Have I Ever

10th July, 1997.

Draco groaned as he hit the ground. Why was he doing this again? He took Kato's hand. "Is there a point to me continuously getting hurt?" he asked.

"The point of you getting hurt is that you stop getting hurt," Kato said. "You are doing much better than when you started." He moved forward to push Draco off balance again. Draco sidestepped him once then twice before hitting the ground again. He was sure he would have bruises.

"How about we go into town and get you some appropriate clothes?" Kato said. "While you have impeccable taste there are better clothes to wear for both exercising and dragon wrangling than what you brought."

Draco raised an eyebrow. While he wouldn't argue with Kato, he somehow doubted they could find anything to his liking. He wouldn't mind getting out of the sanctuary for a while though.

"Heading out?" Deyan asked.

"Yeah, we're going to Bucharest," Kato said.

"Could you get some things for me?" Deyan asked.

"Do you have a list?" Kato asked.

Dayen dug around in his pockets for a bit before finding a pen and some paper. He wrote down a few items and handed the list over to Kato. "You might want to talk to the others as well. We don't get away that often," he said.

"I'll check in with everyone before we leave," Kato promised.

Draco did not go with Kato as he gathered shopping lists. He stayed at home and went over a few draconic runes until Kato returned. Then they were off for Bucharest.

…

"You are insane," Draco said as they returned that evening. He was watching Kato as his Master balanced about twenty bags of things for everyone on their kitchen table. "Why not let them sort it out?" he said.

"Because that isn't very nice," Kato said. He went through the lists and made a bag for each person.

"I'll just go tell them that they can pick their things up," Draco said. He was not delivering all these bags.

12th of July, 1997.

There was one thing that Draco had to agree with Kato on. Muggles made better exercise clothes than witches and wizards. They may not look great, but he was far more comfortable. He was running next to Kato. He knew Kato could probably run faster than they were, but at least Draco wasn't falling behind anymore.

"Hey, Kato the Ironbellies are acting up!" Charlie shouted. "Taka wants everyone on hand."

"We're coming!" Kato called back.

"I guess I'm heading back to Hedgehog," Draco said.

"Come along for the meeting at least," Kato said. "We don't know how serious this is yet."

Draco nodded slowly.

They headed over to the others gathered on the road to the Ironbelly preserve.

"This is insane. If they continue like this they'll tear down the wards," Deyan said as Kato and Draco arrived.

"We'll have to deal with it," a man said.

"They'll tear us apart if we go in there," a woman said.

Taka nodded slowly. "Our only advantage is that they don't work together that well," she said. "Meaning they will not come at us all at once. We're just going to have to put them to sleep one by one."

"This is insane," Jules said. "We'll get killed. Why don't we call in a containment unit and get rid of these dumb beasts."

Draco raised an eyebrow. He doubted anyone else had heard Jules. He had always seemed like a strange man whenever Draco had met him down in the gym. He moved closer to Kato. He wondered how what was going on would affect him.

"Stay close to me," Kato said calmly as Draco walked up to him. "If the wards fall I'd rather have you nearby than back at the house."

"Can't you just talk to them?" Draco asked.

"That's what I was planning on trying," Kato said.

"If no one else has any questions then we better get started," Aimal said. "The West team is with me. East team with Taka."

Kato walked up to Taka with Ellie, Zoe and a bunch of others.

"So we'll enter and stay together," Taka said. "We are supposed to knock them out. Let's see if we can calm this down before it gets out of hand."

"This is insane."

"Wonder what has gotten the dragons so upset."

"Does it matter? They are dragons."

Kato walked through the gates next to Taka. He could hear the dragons roaring, but he couldn't make out what they were saying yet.

"Spread out so we don't all just end up in the blast zone!" Taka ordered. "I will engage. Stand at the ready." She sent a spell at the nearest dragon to grab its attention.

"Now what?" Draco asked.

Kato didn't move. He was actually wondering just how handlers usually dealt with these things. They had managed dragons without someone like him for a long time. He drew his wand.

Draco watched as the handlers brought the first dragon down on the ground. He thought that Kato was going to use Dragon tongue to order the dragons to stop or something. He wasn't impressed with how Kato was choosing to handle things. If Kato wouldn't speak to the dragons then he would. Draco moved away from the dragon handlers. He spotted a dragon and drew his wand. He sent off a stinging hex.

