Summer's joys were growing thin and boring in the last weeks before school was back in session. Severus Snape seemed to count down the seconds before he could go back, and get out of this dreary muggle town. Not that it'd be much better when he got back, Severus was the victim of endless bullying and mockery, but it was better than an awkward and often violent evening with his father.

For now, Snape stood behind a short counter at a junky fast food place that he would never eat at. It was his summer job, his escape from the house, his attempt to earn a pocketful of muggle cash to prove to himself and his dad that he wasn't just the "worthless piece of shit" that he was made out to be in his own home. Severus was leaning on the counter a bit, his red uniform vest askew and his gaze averted to the clock on the wall instead of the door. It was a slow day anyway, which didn't surprise him at all. The food there was terrible.

After a few minutes, the electronic bell on the door rang and Snape stood up a little bit. An obese mother and her beyond-belief skinny daughter walked in, and began to fight over eating habits while trying to decide on what to get.

"You don't eat enough, lovie! Get the double on that, you must be starving!'

"My lord,mother, not everybody eats like a retarded cow."

"What did you just call me?!"

Severus tuned them out and slouched again. This was going to be a long day.

Even longer now, he realized, as the door sounded again, and two teenage boys walked in. Snape's stomach did a back-flip and immediately dreaded the upcoming moment. The first of the two boys was Sirius Black. Sirius spotted him and a smug grin spread across his handsome mouth. The second was Remus Lupin, who did not blink an eye when he saw Snape, but instead followed Sirius obediently to the counter.

A pit formed in Severus' stomach. What did they want? Why were they here? What a perfect way to ruin the end of the summer, a visit from James Potter's minions.

"Why, Snivellus, I didn't know you worked here!" Sirius smirked, "I mighta come here more this summer if I had known that."

Sirius drew closer to the counter, until he was leaning forward on it, his face only a foot away from Snape's. Things were silent for a second, and Severus could heard the blood pounding in his head.

Go away, go away you bastard, the words kept repeating in his head, as he stood, anxious and afraid of what Sirius would do next.

Sirius reached out and grabbed Snape's tie, yanking him forwards so that his front two hands were on the counter, and he was bent and inches away from Sirius' face. Sirius put one of his feet on the counter, his odd boots digging into Snape's hand. Severus winced as his pinky was crushed into the blue plastic of the counter. He said nothing, but inside his mind, a silent scream of, "Go! Please, just go away! I hate you I hate you I hate you-" was ringing and writhing inside of him.

Just then, Snape's boss, a scummy bastard named Steve Cleinhorne, entered the small space behind the counter of the restaurant, and Sirius went in for the kill. He jerked Snape forward the extra two inches and kissed him, hard, on the mouth. It was times like these that made Snape wish that he could trade his knowledge and school-skills and anything of the sort for a pair of strong arms to call his own, and a little more social grace. If that was the case, He could have pulled away, pushed Sirius to the floor, and growl something witty and undoubtedly embarrassing at him. Oh what a prefect world that would be.

Instead, he stood there with is eyes closed, mouth shut, struggling to get away while boss-guy-Steve stood behind him with god-knows-what kind of expression n his face while Sirius Black smugly kissed him over a fast-food counter. Snape couldn't breathe. Maybe it was because the kiss had suprised him, or maybe it was just the fact that the ugly yellow tie was digging deeper and deeper into his throat. Finally, it was over, Black had let go of him and let him fall backwards, gasping for air as he clawed at the tie.

Sirius smiled. No, he positively beamed.
"See ya later, Snivellus." He laughed as he walked out of the door with Remus close at his ankles. Suprisingly, Remus did not have the typical, submissive look on his face. That look of utter boredom and acceptance twords his friends' nasty behavior. Instead, Remus looked kind of shocked, and even a little sad. That was confusing.

When the two of them were out of sight, Severus looked up and saw Steve, the manager, standing over him. The look on his face was an obvious, "Get-the-hell-out-of-my-returaunt-you-faggot," look. It was the first time Severus had seen it, but it was still undoubtedly there. For the first time this summer, Severus was not sure what he dreaded more: the time he would surely spend in Steve's office getting chewed out, or the response his father would have when he realized that Severus was not longer employed,