"Welcome to Miss Robichaux's Academy for exceptional young witches"

Megara's mouth dropped when the doors opened, revealing the grand entrance. Until about 20 minutes ago, her home had been a cardboard box in a back alley.

An elegant looking woman in a black skirt and white blouse descended the stairway and smiled warmly at Megara.

"Hello, I am Cordelia Goode. Headmistress and supreme. You must be Megara."

Cordelia held out her hand and Megara shied away from it. Cordelia frowned.

"Megara, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help you. I would never hurt my girls."

Megara backs up to cling to Zoe and Cordelia can tell the older girl is not too thrilled about it. Cordelia slowly lowers herself to the ground, trying not to look too threatening to the young girl.

"I won't hurt you Megara. You're safe here." Cordelia held out her hand, "You're safe here," she repeated.

Slowly, Megara released Zoe and took Cordelia's hand. Cordelia offered her a warm smile.

"Let's get you cleaned up." Cordelia stood, taking Megara with her, and led her up the stairs into her chambers. As Cordelia wrapped an arm around her, she notices just how thin the girl is and frowns. Once they reach Cordelia's room, she helps Megara strip down and tosses her clothes into the hamper. Cordelia clicked her tongue as she helped Megara into the tub. The girl had bruises all over her thin frame and seemed to be favoring her right side.

"Zoe tells me she found you in an alley," Cordelia said quietly. "How long have you been on the streets?"

Megara sat very still before she carefully shrugged one shoulder. Cordelia wet a washcloth and began to lather soap onto her back, taking care not to scrub too harshly.

"How did you get these?" Cordelia asked, gently wiping away the layers of dirt and grime to reveal more bruises in various stages of healing. Megara didn't respond and Cordelia set down the washcloth and moved to face her. Megara's face was streaked with tears and her body was trembling.

Cordelia hesitated briefly before gathering Megara into her arms, ignoring the dirt and wet spots on her white blouse.

"Hey, hey, hey," she whispered in Megara's ear, "You're okay. I'm here. You're safe."

As Megara's tears dried, Cordelia released her and began massaging shampoo into her hair. Zoe quietly crept into the bathroom.

"Hey Cordelia?"

"Yes Zoe?"

"I have all the girls settled in for the night but there are no open beds."

Cordelia sighed and wiped her hands on her skirt. "Thank you Zoe. I'll figure something out. You can go to bed now."

Zoe nodded and left, leaving Cordelia to rinse the suds out of Megara's hair. She began to hum quietly as the older woman threaded her fingers through her hair.

"Stay right here. I'm going to get you something to wear."

Cordelia grabbed some of her pajamas from her drawer along with a towel and helped Megara out of the tub. Once the girl was dry Cordelia helped her into the pajamas. They hung off of Megara's thin frame, making Cordelia frown once again. Seeing this, Megara wrapped her arms around herself. Cordelia shook her head.

"It's okay. You're just so small. But it doesn't matter right now." Cordelia pasted a smile onto her face, though the worry stayed just between her eyes, "It's late. We don't have somewhere for you right now but it's okay. You can sleep with me tonight."

Cordelia threw back the blankets and patted the bed. Megara climbed in and Cordelia followed, using magic to turn off the light. She watched carefully until she was sure the young girl was asleep before drifting off herself.

Cordelia woke early the next morning, the sun just barely peeking over the horizon. She carefully climbed out of the bed and checked on the still sleeping girl. Megara's face was beaded with sweat and her face was twisted like she was in the midst of an attack. Cordelia jumped into action and shook her by the shoulders, trying to wake her.

"Megara, wake up. Wake up, you're safe but you have to wake up."

Megara shot up and Cordelia wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, tucking her under her chin while the girl shook and sobbed.

Cordelia cursed under her breath at the feeling of the raised scars along Megara's back. "Hecate, we need to get some salve on you."

The sound of her harsh tone set Megara crying again and Cordelia held her tighter, shushing her and rocking, hoping to calm her down before she woke any of the other girls. The door to the room creaked open and Misty stepped inside.

"Miss Cordelia? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Misty. Everything is fine."

The willowy girl turned to leave.

"Wait, Misty, can you get the jar that's in the greenhouse? It should be right inside the door."

Misty nodded, "Absolutely. I'll be right back."

Cordelia gently eased Megara off of her and began to assess the damage she didn't look at the previous night. She brushed the wild red hair away from Megara's face, smiling sadly at the resemblance to Myrtle. Then she got to work.

She hadn't looked all that closely the previous night but now she gently began to probe the severity of the bruising, stopping every time the girl winced. She grimaced upon seeing the bugs in her hair, knowing she would need to send one of the girls to the local pharmacy in order to treat her.

"I will be right back," she told the redhead. "Don't go anywhere."

Cordelia quietly crept down the hall, stopping outside of Madison's door. She took a deep breath, knowing waking the witch at this hour wouldn't be pretty before she knocked.

"Madison?" she called softly, opening the door.

"What do you want bitch?" Madison groaned from under her pillow.

"I need you to run to the store."

"Tell Zoe."

"Zoe has a class this morning. I know that your schedule is wide open. So you're going." Cordelia said firmly, opening the curtains to let in the light.

Madison rolled over and pulled her blanket over her head. Cordelia sighed and yanked back the blankets.

"What the fuck?!" Madison shouted.

"Up," Cordelia said, holding the blankets out of her reach. "I need you to pick this up." she handed the blonde a scrap of paper. Madison squinted at it and groaned.

"One of the little witch bitches has lice?"

"Madison, I've told you not to call them that. It doesn't matter if someone does. I asked you to go pick it up for me."

"Fine, but you owe me Cordy!"

Cordelia rolled her eyes and went back to her room. Megara and Misty were both seated on her bed, Misty trying to convince Megara to take her shirt off.

"Come on darlin', I brought this cream to take away the hurt."

"Misty," Cordelia interjected, "I can take it from here. Thank you."

Misty stood from the bed and handed Cordelia the jar. Cordelia took her place on the bed and placed a hand on Megara's shoulder.

"Sweetheart, I have something to help heal some of those cuts and scrapes. Can I put it on you?"

Megara shook her head violently.

"Okay, okay, shh." Cordelia set the jar down, "I won't do anything until you give me permission. I promise."

Megara leaned over and placed her head carefully in Cordelia's lap. As if on auto pilot, Cordelia's hand went to play with the wild red hair. The young girl made a noise of contentment and snuggled further into the supreme's lap, making herself comfortable