An awkward silence filled the room of the shrine. Hadrian, Tomoe and James were all seated on the fluffy white pillows around the low kotatsu. Harry had chosen to cover his legs with the soft dark blue quilt while James and Tomoe had both decided against it. They had all been completely silent ever since the potion was left to brew nearly 2 hours ago. The only slight reprieve from the silence had been when Tomoe had brewed a pot of tea. James had watched him like a hawk the entire time he was brewing the tea. Suspicion and distrust had filled his eyes and made him tense as he looked for any movements that could mean he was poisoning his child. He had no idea that he was being completely obvious about it and that it was starting to irritate the both of them.
'Irritating human.' Tomoe thought darkly while casting a small glance at the man sitting on his left only to see the man still glaring at him as if he was going to go on a murdering rampage at any moment. As if he would ever do something so barbaric and obvious. If he wanted to kill him it definitely wouldn't be in a way or place that would cause Hadrian any inconvenience. That was the last thing he wanted.
'Not that this idiotic man would believe me even if I told him that.' He thought while lifting his tea cup and taking a sip of the still warm liquid. A light smirk of amusement tugged at his lips as he and James both noticed that Harry had moved to drink at the exact same time as him. Much to Tomoe's amusement James only seemed to get more agitated by the fact that his son and a demon moved with such synchronized movements. He was wound tighter than a spring at the moment and one more movement on his part would surely cause the man to explode. This thought caused him to smirk fully as he set his cup down. That was apparently the last straw for James as his face turned an alarming shade of red and he abruptly stood from the table.
"That's it! I can't take this anymore. Harry! How in the bloody hell do you put up being near this creature? He's a demon and a monster." James shouted as he stood to his full height which was a rather average 5 feet and 11 inches with his chest heaving from the force of the shout that had erupted from the man.
Hadrian seemed unphased by the sudden outburst as he tilted his head back and stared at his father while blinking slowly at him. Harry slowly took in the tension he could see in his father's frame before turning and looking at Tomoe with a confused look in his green and gold eyes. A silent conversation passed between the two. Not for the first time James thought in irritation as he saw an understanding dawn in Harry's eyes before he turned back to him and gave him an answer that brought his thoughts to a screeching halt.
"Because I love Tomoe. He's my mate." Harry stated happily with a smile on his face and his cheeks a light pink as he cast a small glance toward Tomoe and turning even more pink at seeing the smile on the fox demon's face.
"And I you koishii." Tomoe stated with a softness in his tone and eyes that James hadn't seen before as he watched him reach out with a clawed hand and lightly run his knuckles down Hadrian's cheek with a tenderness James hadn't seen even between his own parents who thought the world of each other before their deaths.
"H-How can you love him?! He almost killed Lily when we first came here!" James all but screeched as he tried to wrap his mind around anyone, let alone his son, loving a dark creature like the one seated before him. It just wasn't something he could fathom.
*Sigh* "There's your small mindedness again Father dear." Hadrian stated calmly but with a hint of annoyance in his tone as he brought up his own hand and placed it delicately inside Tomoe's larger one. He turned his eyes away from his love to his father and saw the confusion and judgement on James' face.
"Small minded? I'm not small minded! One of my best friends is a werewolf!" James argued hotly with a victorious smile on his face in his flawless, in his mind, logic.
"But you are." Hadrian stated simply before continuing. "Yes Remus Lupin is one of your best friends and a werewolf but the only reason he is is because you met and befriended him before you found out what he was. If you'd known before hand about his cure you would've treated him the exact same way you're treating Tomoe now. With the same condescension and bigotry. This is the reason I don't like going to England and Europe. The magicals there think they're better than anything and everything just because you have a bit of magic. And you my dear papa think in just the same way. You may say you want equality for all magical creatures and muggle-borne as you call them but have you ever truly done anything to bring about that equality? I may have fixed your mind of the spells and enchantments that Albus Dumbledore placed on you but I can't change the way you think. It's simply how you were raised. And for that I feel so sorry for you that you do think that way and that you can't simply see the beauty in all magicals."
James was completely frozen with shock as Harry finished his small speech. Harry had spoken calmly but with a passion shining through in his eyes and voice that James had seen only in a few people his lifetime. Sadly enough the only people he saw this passion in were all pure-bloods when they were preaching about how much better they were than everyone else. Those speeches had always irritated him and he thought they gave most pure-bloods a name but as he thought about them he realized that he had never spoken against them. Content to simply listen to them preach on in the Wizengamot meetings and mess around with Sirius while they droned on and on about their rights and how the 'Mud-bloods' were corrupting their way of life.
James sat down heavily still in shock as he continued to process his son's speech. Completely oblivious to Hadrian and Tomoe talking to each other in soft voices as Harry moved his pillow to Tomoe's side and snuggled into him to wait for his father to come out of his shock or the potion to be finished. Whichever came first.
"I think you may have broken him koi." Tomoe teased lightly as he wound his arms around Harry's petite waist while his little mate snuggled into his side like a kitten.
"Perhaps but maybe what I said will plant a seed and blossom into a new way of thinking for him. Without the enchantments on his mind he may finally be able to grow as a person and actually introduce some change into that backwards kaleidoscope that wizarding England calls a society." Harry intoned drowsily as he cuddled even further into his mate and buried his nose into Tomoe's chest with a sigh as he drifted off. He didn't have to worry about the potion. Tomoe would wake him when it was ready if he wasn't already awake.
Tomoe stared down at his tiny mate and simply watched him sleep. He never thought in his long life that he would find his mate let alone that it would be this tiny slip of a god but things don't always work out the way we think they should and he would never give Hadrian up. He would die before he allowed that to happen and he would kill anyone who tried to hurt him or take him from his side. He would have to teach James a lesson or two on how possessive kitsunes could be if his behavior towards Hadrian, and in extension towards himself, persisted.
These thoughts in mind he reluctantly turned his eyes away from his adorable little mate to look at the man who had fathered Hadrian. He was not an unattractive man, he mused softly to himself as he took in the aristocratic features and dark coloring of the man. Most would consider him to be quite handsome but to Tomoe he was just another face. Not truly distinguishable from another human male but as Harry was currently helping the man simply because he was too kind to let someone be enslaved the way he was he would have to remember his face for the time being.
"You should take to heart was Hadrian has told you." Tomoe stated plainly in a low voice causing the human to jump. Amusing how frightened they were once they discovered what he truly was. Hazel eyes snapped up to meet his navy ones and he stared into them for several seconds and watched the emotions run through them. Hate. Anger. Shame. Annoyance. All negative and directed entirely at him.
"Don't tell me what to I can and can't do Tomoe." James stated in a tight voice but with mocking and derision in his tone when his name was stated. A sneer pulled at the man's features as hate settled completely in his hazel eyes.
"I don't know what you've done to Harry's mind to make him think that evil creatures like you can have any good in them but I will break it and bring him home with me back to England where he belongs." James said with promise and arrogance in his tone.
"Oh? And how exactly are you going to do that? The strongest wizard in your country couldn't best Hadrian in a duel and even if he could there's no spell on him to break. I would never lower myself to altering the mind of my mate. To do so would shame him and myself as well as dishonor my entire line." Tomoe intoned with his voice just as calm as ever and a small smile on his face. Anyone walking by would never think he was mocking the angry man in front of him but James knew that was exactly what he was doing.
James was beyond furious at this point and tried to open his mouth to argue with this demon again but he couldn't seem to find any comeback to the admittedly perfect and calm response he'd received from the fox. Why couldn't he ever win an argument with this creature or his son for that matter. They both seemed to know exactly what to say to completely and utterly tear apart any argument he had concerning anything to do with Harry.
Tomoe couldn't help but smirk as he once again watch James slip into his own little world to try and make sense of what he had told him. What he said had been one hundred percent true but it didn't fit with James' mentality and now he would try and find ways to twist and turn what he said to fit his views on magical creatures and his son He wouldn't succeed but Tomoe would enjoy this particular source of amusement for quite some time. At the very least until Hadrian freed his bitch of a mother from the spells she was under. His lovely little mate was simply too kind at times he thought as his smirk turned into a gentle smile as he again moved his gaze to his sleeping love and decided to bask in his presence and ignore the muttering human sitting a few feet away. 'This is simply much more enjoyable.' Tomoe thought as Harry shifted in his sleep with a small snuffle much to his amusement.