Kousei has many meanings, one of which 'fixed star'. When I saw that I knew it was the one. For all the meanings I found for kousei, go to http://www.savergen.com/cgi-bin/onldicjap.cgi . To look up translations of words you look for, go to http://www.savergen.com/onldict/jap.html . They also have a link to a Latin dictionary on the side. I hope you find these sites useful.

This is the sequel to Shades of Gray, and I suggest you read it before you read this, since it may not make sense otherwise. Be warned, though, THIS IS SLASH! (Or at least contains slash… I know I put this under Draco and Harry, because they're the main sub-characters. My original character is my main character.)

Disclaimer: This is THE disclaimer! I don't own JK Rowling's characters, just Alex, Seika, and Malachi. Tsukishiro Yukito and Kinomoto Touya (family name first, so in other words last name first) are anime characters from Card Captor Sakura, which belongs to CLAMP and various others. Also any songs I use, if I use them, do not belong to me unless stated otherwise. All chapters will use this as their disclaimer, whether or not they say it outright, 'cause I'm forgetful.

Kousei

By princessofplanets

E-mail: princessofplanets@hotmail.com

Parts: 1 / ?

People screamed in the stands of the Quidditch field, and, though unused to the loud noise, it didn't faze the figure clad in a cape that brushed the grass at their feet. The summer sun blazed in the sky as a light breeze blew gently. Piercing eyes watched as the two teams landed, the home team cheering just as loudly as their fans and holding Harry Potter on their shoulders.

The figure turned abruptly, the large black cloak swirling out behind them as the person strode away before the celebrating witches and wizards could leave the stands in swarms. The person slipped through the shadows silently, entering the building the British team changed out. Shoes clicked against the tile floor, echoing in the large empty hallway until they stopped in front of two guards in front of a door.

"Sorry, sir, you're going to have to wait outside," the larger of the two said. The figure turned its attention to him. Taking off her cloak, the person revealed waist length blonde hair and penetrating blue eyes.

"I'm a girl," she corrected needlessly as she watched the guard blush slightly in embarrassment.

"Sorry, ma'am," he replied. "But no one can go through these doors. If you want an autograph you're going to have to come back later."

Something twanged the woman's senses, and she turned her head to listen to it. "The people you're paid to keep out are coming," she informed the tall guard. "I, however, don't care about autographs. I'm a police officer, and it's necessary that I speak with Mr. Potter."

The two guards looked at her suspiciously. With her large cloak slung over her right arm, and in a black halter-top, black jeans, black boots, and strange black gloves, she didn't look like a cop. "Lemme see your id," the second guard, also a man, said warily. Reaching into her left pocket, the woman pulled it out and flipped it open, handing it to the man easily.

"Seika Kyuu?! REALLY?!" The man's caution immediately turned to awe. "You're the one who–"

"That would be me," Seika said calmly, taking the id back before the man could finish. "Now, it's quite important that I speak to Mr. Harry Potter. I've been told he's right through those doors. May I please see him?"

"Of course, of course!" the man gushed, opening the door to allow her access. "But first, could I ask you something?" The blonde looked up, bewildered. "Can I have you're autograph?" The girl blinked in surprise.

"Okay…" she said doubtfully. She was passed a piece of paper and a pen, and she quickly wrote her name in Japanese characters, kanji. Then she quickly translated it into romanjii, writing beneath it, Kyuu Seika. "There you go!" Nodding at his repeated thanks, the girl quickly made her way down the hall, then squirmed her way in between reporters so she could get through the door they were blocking.

They shouted at her that, "No one's allowed in there!" as she entered the locker room, closing the door quickly behind her. The six out of the seven players present frowned at her, only half out of confusion.

"Sorry, but no one's allowed in here," Chaser Angelina Johnson said politely. "Interviews are going to have to wait.

"I'm not here for an interview," Seika stated calmly. "I'm a member of the Tokyo police; I'm here to speak with Mr. Potter." The six players looked worried, then once again confused.

"Harry's never been to Tokyo!" One of the beaters protested, the other quickly agreeing with him.

"How could Harry be in trouble with the Tokyo police if he's never been to Tokyo?!" another Chaser demanded.

"Look, I just said I was a member of the Tokyo police, not that I was here on busi --- " Her cloak dropped, and the third Chaser watched carefully as she bent to retrieve it. Eyes widening in fear and shock, he quickly pounded a button by him that would call security.

Instantly the men Seika had met earlier were in the room. "What's going on here?" the larger man demanded.

"She wanted to speak with Harry and she has the Dark Mark!" the man accused. Seika's eyes hardened for a moment, almost unnoticeably as the guards drew their wands.

