"Missus," Daisy said with a tug on her hem.

"Yes?" Ginny asked distractedly as she bounced a fussy Severus on her hip while trying to mend his broken toy with the wand in her other hand.

"Master messaged Missus. Master said he will be late from work. Master said do not worry about waiting for him."

Ginny sighed. It was as if he could sense that she had something she wanted to talk to him about that he knew he wouldn't like. She'd been trying to find a way to casually bring it up for over a week and after George's prodding at the shop, she'd determined she'd simply come right out and ask him. Or tell him, as the case may be. But he had to actually be present for her to do so, throwing a twist in her plans.

"Bollocks," she hissed, turning to the side instinctively to place herself as a pseudo shield between Severus and the green flame that had shot up from what remained of his toy. She must have gotten a swish interchanged with a flick while lost in her thoughts. It was the third toy Severus had lost that week in similar fashion.

Setting him down on the ground as he started to complain, Ginny extinguished the flame with a quick spell, making an effort to actually pay attention to the motion of her wand.

"Mama!" he cried, staring in stunned disbelief at what little remained of the toy dragon he'd been playing with.

"I told Charlie not to give you that dragon," she mumbled under her breath to no one in particular. It hadn't helped that it had become Severus's favorite toy, especially once he'd learned how to make it fly around the house by itself.

"Mama!" he wailed again, dragging out the last syllable.

"I know!" she snapped and instantly regretted it. It wasn't his fault the dragon had dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes and proceeded to flop around as if having a seizure. She'd meant to repair the charm Charlie had put on it to make it fly, which had apparently started to wear off. Instead, she'd set it ablaze. Not some of her best work. She was only thankful none of her brothers had been present to witness it.

"I know," she tried again, her voice gentle and calm. Leaning over, she stroked her hand through his ginger locks as she kissed the top of his head. "I'm sorry, kiddo. Mama will fix it."

"Fix it now!" he demanded.

"Now you sound like your father," she laughed dryly as she studied the charred mess. It looked less like a dragon and more like what a dragon would spit out.

"Papa!" he exclaimed with delight at the mention of the word 'father'.

"He'll be home soon," Ginny assured their son, though she had no idea when he would make it back. The hospital had been severely understaffed as of late, and they'd been stretching his shifts longer and longer. Some nights, he never made it home, catching only an hour or two of sleep at the hospital in between emergencies.

During dinner the other night, Hermione had tentatively asked an exhausted Ginny if she worried that Draco might be having an affair. Ginny hadn't even had the energy to laugh at the thought. The thought had crossed her mind, but only for the briefest of moments. All it took was one look at him when he flooed home to see that he was, indeed, worked to the bone. Ginny struggled to juggle both Severus and the shop while Draco worked more and more at the hospital and she still looked like a well-rested witch in comparison to him.

Just the thought of how exhausted he would be when he got home made her start second guessing whether it would be a good time to bring up the trip. The date was looming ever closer, and yet she had the haunting suspicion that if she dropped it on him tonight after another double shift at work, his head might literally explode.

You're looking for excuses again, she chastised herself. In fact, she'd used the same exact excuse the past three nights. It was noticeably weighing on her, as the previous evening Draco had even asked what was bothering her so. But she'd lied, saying nothing, and instead had lead him into the shower where she'd massaged his aching shoulders under the steaming water until the knots had finally unwound and his shoulders had loosened their tension.

"Mama," Severus called, trying to reclaim her attention. Ginny cleared her throat, which turned into a cough of embarrassment at the derailment her thought process had taken at the mental image of Draco in the shower. "Fix it, please," he reminded her.

"Right," she said with a start, trying to wash her mind blank. "Of course, Sweetheart."