Sirius was kneeling beneath the invisibility cloak, staring at the grey kitten as it padded by, eyes narrowed and tail fluffed out. It was suspicious. Sirius, always cocky, had thought that they wouldn't get caught. They were too quick and clever for that. But Remus had insisted they take the cloak. Sirius was glad the werewolf was more than half asleep, or he'd have made some comment about how they'd be trapped in Filch's office right now because his kitten had spotted them. It was unknown how the caretaker and his cat were able to work together so well.
The kitten, fur flattening, finally turned a corner and was lost to sight. Sirius stood, leaving his companion partly visible as he took the cloak with him.
"C'mon, Moony," Sirius chirped, gripping Remus's arm and hauling him up. Remus remained apparently asleep for a moment before waking with a start.
"Huh? Where am I?" he mumbled sleepily, stumbling as Sirius dragged him away.
"It's ten thirty! He's gonna come out soon!" Sirius was rushing down the corridor. "We don't wanna miss him!"
"Who?" Remus tripped over his own foot, Sirius's tight hold on his arm the only thing saving him. Then he remembered as that shock jolted him a bit more awake. "Oh. Sirius, do you know how ridiculous this is?"
Sirius chose to ignore him. He speeded down another flight of stairs, down a corridor then down the huge marble staircase in the Entrance Hall. He paused in front of the doors leading out onto the grounds, hardly out of breath. He was practically hopping with excitement as he finally released the exhausted werewolf and shoved a door open.
"Come ooon!" He darted out from under the cloak and out the door, Remus fumbling with it for a few moments before managing to stuff it in his pocket and following more slowly, yawning. Sirius was already half way to the lake, having as much energy as an excited five year old.
Sirius plopped down a few feet from the water's edge, breathing heavily, eyes scanning the lake as Remus finally caught up, practically falling over. His legs seemed to be shaking.
"What time is it?" Black asked urgently. Remus very reluctantly rolled onto his back, staring up at the almost-full moon.
"'Round ten, still," he panted.
"I'm going to guess fifteen minutes," Sirius said, turning his head to look at his friend. "Fifteen minutes until we meet Gryffindor himself!" Remus sighed.
"I don't know where you heard this, but the Giant Squid is not Godric Gryffindor. Do you know how ridiculous the idea is? It's impossible for an animagus to be that large; have you ever looked up how big the squid is? It's half the size of the castle!"
"So? I'm sure animagi can be that big - there are real squid that big, aren't there? No reason why someone couldn't transform into a huge animal while some turn into really small ones," Sirius almost pouted.
"The man would be several centuries old," Remus said, voice softer as his exhaustion took over again. "No one can live that long."
Sirius reached into his pocket for something, yanked it out and held it triumphantly over the werewolf's face. He scowled, rolling onto his side.
"I didn't need to see that," he murmured, too weak to put any annoyance into his tone.
Sirius glanced at the card, puzzled. He gave a snort of amusement when he saw it was a playing card with a lewd illustration on it.
"I meant to give this back to James," he said rather sheepishly. He fished around in his pockets once more, this time checking the object he pulled out before showing it to Remus. He didn't react.
"Moony, wake up!" Sirius shook the smaller boy, who jerked awake again.
"Mmf?" He stared uncomprehendingly at the chocolate frog card. "Nicholas Flamel...? The Philosopher's Stone? Sirius, he still has it... Gryffindor hasn't kept himself alive by using that..."
"Maybe he has his own!" Sirius turned his attention back to the water. Remus almost gave a sob, thinking of his warm, soft bed back up in the tower. And here he was on a cold autumn night just three days away from the full moon, having been so dazed from being woken up so suddenly he had forgotten to grab his scarf and cloak.
"Anyway," the black haired boy went on, unaware of Remus blearily glaring at the back of his head, "I read about Gryffindor being an animagus - the squid in the lake - in an old history book. So there. He climbs out of the lake each night at eleven o'clock and walks around the grounds."
Remus didn't ask which history book, pointing out he had read them all and had never encountered such a thing. He didn't care anymore. He tried halfheartedly to drag himself behind a nearby tree to protect himself from the cold wind blowing off the lake, was unable the move more than a few inches, and went limp again.
"Should be time now..." Sirius muttered thoughtfully, glancing up and down the shore and scanning the horizon for signs that the squid might be surfacing. Remus fell asleep, shivering.
The minutes passed, and Sirius gave a small hmph as he realized that Remus had probably been right, as usual. Gryffindor wasn't really the Giant Squid. He turned to the other boy, opening his mouth to threaten him not say I told you so, but closed it again, frowning in concern. Remus was shivering quite badly, looking unhappy in his sleep. Sirius suddenly felt guilty for dragging the little werewolf outside, remembering how close the full moon was. He scooped him up in his arms, it worrying him a bit how little Remus seemed to weigh and carried him to the tree he had tried to reach earlier.
He set Remus down before taking off his cloak and draping it over the sleeping figure. Then he sat down next to him, leaning back against the tree, looking out over the water. He could see the moon's reflection rippling in the lake, but nothing else stood out to him. No unnatural disturbance in the water's surface. He sighed.
Sirius jumped slightly as Remus mumbled sleepily, wriggling closer to him and wrapping his arms around his friend's waist, nuzzling his chest. Faintly surprised, Sirius hugged him closer.
They stayed like that, Remus's shivering stopping and a small smile on his face. Sirius kept a lookout in the slight hope that Gryffindor might still surface. Remus would enjoy talking to such an old historical figure, he thought as he began nodding off. He himself wanted some help in his own studies on how to become an animagus, for Moony.
Sirius fell asleep, the werewolf curled against him, using his chest as a pillow, not noticing as a shape climbed out of the lake some distance away.