A/N: Written for Feb's Meet Cute Marathon. Other Prompts and Challenges at the bottom.
Word Count: 461
A New Life
Harry knelt down and gingerly picked up a very tatty, old, stuffed rat. It was threadbare in enough places that he knew it had been well loved and cherished in it's time. One paw had been damaged and the tail looked as though it had been reattached at least once.
Straightening up as he held it carefully, half expecting the stuffing to start leaking out at any minute, Harry offered his other hand to the man on the floor. He'd tripped and fallen out of the train onto the platform as Harry was walking along it, having just got off the same train himself at King's Cross.
"Are you alright?"
"Bloody fucking bag! It's torn open, must have been too full. Shit, I really don't need this today! It was bad enough that I couldn't even sit down on the train it was so full."
'An Englishman's real ambition is to get a railway compartment to himself' Harry thought to himself then shook his head. Hermione was being a bad influence on him, making him quote dead men's words to himself.
"Hey it's alright." Harry pulled the man up and checked him over, glancing around to make sure nothing else had fallen out of the bag. "Are you in a rush?"
"No, no I've just arrived. I was going to go to a hostel but… Oh, Scabbers." The red head blushed, his ears going red as he stared at the rat in Harry's hand. "Um, yeah… I'll have that back."
He unceremoniously took the toy off Harry and shoved it roughly into his bag which he was now cradling to his chest, trying to keep the torn side together.
"It's stupid, a childhood thing. Don't worry about it mate."
"I've got nowhere to be and if you're new to the area, I can help out. It's London, most people are too busy to have their heads shoved too high up their own arses, trust me," Harry grinned slightly. "My name's Harry and I was just going to grab a coffee at this nice local place. My treat, my friend works there so it's free anyway."
"Ron," the man laughed and then, still blushing, nodded. "Alright but I'll owe you one. I might look like a mess but I'm not as poor or destitute as I seem."
"I didn't think that at all. This is just my good deed for the day."
When Ron smiled, his eyes creased at the corners. Harry sent a quick message to work, saying that he'd be working from home today, and then gestured for Ron to follow him. He had better plans for the day now.
A/N: Prompts and Challenges:
Meet Cute Marathon - Day Eleven: A is rolling into the station of a brand new town, feeling nervous about not knowing anyone or where they should be going next - and just as A steps off the train, their bag catches on something and rips open! Contents spill everywhere. B notices and stops a (somewhat embarrassing) item from rolling onto the tracks and hands it over to A with a questioning look.
Lyric Alley: There's no space
Jenny's Jovial Quotations: "An Englishman's real ambition is to get a railway compartment to himself." - Ian Hay
The Forty Day Challenge: Only Male Characters
The Insane House Challenge: Location - King's Cross Station
The 365 Prompts Challenge: 318. Title - A New Life