One Year After Attending Hogwarts
"Hey...Hey, wake up!" Harry nudged his brother awake, his Snork form smirking down at the Moomintroll.
Moomin blinked his eyes. "What?... Is it Spring yet?"
Harry grinned but shook his head. "No...But Snorkmaiden and I discovered something neat while attending Hogwarts last year. We wanted to share it with Moomin Valley."
"In the middle of Winter?" Moomin groaned as he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Harry eagerly nodded. Dressed in warm winter clothes from head to toe. Harry pointed out the window.
Moomin sleepily went towards it with a loud yawn only to blink his eyes in surprise.
A huge Pine tree that grew near their home was decorated in magic icicle lights, popcorn, and handmade ornaments. Complete with a shining silver star on top. Moomin stared in awe, becoming more and more awake as he gazed at it. Snorkmaiden waved from the base of the tree wearing furry pink gloves and earmuffs.
"What is it?" Moomin questioned in amazement.
"It's a yule tree!... Or a Christmas tree? Humans have a bunch of different holidays they can celebrate in the Winter. Every student at Hogwarts celebrated different traditions. Snorkmaiden and I happened to pick our favorites for all of us to participate in. Especially from the Yule Ball."
"Yule ball?" Moomin replied as he was dragged down the stairs. Harry went to Moominmama and Moominpappa's room as well. Moomin heard Pappa complain about a racket while Mamma seemed confused.
It wasn't long before they all made their way downstairs. Too-Ticky stood over the stove, a relaxed smile on her face.
"Good evening everyone. Happy festivities." She said as she brought a tray out. Moominmama looked pleasantly surprised at a cup of hot chocolate in her hand. "Oh, well thank you Too-Ticky. I'm so used to serving guest drinks, that this is a bit unusual for me."
Too-Ticky smiled, "Think nothing of it, Moominmama. You deserve to relax and enjoy what Snorkmaiden and Harry have planned."
Harry shrugged, "I'll admit, it's not as much as humans have but Snorkmaiden and I worked with what we could."
He gestured for everyone to follow outside with their steaming mugs. They all gasped as they saw presents on the porch.
"Oh my, what is all this?" Moominpappa inspected as Snorkmaiden joined them on the porch. She wrapped an arm around Harry. "We wanted to share a bit of cheer with our family and friends. After all, you've done so much for Harry and me that it only seemed fair...Snork was too lazy to get up so he's going to get a bit of coal along with his gift this year." She grumbled.
"Coal?" Moomin asked as he stepped forward. There was a gift a bit larger than the rest that was addressed to him. He tilted his head. "Harry! Snorkmaiden! I didn't get you anything…" He mumbled as Harry excitedly gestured for him to open it.
Moomin hesitated before gently pulled the ribbon and the entire thing collapsed. He jumped back in alarm before his face gaped at what was inside.
"Well, it looks like you'll have to try harder for next year. Sainta just got you me for Winter." Snufkin drew out with a lopsided smirk as he fell at Moomin's feet.
Harry corrected him, "Santa, Snufkin. The Winter Wizard that gives people gifts under the tree is called SANTA."
Snorkmaiden narrowed her eyes at Harry, "Santa is not a wizard, dear."
Harry narrowed his eyes back, "I'm sorry to disagree, sweetheart. But how else could a fat man get down every chimney in the world without magic?"
Too-Ticky tilted her head. "But… You guys gave the gifts? What does this 'Santa' have to do with it?"
Snufkin stretched as everyone debated around him, "That was so uncomfortable." He chuckled as he stared up at Moomin. Moomin's face lit up in amazement as he helped Snufkin up.
"Snufkin! What are you doing here?!" He exclaimed excitedly. Snufkin shrugged as he handed Moomin a much smaller gift.
"Harry informed me of this holiday thing before I left. It was Snorkmaiden's idea for me to come back as a 'gift' during Winter."
Snorkmaiden and Harry were pulled away from their pointless debates as they heard their names. Snorkmaiden smiled warmly at Moomin in Harry's arms, silly debate temporarily forgotten.
Moomin almost looked a bit choked up but just smiled through it as Snufkin handed him the gift.
"This was from all of us," Snufkin muttered.
Moomin quickly opened it, clearly excited to see what was inside. He pulled out a shiny harmonica from the box. Snufkin smiled as Harry spoke up, "Now Snufkin can have some competition."
Snorkmaiden gestured to her in-laws. "Now, these gifts are for everyone here Mama and Pappa!"
The two older Moomintrolls moved forward to investigate the boxes. Moominpappa was the first to open his box, ripping the paper off eagerly.
"Oh, the wrappings are beautiful! Don't rip them too much." Moominmama said to which Moominpappa huffed, "Mama, it's made to be ripped to shreds in the rush of excitement!"
The older Moomin finally got to the box's contents and turned them over quizzically. "Is this?"
"Yes. A new set of papers, quills, and ink for your writing." Harry replied.
Their Pappa grinned, "Why thank you! This will be put to very good use indeed!"
Moominmama took her time to gently unwrap her gift, saving the paper she unwrapped it in. Her breath caught as she pulled it out. "Oh my…"
Everyone smiled as she pulled out a quilt. Each with a pattern or story attached in each square. Snorkmaiden's fur turned colors as she blushed, "I know it's a bit sloppy...But, I wanted to thank you for the hours and hours you patiently taught me to stitch. It helped me through my time away from home...Oh, and Harry helped as well."
Harry shrugged, "I may or may not have cheated with magic."
Moominmama smiled warmly as she held the quilt close to her. "Thank you so much. I'll cherish this forever."
Everyone opened their gifts as a gentle snow fell. Too-Ticky got new skates, Snufkin got a new traveling bag, even people that couldn't attend like Snork or Sniff or Little My got something for when they were next seen.
Soon, things were winding down. Snufkin was teaching Moomin how to play the harmonica...It was...Interesting. Especially how harsh Moomin's playing sounded compared to Snufkin's.
Moominpappa WAS going to rush upstairs to start writing but Moominmama chided him to stay and that it could 'Wait until Spring'.
Eventually, everyone retired to the inside of Moomin house while Harry and Snorkmaiden took a stroll to the lit tree.
"Brr, it's getting colder...I can see my breath!" Snorkmaiden snuggled into Harry as he used his magic to let the tree's light dwindle.
"Well, I won't keep you long. I just wanted to have a moment along with you… I'm sorry we both didn't get each other a gift...All you have is me."
Snorkmaiden giggled as a mistletoe materialized above them. Harry waggled a brow at her as she playfully rolled her eyes.
"Oh, if I must." She placed a tender kiss as the mistletoe disappeared in a shimmer of light the cascaded around them.
They separated from their kiss, staring lovingly into each other's eyes.
"Merry Christmas...Or Yule...Or whatever we want to call this." Harry chuckled. Snorkmaiden gave an airy laugh as she kissed him once more.
"Happy whatever this is to you too."