"Well, is that true?" the shorter man asked, both of them once again on their guard. Wordlessly the woman exposed her right inner arm, revealing a jagged and distorted version of a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth – the sign that was the Dark Mark. "So you ARE a Death Eater!"

"NO!" Seika snapped. "I am not, have not, and never will be a Death Eater!"

"What the HELL is going on out here?!" The blonde's breath caught at the familiar voice. Slowly the girl turned her eyes to the speaker before blushing deeply and forcing her irritated attention to the floor. Draco Malfoy was the speaker, and it was clear he and Harry had just stepped out of the shower, since they were both dripping wet and wore only towels wrapped around their waists. She could barely register the voices around her, but when the raven-haired Seeker spoke she caught his voice immediately and tensed.

"He's just irritated because it was your screams that interrupted our shower, not his."

Seika's flush deepened at his words. "Harry no hentai*!" she murmured beneath her breath. Harry you pervert!

"Look, if I've told you guys once I've told you a thousand times --- Alex trapped all the Death Eaters when she killed Voldemort!" Draco snapped. "I've been searching for them for the past three years since we've been out of school – there aren't any left!"

"Whether there are or not, she has the Dark Mark!" Seika's head was started to pound from the shouting. Despite that, she watched carefully as Harry, not seeming to mind all he had on was a white towel slung across his waist, made his way toward her.

"You have the Dark Mark?"

"Yes."

"And you came here to talk to me."

"Yes."

"Why?" Harry demanded. Seika studied his face for a moment, his startlingly bright green eyes stark against his dripping black hair that covered the lightening bolt shaped scar she knew was there.

"I have my reasons," she said coolly, smirking when she saw Harry start to fume. "I don't restate what I see to be obvious."

"What is obvious to you may not be so obvious to everyone else," he said irritably.

"Mr. Potter, if you stop to think for just one moment it should be perfectly clear."

"You know him, don't you?" Draco inquired, now entering the interrogation.

"Of course, O--" She stopped herself mid-word, changing what she was going to say to, "Everyone knows Harry Potter."

"I meant personally."

At the intense expression on the man's face, Seika couldn't help but laugh. "You never change, do you, Onii-chan?" His face froze in recognition, and he started examining her familiar grin carefully, though it was not an expression he normally saw on her face. "Impossible…" he breathed softly.

Seeing his lover's expression, Harry snapped to attention. "What are you doing?!" he demanded angrily. Seika shrugged, her expression suddenly defensive as the man approached her.

"Nothing! I don't even have a wand!" Draco's grin widened.

"Of course you wouldn't!" he exclaimed, making no sense whatsoever. He swiftly moved over to her, pulling her into a tight hug. Seika blinked in confusion and embarrassment, more than slightly uncomfortable to have the half-naked man holding her. Harry's jaw dropped.

"Wha…?"

"Draco!" the girl choked out with difficulty. "Can't… breathe…!" Still grinning widely the Auror pulled back.

"Alexandra Star how dare you not write!" he chided the woman.

"I… was busy?" she said weakly, asking him rather than telling him.

"ALEX?!" Harry exclaimed in disbelief.

"You really could have written!" Draco scolded again.

"Gomen nasai!" she said breathlessly. "Please, please, PLEASE don't hurt me!" She crossed her arms into an X in front of her, peeking out between her two hands with worry.

"ALEX?!" Harry repeated again, this time seeing the similarities between the fifteen-year-old girl and the twenty-year-old woman. Immediately he pulled her into hug, trapping her arms between their bodies.

Again a blush spread across Alex's face. "Ano…" *Um…* " 'Ry-chan…"

"You never USED to blush, Alex, what's up with that?" Draco demanded.

"I didn't spend my time with two half-naked men, that's what!" she snapped back, the red shade of her face deepening.

"Hmm, I suppose we should get dressed, shouldn't we?" Harry inquired, glancing at Draco. The blonde man nodded

"Don't move," he ordered the other blonde as he turned and headed back toward the changing rooms.

"I have a choice?" she murmured to herself, sitting down on an open space on the bench with a sigh.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So how long have you been in England?" Harry asked curiously. Alex kept her eyes steadily on the road, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"We flew in three days ago," she said shortly. "It took us that long to adjust to the time change; we'd already found an apartment before coming."

"Who's we?" Draco wondered aloud. "You and your *BOYFRIEND*?!" The blue eyed woman just grinned as she carefully parked her silver car in the parking lot of a restaurant.

"I'm so glad that in Nihon – Japan – people also drive on the left side of the road," she said. "Otherwise I'd forget how to drive!"

"You ARE here with your boyfriend, aren't you?!" the man exclaimed. Alex slammed the car door shut in response, smirking as he continued his cross-examination. "What's his name? How old is he? What's he look like? Is he hot?"