The dragon turned and huffed out a cloud of fire. It saw the tiny human. Did this little insect think they could challenge him?

Draco took a step back as the dragon landed. "Kreh wah zu fen!" he commanded.

"What the heck is your apprentice doing, Peverell?" Zoe roared as they felled another dragon.

Kato turned around. His eyes widened as he saw Draco facing a large Ironbelly.

"That kid is toast," Zoe said. "There is nothing we can do from here."

The dragon drew his head back and breathed in.

"I hope his parents won't hate you," Zoe said.

Kato took a deep breath and changed his wand into a sword. Then in quick succession, he spoke two shouts. One to slow time and one to move faster. He reached Draco just as fire started spewing out of the dragon's mouth.

"Fus Ro Dah," Kato shouted, throwing the dragon back. He ran forward and climbed the dragon's body as it struggled to get back up.

"Foolish jul, human you dare challenge me," the dragon said as it threw him off. "You are daanik, doomed."

"Maybe," Kato responded as he landed on the ground. "But I am no ordinary human." He took a deep breath. "Yol Toor Shul," he shouted. A cloud of fire engulfed the dragon.

"What the ever-living feys is he doing?" Ellie asked.

"Is he fighting that dragon?" Zoe said.

"Let's not worry about that right now," Taka said. "Instead let's get that fool of an apprentice of his away from them."

"On it," Zoe said.

Kato rushed forward. His blade cut a long gash in the dragon's side before he somersaulted out of the way of a jet of flames. He threw up a shield and got back on his feet.

Zoe finally reached Draco. "You are in so much trouble right now young man," she said. "You are lucky your Master is capable of doing that." She looked over at Kato as he dashed up to the dragon with his sword in one hand and an ice spear in the other. Blood flowed as he cut into the dragon and he threw the ice spear as he quickly moved away.

Heavy jaws snapped the spear in two. The dragon's tail swept over the ground forcing Kato to move. He looked up at the dragon. Fire filled his vision.

"Master!" Draco shouted. He felt arms wrap around him stopping him from moving. "Let go of me!" he shouted.

"This is your fault," Zoe said bluntly. "If you had stayed with us we wouldn't be here."

Draco looked at the cloud of fire. There was no way Kato couldn't protect himself from that, right? He had to be okay. He had been so blase about fighting dragons. He couldn't just fall to the first darn dragon he fought at the sanctuary.

The fire broke to reveal a dome of ice with Kato standing inside it. The dome broke and the shards shot towards the dragon.

"Give up, zeymah dovah," Kato said.

"Neh, never," the dragon roared. He lurched forward. His jaws snapped shut right next to Kato who turned towards him. "Vey Krii Vaas," he shouted. His sword tore through the dragon's neck and covered him in blood. He grabbed onto one of the ice shards sticking out of the fallen dragon and climbed up as a golden glow gathered around his fallen foe.

"Zu'u Dovahkiin!" Kato roared as the golden glow spread from the dragon to him. "I'm here to aid you, but I will fight you if you force my hand."

"Oh, no," Zoe said as a dragon larger than the others came flying down from the sky. "That is the Matron." She backed away and dragged Draco with her.

Kato didn't move. The dragon landed in front of him. "Yol Toor Shul," she roared and Kato answered.

"Drem yol lok," Kato said. "Something upsets you, great one. Will you share these woes with me?"

"You hold power little one," the dragon said. "My son was a fool to fight you."

Kato bowed his head. He knew that apologizing for what he had done would only diminish her son's memory. He wouldn't do that. "I did what I had to to protect a kiir, child in my care," he said.

"What is done is done," the dragon said. "He died an honourable death. You say you will help. Humans take our young before their hatching."

"It should not be so," Kato said.

"And has not been so. Find those responsible, or we will," she said. She flapped her great wings.

"What is your name?" Kato asked.

"Tuqalos little dovah," she said before spreading her great wings and taking off.

Kato was almost thrown off the carcass of the young dragon he had slayed.

"What in the stampeding unicorns just happened?" Ellie asked. She had run up to Zoe in case they had to cast shields to get out.

"I learnt why the dragons are angry," Kato said calmly.

