A/N: This is written for the "Thank god you're here" writing challenge on DLP. In one hour and between 500 and 750 words one has to write a story with one of the below prompts:

-"One of them is going to die. Acknowledge that. Believe in it. One of them will die. Accept it. Then make your choice."

-"Remember the good old days, Harry? When there were good guys, and bad guys, and we knew who was who?"

-"It's nothing personal, Ron. OK, that's a lie, it's entirely personal…"

…so naturally, I wrote a story with all three prompts.

[Merciless]

"Please… have mercy…"

Draco Malfoy's pleas fell on deaf ears. In fact, it seemed to amuse him even more; green eyes colder than ice shone with dark malice. Drawing out his wand the man on the throne drawled.

"I've changed my mind, Draco. For your insolence, I will kill one of parents tonight. Now who should that be?"

Draco darted his eyes to the bloodied and tortured forms of his parents, then yelped as the green-eyed man lifted their bodies and suspended them in mid-air with silent Levicorpus spells.

"Choose." He whispered. Draco whimpered. "One of them is going to die. Acknowledge that. Believe in it. One of them will die. Accept it. Then make your choice."

"No… please…" Draco was sobbing openly now. "You're supposed to be the good guys, Potter! You can't do this?"

Narcissa screamed as her left forearm dropped to the ground, courtesy of a swift Cutter Curse from Harry Potter. Standing at the side of his throne, Ron Weasley followed up the curse with a Flaming Sword Curse, cutting off another inch below the elbow but cauterizing the wound at the same time. Harry's eyes flashed in his friend's direction for a second, but returned his attention to the sobbing young man in front of him.

"You're the bad guys, Malfoy. Surely you can take a little mindless violence and make tough choices?" Harry said, twirling his wand almost casually. "Give me what I want, and I'll let you and mummy—or daddy—go."

"The Dark Lord will hunt us down and kill us if I do that!"

"Let me put it in perspective for you." Harry smiled coldly. "He hasn't gotten to you yet. We have. And we will kill you if you don't cooperate with us."

"Unless you want to start choosing which of your parents' limbs to save?" He aimed his wand at Lucius' chest. "I don't know, Ron. Do you think a Heart-Exploding Curse can actually work on dear Lucius here?" He scratched his chin absently. "Wait. Maybe I should disarm him permanently. Get it? Disarm?"

"No! Wait! I'll tell you everything!" The Malfoy screamed.

Harry smirked. "Of course you will."

HPHPHPHPHP

Ron looked down at the mess with an undisguised look of disgust on his face. Malfoy had spilled his guts, both figuratively and literally thank to Harry's Entrail-expelling Curse. The canines that used to be his parents were feasting upon the remains. Ron knew that Harry would wait till the dogs have their fill before undoing the transfiguration; he could imagine their screams when they realized they had cannibalized their own son while—

"Something wrong, Ron?" Harry asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine, mate." The redhead said. "Actually, no, I'm not. I'm just sick and tired of it all. Sometimes I wonder if we have become as bad as the Death Eaters.

"Remember the good old days, Harry? When there were good guys, and bad guys, and we knew who was who?

"What ever happened to us?"

Harry sighed heavily; avoiding his last surviving friend's inquiring eyes by turning to watch the dogs. A flick of his wand and the Malfoy-turned-canines began going into heat.

"This fucking war happened. Death and destruction happened." He said at last. "Every day wizards and muggles alike are killed. Every day the Wizarding World struggles for its freedom. We must not waver, old friend. We must win because we cannot lose. Everything depends on us."

Ron shut his eyes for a moment. "I understand."

"I'm glad." Harry said, and suddenly Ron found himself Petrified and on the ground. He looked up to see Harry pointing his want at the Malfoys again.

Harry? Ron's eyes flickered at his friend, unable to believe what had just happened.

"It's nothing personal, Ron. OK, that's a lie, it's entirely personal…" Harry said calmly while the frozen Ron began to panic. He had heard Harry spoken like this before. It was always followed by some unspeakable horror. "Like I said, we must not waver.

"But you did."

Ron's eyes widened as the canine-Malfoys turned in his direction and growled. Harry had settled back into his throne-like seat, and Ron stared disbelievingly at his friend.

"I cannot allow that. For what's worth, I'm sorry."

Is he going to watch while dogs tear his best friend to pieces?

"Goodbye, Ron. You have been a good friend for a long time."

Ron finished his one last thought as the dogs sank their teeth and claws into his throat.

He is.