I recently watched Hocus Pocus again, and I feel in love with it all over again, particularly Winifred and Billy who are officially my favourite characters. I got this idea afterwards, and was inspired by the ending of 'Wicked', so this is my take on what happened after the end of the film, and Winifred and Billy's relationship. (Blame my romantic side, they would be great together!)

Waiting until he was sure they had left the graveyard, Billy Butcherson clambered stiffly out of the pit he had slumbered in for the last 300 years, until he had been awoken by Winifred Sanderson and her sisters just hours before. He had done nothing but chase around after those children who had lit the black flame candle, which was not easy considering he hadn't moved in a while, and now it was all over. Good had triumphed over evil.

He passed the lifeless body of Thackery, pausing for a moment to gaze sorrowfully at the crumpled black cat. Although he was saddened by his death, Billy could not help but feel glad that Thackery had finally been reunited with his sister, free from his guilt-filled immortal life.

Finally, he reached his destination, remnants of emerald dust from Winifred's explosion shimmered in the early morning sun. A small patch of burnt grass was all that remained from where she stood, still sizzling with streams of pale smoke. Crouching down, he began to claw at the darkened earth, his fingers tracing over the ragged earth.

Come on, he thought desperately, where is it? The tips of his fingers brushed over a small bump, and he smiled smugly. He grasped the mound and pulled, revealing a circular handle that was attached to a wooden trap door, which let out a cloud of dust as he wrenched it open. He reached down into the hole, heaving something from within its depths.

First emerged a head of fiery red hair, then a pair of mysterious brown eyes and a petit mouth with two great teeth poking through them. Finally the rest her body emerged from the darkness, deep emerald robes highlighting every curve. Billy sat her on the edge of the pit, so that her legs were still dangling in the darkness. She folded her arms over her chest and scowled lightly at him. "What took thou so long?" She snapped.

"Sorry Winnie," he replied, "the children have only just left. They were saying there final goodbyes to Thackery."

For the first time, Winifred seemed to notice the unmoving figure. "I suppose the curse is broken now. Pity." She muttered; her face an emotionless mask. He knew she had no fond regards for the boy, but she understood what it was like to lose someone, and for that reason she could emphasise. She turned her attention back to him. "We should start moving; you know I can't stay on hallowed ground for too long." With that she arose and began to brush her skirts. When she was satisfied, she turned to Billy and smiled shyly, holding out her hand to him.

He took her hand and she helped pull him up. His eyes met hers and he held her gaze, raising her hand to his lips and pressing a gentle kiss onto her smooth palm. He couldn't help but feel slightly smug that, even after 300 years, he was still able to make the eldest of the Sanderson sisters blush.

She coughed and pulled her hand out of his. "Come along, we do not have time to stand about." And she spun around, hiking up her skirts, and marched away. He tried to catch up with her and when her inquired as to where they were going, she replied, "To get my book. There is a spell to turn the undead into the living again. As much as I think thou are a very attractive, what is the word they use… zombie, I'd rather not have to continually pick up body parts that have fallen off." And as if to prove her point, he got his arm caught on a branch and managed to free himself of both the branch and his arm.

She rolled her eyes as he fumbled to reattach his limb, and finally gave in and stomped over to help him. "Honestly, you are worse than my sisters." She complained. When they finally managed to fix the arm back on, he curled it around her waist and smiled happily. "It's in perfect working order." He declared.

Winifred rolled her eyes again, but did not push him away. She sighed as he began to play with the loose curls of her hair. "We must hurry before all of Salem awake." She looked up at him and he lowered his head towards hers. When his mouth was an inch away from hers, she raised her hand and placed a small white sphere into his mouth, holding her hand over his mouth so he could not spit it out.

He felt a burning sensation spread around his mouth and throat. He struggled against her grip as he felt the sphere dissolve on his tongue. "Are you trying to poison me?" He chocked when she let go of him. "What in hell's name was that?"

"It's called a 'strong mint'." Winifred replied, amusement tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Extra strong. Don't worry, it won't kill you. It's used to freshen the breath."

He gagged and tried to scratch the taste from his tongue. "Vile. What are you implying?"

"That you may not even breathe near me until you've had at least five."

"You're a cruel woman, Winifred Sanderson." He teased. She patted her hair and thanked him, then handed him the packet, looking at him expectantly. Knowing she would not surrender, he reluctantly put another one in his mouth. If he was honest, he preferred it when he was being force fed poison. At least he knew that death would come to give him sweet relief.

They were about to start walking again, when they heard someone calling, "Billy", repeatedly. Winifred paled and gripped Billy's arm. "It's that little brat that called me…" Before she could finish, Danni rounded the corner where they were hidden. "Billy, there you are! We came to see if…" She froze when she saw the witch behind Billy and screamed for Max.

