The Hagrid's son

Barnaby looked at the figure cloaked in dark robes pointing a wand at him in one of the dim alleys, recalling how he ended up in this situation.

The contacts Snape had given him were on the far outskirts of Knockturn Alley, so after handling a few brainless individuals who tried to achieve what they couldn't, Barnaby was able to completely get rid of all the acromantula venom.

Following Snape's advice, he distributed the vials among several contacts instead of using just one to prevent excessive greed from forming in some hearts and to avoid any tricks.

Well, more tricks than usual.

Through the special bank-issued bag where he could deposit and withdraw money, his Gringotts vault, specifically the one that belonged solely to him and not the one he shared with his father, now had a couple of additional mountains of Galleons.

As for why he had a vault just for himself…

Well, he always liked to keep things clear.

Maybe those Gringotts greed-heads get more money than they deserve, but they do a decent job of defending his property as if it actually belonged to them, even after the "scandalous break-in" that occurred this year.

He didn't even have to worry about the vault being blocked for any reason since he left something inside to retrieve the money in case of an emergency.

Now, the entry of so much acromantula venom into the black market at once was perhaps a bit conspicuous, so even when he was leaving, he could observe people whispering about it.

This distracted him, and the next second, he was pulled into a more secluded alley and found himself in the current situation. He was momentarily dazed because, how could a wizard have enough strength to pull him like this?

As for the threat he was facing…

"You need to up your game," Barnaby commented with an unimpressed expression, raising an eyebrow. "You can't just drag someone like this and stay silent while pointing your wand. It's weird. Besides, did you think I wouldn't recognize it?" he asked, pointing at the wand.

This made the hooded figure freeze and step back.

"Damn it! I forgot you studied with Ollivander, of course you'd recognize my wand," a young, female voice came from under the hood as the hand not holding the wand pulled it back, revealing her face.

Bright dark eyes, a pale heart-shaped face, and short, spiky light brown hair. If one paid attention to the clothes peeking out from under the robe, they could see she was wearing a Witches of Macbeth t-shirt, revealing she was a fan of the band.

"It's unusual to see you with your natural hair color," Barnaby said, smiling as he confirmed his suspicions. "Though I admit it's a pleasant surprise to see you after some time, Tonks."

Although Barnaby was younger than Tonks, his bulk still made him taller than her, and the young witch needed to lift her gaze slightly to look at her boyfriend.

"Had to go to Knockturn Alley again?" Tonks asked as she peered around the corner to ensure no one was nearby, took Barnaby's arm naturally, and they started walking away. "What did you sell this time?" she asked curiously.

Because some of the creature materials that fell into Barnaby's hands were unknown and thus unregulated, he had the habit of selling them on the black market simply because no one asked questions.

Barnaby still remembered the first time he tried to sell fire rat skins through common means, whose heat insulation properties are excellent.

The Ministry quickly detected their existence and bothered Barnaby almost daily for two months to provide all relevant information. It wasn't until he sought help from Mr. Scamander that they left him alone.

Naturally, he had to give Scamander some live fire rats to study and add to his suitcase, but that was a small price in his opinion.

Since then, he never brought anything new to the public magical market. Naturally, the materials sold on the black market were mostly harmless and stood out more for their rarity and novelty to wealthy collectors than for their dark nature.

In fact, even if the Aurors "caught him red-handed," they would have no idea what he was selling, nor were there any laws against it. Basically, he would spend an afternoon at the Ministry at most before going home with his things.

Tonks was very aware of these facts and precisely because he wasn't breaking any laws or causing harm, she decided to support Barnaby's "grey" actions despite being an Auror in training herself.

Ministry paperwork could be so lethal at times…

"Just some bones I found in the Forbidden Forest," Barnaby replied as he curiously eyed the witch's dark robe. "And what brings you here?"

He had a hunch, but…

"They just flooded the black market with a lot of acromantula venom, and we're looking for the source," Tonks explained without worrying that Barnaby might leak anything about their operation. "Moody is quite upset, so he sent several of us to investigate undercover. Do you happen to know anything about it?"

Uh-oh.

"So, will you be busy?" Barnaby asked in a disappointed tone. "And here I was thinking we could go on a date after finally meeting."

Yes, it was a sneaky change of subject, but he didn't want to face someone like Moody unless strictly necessary! That enchanted spinning eye of his gave him the creeps…

"Well, I…" Tonks quickly forgot about the acromantula venom issue and bit her lower lip, feeling a bit guilty as she looked at a saddened Barnaby beside her.

Moody had been putting a lot of pressure on her and her fellow trainees lately, making their personal lives take a backseat for a while.

Even if they called themselves boyfriend and girlfriend, most of the time their interaction was limited to the letters they exchanged, and several times she had to cancel their meetings at the last minute because of work.

She didn't even get to have Christmas dinner with her family!

Tonks would have liked Hagrid and Barnaby to come eat with them during the holiday, even if she would have needed to cast a powerful Engorgio on the roast turkey.

She still remembered with humor how her father had wanted to do the number of the father threatening his daughter's boyfriend, but when he saw Barnaby and had to lift his head so much, he patted him on the arm while trembling slightly and gave a friendly smile with an expression doubting life.

Now that she thought about it, the Hogwarts year should have ended, right?

She thought that if she requested a little vacation to relax and be with her boyfriend, it shouldn't be a big problem…

And if Moody had an opinion... he would hide the magic eye in one of the Ministry's toilets!