Title: Saving Me (1/1)

Author: Leigh

Characters: Michael Corner/Lisa Turpin

Rating: PG

Word Count: 680

Summary: Her music was fading, her colors dimming. She had nothing left to hold onto.

Author's Notes: This was written for fiery_flamingo as part of my Unemployment 2011 Drabble Meme.

Lisa was drowning.

This was not the happily ever after she'd prayed for. After the war, everything had seemed so full of possibilities. She was eighteen and alive. The world held so much potential, and it was all waiting for her to reach out and take it. She wanted to write music, she wanted to travel the world and sing. She wanted to play her piano and change the world.

She worked two minimum wage jobs during the week, tending tables by day at The Three Broomsticks and bartending by night at Incubus Dreams. She kept her meager tips in a jar on her bedside table, watching as the knuts and sickles slowly filled the small container. When it was full, she would deposit her hard-earned money at Gringotts and start again.

And every Saturday night, she took the stage at a seedy lounge in Muggle London and sang her songs.

It didn't pay well- didn't pay at all, really- but it was something. And with her landlord breathing down her neck and a pile of bills to pay, something was all she had to hold onto.

But after a while, that something started to fade away. The joy music had once held for her was seemingly gone. She was lost beneath the city lights, and she didn't know who to turn to. With each passing night, she felt more and more like being gone- like packing up and heading back to Yorkshire.

There was nothing left for her to hold onto.

Another Saturday night. Another night struggling to keep her head above water. She didn't feel like singing, but that was the only time anyone saw her- when she sang. She didn't want to fade into nothing but a vague memory, so she sang.

As the notes on her last song fell away, she murmured a weak "thank you," into the microphone and stepped off the stage to a few scattered claps. It was nearly one in the morning, but she wasn't ready to go home yet; the ominous silence of her small cottage mocked her, almost daring her to find the courage to fill it with warmth and music once more.

Her heel caught in a worn floorboard, and her ankle twisted beneath her as she lurched forward. She was dead clumsy, always had been, but the bar manager liked her to look all "short skirts and long legs." Said it made the boys come flocking.

She threw her hands out in front of her, preparing for impact with the floor, but it never came. A strong arm wrapped around her waist, and Lisa was pulled upright and back against someone before she'd even realized what had happened.

A familiar, earthy scent. Male. She would recognize it anywhere.

"I've got you, Sunshine," his low voice rumbled in her ear, steadying her on her feet once more. His arm, secure around her waist, stayed where it was.

Lisa tipped her face back to look at him, and for the first time in a long while, a genuine smile tugged at her lips. Though the years had changed them both, memories of their teenage years leaving scars beneath the surface, he had always been there for her. His hair was a bit longer, his eyes a brighter shade of blue, but for the most part, he was still the same Michael who showed her the worn piano in the Room of Requirement all those years ago.

"I don't know if you can call me that anymore," she whispered sadly. "I don't... I think I'm fading, Michael."

His brow furrowed and his hold on her tightened. "Never, Sunshine," he assured her, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I won't let you."

She sighed and let her head rest on his shoulder, making no attempt to blink back the tears that threatened at the corners of her eyes. One hand reached up to fist lightly in his shirt; reassurance that he was here, that she wasn't dreaming his comforting presence. She had Michael.

Maybe, for a little while, she could hold onto him.