Argus knew it had to end, that they were ratcheting the risks higher with every liaison, every look. And yet….
"It's only when you're with me that I feel real." Chimere dropped the words with an air of carelessness, slurred in the sleepiness of afterglow. But he felt the tension in her back and saw the nearly hysterical craving for approval in her eyes. Or was that just the look in his own eyes reflected back at him?
He rolled her over and covered her with his rough, ungainly body, wishing uselessly that he could protect her. "I love you. I wish that was enough."
"Argus." She kissed him hard, to prove that it was, or to make up for the fact that it wasn't—he couldn't tell which. Did it matter? Whether she loved him or not, she wasn't leaving her husband. She couldn't; they both knew that. But for this day, someone was glad he was alive and took pleasure in his company. Someone he needed needed him back. It was enough.
It was the best he could expect; he would make it enough.
He marveled again at her fathomless eyes, her butterscotch-colored hair, the long, delicate fingers that explored him restlessly; the nervous, crooked smile that only he ever saw. Her body warmed under him.
"Promise you'll stay with me," Chimere said suddenly.
He smiled. "Of course."
"No, I mean whatever happens, that you'll be there. I need that. You're the only one who…" Her breath caught. She exhaled jaggedly and began again. "When I'm with you, I feel like a person. Like I'm strong enough to face my problems, instead of running away or hiding. Without you, I… please, just promise you won't ever leave me."
Argus laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand. "I promise."
"Good. Thank you." She smiled. "Now then, where were we?"
"I believe you promised me fireworks."
"So I did." She reached underneath the pillow and pulled out her wand, which at a whispered spell emitted colorful explosions of light.
He watched admiringly, then turned his face back to hers. "I… had something a little different in mind."
"You're a very vulgar man."
His smile faded. "I'm sorry. It's just… it's all I can do."
"No, that wasn't… I love that about you. I wouldn't change a thing." Chimere emphasized her point by poking him playfully in the chest. "Not… one… thing."
Sometimes he wondered.
As he leaned in to kiss her, he happened to glance toward the Cheat-Pak on the dresser. "It's red," he said.
"Red?" She looked up, alarmed. "He's going to be here any second!" She flicked her wand, and her garments began wrapping themselves around her.
Argus began tugging his clothes on awkwardly. "You should leave. He couldn't prove…"
"I'm not leaving you!"
At her pronouncement, the door exploded into splinters. Her husband stood hulking in the doorway, wand drawn, his Michelangelo face the very picture of fury. He raised a handkerchief to his face as though to mask a disgusting smell and suppress the urge to vomit. "Animal!" he screamed. "Animal! How could you consort with…that?"
"Bellerophon, please, I'm sorry, please don't… please…"
Bellerophon raised his wand, and Chimere's wand appeared in his hand. He snapped it in half and dropped the pieces on the floor.
"Don't hurt her!" Argus charged at the wizard, who simply flicked his wrist, and Argus found himself suddenly thrown against the wall, with plaster growing around his arms and legs.
"Animal." Bellerophon's voice shuddered as he pointed his wand at his wife. Chimere began choking as the bones in her jaw shattered and rearranged themselves. Her nose cracked, and the rest of her face began shifting.
"Chimere!" Her lover thrashed against the wall. "Stop it! Please!"
She screamed as her body contracted with a series of painful pops.
"Please! Hurt me! It's my fault! I'll do anything if you stop, anything you want!" Argus threw himself toward her, dislodging one arm from the plaster by wrenching his shoulder out of its socket. He held the scraped, limp arm toward her.
Bellerophon simply pressed his lips together and flicked his wand once more toward his wayward spouse. Her teeth and ears lengthened, and she began scratching herself as fur sprung out all over her body. She mewed pitifully as she looked from her husband to her lover.
"Chimere!" Argus tore at the plaster until he could finally pull himself free. He half-crawled, half-hobbled over to his lover's now-feline form, his breaths rapid and shallow as he repeated the futile incantation: "Chimere, Chimere, Chimere…"
Bellerophon Norris, Minister of the Interior, kicked Argus Filch squarely in the face. "That's Mrs. Norris, you filthy Squib," he said, "and don't you ever forget it."