Max arrived seconds later, Alison closely following, and stumbled as he came to a halt beside his sister. "Danni, what is it? What happened?" he questioned the terrified girl. When she raised a trembling hand and pointed to Winifred, he instantly pushed Danni behind him and glared at the witch. "How is that possible? You're dead. The sun…"

"Has risen." She interrupted impatiently. "Yes I know."

"Then how are you…"

"Still alive?" When the three nodded, she glanced at Billy and they both smiled. "Because of careful planning and three centuries of waiting."

"What?" Max cried, he'd had enough witches to last him a life time, and to find out for the second time that night that they had failed to kill Winifred Sanderson was enough to make him want to hide and never come out again.

"The black flame candle being lit by a virgin was a part of the plan I devised so that we could be together again." She replied, still looking at Billy.

"But I thought you were poisoned by her." Alison questioned.

Billy turned to the three children and shook his head sorrowfully. "It was not Winifred who poisoned me."

"WHAT!" They all shouted. "But Binxs said…" Danni began.

"I'm afraid Binxs was wrong." Winifred snapped. Billy gave her a reproachful "Winnie", and she mumbled "Well it has been a long time. You would have thought somebody would have got it right by now."

"She very nearly did kill me," Billy decided to put them out of there misery, "after what happened with Sarah. However I managed to convince her with what really happened. I would never have betrayed her willingly. Sarah put an enchantment on me, and when Winnie came back and found us in a compromising position, her rage was enough to free me from it." He looked fondly at Winifred who, to the shock of the children, looked slightly embarrassed. "It took quite some time, but she finally believed me, much to Sarah's displeasure. Winifred made sure that I could never be enchanted by another." He sighed and shook his head. "My family planned it all with Sarah; she would enchant me so that I would desire her, and Winifred would find us and leave me because of it. She did not like Winifred spending more time with a boy than she was, and my family did not like me associating with a witch. When the plan failed, they poisoned me and sewed my mouth shut so that I could never reveal my true murderer. As it turned out, they had rather I died than be with a witch. But everybody accused Winifred of poisoning me. From the moment we started courting, they all said that she'd be the death of me."

"Which turned out to be true." Winifred added mournfully. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently.

"Why didn't you just tell them it wasn't you?" Danni asked, beginning to feel sorry for the two.

Winifred looked at her in shock. "Thou has never encountered those who inhabited Salem in our time, apart from Thackery. They were not very accepting of witches, plus they despised me with a passion, so any chance of trying to convince them that I was innocent would have been pointless. It would have been my word against theirs, and they would rather blame a witch than one of their own."

"Then why didn't you punish Sarah?" Max gawked at her, "I mean, surely you must have hated her for what she did."

Winifred considered, before answering "Yes I was furious at my sister, but she is my family and, believe it or not, I care very deeply for them. I felt sorry for her, as well. Sarah has never truly loved another; she does not understand the difference between love and lust." She gave them an impatient glare at their confused looks. "Now if thou doesn't mind, we have things to do and our love life is none of your business." With that she grabbed Billy's shredded jacket and dragged him away from the three.

"Wait!" Danni cried, dashing after the pair. They both turned around and Winifred began tapping her foot irritably. Danni swallowed and stepped forward. "You still haven't told us how you survived."

Placing one clawed finger against her cheek, she pretended to think. "No I haven't." She smirked. "And I don't think I'm going to."

"But you have to…" Max whined.

Winifred groaned and dragged her hand dramatically down her face. "And people ask why I hate children." She growled, "Fine if you must know, after the black flame candle has been lit, in order for my resurrection spell to be completed, I had to raise my love, Billy, from the ground. Fortunately you gave me the perfect excuse to do that without arousing the suspicion of my sisters." Shrugging her shoulders, she added "And I absorbed some of your life force so that was an added bonus."

Alison glanced suspiciously at the witch. "How do we know that this isn't another one of your tricks and that you're not planning something evil?"

"I'd swear on my soul if it hadn't already been sold."

"This isn't a joke!"

"Who said it was."

"Alright!" Max yelled, "How can you expect us to trust you after all you pulled tonight? Alison's right, you tried to suck the lives out of all the kids in Salem, and now you just turn around and tell us you won't?"

"Well I haven't said that yet." The three glared at her. "Alright, look I wouldn't expect you to understand," she looked at Max and Alison, "Well maybe you might, but I love Billy. More than you could possibly imagine. It's our second chance to love, and I've got no intention of risking us again."

Max regarded the witch, trying to see anything that would suggest that she was lying. He saw nothing. "Alright," He said cautiously, "But we're coming with you. No doubt your 'things to do' will involve magic, so we want to make sure you're not going to do anything as soon as our backs our turned."

Winifred looked from Max, to Alison, to Danni and then to Billy, repeating this sequence several times, before growling "fine" and storming off. Billy looked at them and gave a sympathetic smile. "Well you didn't really expect her to be over joyed, did you?" And then he trailed after her, Max, Alison and Danni following shortly after, making sure to keep their distance.

I only intended this to be a one shot, but now I think I will write another chapter. Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of it.