Beetlejuice: Hansel

(A/N: This is set after my other Beetlejuice fic: Beetlejuice: Back In The Game. I don't own anything to do with Tim Burton or Beetlejuice. Hope you enjoy!)

It had been just over a month since Betelgeuse's brush with afterdeath, Lydia still couldn't believe that he did that for her, and Betelgeuse couldn't believe that Lydia shared her spirit force with him. But they were both grateful for what the other did, very grateful, and as a result it cemented their friendship for life…and death. They'd both fully recovered after a day or so in hospital and Lydia had a really hard time trying to explain to her parents what exactly had gotten into her when she threw them out, and what happened afterwards, but she managed to get their forgiveness. Betelgeuse took up residency in Jacques and Ginger's house; taking whatever chance he could to irritate The Monster Across The Street and his dog Poopsie.

It was about a week after the events that took place in the Neitherworld when Lydia saw a large white removal van parked outside the house across the street from hers. She peered through the curtains over at the family of three standing outside the house opposite. The man of the family, from where Lydia was, looked a little like Adam; he even had the same colour hair. His wife was short but thin with short black hair and their son looked about ten years old, he had hazelnut hair that fell over his eyes. Lydia didn't much like having new neighbours, the last ones she had in that house were not exactly model people. The woman across the road knelt down and said something to her son. She glanced at Lydia and the boy grinned and ran towards the house.

'Crap…' Lydia muttered. Then, she had an idea.

The boy, whose name was Jimmy, hurried across the road to the house across the street. He'd seen Lydia in the window so he knew that there was someone there, despite the closed curtains at 1pm. He walked up to the door and knocked loudly, to make sure she heard him. Frowning softly, he knocked again, a little louder. Being an inquisitive boy, he peered through the letterbox to see why she was taking so long. There she stood, raven hair flowing over her shoulders, a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that gripped her body in ways his mother thought was inappropriate for him to see. She was pretty, but he maintained his belief of most girls having cooties. He could hear her talking to herself, sounded like a poem; either that or she was crazy. Suddenly, wind billowed through the house, blowing the girls hair back, there was a flash of lightning and she was gone. Jimmy rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times to get rid of the spots that he saw stuck to everything he looked at.

'Mom!' He yelled, running back to his parents. 'Did you see that lightning?'

'What lightning, sport?' His father replied.

'I just saw lightning…but there wasn't thunder…but I definitely saw lightning!' He replied, half excited, half worried over why and how that girl disappeared. His mother ruffled the boy's already grubby hair and laughed.

'Weren't they in?' She asked. Jimmy thought about it for a second, and then shook his head.

'No mom, but I'll try again later.' He replied.

Lydia walked down the road towards Jacques' house, her hands in her pockets. She despised having neighbours, especially new ones, they'd always come over and try to be friends, it was all so pretentious to Lydia, the so-called "community spirit".

Betelgeuse grinned and hurried to the window, since the battle with "Max", could sense Lydia wherever she went, whether it was in the Neitherworld or the real world. They'd grown closer since the event and Betelgeuse could not be happier for it, neither could Lydia for that matter. The ghoul disappeared and reappeared next to Lydia in a flash of light, he couldn't wait for her to walk up to the house.

'Hey babes!' He said cheerfully. Lydia smiled and looked at her friend, slowing her pace.

'Hey, what's up?' Betelgeuse floated on his back, keeping by her side.

'Nothing…it's like a graveyard around here.' Lydia giggled lightly at the small pun. 'You?'

'Same I guess, I got new neighbours today so I'm trying to avoid them for now.' Betelgeuse laughed and landed on the ground.

'Oh, I forgot, Juno called me yesterday…guess what?'

'What?

'I'm not banned from Earth anymore! Because I stopped Max, I'm allowed back to Earth and she's not even mad at me for going there to save you.' He replied excitedly. Lydia laughed and hugged her friend, who hugged back. 'Now you won't have to come here every time we want to see each other.'

'That's great! But it took her this long to sort it out?' Betelgeuse pulled away and shrugged.

'She said the office has been hell lately, really, really busy.' Lydia nodded and looked around.

'So what do you wanna do?' Her ghoulish friend grinned and grabbed her by the hand before disappearing.

Lydia stayed in the Neitherworld for hours on end before she decided to go back home. And when she did, she flopped on the settee and smiled up at the ceiling. She'd had a good day with her deceased friend, a very good day. They'd spent all day teasing Poopsie as well as other members of the Neitherworld community. Suddenly, she was pulled from her thoughts by a loud knocking. She sighed and got up, walked to the front door and opened it.

'Hi! My name's Jimmy! We just moved in across the street!' Jimmy said, pointing back at his house. Lydia leant against the doorframe and folded her arms across her chest. 'I saw you disappear.' The girls' eyes widened slightly.

'What did you say?'

'I said I saw you disappear, you were talking to yourself and then you disappeared. I saw lightning but my mom said that there wasn't any, but I saw you, how'd you do that?' Lydia took a deep breath and tried to keep her composure, she couldn't let some kid know what she could do.

'I don't know what you're talking about…' Jimmy raised one eyebrow and stared at her.

'C'mon lady, I know you can disappear and I wanna know too!'

'My name's Lydia Deetz, not "lady", and I don't know what you're talking about, now if you don't mind, I need to get to sleep.' Jimmy, giving in, nodded.

'Ok, see ya!' He said before turning and running back to his house. Lydia sighed and shut the door, she walked into the living room and lay down on the settee; she hadn't slept in her bed since the night of "Max's" defeat, it conjured up too many bad memories.

The next day, which, to her relief, was a Saturday, Lydia yawned and sat up on the couch, stretching her arms over her head. She thought she'd go wake up Betelgeuse, so that she could bring him back to Earth for the day, but, obviously, not before breakfast. The digital clock on the microwave in the kitchen blinked 9:50am, Betelgeuse would definitely still be sleeping. Lydia made herself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal; she took them to the dining table and sat down. While the house was nice and peaceful, she wanted there to be some activity there, friends, family, even a boyfriend. Lydia shrugged the idea off, the last time she started thinking about boyfriends she made the mistake of going out with that demon.

Jimmy woke up extra early that morning, to make sure he could go back over to Lydia's house and try to get her to tell him how she disappeared. He knew she could do it, he'd seen her, but she wouldn't say how she could do it. He just had to find out, he'd be the most popular kid in school then. He quickly got dressed, skipped breakfast and left the house.

Lydia finished off her cereal and drank the last dregs of her coffee. Leaving the cup and bowl on the table, she went to brush her teeth. After that, Lydia walked into the living room and began to chant.

'Though I know I should be wary…'

Jimmy knocked on the door, but Lydia ignored.

'…Still I venture someplace scary…'

Jimmy knocked again, Lydia still ignored him; she shut her eyes and continued.

'Ghostly haunting, I turn loose…'

Jimmy opened the door, living in a close-knit and secure neighbourhood; few people saw any reason to lock their doors whenever there was someone in.

'Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse…'

Jimmy walked up to her without making a sound and reached up to tug on her t-shirt.

'Betelgeuse!' The wind billowed and the lightning flashed, Lydia disappeared and, when the room returned to normal, so had Jimmy. Lydia landed on her feet in the middle of the road, she began her walk to Jacques' house, hoping Betelgeuse couldn't sense in his sleep.

'Ouch…that hurt…' Jimmy murmured, climbing out of a bush not far from where Lydia had landed. He rubbed his head and looked around at the twisted road and warped buildings. 'Where am I…?'

(A/N: I know this was short, but I couldn't wait to get it out! I hope you enjoyed.)