Story Time
Characters: Regulus, Serenus, Tybalt, Serafino, Etienne Summary: Regulus' narration skills are in demand, and he rises to a most interesting challenge
"Gee'up, daddy! Go faster!"
"OOOF." Tybalt obligingly crawled faster across the nursery floor, while two pairs of chubby fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt and two pairs of short legs kicked into his sides. The twins squealed in glee, loving it when Tybalt played "horsie" for them, but before too long, Tybalt splatted dramatically onto the nursery floor, feigning exhaustion as the boys began to jump up and down on his back.
"Up! Come on!" "More!" The boys protested as they always did, but it was getting late, and Tybalt knew if they didn't settle down soon, they wouldn't get to sleep for hours.
"Sorry, lads, but this old horsie has run his last race, I'm afraid," Tybalt replied, then rolled over and caught one small boy in each hand by the backs of their footed pajamas, making them laugh and flail. He groaned as he hauled himself to his feet, holding out Etienne toward Serenus and giving Regulus a tired smile.
"Story time," he said, then dropped into one of the rockers, settling Serafino on his lap. "I think it's Etienne's turn to pick the story, isn't it?"
"I believe it is," Serenus agreed as he took his place in the other rocker and cuddled Etienne close, dropping a kiss on his silky hair. "What would you like to hear tonight?"
Regulus stood nearby, watching the domestic scene with equal parts fascination and amusement. His nannies and tutors had never played with him like this, and he had only the vaguest memories of being read to when he was very young by one of his early nannies. Once his parents deemed him too old for such childish nonsense, there were no more stories except when he learned to read and no longer relied on anyone else for literary amusement.
"Fwankenstein," Etienne said somberly.
"Isn't he a bit young for that?" Regulus asked, glancing back and forth between Serenus and Tybalt with astonishment at the request.
"Not in the Snape family," Tybalt said, chuckling at the look on Regulus' face. "Severus was reading 'The Raven' to Cymbeline when she was younger than this, as I understand it. We have gone through several of the classics, actually, and the real wonder of it is that the stories don't give them nightmares!"
"Wead!" Serafino said, clapping his hands and bouncing in Tybalt's lap. "Wead, Papa!"
"All right, we'll read Frankenstein," Serenus said, smiling at Serafino and giving Etienne a little squeeze. He summoned the book from the shelf and opened it, but Etienne scowled and smacked his palm on the book.
"No wead!" he declared. "Want Weg'lus to do it."
Regulus' eyes flew open wide, and he took an involuntary step backwards. "Did he say what I think he said?" he asked, desperately hoping he had misunderstood.
"You, sir, have been nominated and elected, I'm afraid," Tybalt said, grinning in evil amusement. "I suggest you comply, or else this could end in tears, and you'd not want that, would you?"
"Whose tears, mine or theirs?" Regulus asked dryly, and Serenus chuckled.
"It's easy," he said soothingly, lowering Etienne to the floor so he could stand up and give the rocking chair to Regulus. "Just read to them as you were read to as a boy."
"That's the problem. I wasn't." Regulus approached the chair and sat down gingerly, and Etienne immediately began scrambling up his legs and into his lap. "Not that I can remember very well, at least. It's all quite hazy."
Tybalt felt a stab of sympathy for Regulus, for the things he'd missed out on, the simple joys of being an adored child. "It really is easy," he echoed Serenus' words, nodding firmly. "You read the words on the page, letting your tone be descriptive of the action. Oh... and don't forget to do the voices; that's the most important part!"
Etienne settled himself comfortably in Regulus' lap and looked up at him, nodding somberly. "Voices."
Regulus wrapped one arm around Etienne to hold him securely in the chair, trying not to sound as panicked as he felt when he asked, "Voices? What does that mean?"
Inclining his head, Tybalt blinked in surprise. "You know, the character dialogue? You have to give each of them a different sounding voice." He cleared his throat. "My creature! It's alive!" His tone was different from his own, shrill and manic. "Like that, you know."
"Oh, dear Merlin, that's what I was afraid of," Regulus groaned, dropping his head in his free hand.
"Consider it a chance to exercise your thespian skills," Serenus said with an evil smile. He handed over the book and went to sit at Tybalt's feet, laughing at the dire glare Regulus gave him.
"I don't suppose you're only a page or so away from the end?" Regulus asked hopefully.
"No, you get to start us off on page one," Serenus replied cheerfully.
"You won't have to do the whole book, though," Tybalt chimed in, wanting to reassure Regulus before he fled in a panic. "A chapter is all, and then we'll pop the little guys into bed." Leaning back, he cuddled Serafino. "Go on, you'll do fine!"
"So you think," Regulus muttered, but he opened the book to chapter one and cleared his throat. This was, he thought, almost as nerve-wracking as being summoned before the Dark Lord, especially with the two little boys watching him with anticipation in their bright eyes. They wanted a story, and for some inexplicable reason, they wanted it from him, and he didn't want to disappoint them. He didn't want to deprive them as he had been - and he most certainly didn't want to make them cry!
He had the fleeting thought that he wondered if Severus "did the voices", and if so, he thought he might pay good money to see that before he took a deep breath and began to read. "'I am by birth a Genevese; and my family is one of the most distinguished of that republic'..."