This is a response to the challenge by polgara 5.

'The challenge is:
 
Spike comes back as a ghost that only Draco can see. He's there to help Draco become a watcher for a slayer who is currently attending Hogwarts.'

Timeline:  I have moved the episode 'Chosen' for plot purposes, so 'Chosen' is in mid-November.  Malfoy is in his sixth year, in mid-November. 

Spoilers:  All seasons of BTVS, all books of Harry Potter, and all seasons of Angel, but I will not be mentioning that much of Angel.

Disclaimer:  All Buffy characters, places etc. belong to Joss Whedon, all Harry Potter characters, places etc. belong to J.K Rowling.

The main characters will be Draco, Spike, Lavender and Hermione, and I probably will bring in the Scoobies, but they will not be a major part of it.  Ideas about this fic welcome and appreciated greatly!

I think that's it for now, so please review!

Prologue. 

Monday morning, 15th of November.

Draco Malfoy sat up slowly, his green bedspread falling down to his waist.  Yawning, he blinked several times, trying to keep awake.  He swung his legs off the bed and rubbed his eyes, yawning again.  Slowly, he padded across the Slytherin 6th year boys dormitory, and out into the landing.  With his eyes half closed, he strolled lazily to the bathroom and turned the hot water tap on, watching as the bath tub filled with hot water, the steam rising.  He padded back to his dormitory and took out his school uniform from his drawer, then padded back to the bathroom, were the bath tub was full with hot water.  Setting down his clothes on the chair next to the tub, he closed the tap and then took off his pyjamas, dumping them on the floor. 

"Ah, hot."  He whispered to himself as he stepped into the bath, wincing as the hot water splashed against his cool skin.  Slowly, he lowered himself into the water, and sighed peacefully as his body started to warm up.

It was always cold in the Slytherin tower; it did not matter if it was summer or winter, the tower always remained a nippy minus five throughout the year.  That was why Draco always liked to wake up early in the morning and warm himself up with a hot bath or shower.

He closed his eyes, relaxing completely.  He was so tired; the last few days for him had been hell.  He had lost embarrassingly to Ravenclaw in the Quidditch match, which caused him to become the laughing stock of Slytherin.  Thank god Crabbe and Goyle had stuck by him.  But they probably had not realised that it would have been better for them if they had ditched Draco.  Pansy had stuck by Draco too, but she had a large crush on him and could not bear to be more than two metres away from her love.

The truth was, Draco had a rough week for one reason, and one reason only.

Something was happening. 

Somewhere in the world, something was going down, something that would change everything. 

Draco did not know if the change would be good or bad, he only knew that it was very important.  And he was absolutely sure that he was the only person in Hogwarts castle that knew that.

How did he know something was going down?  Nights plagued with dreams of girls…well, that was not so different from normal, but these girls were fighting, training, dying.  Once during the past week, he had obtained a sudden burst power, and he caused an elastic band to transfigure into a large six foot snake that had frightened McGonagall into a stuttering frenzy for two hours.  Then, during the Ravenclaw game, he had felt an obvious lack of power.  He had felt weak, tired and he had followed Cho Chang, the pretty Ravenclaw seeker, towards the Snitch that had been winding its way between Slytherin and Ravenclaw players, diving down towards the ground, Cho and Draco following.  But unlike most of his games, Draco was way behind Cho.  He did not have enough strength; somehow, he could not get his broom to go any faster.  So Draco had watched, dismayed, when Cho clutched the Snitch, grinning back at Draco smugly. 

*** The Hellmouth, Sunnydale, Principal's office.

Willow sat on the floor, her eyes closed and her red hair falling about her face, candles were lit in a semi circle in front of her.  Kennedy sat opposite, watching her closely. 

"Come on Willow."  Kennedy whispered softly.

Willow started to do the spell, holding onto the scythe which was laid out in front of her.  Feeling power rush through her veins, coursing through her as blood normally would, Willow became overcome with power and she looked up towards the ceiling, as scythe and witch start to glow with a bright light. 

"Oh…my…goddess…"

*** Gryffindor tower, Hogwarts.

Lavender Brown dropped her school uniform on the carpeted floor, outside the girl's bathroom.  Sighing, she pulled down on the door knob hard, and slammed her shoulder into the door.  Wincing in pain, as her shoulder impacted with the hard wood, she leant back, and tried again.

"Damn door…always…stuck…"  She muttered under her breath, as she slammed into the door with her shoulder.

Sighing again, she let go of the handle, and tried again for the last time, before she would have to use the other bathroom, at the top of the tower.  This happened every morning, she was never strong enough to open the door, and she always forgot her wand. 

Taking a deep breath, she slammed her whole body into the wooden door, and the door came off its hinges and flew into the bathroom.

Lavender stared at where the door had landed with her eyes and mouth wide with shock. 

"Shit."

*** Hellmouth, Sunnydale.

Spike smiled at Buffy.  "No you don't.  But thanks for saying it."  The ground gave another shake, and Buffy looked around her in terror as she let go of Spike's hand.  "Now go!"  With a last look at Spike, Buffy ran up the stairs, leaving Spike by himself.  "I wanna see how it ends."

***Slytherin tower.  Boy's bathroom.

Draco pulled the plug from the bath, and the water swirled down the plug.  He was dressed in his school uniform, but his robe and tie was still on the tub.  He wiped the condensation off the mirror and took his brush to his hair.

And then, without warning, Draco collapsed to the floor, holding his head in agony.

*** Hellmouth, Sunnydale.

Spike grinned as he stood in the sunlight, the amulet around his neck destroying the Hellmouth.  He laughed as the sunlight burnt him painfully, first his skin singed, then his muscles, then his bones, and he was finally gone, as the Hellmouth collapsed around his dust.

*** Slytherin tower.  Boy's bathroom.

Draco lay on the cold stone floor, panting, his messy blond hair touching the floor.  He looked up at the ceiling, thoroughly confused.  "What the hell was that?"

*** Hogwarts castle, a small, isolated classroom. 

A large window faced the door of the classroom; a blackboard was placed under the window.  The window spoke of near sunrise, as pink and red hues rose from the east.  There were not many desks, only chairs, a few potion bottles, and a pile of dusty book in the corner.  There was one portrait on the wall, but the occupant had vacated the painting long ago.  In fact, hardly anyone entered this classroom, as it was too small for a class, and too large for an office.  Besides, there were plenty other rooms in the castle.

But, someone was going to enter this classroom, for the first time in many decades.

A wind picked up in the classroom, which was odd, because the glass on the window was not broken.  It gathered in front of the desk, and moments later, dust particles seemed to gather there, forming an outline of a body.  And more dust gathered as the outline filled, and a man's bone structure appeared in the outline.  More dust accumulated, and muscles appeared.  Then skin, and with a roar from the man, the wind stopped.  He looked around the room, confused and dazed.

"Bloody hell."

Please review! J