"Oh, no you don't act like nothing just happened," Ellie said. "You fought a dragon and won. Not just that but some strange golden glow appeared. I've never seen anything like that before and you, what… absorbed it?"

Kato sighed. He knew they would get stuck on the visuals. He wasn't going to explain that though. Without the rest of the story him being able to absorb souls would make little to no sense. "How about we head back out of here? The dragons will calm now," Kato said.

"So I did see you speaking to a dragon while we were in the Short-snout preserve," Taka said.

"Dufo came to say hello," Kato said.

"Are they scared of you now?"

Kato looked at the woman who had spoken. "No, they are not scared. They respect the power I wield, but that also means some of them might want to fight me to prove themselves," he said. He grabbed Draco's shoulder and led him back towards the gate. He threw up a shield between them and the rest. "I assume you learnt your lesson," he said.

Draco nodded, but he didn't say anything. Now he finally understood what it meant to be like Kato. What he could learn if he was willing to forever link his life to his Master. Was that something he wanted? It certainly wasn't a decision to be made hastily.

"Dragons are dangerous and just because you can speak to them it doesn't mean you have any power over them," Kato said. "You have to be able to back it up with skill and power."

They got home. Kato headed to the bathroom so he could wash the blood off and Draco walked into his room. The adrenaline kick had finally worn off. His legs felt like jelly. He reached the bed and sat down. It had been like the hippogriff incident all over again, but this time he really could have died.

Kato stepped out of his room half an hour later. His hair was still wet. He drew his wand and dried it before turning to Draco's door. He cranked it open and looked inside. He sighed softly. Maybe he shouldn't have brought Draco with him. Maybe he should have just confronted the dragons right away. He closed the door and headed over to the main house so he could have a chat with Wadim. The boss needed to know why the dragons were upset.

…

"So, you are telling me that someone is stealing eggs," Wadim said. He groaned and rubbed his face. "We have to find them. Not only because of the angry dragons but…"

"Dragon eggs are illegal to sell so we have no idea where these dragons are ending up," Kato said.

Wadim nodded. He collapsed into his chair. "Can you find the people responsible?" he asked.

"Now that I know what I'm looking for, that shouldn't be a problem. Dragon eggs are rather obvious."

"What I do not understand is how these people have gotten the eggs from the dragons in the first place," Wadim said.

"I'll check in with some of the dragons if that is alright," Kato said.

"Do whatever you feel you need to do," Wadim said.

Kato was glad he had permission to do what he wanted to. It made things much easier for him. He said goodbye to Wadim and headed back home. He was quite finished with dragons for the day. Tomorrow he might go see Ninriik.

Charlie was leaning against the front door to Hedgehog when Kato returned. "You are unbelievable," he said; he sounded scared. "They say you fought an Ironbelly, with a sword."

Kato sighed. "I didn't have much of a choice," he said. "He would have killed Draco if I hadn't interfered."

"And here you stand like it was nothing," Charlie said.

Kato smiled. If he wasn't wrong then Charlie had been worried about him and that was rather sweet of him. "Yeah, I stand here like it was nothing," he said with a smirk playing on his lips. "Because I'm still alive." He walked forward and placed a hand on Charlie's chest. "Why? Were you scared?"

Charlie grabbed onto Kato and slammed him up against the front door. "You have no idea how your heroics make other people feel, do you? he asked angrily.

"I guess I'm used to people as ready to act as I am," Kato said.

"Not unafraid?" Charlie said.

"Without fear, there can't be bravery," Kato said. "You should know that. Weren't you sorted into Gryffindor?" Charlie was so close now he could smell his cologne.

"How does anyone argue with you?" Charlie said.

"Oh, I know quite a few people who are very go…"

Charlie kissed him soundly effectively shutting him up. Kato wrapped his arms around Charlie and deepened the kiss. He had missed this. His hands made their way up to Charlie's hair and he rubbed Charlie's scalp gently. For a moment he felt like he could stay like that forever until a scream cut through him. He pulled away from Charlie and looked up at the second floor of the Hedgehog.

"What is wrong?" Charlie asked.

"I think Draco might be having night terrors," Kato said softly.

"Not surprising. He did just almost get eaten by a dragon," Charlie said.

