Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I did not invent slinkies, Richard James did.

Slinkies

Four boys were gathered in a circle in their dorm. In the middle of them, was a weird, hollow, cylinder object, formed by spiraling wires. Three of he four were staring at it in awe.

"What is it?" James asked.

"What does it do?" Sirius added. Peter stretched out his finger, looking as though it pained him to do so. He was millimeters away from touching the object before him.

"NO WORMTAIL!"

"DON'T TOUCH IT!"

"WHAT IF IT EXPLODES?"

"IT'S PROBABLY DANGEROUS!"

"GUYS! It's a slinky. Relax." Remus said picking up the toy and waving it around so that its ends flew around lazily. Peter had backed away quickly from it when James and Sirius warned him of the dangers of the object.

"What does it do?" Sirius asked cautiously approaching it.

"Anything you want it to. It doesn't really have a point. Here, take it." No one dared to step any closer. "Guys, come on. It's a Muggle toy, meant for children age six! It's not going to hurt you." Slowly, James came up to take it from Remus. "Good, now play with it."

"Prongs, what are you thinking!" Sirius exclaimed. James was holding the slinky as though it were going to bite him, not daring to do anything else with it.

"Moony said it was safe…right?" James said weakly.

"Prongs, drop it, and slowly back away." Peter suggested. Rolling his eyes, Remus took the toy from James and walked out the door, waiting for them to follow.

"Look. This is one way you can play with it." Remus set it down at the top of the steps from the Boys' Dorms leading to the Common Room. Slowly, the other three filed in. As soon as he was sure they were watching, Remus slowly pushed it so that it went down the stairs.

They got a bunch of odd looks from other Gryffindor students. The majority of the looks came from Muggleborns, including one from their new friend, Lily Evans. She signaled for Remus to come over to her, and when she did she asked the question everyone was thinking.

"What are you guys doing?" Lily asked.

Remus smiled one of his rare mischievous smiles.

"Working on my plan. How else am I supposed to read in peace?"

Lily just laughed and walked away shaking her head. "Clever." She told him, before exiting the Common Room, although it was kind of hard to hear her. The slinky stopped going down the stairs a few moments later, and Remus looked up at his friends.

Sirius was grinning from ear to ear, and excitedly ran down the stair to retrieve it and make it go down the stairs again. James was backing away from it, still not sure what to make of it. Peter wasn't sure what to do. He obviously thought it was fun, but he was still scared of the foreign object. He walked forward a little, but still kept his distance. Remus couldn't help but smirk at three seventeen year olds being scared of a kiddy toy. Although, he couldn't complain. His planned worked better than he had thought, and his friends would leave him alone when he wanted to read to play with the slinky. For a while…

All good things come to an end. Remus's reading time ending when James, Peter, and Sirius became obsessed with slinkies. A month had passed form the original 'slinky experiment' and the three friends had gotten their own slinkies.

Slinkies that they decorated, named, and raced. Sirius's was named 'Lightning', and was charmed to be black, but when it goes down the stairs it would flash white, like its namesake. James's red and gold slinky was named 'Shredder'. Peter called his 'Dagger' and it was black and gold. Remus was unfortunately pulled into his friends' obsession and called his red and black slinky 'Thorn'.

One Saturday (their weekly slinky race day) they had actually gathered a pretty big crowd to watch the light-hearted game. James and Sirius seemed proud. Peter was in shock that some people were rooting for 'Dagger'. Remus, on the other hand, was confused about the joy these childish races gave their peers. (The race was now being held in a corridor, as the word spread to other houses.)

"Lily, why is everyone so into these races? I'm in them, in fact, I'm the reason they're being held! And…I don't get it! What's so cool about them? Even…is that Dumbledore?" Lily just laughed at his frustrated reaction.

"Remus, I don't really think it's all the races that get everyone's attention."

"Yeah, yeah. I know you are starting to have a slight…" the next few words were whispered so only they could hear. "Crush on James." That earned him a slap on his arm.

"It doesn't have anything to do with that! Anyways, why would Dumbledore, or Frank, or any other guy be here if it was for that reason?" Lily said.

"Maybe they're all gay…" Remus suggested.

"Remus! They're here because with the war going on, we all need a little laugh. Don't you see? I think that James and Sirius really only like this whole slinky thing because of the joy it gives everyone. Peter…I don't know if he notices. But if he did, I'm sure it would be the same way."

"Really? These 'slinky races' are making people happy?" Remus asked, still unsure.

"In the whole seriousness of the war, seeing a bunch of guys goofing off really helps you keep your sanity. That's why I'm here." Lily said with a shrug.

"Thanks Lily." Remus said hugging her in a brotherly way, before turning around. "Place your bets here! PLACE YOUR BETS! I SUGGEST BIDDING ON 'THORN!'"

"OI! MOONY, LIGHTNING'S GOING TO WHIP YOUR SORRY BUTT!"

Lily smiled, shaking her head at the childish madness taking place around her. If anything was for sure, it was that even in the darkest of times, you could always find light in the strangest of places.