"Draco Malfoy, you're worse than a teenage girl!" the blonde said as she laughed. Her laughter was interrupted by another familiar voice.

"ALEX!" A woman waved at her, with one arm offering her three-year-old son to her husband.

"Hey, Hermione!" she called back, walking swiftly to the couple. The brunette pulled the blonde into a hug, after which Ron awkwardly shook her hand, shifting the baby's weight. "And this must be John**!" She started cooing at the baby, grinning when it giggled back at her.

"It's SO nice to see you! It's been so long!" Hermione gushed. Alex nodded sorrowfully.

"Too long," she murmured quietly. Then she shook off the gloominess and smiled once again. "We had better get inside, Toya and Yuki will be waiting." She strode into the dark restaurant with confidence, the four people behind her following in slight confusion. As she approached a man behind the counter, she pointedly ignored his disapproving look at her attire.

"May I help you, Miss?" he asked, scorn in his voice.

"Reservations for Kyuu Seika," she said in a cold tone. The man narrowed his glare at her.

"May I see some id, Miss?" Harry looked outraged, while Draco looked like he was about to strangle the man for questioning his best friend. Silently the blonde handed it to him, watching him skip over the artfully shaped kanji characters and move his attention to the English translation. "Forgive me, Miss Seika!" he said quickly and apologetically, fumbling with his tie. "It's just regulation, Miss, in case someone might try to steal your identity."

"Right," Alex said noncommittally. "Are Misters Kinomoto and Tsukishiro here?"

"Ah, yes, Miss," the man said, bowing slightly to her repeatedly. "I assume this is the rest of your party, Miss?"

"Yes. Could you please take me to the table?" she inquired politely.

"Ah, yes, of course, Miss." Inwardly she rolled her eyes at the man's ridiculousness, while outwardly she showed only a stoic-like expression. The only clue of her frustration to her friends was her tightly clenched fists. The man led her to a large circular table where one tall man and another significantly shorter were already seated quickly, seeing them seated before backing away from the blonde woman with an expression akin to fear. "Ah, I will have someone with you right away, Miss."

The shorter man, a twenty-year-old with grayish-black hair, large glasses over gentle brown eyes, and a bright smile, greeted Alex first. "Konnichi'wa, Seika."

"Konnichi'wa," she responded in an irritated tone. The taller man with a sharply angular face, messy dark brown hair, and brown eyes raised an eyebrow. He said something in Japanese, to which Alex exploded in reply, "He was AFRAID of me!" indicating her desire to speak in English around her British friends.

"I had thought you had gotten used to it," the brown haired man commented airily. The other man frowned and said something in a rebuking tone. The reprimanded one looked like he was about to say something, though he stopped and asked in flowing English, "Seika, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Of course," she said, sighing as she forced her encounter to the back of her mind. "Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron," she gestured to each person as she spoke, "these are my close friends and roommates Yukito-san," the blonde indicated to the shorter man who smiled and nodded, "and Touya-san." She waved a hand at the taller brown haired man.

"It's nice to meet you," they all said politely in chorus, though not in unison.

"I thought you called them Toya and Yuki?" Ron said. The blonde's blue eyes flashed to Yukito's and Touya's with amusement in them.

"Formalities, Ron. San is the polite suffix – I've known Yuki and Toya a whole lot longer than you have." She smiled at the still-baffled redhead.

"Okay…" he agreed. Catch-up chatter filled the table while Touya and Yukito talked between themselves. After they ordered their food a hush shrouded the table, mainly after hearing Touya's long list of foods, which was almost DOUBLED when Yukito started his list.

"So which one is your lover?" Draco asked finally, breaking the silence. Alex choked on the tea she had preordered while Yukito, who was sitting next to her, patted her on the back carefully. "Is it Yukito-san?"

"If he was I would have to kill her," Touya stated calmly. Hermione frowned in confusion for a moment, but Harry and Draco just nodded in understanding.

"Ah," the brunette said a moment later. She frowned as she thought to herself, I can't believe I didn't see that earlier. But I suppose being Muggle-born can make you automatically think everyone's straight.

"Now you see why I laughed," Alex commented as she once again picked up her cup of green tea. She grimaced slightly as she tasted it. "*NOTHING* like the real thing," she murmured to herself.

"Alex, isn't it rude to wear gloves at the table?" Harry asked mindlessly, confused when he saw his old friend freeze. "What?" he asked. "It's not like I asked you to strip down at the table!"

"It's something like that," she murmured softly under her breath. Seeing the raven-haired Seeker's face, she sighed. "Yeah, sure. I'll take them off," she said, addressing him.

