She returns to the library

As Hermione began to stroll through the castle naked again, she contemplated what she had agreed to.

She would have to perform these tasks of daring for the entertainment of the Slytherins, all to win back her dignity. Her mind wandered back to her fourth year, when Harry had to complete the Triwizard tasks. At least he was promised gold and glory if he made it to the end. All she could get was what was taken from her...

Hermione stopped mid-step. That was it! She had to treat the tasks like they were the Triwizard tasks she helped Harry prepare for! She knew the next couple of tasks involved a night with creatures and a swap with polyjuice potion, so she could more or less get the basics ready to prepare herself!

She broke into a run to get to the library as fast as possible, her breasts and butt jiggling with each step, feet slapping the stone tiles.

As soon as she got into the library, she borrowed rolls of parchment and took a couple of quills and ink bottles to begin note-taking. She knew from experience that polyjuice potion would take a month to make. While the Slytherins didn't have a month to do this, they might be able to get a source from somewhere else, or perhaps use a spell that would mimic the effects. If they managed to procure some potion, she knew they'd also need one of her hairs, and she was fairly certain they hadn't plucked one from her yet. She also knew that Millicent was still studying Care of Magical Creatures, so it was likely that, if she was spearheading the next task, Hermione would be best served to study magical creatures.

She went to the bookshelves and began to get to work, reading through all the books she could. There were some creatures that she was reasonably sure would not be involved due to how difficult they were to get, such as dragons or quintapeds, so she first reviewed Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and made a list about which creatures the Slytherins might be able to get their hands on. While she knew that she wouldn't be in any danger thanks to the protection charms, she still didn't want a difficult night, so she then went down the long list to check for guides on caring for these creatures and how the creatures lived on their own.

She read about the different cultures of creatures that traveled in herds and packs, creatures that were highly territorial, creatures that had rudimentary societies, and creatures with sapience that lived alongside wizards, even if they were not considered equal to humans by those that were running the Ministry.

Some of these pages included odd information on mating habits. Goblins, for instance, particularly enjoyed causing as much pain to their partners as possible. Centaurs would only mate on a waxing crescent, and she learned that House-Elves were actually endangered because they only mated when they were ordered to, whether it be with each other or with the odd human who found them attractive. Her mind was taken back to the rumors that Professor Flitwick was part elf, and she wondered briefly if she might be able to find his parentage before she thought better.

By the time lunch rolled around, Hermione had written notes on four full rolls of parchment. Not wanting to reveal that she had been working on this kind of thing, she deposited her notes in a suit of armor near a window. As she was about to walk down to the entrance hall, she caught a glimpse of someone walking out toward the castle gates. She looked back and saw that it was Professor Trelawney. She was dragging along a decently sized trunk. The last time she had seen Trelawney with luggage, she was crying, begging not to have to leave the castle, but she was doing so alone today... She might have to pry to get information about that later.

Lunch was a surprisingly quiet affair. The Slytherins were nowhere to be seen as Hermione ate her potato stew. Once she was finished, she decided it was time to get a move on to see if the Fat Lady had forgiven her yet. On her way up, she grabbed her notes.

She stood in front of the empty portrait, planning on what to say once her 24-hour time limit was up. After about 10 minutes, the Fat Lady showed up, still looking a bit terse.

"I'm sorry," Hermione apologized.

The Fat Lady said nothing.

"I should have learned your name years ago, but nobody I have ever spoken to has ever said your name, even purebloods whose entire family have been in Gryffindor, like the Weasley's."

The Fat Lady started to relax her shoulders a little.

"I know that you don't want to tell me what your name is... I understand that I may have lost the right to know for now. But I would also like to call you something else, if that will suit you better."

The Fat Lady raised an eyebrow. "And what," she began to ask, "did you have in mind?"

Hermione paused. She didn't know if this new title was laying it on a little thick, but it was the shortest thing she could come up with that still sounded honorable. "The Gryffindor Guardian?" She cringed inside, knowing how childish the name sounded.

The Fat Lady looked taken aback. "Yes... The name certainly does fit my job... I think I would be ok with that." The Fat Lady looked rather relaxed now.

At that, Hermione sat on the floor and parted her labia. "Can I come inside now?" Hermione asked apprehensively.

"Yes." The Fat Lady smiled. "You may enter."

The portrait swung open, allowing Hermione access back to her room and belongings. She gratefully made her way through the portrait hole and up the stairs. She laid her notes out on her bed and took stock of what clothes she had left. Aside from the clothes she couldn't wear, the socks, underwear, her dressing gown, and her last pair of shoes, she had 11 borrowed school robes, 2 old robes of hers that didn't fit her right, her last robe that fit her properly.

She remembered her dress robes, but they no longer fit her after her fourth year, so she had given them to the Weasleys to do with as they saw fit. These were the only clothes she had left available to her in the castle.

Hermione decided to get to work on altering one of the smaller robes. She first conjured the fabric, thread, and needle, since those were the parts she was allowed to use. She then got to work on undoing seams on her old robes to sew new stretches of fabric to them.

It was slow and tedious work. She wished she could have used her wand to speed things up, but she didn't want to risk it.

After a few hours, she had managed to make the torso fit well enough, but the sleeves and hem were still too short. She decided to stretch and take a quick nap, only just realizing how tired she was due to being away from her own bed the previous night. She moved her notes and robes off her bed and got in it, happy to sleep under a warm blanket again...