Bother friend and declare (7)
I believe the answer is:
palaver
'bother' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'friend and declare' is the wordplay.
'friend' becomes 'pal' (pal can mean a friend).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'declare' becomes 'aver' (averring is a kind of declaring).
'pal'+'aver'='PALAVER'
(Other definitions for palaver that I've seen before include "Kind of discussion or idle chatter" , "tedious bureaucracy" , "Powwow - a lot of fuss" , "Fuss and bother" , "Confused talk and activity" .)