This was written for the Jily Secret Santa on Tumblr for Lara. I hope you enjoy this, Lara.
For reference, the (made up) name 'Hanantaa' is a combination of the Finnish translation of the words 'she gives' (according to Google Translate).
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Lily slowly shut the door to Harry's bedroom, making sure not to make a noise.
"Did he get to sleep okay?" James asked as Lily entered the living room.
Lily nodded and slid onto the sofa beside her husband, linking her fingers with his. "You know, it's Christmas in a few days; do you think Harry's too young for us to make a big deal about Santa?"
"Santa?" James repeated blankly. "What's a Santa?"
"You really don't know about Santa Claus?" Lily asked, her eyes widening in shock. She had never heard Santa mentioned in the Wizarding World, but she had always presumed that it was because Hogwarts students were too old to believe in him. Because of all the other similarities to the Muggle holiday, it never really occurred to her that perhaps the Wizarding World had some different traditions and beliefs. "He's a fat, bearded man dressed in red, who brings presents to children all across the world."
"No, no, that's Hanantaa," James protested, his hazel eyes looking as wild as his hair. "She was a selfish witch who became entrapped in ice, and now she has to give presents to magical children across the world for centuries until she can become free."
Lily frowned; for one thing, the story wasn't particularly joyful, but she had also never heard of Hanantaa in all her years in the Wizarding World. "How come I've never heard of her before?"
"You never mentioned this Santa fellow before," James pointed out. "Besides, she's just a story - nobody over ten believes in her."
"So what shall we do then? Do you think Harry will even know what's happening?" Harry was only five months old, and didn't even know it was the holiday season. To him, the house had just inexplicably gained a lot of new things to grab hold of.
"Probably not," James answered with a shrug. "Reckon we've got enough with the decorations already, and all Harry does is pull them down."
James sounded serious, but he had that glint in his eyes that told Lily he was up to something. Well, two could play at that game.
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"Hey, Red, where's James?" was the first thing Sirius said when he opened the door to see Lily without her husband.
"Hello to you, too," Lily replied shortly, handing a squirming Harry over to his godfather. "I need your help."
Concern instantly washed over Sirius's face, and his grip tightened on the baby in his arms. "Is it James? Is he hurt?"
"No, no, he's fine," Lily said quickly, flashing Sirius a comforting smile. "Have you ever heard of a witch named Hanantaa?"
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The next few days seemed to fly by, and Christmas Eve was soon upon them. Being only a few months old, Harry didn't really seem fazed by what was going on, but James more than made up for Harry's lack of enthusiasm.
Lily had been working hard setting up a surprise for James, and she couldn't wait for her husband to see, so after they finished their dinner, Lily asked James to get Harry and meet her in the den.
She had asked Sirius for all the information he had on Hanantaa and the traditions surrounding her, and Lily hoped that James would enjoy what she had done. It was as much for James as it was for Harry; they didn't have much to celebrate anymore.
When James appeared with a curious Harry in his arms, and a questioning look in his eyes, Lily simply gave James the cheeky smile she had learnt from him, and led her boys into the den.
James gasped as he took in the sight of the decorated room, and even Harry's eyes widened as he saw the glittering walls and decorations dangling from the walls.
The room had been made to look like an ice cave, with conjured snow falling from the ceiling. Hanantaa was all about silver, apparently, so Lily had strung glistening silver tinsel along the windowsill and the tops of the walls, curving around the ceiling.
On the windows themselves were snowflakes, wide and intricate – charmed, of course – and on the small table in the room she had placed a frosty glass filled with ice cold water, and beside it was a snow topped fir tree, with large crystal balls hanging like baubles, and filled with silver sequins.
According to Sirius, Hanantaa was drawn to ice and magic, and the icy water was supposedly a way of thanking her to avoid her wrath. Lily didn't know why a person trapped in ice would want more ice, but she wasn't going to argue with tradition.
It did make a beautiful scene though, and both Harry and James looked positively entranced.
"Merlin, Lily," James breathed, lifting Harry up so he could reach a chubby fist towards the tinsel. "It's beautiful; how did you do all this without me knowing?"
"Sirius," Lily answered. "Made him swear not to tell you."
"Beautiful," James repeated, absently taking the tinsel away from Harry's mouth. "Just like you. I have a surprise for you too, Lily. Come to the garden with me?"
James passed Harry over to her, and then it was Lily's turn to follow.
And much like James before her, she couldn't hold back her gasp when she saw what James had set up.
The grass was coated in magically conjured snow, and fir trees that hadn't been there before were suddenly standing tall in the garden, draped in green and red fairy lights.
A large reindeer stood patiently by one of the trees, its nose a bright red, and a sleigh was fastened to it, filled with boxes wrapped in brightly coloured paper.
"I have a stocking set up in Harry's room already," James said with a proud smile, although there was uncertainty in his eyes. James didn't get that look very often, and he never showed it to anyone but Lily.
"Wow, James, this is amazing," Lily grinned, pulling James into a one armed hug. "Where did you get a reindeer from?"
"Sirius knows a guy," James answered with a shrug. "Remus helped me with the rest of it. He grew up in a mixed household, so he knew all about Santa Claus. How about you, Harry; do you like it?"
James lowered his head to Harry's level, and the infant gurgled and reached for James's glasses, smiling a toothless grin.
"Funny how we both had the same idea," James smirked, bringing his eyes back to Lily. "You get the bonus points for being smart enough to do something inside."
"Lily'll get you warmed up soon," a familiar voice sounded, and James and Lily both turned to see Sirius watching them with a knowing smile. He must have spotted the affronted look on Lily's face, because he quickly added "sorry, Red. Just here to see my godson."
Sirius took Harry off Lily and zoomed inside, making whooshing noises like an aeroplane. Lily could hear Remus and Peter laughing in the background, and felt her heart warm inside. She truly did love her little family.
"Thank you, James," Lily said softly, taking hold of James's hand. "This is a lovely present."
"And thank you, my dear," James smiled. "One more thing though," he stated, stopping in the doorway, and Lily followed his gaze upwards to the pretty mistletoe dangling above their heads. "Merry Christmas."