AN: I got this idea when talking to my aunt's goddaughter, who's only a little over a year old and can only say a few words. She's an excellent listener. Set when Lily's a year old, which would make Albus three and James four. Kay?
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Lily Potter was not a happy child, to say the least.
Her mummy and daddy had left her alone with her Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, who were having another one of their fights and hardly paying her any attention at all. Frustrated, she let out a small wail, and both adults turned to look at her, shock written across their faces.
"I'll go check on Hugo, Rose, James and Albus, will you try to get her to sleep?" Hermione asked with a sigh. Ron looked slightly nervous, and Hermione glared at him.
"Ron, you've had no problems putting Rose and Hugo to bed before, so put your neice to sleep while I go check on the other kids" Hermione said, pointing at Lily before walking quickly up the stairs.
Ron bent down to Lily's level and smiled at her.
"You're aunt can be very stubborn sometimes, do you know that?" he asked. Lily let out a small noise, and Ron took this as a sign that she was paying attention to him. "Sometimes I don't understand her, Lily, but I suppose all girls are a bit hard to understand, besides you of course, don't grow up, alright?" he asked.
Lily reached up and pulled on his hair.
"Glad to see you're listening" Ron snorted, lifting her up. He smiled slightly as she rested her head on his shoulder and let out a loud yawn.
"I guess your aunt was right, you need your sleep" he decided, walking her up the stairs and into the nursery. He layed her down and turned around to leave, but before he could get out the door, Lily let out a small cry.
She really hated to be left alone, didn't he know that?
"Alright, little one, you want me to stay and we can talk for a bit?" Ron asked, picking her up again and sitting down in the chair in the corner. He was slightly confused on how to get her to sleep, because she was a bit more stubborn about that then Rose or Hugo, but he figured listening to him talk would be a good start.
"You know I don't even remember what this fight was about" he started, and Lily snuggled into his shoulder again. "Most of the time we fight about the smallest things and we always make up minutes after, but it's very bothersome, especially when I'm wrong most of the time" Ron said, glancing down at the young girl.
She let out another yawn and hit his shoulder lightly, as if urging him to keep talking.
"No need to get violent, Lily" Ron joked, grinning.
Lily didn't move or make a noise, so Ron looked down and saw her blinking sleepily, obviously trying to fight the fact that she was tired.
"I still can't understand how your father and mother thought it was okay to leave me and Hermione with you when we have to bring Hugo and Rose around, you always seem to want to throw something at Hugo, Rose and Albus destroy the house, and James is a trouble maker all on his own" Ron muttered, keeping his eyes on Lily.
The girl yawned again, making Ron chuckle.
"Why is it you always throw things at Hugo and every other boy in this family?" Ron asked. Lily muttered something incoherent. "You play perfectly fine with Roxanne, Dominique, Victorie and all the other girls, do you have something against boys?" Ron asked.
Lily stuck her tongue out.
"Of course, they're icky, as Roxanne would say" Ron said, grinning again as Lily closed her eyes and snuggled into him again. He remained silent for a few moments, and when he was satisfied that Lily was asleep, he stood and placed her back in bed, before leaving and heading downstairs to the couch.
The next morning, he woke up to the sound of voices coming from the kitchen and stood up, walking until he was just outside the door to listen.
"Your Uncle Ron was talking to you for an awful long time last night, wasn't he?" Hermione asked Lily, bending down in front of the young girl's highchair, placing her breakfast in front of her. Lily picked up a piece of cereal that Hermione had brought with her and launched it towards her aunt, a smile on her face.
"Did he teach you that?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at her neice.
Lily giggled and clapped happily, before going back to her cereal.
"He didn't really have to sleep on the couch last night, Harry and Ginny offered us the guest bedroom, and honestly, I forgave him when I saw that James had managed to get downstairs and they were cuddled on the couch" Hermione said, making Ron frown.
He didn't remember that, but figured that he was half-asleep when his nephew came down and was still asleep when he left again.
Lily giggled again, and Ron wondered if she actually understood what Hermione had said.
"Sometimes I think you understand us a little too well, Lily" Hermione voiced Ron's thoughts, making the red-headed boy grin from his place behind the wall.
"Now if only your uncle would come out from behind that wall and join us for breakfast" Hermione said, making Ron blush and walk around the corner slowly. "Sorry, didn't mean to listen in, I was just-" he started, before Hermione cut him off.
"I'm sorry" she said.
"For what, exactly, because I can't remember what we were fighting about" Ron admitted, which made Hermione grin. "Where are James, Albus, Hugo, and Rose?" Ron asked, noticing that the other children were not at the table.
"They ate and then went back upstairs to play, I've been checking on them every few minutes, they're alright" Hermione assured him, before standing up and walking over to him.
"So, are we both forgiven?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Yes, I suppose we are" he said, grinning.
She leaned up and kissed him, before pulling away when a piece of cereal hit her on the back of the head.
Lily giggled again and clapped, seeming happy that her shot had hit it's target.
When Hermione turned to look at her, she stuck her tongue out.
Ron laughed loudly.
"That girl is too smart for us, Hermione" he joked, as Lily let another piece of cereal fly at her aunt and uncle.
"Yes, she is, now sit down and eat your breakfast while I go check on the other kids" Hermione ordered, pushing him into his seat. Ron watched her walk out of the kitchen, and once he was sure she was upstairs, he turned to Lily.
"This is why I prefer to speak to you"