I literally thought of the beginning of this chapter while sitting in front of my Christmas tree and eating Rolos. Anyhow, the pictures on the side are Kat and Meg's dresses for the masque ball.

*Spoiler alert: that's what this chapter is about*

The blue one and the mask is Kat's and the white one is Meg's. Yes I chose to put Meg in a different dress from the one in the film(that dress is just so...uncomfortably revealing) and I left Christine's the same. I was going to change it but gave up after about an hour at looking through some god awful frilly pink dresses on Google.

This chapter may be a bit rushed in some places, sorry.

Do I really need to say this? POTO, mine? NO!

Kat's POV

        I was standing in my large closet trying to button up my dress, that had taken me an hour to find, when I heard my bedroom door click open.

        "Deck the halls with boughs of holly!" 

        I poked my head around the corner to see Damien singing at the top of his lungs while shoving a tree through the door. I finished buttoning my dress and walked out of the closet to get a better view. 

        "Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!" Damien continued his singing as he pushed the tree through the narrow doorway.

        "'Tis the season to be jolly!" I heard Ezra's voice chime in somewhere behind his brother.

        "Fa-la-la-la-la, la-!" I sang at first then broke into laughter when both of them came crashing into the room and landing directly on top of the tree.

        "Ow...I told...you...we should have...gotten...a smaller...tree" Ezra said breathlessly as he rolled himself off of the tree and sprawled out on the floor.

        "Dido." Damien mumbled and followed Ezra's lead. He sat up and spit pine needles from his mouth. "I think I broke something."

        "Well that was the funniest thing I've seen in years! You two have truly made my day." I said and continued to laugh at the two.

        Ezra sat up and kicked the tree away from him. "Well I'm glad you're happy...stupid tree."

        "It's not the tree's fault we're idiots." Damien muttered as he got to his feet. "Thanks for the help, sis."

        "Oh sorry." I said still laughing and ran over to help them stand the tree up. "Umm...what's with the tree anyhow?"

        "It's December first, duh!" Damien grinned at me. "Therefore this isn't just any old tree, it's a Christmas tree!"

        "It's already December?" I asked quietly.

        That means the dinner was over a month ago. Where has the time gone?

        "Indeed it is, don't you have a calender or something?" Ezra asked.

        "Well she would have to actually leave this room to get one." Damien muttered.

        I gave him the finger then asked, "Where are we going to put this anyhow?"

        "Right there." Ezra said and pointed to the corner next to my bed.

        "No, we've already discussed this Ez." Damien said then grabbed Ezra's outstretched hand and pointed it towards the large windows on the opposite end of the room. "Perfect."

        "Okay, let's do this!" I smiled and grabbed the top end of the tree.

        "Alright but we need to hurry, we've got a busy day ahead of us." Damien grunted as he lifted the other end of the tree.

        "What do you mean?" I said as I back towards the windows.

        He peered through the branches to look at me. "I mean, you are going shopping with Christine and, umm....what's her face."

        "Meg?" Ezra frowned and wrapped his hands around the center of the huge tree to help.

        "Yeah that's it. Anyhow, you girls have all day and a small fortune so, go crazy!" Damien said trying to blow more pine needles out of his face.

        We reached the windows and sat the tree down with three equal sighs of relief.

        "How did you arrange that?" I asked and began brushing needles from my dress.

        "I told mother we were going Christmas shopping and Ezra sent a letter to your 'sister'. Easy-peasy." Damien said looking rather proud of himself.

        "Works for me." I said.

        We spent the next hour drowning the tree, and ourselves, in glitter and tinsel. Once we finished Damien ran to his room saying something about a topper and returned with a top hat.

        "What is that?" I asked as he placed it on top of the tree. It was covered in golden glitter and lace.

        "A tree topper, I made it myself. I thought you would like it." He said smiling proudly at the goofy looking thing.

        "Well it definitely stands out." I said.

        "Don't you dare make fun of my creative genius!" He whined and stomped a foot.

        I simply laughed and looked at Ezra to find he was doing the same. 

        "Well I think we need to be on our way." Ezra chuckled and headed towards the door.

        Damien and I chased after him, leaving a pretty large mess behind us.

        "Uh, what are we going to do about our mess?" I asked as we raced down the stairs.

        "The maid will take care of it." Damien simply stated.

        We reached the door and they threw on their jackets as I put on a cloak.

        "Excuse me monsieur? Where are you headed?" The short pudgy maid came running up to us and, as always, addressed Damien alone.

        "Out. Oh and could you give Kat's room a quick sweep?" Damien said and headed out the door.

        "Sorry." I said quickly to the woman before being pulled outside.

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        We reached the Opera Populaire and were greeted by Meg and Christine who quickly piled into the, now very full, carriage.

        "Afternoon ladies." Damien said and winked at Meg.

        I kicked his leg and mouthed 'behave' when he looked at me.

        "Christine, you've already met my other brother, but for Meg's sake," I said and motioned to Damien. "This is Damien."

        "Bonjour" She said then turned to me. "This is all so odd. I mean, I never would have thought..."

        "That makes two of us." I said.

        For the next twenty minutes everyone chatted and laughed until we reached our destination. We arrived in front of a very expensive looking dress shop. Damien and Ezra got out first so they could help us girls out.

        "Oh Kat, I don't think either of us can afford this." Christine mumbled as she gazed in awe at the beautiful dresses displayed in the windows of the building.

        "Don't worry love, it's on us." Damien said to Christine before getting back into the carriage.

        "Oh no, I couldn't possibly..." Christine trailed off.

        "It's okay, you've met our mother. I say we bleed her dry!" Ezra hollered from his seat inside the small cab.

