Attention and fuss that protects listeners (7)
I believe the answer is:
earflap
'that protects listeners' is the definition.
'attention and fuss' is the wordplay.
'attention' becomes 'ear' (ear is a kind of attention**).
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'fuss' becomes 'flap' (flapping is a kind of fussing).
'ear'+'flap'='EARFLAP'
(Other definitions for earflap that I've seen before include "Part of headgear" , "ski gear?" , "Winter hat feature" .)