harry asked, his wand pointed directly at Miseria. She could practically hear the words Expecto Patronum on his lips.

"Language," Hermione snapped, trying to regain control of the situation. She hadn't considered Harry would come bursting in with the Patronus practically at the ready.

"Hermione," Harry growled, but was pushed to the side as Malfoy came into her office.

"Granger," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Share with the group what you've done now, please."

"Certainly," she replied. "I found a hunger-suppressing spell and cast it on Miseria. It's worked quite well, however, the effects of the spell are very draining for the caster, so I'm searching for a way to tie the spell to something, a runestone or lodestone, perhaps? I was going to come find you, Malfoy, to collaborate."

"Let me see," Malfoy said, following her around the desk and leaning over her shoulder to read the scrolls she was examining. She pulled out the scroll with the spell broken down on it, and began pointing to various parts that she thought could be tied to some sort of external power source.

"A lodestone, definitely," Draco murmured. "Runestone would work, but eventually the power source would fail. The lodestone would regenerate on it's own."

"Do you have any idea what they are talking about?" Ron asked Harry. Harry shook his head, his eyes still on Miseria, his wand gripped tightly in his hand down at his side.

Hermione sighed and looked up at her two oldest friends. "If I can tie the spell to a lodestone, I can cast it on every Dementor in Britain, effectively neutralizing them."

"That all sounds good," Harry said slowly, "but if souls are what they eat for food, are you essentially starving them to death?"

Hermione's eyes widened at the implication and she whirled around to face Malfoy. He frowned at her and Harry, then turned back to the scrolls on her desk. "It seems unclear what the outcome would be of putting a Dementor under a long term hunger-suppressing spell. We should run an experiment on this Dementor and see what happens."

"Experiment on Miseria?" Hermione whispered. Horror swept through her at the realization that while she had been trying to help the wizarding world in general, dampening the hunger of Dementors would kill them. "I don't want anyone to die."

"Dementors aren't people," Ron said firmly from the doorway. "I'm not even sure they classify as Beings or Creatures. Wraiths maybe? Some sort of ghost or spirit? But—"

"Technically, ghosts are former Beings and are under the classification of Spirit," Hermione interjected.

"Fine," Ron replied. "But that doesn't mean that they have feelings, 'Mione. They are mindless, soulless, always hunting for souls to eat. This isn't one of your causes where you end up skipping out of the Ministry holding hands with a Dementor and singing Kumbaya!"

"How the hell do you know what Kumbaya is?" Harry asked, throwing Ron a look over his shoulder.

"Never mind that," Hermione snapped. "Malfoy, we cannot experiment on Miseria."

"Granger, you named the Dementor?" Malfoy asked, a slow smile forming on his handsome face. Hermione kind of hated that she found him handsome even when he was being so annoying.

"I wasn't just going to call her Dementor." Hermione sniffed and began rifling through the scrolls piled on her desk. "There has to be a more humane option."

"Dementors are literally soul eaters, Hermione," Harry explained calmly. "There is no humane option. Either they tear people's souls from them, or we starve them. That's it. Those are the only options."

"What happens if they starve?" she asked. "Do they die? Can Dementors die? The Patronus doesn't kill them... is there some spell that does?" She turned to Malfoy, asking him those questions as the resident Dark Arts expert.

He sighed. "Nobody knows because nobody has ever cared enough to do experiments on Dementors. Dementors for the most part have either been a political hindrance, and shunted off to live where they can't disturb most of society, or they've been politically expedient and used as Azkaban guards and more."

Hermione twisted her lips and turned to face Miseria who was still hovering just behind her. Ever since she had put the hunger-suppressing spell on the Dementor yesterday, Miseria had stuck fairly close to her. She hadn't been able to make her talk, or figured out a way to communicate with the Dementor yet. Though they had mouths and fingers.

A thought occurred to Hermione and she dug through the scrolls on her desk until she came up with a Biro and a piece of parchment. She handed the Biro to Miseria who clasped it in her bony hands and held up the parchment.

"It's just like a quill. I'm going to ask you questions, can you write the answers?" Hermione was hopeful that whatever a Dementor was, it was essentially a former human of some sort. Miseria pushed the Biro against the parchment and scratched out a shaky 'yes.'

