The one-shot, Music of the Night, is now a full story! Mostly fluff...and please tolerate it...I'm very inexperienced when it comes to fluff stories.

Erik: Fluff...with me and Christine...Have I ever mentioned that I like you?

No...just many punjab and torture room related death threats...

Erik: I was just kidding with all that!

Sure. I don't own the Phantom. Wish I did, but I don't.

A/N: I wasn't happy with the previous second chapter...so I went back and changed a few things...especially the ending of this chapter.

Trouble at the Masquerade

Erik's POV

I've never been happier in my life! She had said yes...I proposed and she said yes! If I was a man of less dignity I would have skipped to Madame Giry's room with my Angel by my side...but I have more pride and self respect than that. I couldn't help but smile as I saw how perfectly her tiny white hand fit into my much bigger and rougher one. I was completely happy for once in my miserable and hell-bent life. I didn't even pay attention to whether or not people passed by and, soon enough, we made it to Madame Giry's door. I knocked loudly and quickly and soon a heavily accented voice shouted "Come in!" through the oak door. I opened the door and rushed in, half dragging Christine behind me, with a bright smile plastered onto my face. The ballet instructor seemed shocked, whether by my smile, Christine, or the fact that I actually used her door I did not know, but I think it would be a safe guess to say that it was all three.

"Erik! What are you smiling about and why is Christine with you? Erik, did you abduct her again? For goodness' sake, just let the poor girl be!" she ranted as I continued to beam at her with Christine slightly panting at my side.

"Actually, Madame, we came here to tell you some excellent news and to ask you to help us with our plans." my smile grew slightly. I looked to Christine to see if she wanted to tell the Madame. She just smiled at me, a silent sign telling me to continue for us. "What is the news then?" she interrogated as she eyed me suspiciously.

"Me and Christine are getting married!" I blurted out, not even bothering to hide my excitement.

She stared at us blankly, apparently letting the information sink in. Then a small smile appeared on her aged face as she stood up from the chair she had been sitting on, walked over to us...and actually hugged me. This was my turn to stare blankly. I remembered when I was younger, right after she had freed me from the gypsies. Whenever I had caused some sort of trouble, such as accidentally breaking a stage prop or being seen by a stagehand, she would whack me roughly, warning me to be more careful about what I did. Later on in life the hand had become a cane, but we still had small sweet moments when she simply acted as a mother to me, and I as a son to her. But never in my life had she ever embraced me, so why did she now?

"I am happy for you. You have been like a son to me...and that's what I consider you now. I am glad that you can be happy. And you Christine..."she paused a moment to move over and take Christine in her embrace, "I had a feeling that you and Erik were meant to be. You take care of him, you hear? And make sure he doesn't case any more trouble...well, that's probably to much to ask for, so just makes sure that no one ends up dangling from the rafters, okay?" her and Christine giggled slightly as I put on an annoyed face, but chuckled slightly myself.

"Since when have I caused trouble?" I smiled at them, trying to act completely sweet and innocent, and completely unconvinced with it myself. They just rolled their eyes and crossed their arms. "What about the chandelier?" "Or the mirror?" "Or Don Juan Triumphant?" "Or the masquerade?" they went back and forth with different troubles I had caused, and the last one reminded the three of us of the most widely talked about event that was going to take place in a week's time. The Masquerade Ball that the Opera Populaire was hosting! That'd be the perfect place to-"The Masquerade Ball will be the perfect place to announce our engagement, Erik!"

Christine

I blurted out my idea. "We should announce our engagement there! What do you think?" I smiled up at him. We should announce our engagement, right? It would show everyone that the Opera Ghost isn't a heartless monster bent on tormenting the opera house and everyone in it. No, this would show that he can be a caring husband and a wonderful man. "Do you want us to announce our engagement?" I asked timidly, staring up into his wonderful sea green eyes ringed with gold. "Of course I do. Now, shall we plan our appearance at the ball?"

A week later...Raoul's POV

I sighed. I've been walking around the dance floor of the huge ballroom for hours. Why is it that every chorus girl I meet, with the exception of Meg Giry, tries to flirt with me? I still haven't seen Christine...I haven't really seen her or talked to her since the day she told me that she hadn't loved me as a husband...only a brother. I stared at the vast ocean of swirling colors. The grinning yellows, the way the light shined off of the wondrous amounts of jewels and sequins that adorned the dresses of the couples wheeling around in circles on the marble floor. And here was me, standing by myself in a feathered, bright blue suit, with a cloak of the same color draped around my shoulders and a mask to match.

"A mask...Would Christine think about coming here with that...monster?" mumbled to myself. As if to answer my question, the lights dimmed. The top of the stairs lit up in a burst of colors, like fireworks, only smaller, controlled, and the didn't fade out. My jaw dropped. There in the light, stood A Demon and an Angel...