Touya and Yukito frowned in worry. "You don't have to do it, Seika," the shorter man murmured in his native language.

"You have no idea what you could come in contact with," Touya warned, also in Japanese.

"Don't worry," she murmured back in her adopted tongue. She carefully tugged her silk black gloves off gently. Her palms tingled as they came in contact with the air making her shiver. She blinked in surprise when the waitress carefully started arranging food on the table, so caught up was Alex in her 'unveiling'. Hesitantly she picked up her chopsticks.

Hermione laughed suddenly, sounding slightly uncomfortable. "Listen to us!" she exclaimed. "We should be asking Alex what's been happening with her, not babbling about ourselves!"

"Either way," the woman said with a smile. "You can ask me whatever you like." The young mother seemed hesitant. She started to say something, then stopped abruptly. "What is it, Hermione?" Alex asked. The woman shook her head.

"Nothing," she assured her school friend. "Besides, it would be rude."

"Go ahead, ask me," the blonde urged. When she heard it, however, she froze and a part of her wished she hadn't insisted.

"Why did you get Harry and Draco together?"

Alexandra blinked in confusion. "I'm their friend, I want to see them happy."

"Yeah, it's just… Well, I always got the impression you had a thing for Harry, so it sort of surprising when you paired him off – and with DRACO, no less!" Here was where the woman's eyes flashed with worry.

"Alex? Have a thing for *ME*?!" Harry repeated in disbelief. "This is *ALEX*, guys, she'd never have a thing for ME!"

Alex's position hadn't changed, her eyes carefully blank, her lips parted slightly in surprise, and her hand frozen in the act of lifting her tea cup to her mouth. The raven-haired Seeker's loud laughter at the ridiculousness of the statement echoed in her ears. "Actually I did." At her quiet words Harry stopped in shock.

"Really?"

"He's MY boyfriend!" Draco warned, pulling the man in possessively. Alex nodded, averting her gaze.

"I know."

"You really had a thing for me?" Harry pressed again. Once again the blonde nodded. "Wow," he said reflectively. Then he gloated, "Everyone likes me."

The silvery haired man scowled at his boyfriend. "You shouldn't laugh at her feelings."

"Come on, Dray, it was only a crush!" he responded. "Wasn't it, Alex?"

"… Of course," she said quietly. As the couple continued to talk, the woman handed the waitress her credit card. When it was returned she stood. "We had better go, minna." Everyone. "I still have one more person I'd like you to meet."

"He couldn't make it to lunch?" Ron inquired.

"She," Alex corrected. "No, she couldn't make it to lunch. Which is why we're going back to my apartment – our apartment – " she amended, seeing her roommates pointed looks, "to meet her."

"Do you think she could meet us at our house?" Hermione asked doubtfully. "I mean, ours is baby proof…"

"Don't worry about it," the blonde reassured the other woman. "I promise you my house is baby proof. Normally I would agree, but my guest is currently without a car, so she wouldn't be able to get there. John will be fine, I promise." Hermione still looked doubtful, but nodded. As they left the restaurant, the eight separated into three groups.

In Alex's car, at least, talking was at a minimum, Draco and Harry sensing her nervousness. They commented vaguely on the nice apartment complex as they entered it with the others, but other than that were wrapped in their individual thoughts. The blonde fumbled slightly with the key, muttering darkly under her breath in Japanese as she finally shoved the door open, revealing scattered toys in the small hallway to the main rooms.

Instinctively she, Touya, and Yukito slipped off their shoes and set them carefully by the door. Alex bent down and began picking up toys, calling into the room, "Tadaima!" I'm home!

"Hello!" a woman's voice called from inside the apartment. "Just wait a sec! I'm trying to get–"

"Okaeri!" A girl no more than five years old ran toward them in a towel, her dripping blonde hair hitting her back with wet thuds. "MOMMY!" she cried, attaching to Alex's legs happily.

TO BE CONTINUED… (Cause if you're a baka – idiot – like me it takes you ten minutes or longer to figure out what TBC means. ^_^ )

Sorry all these author's notes are so long, but they are IMPORTANT; there's just a LOT you all need to know.

* Technically, hentai is the word for NC-17, or explicit sex. Ecchi is pervert, but I thought hentai fit better in that situation. ^_^

** This is for my friend Angel, who was ranting last weekend about how all (or at least the majority) of the guys named John she knew hated her, one of which is my brother. ^_~ .

As for Alex's Japanese name, Kyuu Seika, technically it's one word. Kyuuseika means astrology or star reader. You can find Japanese vocabulary at http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm . I hope you find these helpful!

I hope you all liked the first chapter of Kousei! Please review! I love any and all feedback!