Despite the elation that Hermione was feeling, she tamped it down and began asking Miseria a series of questions. Sometimes the Dementor knew the answer, sometimes she could only speculate, and sometimes she didn't know at all. Like she knew that souls essentially powered Dementors, but she didn't know if a Dementor would die without eating souls. She also didn't know what she was made of, except souls. Nor how she came into being, though Hermione had a few theories on that. The last question Hermione asked was if Miseria would allow them to keep the hunger-suppressing spell on her.

"If at any time you want it removed, just signal me, alright?" Miseria wrote another 'yes' on the parchment, her handwriting getting steadier with each question.

"Alright, now to move the spell to a lodestone," Hermione said, suddenly exhausted.

"I'm guessing you have this well in hand?" Harry asked Malfoy.

Malfoy nodded and helped Hermione into her desk chair. "Weasley, go to the tea cart and get some tea and sandwiches for Granger here."

Harry and Ron took off as Draco slid into the visitor's chair across from Hermione. "You named your pet Dementor," he said, that damned smirk she found so enticing hovering around the corners of his lips.

"We've been over this already," Hermione told him. The spell was taking its toll, but she couldn't let it go. She had to hold on until they were able to transfer it. "We need to prepare the lodestone.

"I've got one," Malfoy responded, pulling a small bag out of his trouser pocket. He opened it and a small rock, that was heavier than it looked, rolled out. It was a shiny black with small gold runes carved into its sides.

"Always this prepared?" Hermione whispered, really flagging now.

"Here," Ron said from the doorway. He hurried in with a couple of sandwiches and a cup of tea. Hermione fell on the food and within moments both sandwiches were gone and the tea was half drank.

"Better?" Malfoy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not sure I've ever seen you eat that fast," Ron commented, clearly impressed.

"Off you go, Weasley," Malfoy shooed without bothering to take his eyes off of Hermione. She lifted an eyebrow at him while Ron scowled at his back.

"We'll be fine, Ron, thank you," Hermione said, giving him a smile as he left her office and shut the door behind him.

"How hard is it going to be to transfer the spell?" Hermione asked, picking up the lodestone and turning it over in her hand.

"Can't be transferred. We'll have to remove the spell from your Dementor, keep her at bay with a Patronus, and then recast the spell with the lodestone. How's your Patronus?"

"It's fine," Hermione said, "but who will cast the hunger-suppressing spell if I'm casting the Patronus?"

"Me, obviously." Malfoy's smirk turned into a grin. "That is, if you trust me."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'll be the one controlling the Patronus, so even if I didn't trust you, I trust me," she replied.

"So you do trust me." His eyes were intense enough that Hermione wanted to tease out what exactly he was getting out.

"Of course, I do. What makes you think I wouldn't?"

He shrugged. "Just making sure before we start all of this."

"We're going to talk about this later," Hermione warned him. "But first, we have to move this spell. Already, I can feel the exhaustion setting in."

"Right," Malfoy nodded sharply and twisted his wand at the lodestone. It was enveloped in a flash of bright gold magic from his wand. He chanted under his breath for a few moments before the flash of magic disappeared and he stopped. "The lodestone is prepared to accept the spell. Now we just have to remove it from your pet Dementor and reapply it."

"Alright," Hermione said somewhat faintly. It was fascinating, watching his hands word with the wand and the lodestone and she found she had a hard time keeping her gaze off of them.

"Are you okay, Granger?" Malfoy asked, sounding concerned. The note in his voice startled her enough that she darted her gaze up to meet his. She felt a blush creeping up her neck at getting caught staring at his hands, but there was only a look of true concern on his face.

"Fine," she stated, her voice stronger. "Let's do this, shall we?"

"Will you be alright to hold the Patronus?" he asked.

"Of course," Hermione assured him. "Just a little tired. I've got it."

He didn't look convinced, but he nodded anyway. "Fine. Drop the hunger spell, then cast your Patronus."

Hermione took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on the hunger spell that was still pulling at her reserves; she made a slashing motion with her wand, severing the spell. Instantly, the rattle of Miseria's breath became more noticeable in her small office. Keeping her eyes closed, her focus on her happiest memory, she pointed her wand at where the sound of the rattling was coming from and shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

She opened her eyes with relief to see the white mist pouring from her wand, taking the shape of her familiar otter as it backed Miseria into the corner.