Erik's POV

I grinned. There in the crowd, stood the Vicomte, dressed as a blue jay. The gasps of amazement and terror from the audience would be clear to a deaf man. Of course they would. I was dressed as the thing they had believed me to believe. A demon from Hell. The shiny black material embroidered with red, making my shirt, overcoat, and pants, shine like the lights of hell, my coat swaying behind me like wings. My mask was as black as night and my Angel, my Christine, was on my arm. She was clad in a beautiful silk gown, as white as new fallen snow. She had a thin cloak coated in white feathers wrapped around her small form and a pure white mask. She truly looked like an Angel. My smirk grew as we desended the marvelous staircase. All eyes were on us and only three had the nerve to approach the bottom of our stairway.

"Greetings, M. Andre, M. Firmin, and M. de Changy. Me and my Angel wish to make a little announcement...would you do the honors?" I wrapped my arm around her shoulder as she took my free hand in hers. "Of course."she winked at me as she looked out into the crowd.

"I have heard a Demon pour his heart out to me...and I realized that that Demon, was actually an Angel...cast into the pits of Hell by fate. I have fallen into love with my fellow Angel, and I hope to pull his heart back from the darkness in which it lies...I, the Angel, have agreed to marry this Angel in Hell. I, Christine Daae, shall marry the Phantom of the Opera!"

she shouted into the awestruck audience. The reactions were just as expected. Some fainted, some gasped, some screamed, and others didn't know what to think. "Shall we?" I held out my hand to her, and as soon as she grasped it, we headed to join the shocked crowd on the ballroom floor.

Christine's POV

We walked up to the managers and Raoul, all three of whom were frozen in place with shocked expressions on their faces. "Bo-Bonjour, Mademoselle Daae and...Monsuier Phantom..." Firmin stuttered out, an obviously forced smile plain on his face.

"Bonjour, M. Firmin, M. Andre,..Raoul."I greeted them with a small polite smile, Erik merely nodding. Raoul seemed to be coming out of his stupor and whispered my name. "Christine...What did he do to you..? Did this...monster...cast a spell on you with his voice?" he began softly, his voice gaining stregnth to the point of yelling as he ranted."You can't have willingly made this choice can you? You have been hypnotized, Christine! This isn't even a man! HE'S A MONSTROUS DEMON WHO WAS DAMNED AT BIRTH!!! NOT A MAN!!!" his face was red by the time he finished his shouting and I could feel Erik's body tense up beside me.

"Raoul. Do not shout at my fiance! He. Is. A man." I hissed through my clenched teeth.

At this point I would have jumped on him with Erik's punjab lasso, which I knew to be tucked away within his crimson costume. "Oh don't kid yourself, Christine. That beast isn't human. He's just a demon, a monster so deformed that even Hell wouldn't take him."he ranted as he strutted over to me, stumbling slightly until he was near enough to lean over and whisper into my ear. As he did, I smelled his breath, which reaked of liquor.'Lord! He's drunk! That's why he's saying all these horrible things to me and Erik...he doesn't realize what he's doing.' I thought as I nudged Erik's side while mouthing the words "He's drunk". Erik seemed to catch on and began turning to get behind the drunken Vicomte.

"You were better off with me, dear Chrissy..." Raoul mumbled into my ear, just as Erik slipped behind him and gave him a quick punch to the back of his head and he fell to the ground with a thump. "Thank you Erik. He's completely drunk...there's no possible way he could have been in his right mind..." I sighed in relief as the managers rushed to Raoul's side.

"My God! What did you do to him?" Andre clutched Raoul's wrist to check for a pulse, and apparently found one judging by the sigh that escaped his lips. "He was drunk and he was hitting on my fiance. So I merely knocked him unconcious. He should be fine, and perhaps sober, when he wakes up." Erik replied simply, returning to his previous position by my side. "Christine, I believe it would be best if we left now. Let us head home."he extended his hand to me and I quickly grasped it, eager to return to the house on the lake, which seemed to be the one safe place in the world at this point. "Yes...we should head back and maybe think of somemore plans for our wedding..."and with that we headed back up the stairs, and back to our safe haven. Along the way, my head began to fill with images of our wedding. With a beautiful dress as white as a dove, my bride's maids with Meg as the maid of honor, Erik in his tuxedo with a bright smile on his face and glitter in his eyes...

"Christine. We have trouble." I snapped out of my trace to stare him. Trouble? I gave him a confused look and turned my head towards where he was staring. "Hello Christine. Hello bastard." Raoul was standing mere feet away, a drunken grin plastered on his face. He had a gun and was pointing it straight at me.

Oh. That trouble.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo