Sneak into the Hogwarts Laundry

Hermione prepared herself to go out of bed after hours for the third night in a row. The castle was too cold for the robe now, so she decided to put on her muggle clothes. The jeans and jumper itched if she tried to wear them without underwear, so they went on first. After her body was covered, she hesitated.

She might be quieter with just bare feet or socks, but the floors were very cold tonight... She decided that she would go ahead and put her trainers on. They would be quiet enough, as long as she moved carefully.

After being fully dressed for the first time since the previous night, Hermione opened the Marauder's Map. She saw the three Slytherin girls were in their common room. Hagrid was in his hut, and everyone else in the castle was either in the hospital wing or in bed.

This was her chance. After grabbing her bag, Hermione crept out of the portrait hole, the Fat Lady snoozing, and made her way to the laundry room on the ground floor. It wasn't too far from the kitchens, as that was easiest for the elves. Using only her wand for light, Hermione crept down the stairs.

In no time at all, she reached the corridor where the laundry rooms would be. She glanced at the map. Pansy and Daphne weren't in the common room anymore. They had evidently made their way to the Quidditch field to prepare for the following night.

Hermione pressed forward and found her way into the laundry room.

Robes! Stacks of robes! Robes of every house and size piled high to the ceilings! Robes with and without name tags! Robes that were patched and robes that were threadbare! Laundry was done at Hogwarts every other night, and tonight the house-elves had collected every abandoned robe in the dorms. They were cleaned and just waiting for the return of the students, and no house-elves would be checking to see if any were missing until their owners returned!

Hermione spent at least an hour in the room, trying on different robes, seeing which ones fit her, which ones she could reasonably get away with borrowing until the day before term started, which ones were tighter, which ones were looser, which ones had an overly large buttonhole that would allow her chest to slip out 'accidentally.'

Once she had picked out 12 different robes, she grabbed them and placed them into her bag. As she exited the laundry room, she thought she heard something. Alarmed, she looked at her map and saw that Pansy and Daphne were in the entrance hall!

"Nox!" Hermione whispered, putting out the light from her wand.

Hermione heard Pansy address Daphne in the distance. "You go on ahead Daph. I just need to check something."

Hermione panicked. She was wearing muggle clothes! Quickly, she threw her wand and the Marauder's Map into her bag before tossing it into the laundry room. The door was louder than she'd have hoped. She then crouched behind a nearby chest of drawers, hoping against hope that she hadn't been seen...

But it was no good.

"Lumos!" Pansy's wand lit up the entire corridor, and the toes of Hermione's trainers were poking from behind the chest. Pansy ran to see who it was and looked down upon Hermione's scared face.

"Well, well... Looks like you can't follow a single rule..." Pansy said, tut-tutting smugly as she looked down on the witch.

With a wave of her wand, Hermione felt her clothes pulling from her, shoe-sock, shoe-sock, followed by her jeans, jumper, bra, then at last her panties. They flew into Pansy's outstretched arms.

"I think..." Pansy said. "the threat of losing your clothes isn't enough to keep you following your new dress code."

Pansy reached into her own bag and pulled out what looked like a silver collar. She stepped towards Hermione and put it on her before Hermione could stop her.

"What- What is this thing?" Hermione asked, trying to pull the collar off. Whatever it was, it wasn't budging.

"A special order," Pansy said, while digging through her bag, "straight from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment!" Pansy pulled out a ring and put it on before handing Hermione her panties back.

"Put these on. NOW." Pansy ordered.

Unsure of what Pansy was up to, Hermione put on the panties. Pansy held up her ring.

"Yes, I can feel it... Now take them off again before I do it for you!"

Hermione dutifully took them off. Pansy snatched them out of Hermione's hands as she smirked.

"So it's the same feeling. Interesting... " Pansy muttered to herself before turning again to Hermione.

"This ring..." Pansy said. "Is one of three. Every time the one who wears that collar get dressed - or undressed - those who wear the ring will know!"

Hermione's jaw dropped.

"And before you go trying to use the unlocking charm, the latch is special! It will only open for one who wears a ring like this!" Pansy said.

"So..." Hermione thought to herself, "The rings are like keys to this alert collar..."

"Now then..." Pansy began. "What do you think you're doing, skulking around down here at this hour, wearing clothes you aren't allowed to wear?"

Hermione froze. She hadn't expected to be caught, so she had not yet thought of a good lie. She'd have to think fast.