WHO: Corban Yaxley & Craig Wood WHAT: A visit! WHEN: Tonight WHERE: Azkaban WARNINGS: Would you believe me if I said this was mostly harmless?
A dementor trailed after Yaxley as he made his way down the dark corridor that led to Craig Wood’s cell. It didn’t bother him much, the chill, stony terror of Azkaban. He had a lot in common with the building, after all. He was cold and stony, too. And, though apparently he hadn’t managed to scare young Oliver Wood nearly enough, he was still capable of terrible, spirit-crushing things.
With a dull clang, the door to Craig’s cell swung open and Yaxley stepped inside. “Wood,” was all he said by way of greeting, giving the other man a curt nod.
Craig felt the chill of the dementor closing in before the door opened, and even after months here, a small part of him still hoped it would move on. When the door opened, he jumped.
“What do you want?” There was nothing cordial left in Craig’s voice. There might have been, if his visitor had been someone else, but Yaxley was near the bottom of his list of people he wanted to see. For a second, he wondered how quickly he could overpower the man before a Dementor sucked his soul out. “Are you my conjugal visit?”
“Yes, pucker up,” Yaxley said dryly, furrowing his eyebrows at the other man.
“Yes sir,” Craig spat out, all venom. Slowly, he stood. Early on he’d tried to move around, to stay busy and not grow stiff and weak, but those days were long past. “Well? Why are you here?”
“I think your son would like to see you,” Yaxley said evenly, drawing his wand. “And with his behavior lately…” He considered Craig. “I think he deserves it.”
Between what Yaxley was saying and the fact that he’d drawn his wand, Craig swore he felt his heart stop for a moment. Was it possible Oliver had given in? He couldn’t picture it, but his mind was so fuzzy that he thought anything might be possible.
Cautious, Craig nodded. “I’m sure he would like that,” he answered, trying to hold back how much he wanted to see his son, too. It was written all over his face, however, no matter how hard he tried.
Yaxley’s face remained unchanged as he took in Craig, though the dementor wafted closer to him after a beat. He cast the dementor a sidelong glance before stepping away from it, moving towards Craig. He dipped his wand towards Craig’s feet. “I’ll have to restrain you, though.”
“Oh, come on,” Craig scoffed. He’d expected as much, but without a wand, against a Dementor and a wizard with a wand, his odds were very slim. “Where am I going to go?”
“It’s regulation,” Yaxley said, the slightest smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.
Craig rolled his eyes, but he held his arms out. “Get on with it, then. I want to see my boy.”
The dementor started to waft again, but Yaxley ignored it and pointed his wand at Craig, loosely chaining his ankles together so he could still walk, then chaining his wrists together tight enough that it would be difficult to maneuver a wand if he managed to get the drop on him.
“After you,” Yaxley said, with a gesture towards the door.
He tried to twist his wrists, testing the restraints, even though he knew he wouldn’t have any luck. That was fine, though, Craig thought. He could wait. He could be patient. He was strong enough, still.
Craig stepped through the door, and glanced back at Yaxley. “So, where are we going?”