"I better go up and check on him," Kato said and hugged Charlie.

"I'll see you later," Charlie said. He squeezed Kato's hand as they pulled apart.

"Later," Kato said. He opened the door and headed inside. Draco had twisted himself up in his blankets when Kato walked into the room. Draco screamed and sat up in bed. He didn't react as Kato sat down next to him. He stared into nothingness. His breathing was strangely uneven. He whimpered.

Kato untangled Draco from his covers. "You are far too warm," he said.

Draco whimpered and Kato pulled him into a hug. "There, there it will be okay," he said softly. He felt how Draco started struggling against him. He knew that letting go wasn't a good option. Draco could hurt himself.

"Zeymah Dovah, zeymah Dovah

Ko fin lok, ko fin lok

Lost rok hon zu rein, fen rok aak zu rahgol

Drem yol lok, drem yol lok," he sang softly.

"Why?" Draco whispered.

Kato sighed but he didn't say anything. Draco wasn't awake so speaking to him wouldn't necessarily do anything for him. Kato shifted them around so he could run his fingers through Draco's hair. He had no idea what Draco found relaxing, but he guessed he would find out if this continued.

16th of July, 1997.

Kato had spent the past days talking to the dragon mothers who were brought to Great Britain for the Triwizard Tournament. Only Gravuun had lost eggs to the thief, and she wasn't happy about it.

Draco came downstairs. He had bags under his eyes and jumped at any unexpected sounds.

Kato was considering sending him home, but he wasn't sure that would make anything better. He placed down a plate in front of Draco. "How about we head off the grounds for today?" he suggested.

"What's the point," Draco said. He poked at his food and sighed heavily. He hadn't been getting a good night's sleep since the dragon incident. He always felt tired.

"I just felt like I could use a break. I've talked to all the dragons who will talk to me. I figured it would be good to get a change of scenery for a bit," Kato said. "Constanta sounds like an interesting place to visit. The city has existed for almost two-thousand five-hundred years. It is bound to have a rich history."

Draco sighed. He was getting the feeling that Kato wasn't going to stop talking until he agreed to come along. "Fine, we'll go," he said. If only to shut Kato up.

Half-an-hour later they were heading out. Constanta was a beautiful city. The old parts of town were more than worth visiting. Draco was spotting a small smile as he wandered around. Maybe, just maybe this had been a good idea. "So how are things going?" he asked Kato. "Are you figuring out who stole the eggs?"

"Well, there are currently several suspects. The people on my watch list currently are Owen Star, Olga Teg and Jules Barnes. I have noticed all three of them acting strangely especially after it became known that I can defeat a dragon," Kato said

"Most of those people acted weird before that too," Draco said. "Isn't that a little obvious though?"

"Could be," Kato said. "The actual culprits could be someone I've not even considered though that somehow feels cliché, doesn't it?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Can we lay bait?" he asked. "Accuse someone else. That could trip them up."

"I guess we could accuse Charlie and Ellie. They are the least likely to have done it," Kato said.

"Is that just because you like them?" Draco asked.

"My feelings for Charlie have nothing to do with his credibility. I base that on his personality and the fact that he is accounted for on ninety per cent of the incidents where eggs have been stolen," Kato said.

"Well, that would make him unlikely to be the culprit," Draco said. "If he is accounted for though wouldn't people know that?"

"Dragons can account for his whereabouts," Kato said

Draco chuckled. "So, if we trick the keepers, that would still work," he said.

"Exactly," Kato said. "You'll have to play a pivotal role. I can't just go around and say these things. No one will believe that."

"But people could accept that your sullen apprentice might spill your truths for the right price," Draco said. He liked this. It was something he was good at and he would get to run the show.

"I'm going to have to pre-warn Charlie though," Kato said.

"It would technically be better if you didn't," Draco said.

"You are assuming that I don't have deeper feelings for him. I'd rather not lose him over this," Kato said.

Draco sighed. Feelings. Talk about something that could so easily get in the way of a good plan. "Fine but he better be convincing," he said.

Kato chuckled. "I'll make sure of it," he said.

"Oh, please spare me the details," Draco said. "And don't ask me to go near the dragons again."

"Don't worry about that," Kato said. He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "We're all good at different things," he said.