"I understand."

Once those words had fallen from Lily's lips the Chimera immediately disappeared into a haze of blue smoke that dispersed into the wind that still blew around the Potter girl. But, now Lily could tell that the tornado that had formed in the centre of the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch was beginning to shrink.

Actually, if Lily were being totally honest, the whirlwind was not, in all candour, shrinking as much as it was collapsing in on itself.

The First Year watched in awe as the tornado disappeared into the nothingness. Shakily, Lily stood and winced, finally noticing her ruined knees. With trembling breaths, the girl looked around at the Pitch that still bore the marks of the recent catastrophe.

"Lily!"

The girl's head snapped towards the sound of her father's voice and cried out an almost inaudible sound that could have been 'Daddy!' before racing over to the man and burying her head in his black, Auror robes.

Strong arms wrapped around her and lifted Lily up so that she was at eye-level with her father. She saw worry in his emerald green orbs which were in no way hidden by his thick, round spectacles.

"I thought I would never see you again." Harry Potter murmured softly before hugging his only daughter tight against his chest. He felt the tears of fear, exhaustion, and relief through the black fabric that covered his left shoulder, but that did not bother the raven-haired man. All that mattered at that moment was that his daughter was with him. And she was safe. Lily was safe.

They stayed that way for a time, the minutes that ticked by hardly registering to either father or daughter. Finally, they were interrupted by the sound of a man clearing his throat.

Both Harry and Lily looked to see the girl's Uncle Ronald Weasley standing near them holding two brooms, one in each hand, both of which Lily Luna recognized as the same ones that belonged to the two men who now stood with her in the Slytherin Stands.

"Lils." Ron said, smiling in relief, "We thought we'd lost you!"

Harry responded for his daughter.

"She was up here, just standing in the Slytherin Stands, shaking like she'd seen a Dementor."

"Oh Merlin!" Ron cried, "Do ya s'pose?"

"I don't know Ron, but-"

Lily cut her father off quickly and quietly, "I don't think it was a…D-dementor." She stuttered, her voice trembling along with her body which was still held up against her father's chest by the Head of the Auror Office's tight, protective embrace.

Harry and Ron both turned their attention to the young girl.

"What do you mean Lils?" her uncle asked her, taking a step forward and dropping the brooms to hold a gentle hand on Lily's shoulder, "What was it? What did you see?"

"I saw Al flying away. He l-looked scared, but I've n-never-" Her voice hitched, "-seen him fly away from a m-match. He's K-Keeper! He's s'posed to protect the g-goal!" Lily spoke as fast as she could before taking another breath and continuing, "Then I l-looked at the centre of the P-Pitch and saw…something…something sp-spinning."

"We understand that you're frightened Lily and that you've been through a great deal today but, you must tell us what happened once Miss Burke left." Her father was looking down at her with such concern and Love that Lily almost had to turn away from him before she spoke again.

"Daddy, don't be m-mad at-" Lily hiccupped, "-Cass. She didn't do anything wrong. She needed to get off the stairs or she would've d-d-died!" She looked at her father again, now completely serious though, somehow, at the same time, completely afraid, "Daddy, when I t-touched the steps they all st-started to b-break. They didn't want m-me to l-leave!"

"Lily Flower, I promise that nothing will happen to your friend but, you must tell Ron and me what happened to you once you were alone."

"There was something inside the wind." The redhead suddenly muttered, almost cutting her father off at his last word.

Harry's eyebrows raised up, an action that also caused the old, pink lightning bolt scar on his forehead to wrinkle along with the rest of the skin.

Ron spoke first.

"What do you mean when you say that 'something was inside the wind'?" He asked her, his face pinching ever so slightly in confusion.

Lily almost sobbed, the more she tried to tell her father and her uncle about what had occurred while she was all alone in the Slytherin Stands, the less her voice agreed to comply to her demands and she found herself unable to speak a word about the Chimera or the Department of Mysteries or even ask either man about what any of the things spoken by the Patronus.

"I'm sorry Lily Flower, you've had a long day." Harry suddenly said as he set his twelve-year-old daughter down so that he could grab his broom from where it still lay.

"Come on Ron," The once-Boy Who Lived said, once more hoisting his daughter up so that she was now sitting in front of him on his government-issued Fire Star, "Let's get Lily to the Hospital Wing. Merlin knows she needs a good sleeping tonic after all that's happened."

The girl's uncle nodded, he too mounted his broom.

"It'll all be okay." He said before kicking off from the ground, "Ya' hear me Lils?"

Lily nodded and at that both Ron and Harry lifted from the wooden boards that made up the floor of the Slytherin Stands. The young redhead First Year holding tight to the handle of her father's broom stick.

But, even as they left the scene, Lily Luna Potter still had a sinking feeling in her stomach that this was not yet over. She surmised fearfully that this would not be the last time she heard from the Chimera or The Powers That Be. In fact, Lily Luna Potter felt that her relationship with the Department of Mysteries had only just begun.