A/N: Erik is 10 when Mme. Giry rescues him. She is 16. At 20 she has Meg. Erik is 14. There is 6 years between Mme. Giry and Erik. And 14 years between Meg and Erik

This is an AU where Christine doesn't exist.

Cast: 2004 ALW movie cast because I liked them all (except for Raoul, but that's ok in this fanfic).

Note: this is my first fanfiction, so positive criticism is welcome. Also, this is my second take at the story, I wasn't to happy with my first draft of it, so I restarted. Sorry for any confusion.

A

PROLOGUE

Meg couldn't think of a time when she didn't know Him. She had always sensed His presence and to her, it felt like He was a guardian angel of sorts. Of course in her very young years she never had laid eyes upon him nor heard a single word. Perhaps it was the little incident here and there that alerted her of his presence; a flower pot missing her head by inches or her bed always straightened on mornings that she forgot (she was thankful for these times because her mother was very strict about organization, and Meg received no special exemption from these rules). It was these little things that let her know that He was there, watching over her. Always…..

Antoinette Giry was a strict but loving mother. She knew the Opera Populaire was not the ideal place for a young girl to grow up, and had asked Erik to keep a close eye on her, when she could not. So it was at her request that he began trailing the little blond ballet rat. At first it had been an annoyance, for what boy wants to be constantly following a young girl in the shadows when there was so much mischief to be made. But he owed his life to the Madame and so he never failed to neglect his duties. Well naturally there had been times when he couldn't resist the devious plans that came to him. Perhaps one of the most amusing pranks he had played was the time he had dyed la Carlotta's white poodle lime green, but there was also the time he had mixed glue in the shampoo bottles which the ballet rats used, (Meg of course did not fall victim to this prank). As a result, Antoinette had raged at him for hours that night about growing up and acting mature.

During moments like these, Erik would lose himself in the music he could hear faintly inside his head. He had always sought comfort in music. Ever since he was young he composed melodies in his mind. But it wasn't until he stumbled across an old piano, while exploring the different levels of cellars in the opera house, that he was able to truly bring the melodies out. Soon after that, he began to compose while learning to master the various instruments in an orchestra. Music became his passion and every piece of music he created, held part of his soul in it. He was, without a doubt, a great composer, yet few in the world would ever be privileged enough to hear his works of pure genius and art.

When he was 20, He became tired of the way Monsieur Lefèvre was managing things and began to issue orders and prepared consequences when his demands were ignored. And so the infamous tale of the Phantom of the Opera began.

10 year old Meg was scared. She'd had a nightmare and was running to her mother's room when she stopped in surprised. Her mother was talking to someone with a deep voice. In her curiosity, Meg forgot about the scary dream and leaned closer to the door, hoping to learn what stranger was in her mama's room so late.

"You are taking this Phantom façade to seriously," her mama was saying. Her mama continued to scold the unknown within her room, but Meg wasn't listening. Her mind was full of questions and wonder. "Could her mama really be talking to the infamous Phantom of the Opera? How did she know him?" Her thoughts were suddenly silenced when she heard her mother mention her name.

"I trusted you to watch over Meg all these years because I believed it would teach you some responsibility. You are no longer a child! When will you stop acting like one?" Her mother sounded exasperated with the mysterious person in the room.

"I told you, Monsieur Lefèvre is an old fool who has no sense in style or music. Annie, you have got to agree that the operas he has ordered to be put on most recently have been so distasteful." The deep voice had a whining edge to it. "Annie…? Was the man in there, the potential phantom, that close to her mother that he would call her Annie?"

Meg was starting to become aware of the conversation dying in the room and thought it best for her to return to the ballet dormitories, lest she be caught eaves dropping. So she ran as silently as possible back to the room where all the ballet rats slept. She climbed into bed and began to contemplate about what she had heard. "Could the angel she felt watching over her all this time, be none other than the Phantom of the Opera?