UchiSays: Ok, I have been DIEING to write a BZHP story. I absolutely LOVE Blaise... who is a BOY! It really ticks me off when I find stories where Blaise is a girl, it's gets under my skin alot. But I can't change other people, so I'll just change my attitude and write my own Blaise Zabini story! Lately I've been in a mood to write stories where Draco isn't so nice to Harry, so warning for bastard!Malfoy, but he doesn't come it until later so yeah... I have about half of this story written, and as far as i can tell it's going to be a short one, but it's my first BZHP story, so I guess that's ok.

Title and song Lyrics come from the Linkin Park song Easier to Run, which I listened to a million times the night I started this story.

I really hope you all enjoy this story, please review!

Easier to Run

It's easier to run
replacing this pain with something more
-

The two boys looked at each other as they lazed around under a tree near the Black Lake. It was chilly out, being the middle of December and all, but a few well placed Warming Charms was enough to solve that problem. Warming Charms, a couple blankets, steaming cups of hot chocolate, and snuggling close enough to feel each other's heartbeats that is. It was the day before Winter Break started and the two had decided to skive off classes to spend this time together.

Warm green eyes stared at a pale face, taking in every little feature down to the fine curve of pale silver eyebrows. The aforementioned eyebrow rose in a delicate arc as molten silver eyes met the green ones. "See something you like, Potter?"

Harry schooled his features into a playful scowl. "No, not at all." He pulled his eyes away from his companion and turned to look at the lake.

"Is that so?"

"Yep." The scowl finally manged to melt into the smile that had been threatening to appear since the blond had first spoken. "But I do see something I love."

The smile was returned and silver eyes shined brightly with mirth. "I love you, too, Harry." The already small distance between them vanished and their lips met in a kiss so full of love and trust and compassion that Harry thought his heart would explode from it all. He wanted this moment to last forever.

"Daddy?" A low voice called out, pulling Harry from his dream. "Daddy, are you awake?"

Harry opened his eyes and they were immediately met by a pair of liquid silver ones, so much like the silver eyes of the boy in his dreams. "Yeah, I'm awake, Love. What's the matter?"

"I- I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Harry smiled up at the young boy peering down at him with those expressive silver eyes so filled with fear and trust. Saying nothing, Harry scooted over and pulled back the bedsheets. Silver eyes lit up with joy as the boy scrambled under the covers and snuggled close to Harry. "Comfy, Love?" Harry teased the boy.

A light blush colored pale cheeks and the boy nodded. "Good-night, Daddy."

Harry smiled and kissed the top of his son's head. "Good-night, Corvus."

|::-x-::|

"Daddy!" A strawberry blond colored streak dashed towards Harry and collided against his chest.

Harry smiled and chuckled as he wrapped his arms around the boy. "Good to see you, too, Corvus. You have a good day?"

Five year old Corvus Jonquil Potter pulled his head back from where it was buried against Harry's chest and smiled up at his father. "I had great day, Daddy! I painted you a picture."

"Did you? What is it?" Harry asked his son.

Before the boy had a chance to reply, someone else call out for him. "Mr. Potter, if I may speak to you for a moment?" A young woman with long brown hair and a paint smeared blouse asked.

"Of course, Ms. Mayer," Harry said to the kindergarten teacher before turning to his scowling son, Harry's heart gave a twinge of pain at the sight of the boy looking so much like his other father at that moment. "Corvus, how about you go gather your things while I talk to Ms. Mayer."

"Daddy, I swear it wasn't my fault."Corvus looked up at him with pleading eyes and Harry's heart gave another twinge of pain at seeing his son look so disheartened.

"Go on, Corv, it'll only take a second."

The five year old looked reluctant to go, but eventually he sighed and headed back into the classroom.

"Did something happen?" Harry asked as soon of his son was out of hearing range.

Ms. Mayer gave a small smile as she turned her eyes away from her student and to his concerned parent. "Corvus had a little run-in with one of the other students today. I had to give him two time outs."

"What happened?"

