Who… Is that?
"Did they have to do every event but the one I do?" Sirius grumbled as he and Remus walked around the venue for the AQHA Level 1 Championships. James was already there since Lily was competing in the Pleasure class and she needed help getting her horse prepared.
"Sirius, you know that they'll be doing championships for barrel racing by itself later this year," Remus muttered with a sigh, rubbing his eyes since it was still early. His hip had been bothering him for the entire morning, so he was half-leaning on the cane that he carried along on bad days.
Sirius huffed in return. ‘How dare they isolate him from his friends? ‘ The shorter of the two continued ahead, refusing to so much as look at his boyfriend as he went. He knew he was being dramatic, but it really wasn't fair in his opinion, and he was taking it out on the nearest person.
Sirius heard Remus huff behind him and was about to turn around to check on him before he saw James walking with Lily- who was already in her show outfit- and bolted forwards to full-body tackle his best friend. He knew James would catch him; he always has. Remus has always let him fall but that's not relevant.
Sirius waited for James to catch his footing again before he let go, dropping back to the ground.
"Padfoot! Come see Willow, she'll be so happy to see you again," James immediately brightened, taking off towards the designated stall for Lily's mare. Sirius went to look back at Remus before realizing that he went ahead with Lily. He shook his head before falling in step with James as they made their way to the small bay's stall.
"Willow baby!" Sirius called out the mare, who was currently standing in the isle with her saddle on as Lily finished braiding and taping her mane. The horse's ears perked up at the sound of his voice, but she did not move her head as usual when her mane was being braided. He walked over and ran his hand from the top of her neck down to her shoulder, praising how shiny and soft her coat had gotten since the last year, right after Lily bought her.
"Moony! Just look how shiny she's gotten," Sirius exclaimed, still trying to stay mostly calm and quiet so he didn't scare the other horses nearby. He earned a hum and a nod from Remus, a small thing to let his boyfriend know he was listening even if he was focused on taking in the entire scene.
After they finally got Willow ready and Lily got her own hair tamed, she took the mare by the rein and led her out to the warmup pen, where the boys split off from her and went to their seats as they always did, right in the front row.
•~•
"Barty. Shut the fuck up," Regulus grumbled as he weaved through the rows of stalls, taking short strides but quick steps to keep ahead of the nuisances that continuously follow him around. Regulus fought off a grin as he heard Barty gasp dramatically, falling back to walk beside Evan.
As soon as he turned the corner, Regulus heard his gelding's all-too-familiar neigh. This meant that Poet had caught sight of him.
Poet was still young, but he was one of the most willing-to-learn horses Regulus had ever been around. They also share a love for bullying Barty, so they immediately clicked.
"Reg, your horse is mean to me," Barty complained as Regulus slipped into the stall to begin grooming the muscular gelding.
"Good, that means he's learning well," the smaller boy answered. Poet reached around to nuzzle at Regulus' pocket, knowing the boy brought a treat with him.
Regulus had a soft spot for the animal, so he held his hand out with a treat in his palm and let the horse take the treat before he got started running a brush down the gelding's body. He eventually let Pandora help him out by having her brush Poet's mane and braid his tail; but only after she pestered him about it for at least twenty minutes.
Once they got Poet groomed and tacked up, Regulus pulled one of his reins down and led the gelding out and to the warmup pen, ignoring Barty’s fussing the entire way.
•~•
“Good morning!” Lily chirped as she passed Regulus in the warmup. Regulus raised his hand in a half-wave since he was focused on something Poet was doing.
He didn’t realize when he was younger, but the horse world was a lot less toxic if you got out of the bad parts of it. He did realize that the western world was much more suitable to him than dressage. He’d never admit it but he liked reining because of the adrenaline he got from running down the line in every pattern.
While he was lost in his thoughts, Poet decided to wake Regulus up by spooking at a banner on the wall. He quickly got himself together and corrected the bolting before taking Poet back to the wall, “See, you fucker? It’s a banner, not a murderous sheet of metal,” Regulus muttered, shaking his head before cueing for a rollback and continuing on their warmup.
•~•
“James, isn’t the reining before the pleasure class?” Sirius questioned. He was laid out in his seat, one leg rested over top of Remus’ thigh and leaned back to look at James.
“Uh… yeah it is,” his best friend muttered in return, having forgotten the schedule for a moment. James ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it so it held and stayed out of his face.
“I like reining, they get decently fast,” the shorter boy added with a shrug, jumping as the announcer came over the speakers just after he finished speaking.
“Good morning, everyone! And welcome to this year’s AQHA Level One Championships! We will be getting started shortly with our reining class, followed by the pleasure and…”
That’s when Sirius lost interest and tuned out the announcer. His attention was grabbed when the first person in the reining class was called. But he only caught their last name…
“… Black, on Minister’s Flaming Poet”
Sirius sat up so fast that he nearly fell out of his seat and Remus reached for him instinctively. “Jesus Christ, Sirius,” he grumbled as he sat back again.
“sorry, I just-“ Sirius cut himself off as the person ran out of the gate. The beautiful black horse beneath him striding out across the arena before sitting down to slide for at least three feet and immediately backing up to the center of the arena. Sirius noticed that most of the noise came from the side opposite of them, as they cheered on this boy—who was either their friend or their idol.
•~•
“Thank you, Poet. Thank you-“ Regulus praised the gelding after their go. He was out of breath and incredibly proud of the 5-year-old, but still held a blank expression as he was taught from a young age.
“Don’t let them see your weakness…”
The boy quickly shook his mother’s voice from his head as he caught sight of Barty tumbling around the corner; an embarrassed? Annoyed? (Who knows) Evan following shortly. Regulus was already dismounted and loosening the gelding’s saddle by the time they all crowded him. Pandora took the horse by the rein and led him back to his stall as Barty and Evan attacked Regulus with a hug.
Normally, he’d push them away and grimace, but he was too overwhelmed to try it at the moment.