Ok, so @lesbiansiriusblackās is writing a Jegulus figure skating au, but in the meantime because I have literal brainrot and canāt get this au out of my head, hereās my own hcs about it:
Regulusās skating is obviously very ballet heavy. His parents put him in classes from a young age; heās got that classic ballet-trained skater vibe.
Sirius was also in ballet classes from a young age and skated for France with his parents as his coach and manager until he was 16. He won France a gold medal at the Olympics at 15, after which he āgot poachedā by England, but really he ran away from home and England was happy to take him into their federation.
It was the middle of the season though so it caused a huge scandal. But what else would you expect from Sirius?
After that, Sirius and James were rinkmates, both coached by one Minerva McGonagall, a famous skater in her own right with multiple golds under her belt and first woman to land a triple jump.
For the first few years after he leaves his parents, Sirius has very aggressive routines set to rock music and definitely not anything his parents would approve of, which, of course, was the whole point.
The judges, however, were not fans of these new routines, lamenting the way Sirius was āruiningā his skating.
It wasnāt until he was 24 that Sirius was able to get a score he deserved, winning him his second Olympic gold medal, and that was only because of the judging scandal four years prior where a recording had leaked of the judges talking about how they would underscore Sirius if he skated to that āhideous musicā again.
Sadly, shortly after Siriusās second Olympic gold, he botches a triple axel (a jump he was the first to land), the injury taking him off the ice for good.
(James and Reg can also land triple axels. After Sirius retires, theyāre also both working on quads, and Reg is dead set on being the first to land a quad, fuck James Potter)
Regulus was everything Sirius wasnāt in a skater. He didnāt complain about ballet classes, he didnāt complain about the music choices, routines, or costumes. He did everything his parents asked, letting them shape his skating. He watched as Sirius pushed back, fighting for individuality, and he hated him. Couldnāt he see that even if their parents made all the choices, at the end of the day he was the one skating, and he could make the routine his own? Didnāt he see how much better his skating was when he didnāt slack off in ballet? Didnāt he want to be the best?
When Sirius left, Regulus was pissed. When he consistently got low scores, Regulus thought he deserved it, and told him as much. His skating wasnāt as good as it used to be; Regulus had heard enough to know it was true, even if he hadnāt watched Sirius skate since he left. It was his fault for thinking his individuality would result in anything else when he refused to listen to people who knew better.
But then, when Regulus was 18, that recording came out, and Regulus suddenly realized Siriusā skating didnāt get worse at all; they just didnāt like that he was doing something new. So, Reg watched every single recording of Siriusā skates since he left, and Sirius was good. He was doing things Reg had never seen, he landed a triple axel at the Olympics, and he hadnāt won any major competitions in years. Regulus was pissed. He didnāt really care that it was Sirius; he still hated him, but it was the principle of it. Those skates objectively deserved better scores than they got, and the fact that the people around him didnāt seem to see that, especially his parents, made Regulus start to question if they really knew better or if they were just biased.
But of course this was what was best for him, right? His mother knew the sport inside out and was always pushing for him to improve. And he did. The next season, he landed a triple axel, too, and won his first World Championship gold. Sure, he was mentally and physically exhausted and, if he was being honest with himself, was on the verge of a breakdown, but that was the price for gold...wasnāt it?
He looked at Sirius and his friend with the wild hair who always had a smile on his face, and wondered if he didnāt have to push himself to the brink. Skating used to be fun; he used to love it, but lately, especially this past year, he would dread going to the rink, knowing the way his mother would yell at him, making him go over his routines over and over, practice the triple axel until he was scared heād end up hurting himself because the pain in his knee was so bad.
So, when he hears a pop in his knee halfway through the off-season, Regulus is convinced itās finally happened. His career was over.
Yet, instead of telling him thereās no coming back from an injury like this, the doctor says something about a partial tear and six months of physical therapy in order to get well enough to skate again. Regulus feels a rush of relief.
But as soon as they get in the car, his mother tells him thereās no way in hell heās taking that long off skating; he can have a month, tops, and then he better be back on the ice, and Regulus realizes she doesnāt care. She doesnāt care that they got lucky this time, that if they donāt treat this properly, next time it could be career ending. All she cares about is that he skates and that he wins, whatever the cost.
Regulus doesnāt want to pay her costs anymore, so he leaves.
He goes to Apolline Delacour, who just recently came back to coaching after taking a few years off after the birth of her child. Heās known of Apolline for as long as he can remember, given his motherās hated her since she poached Andromeda when Regulus was still a kid, so really, he figured there was no one better.
Lucky for him, Apolline is willing to take on an injured skater (if it was any other skater, she wouldnāt have, but sheād heard stories from Andromeda, and Regulus was so talented, it would be a pity for him to lose his love of skating).
With Apolline, Regulus learns to love skating again. After his six month recovery, under Apollineās suggestion, Regulus takes the rest of the season off from competition to work on strength and technique.
At 21, he has his first competition back and sweeps the floor, setting personal records for both the short program and free skate, winning gold by a landslide, and only feeling a slight ache in his knee.
At 22, Regulus is at his second Olympics earning bronze next to his brother and his brotherās best friend, and, watching them beam at each other on the podium above him, Regulus finally thinks for the first time that he understands why Sirius left.
A month later, at Worldās, his brother botches a jump, and Regulus watches in horror as Siriusās career ends. The silver he wins tastes bitter, and Regulus glares at the wild haired man with the gold around his neck when he attempts to give Regulus a comforting smile.
Itās during that off-season that Regulus reaches out to his brother for the first time in seven years. They talk, they cry, they apologize; itās nice, and Sirius admits heās been following Regulusās career since his first Olympics. Regulus admits heās been following Siriusās career since the same Olympics. Sirius jokes about how pissed their parents would be if they found out, and that the only thing that would piss them off more is if Sirius started coaching Regulus. Silence.
The minute Sirius is cleared by the doctor, heās on a plane to France.
