Regulus sat on his uncle's knee, looking down at the moving pictures in the old book.
"The spider was turned into a beautiful princess," his uncle read, pointing to each word as he spoke so that Regulus could follow along. "And married the youth, who became king and she a queen."
"But, Uncle," Regulus asked once his uncle had closed the leather-bound book. "Why would he marry a spider?"
"She was a princess, Regulus. She gave him everything he could ever want," his uncle replied, setting the boy on his feet and returning the book to the shelf.
"But he didn't know that!" Regulus objected, glaring up at his uncle.
"It's just a story, Regulus," his uncle said, but Regulus didn't think that was a good enough answer.
He spent the rest of the day searching the library for spiders, ignoring his uncle's occasional disapproving glances, but the room was kept too clean.
He didn't think he would have much luck in any of the other rooms, but he tried his brother's bedroom just in case. Sirius had not been happy, but he'd understood Regulus' plight.
("You should be looking for spiders in that head of yours," Sirius had said, which Regulus had chosen to take as Sirius' attempt at advice.)
He hadn't managed to find a spider that day, and Sirius had been unwilling to help further, but he vowed to himself that he would keep trying. For as long as it took.