        Christine smiled at him while Meg giggled.

        "Where are you two going?" I asked Damien.

        "I told you, Christmas shopping!" He said and closed the carriage door.

        With that the carriage sped off down the street and the three of us raced into the store. We lost Meg almost immediately after we walked through the door, so Christine and I decided to leave her be. I followed Christine to a rack full of very fluffy and very pink dresses. 

        "Are you okay?" Christine asked me after a few awful pink filled moments.

        "Yeah why wouldn't I be?" I said hoping she wouldn't press the matter further.

        "No Kat, are you okay?" She said her eyes filled with concern. So much for wishful thinking.

        "Can we just not talk about it? I want to enjoy today, not dread tomorrow, okay." I sighed. "I'm going to look at some dresses that are a little less...girly."

        I made my way to the back of store, passing Meg along the way. She had tried on a beautiful white gown that almost looked like a wedding dress.

        "That's gorgeous Meg!" I grinned and walked up to her.

        "I know, but it's just so expensive." She said with a slight frown.

        "You heard my brother, whatever you want." I smirked and began digging through a rack near the dressing room.

        I was trying to decide between two dresses when a very important thought entered my mind. Damien never gave me any money. I silently cursed myself and prepared to start digging through my bag to see what I had. I hadn't noticed it before, but the bag had grown extremely heavy. I opened the latched and peered inside, letting out a small shriek at what I found.

        A woman standing at the other end of the aisle gave me an odd look before slowly walking to the other side of the store. I giggled at her reaction and continued to gape into the bag. It was filled to the brim with francs. I grinned and pressed it against my chest.

        I immediately went back to rummaging through dresses with a new found excitement. Each of us had chosen the perfect dress within the hour. Meg had gone with the white one I'd seen her in earlier and Christine had chosen a light pink gown that looked exactly like the one she had worn in the movie.

        The girls had already purchased their dresses and were now sitting in front of the dressing room, waiting for me to try on the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. It was strapless and colored a deep lovely shade of blue. The bottom flowed out around me and was covered in blue roses and silver designs.

        Once I had it on, I examined myself in the mirror. I, in all honesty, looked like hell. I'd lost at least ten pounds and looked as if I hadn't slept in years. My cheeks were slightly sunken and my skin had paled immensely. I could hardly stand yet alone walk, I had grown so weak so quickly. I rarely ever ate because I was terrified to leave my room.

        I let out a small pitiful sigh before revealing myself to my best, and only, friends.

        "Oh Kat, you look gorgeous!" Meg squealed and ran up to me.

        "It's beautiful." Christine smile, yet her eyes still held a deep concern.

        I got out of the dress and paid for it then left with Christine and Meg trailing behind me.

        "So I was thinking we get our masks next?" I asked as we walked down the street.

        "I know the perfect place!" Meg grinned and ran ahead to lead the way.

        She led us to a small shop in the center of Paris. We opened the door to be greeted by a kind elderly woman. She showed us around and helped each of us find the perfect mask, she even asked to see our gowns. We left about twenty minutes later, content and overflowing with excitement.

        We walked the streets of Paris for a few hours before we came across Damien and Ezra at a small cafe. They invited us to have lunch and informed us that they had finished their shopping and were ready to go home whenever we were ready.

        After we ate everyone loaded into the carriage but me.

        "What are you doing?" Damien asked me when I refused to get in.

        "I want to do some Christmas shopping of my own." I said with a sheepish grin.

        "Well alright then I'll take them home and meet you back here later. Is that alright?" He asked with a curious smile.

        "Yep, I'll see you soon." I said before walking away.

        While I was with Christine and Meg I had managed to sneak in some gifts for everyone, well everyone but Erik. I knew he wouldn't want it but he certainly deserved it. On our way to the cafe I had noticed a small music shop about a block away. There were music boxes in the window and I knew that that would be the perfect gift for him.

        I reached the shop and opened the door, the small bell above it rang, signaling there was a new customer. I walked to the counter and was greeted by a little old man.

        "Bonjour dear. How may I help you?" He asked, his wrinkled mouth turned up in a grin.

        "Do you make music boxes?" I asked returning his smile.

        "Oui. Do you have something specific in mind?" He asked.

        "Actually I do." I said and pulled out a folded piece of paper from my bag. It was sketch of a small music box. It was made of mahogany and covered in small designs like vines and roses. On top was a masked man dancing with a young women.

        I handed the man the piece of paper. He looked it over, a slight smile touching his face.

        "Did you draw this?" He asked.

        "Yes, I'm no artist though." I admitted.

        "You may not be an artist my dear, but you have a beautiful idea here." He said and spread the paper flat on the counter. "I suppose you'd like the people to spin to the music?"

        I nodded. "Oui. And the box itself to be made of mahogany."

        "And for the tune?" He asked.

        "Oh." I grinned nervously and pulled another piece of paper from my bag. It was the sheet music for The Music of the Night.

        The man took it and hummed the melody to himself. "Beautiful. Whomever this is for will defiantly love it."

        "I hope so." I said with a worried grin.

        "Do not fret my dear, I will have it finished within the week. Would you like to pay for it now, or when you retrieve it?" He asked.

        "Now please." I said kindly.

        With that done I walked back to the cafe and took a seat outside. I was able to enjoy the cold winter day for about a hour before Damien and the carriage returned to pick me up.

Silly Spelling errors: I never spell Christine right, I always type Raouls, and Mag instead if Meg. :)

Oh and the casting thing remains the same.

Give me your ideas on who should be cast as Kat, Damien, and mother, and you get a dedication!