"Right, you ready?" he asked, keeping an eye on the otter and the Dementor.

"Yeah, let's do this." Even now, with the hunger-suppressing spell removed, but the Patronus pulling at her magic, she was only feeling a little better. Both spells were magic intensive and she knew she was in for a few days of rest and relaxation once they got Miseria back under control.

Malfoy flipped his wand in a complicated motion, entwining the lodestone to Miseria and the hunger-suppressing spell to both. The rattling in Miseria's chest ceased and they both turned to look at each other. Carefully, Hermione called her Patronus away. The otter disappeared and Miseria hovered where she was.

Draco slid the pen and parchment back over to Miseria.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked. The Dementor's hand was just as shaky, but Hermione could read the 'good' written on the parchment. "Not hungry?"

The Dementor shook her head.

Hermione offered her a smile. "Excellent." She turned back to Malfoy with a grin, but immediately started feeling faint. Her knees gave out and she surely would have fallen to the floor if Malfoy hadn't been so quick to dart around her desk and catch her. The result was she still ended up on the floor, but Malfoy was cradling her.

"Granger," he snapped his fingers in front of her face and she opened her eyes. When had she closed them?

"I'm alright," she said, trying to push away from him.

"No you aren't. You've done too much magic over the last few days." He tsked and adjusted her in his arms. Then by some magic Hermione wasn't aware of, he managed to get to his feet, with her cradled in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, her hands wrapping around his neck to keep her from tumbling to the floor.

"Taking you home," he muttered as he made his way out of her office and toward the lifts.

"Malfoy," she snapped. Everyone they passed was giving them looks. "People are staring," she said through gritted teeth.

"I don't give a fuck," he replied. His jaw was clenched and he looked angry as he stalked through the corridors.

"I'll be fine," she said. "You're making a fuss, outing us to the world when we agreed to wait."

"No, you decided you were too scared to tell your friends and I decided the argument wasn't worth having at that point in time. However, that has changed by seeing the way you callously regard your health."

Hermione blinked up at him for a long moment. It sounded almost as if he really cared about her. Since they were dating, she should expect him to care about her a little, but she hadn't quite thought his feelings ran so deep. Suddenly, she felt terrible for trying to keep him and them a secret from her friends. She'd done it to save herself the headache it would cause, but now, looking at him, she felt like a cow.

"Godric, I'm an idiot, aren't I?" she shook her head and huffed a self-deprecating laugh.

"What are you on about, now?" he asked just as they arrived at the lifts. He hit the button with his hip and a moment later they were all alone in a lift.

"I've treated you abominably, Draco. I'm sorry," Hermione said, she cupped his face with her hand. "Will you forgive me?"

He closed his eyes and nuzzled his face into her hand. He took a deep breath and then opened them, pinning her with an intense look that she couldn't quite interpret.

"Of course, I will. But no more hiding, Granger." She bit her lip and nodded.

"It was stupid to try and hide us. And childish, I'm sorry." She blinked back the tears that were threatening and he sighed, then leaned in and pressed a fierce kiss to her lips. She responded for a moment, but then the lift dinged and the doors opened onto the Atrium.

"Wait, where's Miseria?" Hermione asked, looking behind them, expecting to see the Dementor that had been trailing her for the last few days.

"I suspect it's the spell she's attracted to," Draco replied, making his way through the Atrium with Hermione still tucked safely in his arms. "So she's probably still in your office."

"We shouldn't leave her there!" Hermione squawked.

Draco's arms tightened around her, refusing to put her down. "She'll be fine until tomorrow. You, on the other hand, need some rest."

Hermione sighed. "Fine." Draco could make her go home now, but that didn't mean she couldn't come back later to grab the lodestone and Miseria.

"Am I going to have to force you to stay in your flat?" he asked as they stood in line at the fireplaces.

"Force me?" she asked, glaring up at him.

The grin he gave her was absolutely knicker soaking.

"In a manner of speaking," he replied, his voice so low and husky that Hermione barely heard him over the general hubbub of the Atrium.

"Is that a promise?" she asked, licking her bottom lip and suppressing a grin when his eyes darted to her mouth.

"Absolutely," he swore.

~Fin~