Author´s notes: NEXT CHAPTER! Alright, I know you guys will never forgive me for doing this, but Enrinye is a total psycho (kidding… well, I'm actually quoting her, so there´s no need to take it seriously – honestly, who takes psychos seriously? ;) ) and she wanted Meg to have her own love interest. Immediately rejecting the idea of romancing a rejected fop, we had to think a bit to develop a new character based entirely on her personal preferences and wishes. Then, I came up with the crazy idea you will see later – it just hit me. anyhow, it´s way too short, nothing really happens, but Meg gets to kick some serious ass and find her dreamguy. Christine and Erik return in the next chapter.

raoulisafop – (gives chocolate) Correct, Memory it is! I love the song. Thanks for your the support, read on!

lady kathrin – more Erik in da next chapter.

PersonageoftheUnderverse here it is!

Aradia-Rose88 – thanks! I changed both Christine and Meg a lot, so I hope that works for you. If you like C with more backbone, read my fic Descending Dreams, please.

silver spear – thanks, read on!

unseengenius – The song´s from Cats. Read on!

Nota Lone – heer ees eet!

onelastchance too bad, so sad, no rooftop now!

mrs. malfoy – here it is!

Enrinye - ;-)

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Chapter 8 – GSL

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Meg was running round the stage, pretty much like the rest of the people nearby – the only difference was that they were shrieking and running in circles like headless chickens. She had a pretty clear idea of what to do, and her task had been completed thus far. Still, it was getting a bit uncomfortable where she was standing, and she wanted to be able to stop shrieking. If she would stop here, it would ruin the scenery. She had to get back to her dressing room or something.

Unfortunately, the fact that everyone was crazed with fear and didn't really care about shoving people out of the way to get to "safety", she got pretty much bumped into the wall a few times. Meg cursed out loud, but remained unheard… nearby, performers were trying to calm the sheep… and Meg landed unceremoniously on her backside when she missed the wall after a particularly hard push.

"What the f…?" she managed to yelp before hitting the ground. The stupid dress she was wearing made it worse. Scowling, she crawled away on her knees, then jumped into the orchestra pit – the players had long since vacated it, so no one was there. She knocked over a bassoon or something like that and her skirt got caught on another thing, but she yanked it free easily. Still, she dropped to the ground and ended on her knees. She wasn't that used to jumping off ledges.

Feeling some slight pain in her hand, she raised it to examine it. what she saw made her groan out loud. Not only was she stuck in a stupid dress, in a ridiculous situation, but she had also managed to oh-so-ingeniously break her nail.

Wonderful.

Meg scowled again. when she found out they were in PotO, she envisioned something more fun than breaking nails. She wanted action, adventure, maybe a bit of romance… a lot of gothic into it, naturally. NOT breaking nails and insane mobs.

"Are you alright?"

Still scowling, Meg looked up from her broken nail and for a moment forgot the scene and her complaints. If it was possible for dollar bills and hearts to appear in a person´s eyes at once, than that´s probably what happened to Meg at the moment. She had been looking for some handsome guy in the opera, since the local phantom was taken and there was little chance he had any free male relatives, but so far unsuccessfully.

Oh my God… In about three seconds – the time it took her to absorb the full sight of him – the conscious phan(and fan)girlish part of her mind decided that she was prepared for anything but this guy standing over her took her breath away. There were three words that could describe him in Meg´s mind at the current moment: Tall, dark and handsome. Just the type of guy that Amy fancied in the "real" world. And those eyes. Vivid blue eyes, the most beautiful eyes that Meg has ever seen. Eyes Regina would describe as Dumbledore-ish. He reminded Meg a bit of Jason Isaacs that is THE man of her dreams. She must have looked like an idiot because after a moment her anonymous "hotness" repeated his question.

"Mademoiselle, are you alright?" He asked with some concern. Evidently, he was a tad unfamiliar with 21st century ways of showing "I like you"… or rather, "U R da hotness, baby".

The repeated question and a scream not too far away brought Meg back to reality. Shaking her head (to sober herself more than to say no) she attempted a pained expression and tried to think of some part of her body that could hurt without any outward signs.

The headshake was probably misunderstood, however. Again, lack of knowledge of crazy fangirl behavior could prove lethal (or at least endangering) to ignorant hot guys from past centuries and in a moment, Meg was learning how to master the "deer-in-highlights" look while the man inspected her arm, probably seeing that she had clutched it a moment ago.

After a minute, he frowned. "You seem lucky, Mademoiselle – no broken bones. Just a few bruises. You shouldn't stay here, though."

Meg attempted a serious face but failed a bit, still slightly dazed. "Um… yes. Yes, the crowd is kinda hysteric."

Taking the already offered hand, Meg was pulled to her feet a bit too quickly for her own liking, but the sudden proximity was enough to make it up to her. However, things went rather slowly in this century – and that meant that there was no "My hero!" scene thing and all the snogging that came with it. instead, the man took a step back and guided Meg out of the pit through the orchestra entrance.

Meg sighed in slight relief – the yelling wasn't that loud down here. "Thanks for that, sir." She smiled giddily, feeling less than comfortable. Flirting in the past wasn't that easy if you didn't want to look like a total whore.

Once the smile was returned, Meg almost forgot what she had decided to do – introduce herself. After a second of staring, she cleared her throat a bit and straightened up. "My-my name´s Meg… Meg Giry."

"Short for Marguerite, I take it?"

Meg laughed shakily and winced a bit. "Unfortunately."

Again, her insides were dancing once he said with a smile: "I think it´s a wonderful name, Mademoiselle."

Meg blushed. Sucks that it´s not my name, then. "Marguerite Eloise Giry then, Monsieur. A pleasure."

A second later, she wished she had something to cool her face and her hormones down when he raised her hand and brushed it against his lips lightly. "Gaston Sebastian Leroux. On the contrary, Mademoiselle Giry. The pleasure is all mine."

The cooling came all too quickly.

Houston… we´ve got a huuuuuuuuuge sexy problem.

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DUN! DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN! Hehe. Crazy, isn´t it? Anyhow, in case there are any people reading this who know Leroux´s bio, they know that some things are made up/changed. The point it, we know about it. We just don't care.