"Well today I had the kids paint pictures of their families. One of the other kids wanted to know why Corvus didn't have a 'mommy' in his painting. Corvus told her he only had a daddy and that was that, until one of the other boys started teasing him about it. Corvus lost control of his temper, he swears he didn't throw the paint pallet at the boy, but my back was turned and there was really no one else who could have done it. I gave them both a time out, but then we had share time after snack and I had the kids tell everyone what they were afraid of. The same boy who Corvus had the run-in with earlier said he was afraid of dogs, and he teased Corvus about being afraid of waking up without you being there, which I thought was the sweetest thing I had ever heard by the way. Well anyway, during playtime Corvus decided to take some revenge and since the other boy is afraid of dogs, Corvus had the whole class barking and growling at him until he cried."

Harry didn't know what to say. The first thing was obviously not his son's fault since he had known when he'd decided to enroll Corvus in a Muggle kindergarten that there would be issues with his accidental magic, but the second incident was premeditated and more than a little cruel.

"I am very sorry about his behavior," Harry offered. "I'll talk to him about it when we get home."

"Please see that you do. Corvus is a very good child, and so bright, but he really doesn't know how to play well with others. And while he shows some natural leadership skills, he hasn't really made any friends."

"I'll talk to him," Harry said again.

"That would be very helpful. And, forgive me for prying, but I was wondering what happened to his mother? It must be very difficult being a single parent, and you're so young. Surely having a mother around would help Corvus learn to open up."

Harry tried to keep his voice and face pleasant as he answered the woman's question. "Corvus doesn't have a mother, me and his other parent had a disagreement before he was born. The result was me raising Corv alone since the time I was eighteen. I believe I've done a decent job."

"Oh you have." Ms. Mayer rushed out. "Corvus is a wonderful child, it's just... I'm concerned for him is all. He's always having little tantrums. And he swears that he isn't doing them, but the strangest things seems to happen around him. And he's always making up these stories, claiming that you're a wizard and such nonsense. I've only worked with children for a short time, but I've come to know these as signs of problems or instability in the household."

Suddenly what the woman was trying to say dawned on him. How dare she insinuate that he was in anyway mistreating his son! Corvus was his everything! He would never- "I understand what you're trying to say, but I ensure you that my son his getting the best care I can offer him at home. There's no 'problems or instability' in our household at all."

"I'm sure you're doing the best you can, but Corvus is a child and you're barely more than a child yourself. Maybe it would be wiser if you looked into finding a- a more suitable home for him. One with a stable two parent family."

"Like to stable two parent family that kept me locked in a cupboard for ten years!" Harry spat before he realized what he was saying. Suddenly his words caught up to him and he fought to control his anger. "I understand your concern, but trust me when I say that I will never allow anyone else raise my son but me. Corvus is the best thing that ever happened to me and I'm trying my best to give him the childhood I never had. You're right, it's not easy being a single parent and if I felt I was in anyway incapable of caring for him I would look into placing Corvus in a more stable home. But I don't feel I am incapable, and you have no right to say that I am."

"I- I'm sorry." Ms. Mayer didn't seem able to find anything else to say.

Harry gave the woman a small smile and said, "I think it's time Corvus and I took our leave. Come on, Corvus." The five year old rushed over to his father from where he had been standing off to the side waiting for the adults to finish talking. "Say good-bye to Ms. Mayer."

"Good-bye Ms. Mayer," the boy said.

"Good-bye, Corvus," the teacher said back.

"Good-bye, Ms. Mayer," Harry said and led his son away with no intentions of ever bringing him back.

|::-x-::|

"I'm just saying, Harry, maybe you overreacted just a little."

"I did not overreact," Harry declared. "The woman was trying to convince me to give my son away." Harry stood at the doorway of the bathroom watching Corvus taking his bath, his long time best friend Hermione Granger-Weasley stood in the hallway behind him with a small frown on her face.

"That's not the part I was talking about, though you did overreact there as well not all families are like the Dursleys you know, I was talking about the part where she said that maybe being reared in a single parent home isn't the best thing for Corvus. Not that you're not doing a good job or anything," Hermione rushed on before Harry could lose his temper with her, "it's just statistics show that children from a single parent home are more likely to have more trouble in the long run."

"Statistics don't know a thing about me or my family."

"Harry, it's been five years. I think it's time you moved on."

Harry ignore Hermione and strode into the bathroom. "Come on, Tiger, time to wash your hair." He knelt beside the tub and picked up the tube of watermelon scented children's shampoo specially formulated to not burn if it got in the child's eyes. Corvus smiled at Harry before allowing his father to lather the shampoo into his strawberry blond hair, he had partially inherited his hair color from Harry's mom, but the pale color also came from Corvus' other father. Corvus giggled as his father massaged his scalp and obediently held his head back to let the shampoo be rinsed out.

"All done," Harry said turning to grab a towel from the shelf, only to have Hermione hand it to him. Still ignoring the brunette, Harry continued to lavish attention onto his son. "Out you go, Tiger." He held the towel open and Corvus stood so Harry could wrap it around him and lift him out of the tub. Hermione left the room as Harry began to dry Corvus off and help the boy into his pajamas. After Charming his hair dry, Harry left to find Hermione leaving Corvus with orders to brush his teeth and go play in his room until Harry came to tuck him in.

Harry found Hermione in the kitchen making tea for the two of them. Neither of them spoke as they headed for the living room. The silence drug on for a while until Harry finally sighed and said, "I know you're right, Hermione, but I don't think I can move on."

"Of course you can, Harry, why wouldn't you be able to."

"I- I'm just so afraid of being hurt again, and then there's Corvus. I would hate to bring someone into his life and let him get attached to them, only for them to leave again if things don't work out between us."

"Then don't bring them around him until you're sure it's something serious."

"I thought I had something serious before, Hermione, and look where it left me. A twenty-four year old, single father, with some major trust issues. Even if I did move on, I doubt I'd fine someone willing to be with someone with as much emotional baggage as I have, or else they'd just be in it for my fame."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but before she could a voice called out from the bottom of the stairs. "Daddy, can I have juice before bed?" Corvus asked.

Harry smiled fondly at his son, the boy really was his whole life. "That depends, are you going to get up and go to the bathroom."

"Daddy!" Corvus flushed a bright red color. "I haven't had an accident in a long time."

"Yes, three months is a really long time," Harry chided with playful sarcasm.

"It is! It's a full," Corvus raised one hand and began counting, "twelve weeks!" How he managed to count twelve on five fingers Harry would never know, but boy knew what he was talking about.

"Alright," Harry rolled his eyes in amusement. "What kind of juice do you want, Tiger?"

"Apple!" Harry stood and followed the excited five year old to the kitchen. "Can I pour it, Daddy?"

"Sure, love." Harry got one of the boy's spill-proof cups from the cupboard and the bottle of apple juice from the fridge, his house was a mix of magic and Muggle appliances. Corvus scrambled into a chair and stood up so he could reach the cup and juice. Harry hovered protectively over his shoulder as the child set about pouring his drink, Hermione stood by the doorway silently watching the family scene.

Corvus smiled in triumph when he managed to pour the juice without the anti-spill charms needing to take affect. "I did it, Daddy!"

"Good job, Tiger." Corvus was always looking for praise for the littlest things and Harry was more than happy to offer that praise. "Now drink your juice and head back upstairs."

With a pleased smile, the five year old obeyed his father's orders and downed his juice. Not a second after setting his empty cup down, a rather loud yawn escaped Corvus' mouth. "Are you going to read me a story, Daddy?"

"I'll be up in a minute. I just need to finish talking to your Aunt Hermione."

Corvus nodded and hopped down from his chair. "Good-night, Aunt 'Mione."

Hermione smiled at the child and gave him a quick hug. "Night, Corv."

Corvus didn't say good-night to Harry, because he was expecting his father to come tuck him in and read him a story soon. The five year old strode tiredly out of the kitchen while Harry and Hermione watched silently.

"It's really getting late, Hermione. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Hermione's brown eyes fixed on Harry for a second with a look of intense calculation. "Right, talk to you tomorrow. See you later."

"See ya later." Harry followed her to the fireplace and handed her the Floo powder.

"Harry," Hermione said, "not everyone is out to hurt you, and not everyone is after your fame. Just think about what we talked about."

"I will, Hermione. Good-night." The two of them shared a hug, before Hermione threw the Floo powder and disappeared into the green flames. Harry stood there watching the fire for a minute, before sighing and making his way upstairs to where the light of his life was waiting for a story and a good-night kiss.