Storyteller by Luvscharlie

Charlie stomped down the stairwell, making as much noise as possible to convey his malcontent. Molly noted that he stopped halfway down and spun around with pieces of something in each hand. "It's not my fault! I didn't do it on purpose."

"You did too," Bill shouted, just out of sight.

Charlie returned fire. "I hate you! I'm not sharing a room with you anymore! You're a big, ugly—he looked around to see if anyone was looking, caught his mother's eyes and reconsidered his word choice—troll."

Bill's voice followed. "You take that back."

"I will not," Charlie shouted, and moved just in time to avoid Bill's grab. "Muuuummmm!" Charlie squealed, and dropped what he was holding as Bill pursued in earnest. Charlie jumped the last three steps landing with a thump and running to hide behind Molly's robes. Bill made a grab around her, and Molly took a step to the side to keep him at a distance.

"Would one of you like to tell me what you're fighting about?"

"Bill's being a big ugly troll, Mummy."

"Well, yes, dear. I heard that part." Molly bit her cheek to keep from giggling. "Bill dear, would you like to tell me why you're being a big ugly troll?" She took a seat and pulled four-year-old Charlie onto her lap and safely out of his brother's reach.

"He broke my broom, Mum. Dad told him he wasn't allowed to play with it when he broke his own, but he did, and he broke it, and now I have to kill him." Bill's tone was very matter of fact and Molly bit her cheek again.

"First, no one is killing anyone else." She stood Charlie in front of her and attempted a stern tone. "Charlie, did you break your brother's broom?"

Charlie shook his head from side to side. "No, Mummy. The tree did it." He nodded his head to confirm that the tree was, in fact, the guilty culprit.

"And how did the tree break your brother's broom, Charlie?" She waited for his answer. If there was one thing Charlie did well, it was tell stories.

"Well," he started, "I was chasing a gnome out of your garden. I know you don't like gnomes in your garden, Mummy."

"That's true, dear. I don't care for gnomes in my garden." Charlie's look was so serious that she was losing her ability to keep a straight face, and Bill was growing angrier. She got hold of herself once more and used a firm tone. "Continue."

"And the gnome growed wings—and he started to fly—so I had to go after him. I almost got him too, Mummy, but the tree helped him and stepped in front of me, and the tree breaked Bill's broom. Not me."

"Darling," she asked. "When did this happen?"

"This morning."

"Are you hurt?" Molly asked, her hands moving over him to check for injuries.

"I got an ouchie on my knee and a big ouchie on my head."

Sure enough his knee sported a large abrasion and there was an egg-sized knot on the back of his head. "Poor baby," Molly coddled, sending Bill stomping from the room muttering, "Unbelievable."

"Bill dear," she called after him. "Your father will fix your broom when he gets home."

She turned back to Charlie. "You, young man, go straight up to my room—I think you should probably stay away from Bill for a bit—and I'll be up to check on you after I feed the baby."

Charlie ran for the stairs and she heard the patter of his feet as he headed up, then looked up in surprise as he came back down. "Mummy," he said. "The naughty tree ripped my new trousers too. I think you might have to punish it."

Molly bit her lip.

"Don't be too bad to him, Mummy. He's not a very smart tree."

"I'll keep that in mind, Charlie."

Fin.

A/N: Originally Written for the yay_potterkids community on livejournal where the drabble must be kid-friendly. My prompt was "It's broken."