"Then how?"
"I inherited the name when the last Black died."
Bellatrix blinked in surprise. "Wow. Auntie must've disowned a lot of people, then."
"Something like that," Harry replied, remembering the horrid portrait of Sirius's mother. "Look, I've got to figure out what to do now. There's no point in me trying to return to the future, but I can't parade around here with my real identity."
"I told you, if you want, we can make up a name for you," she offered. "And why wouldn't you want to return to the future? I'm sure we can get that spell to work again."
We, he thought with some amusement. It was an interesting way of phrasing it, as if she'd just assumed they'd be partners in her endeavor. Part of him felt repulsed at the thought of allying himself with Bellatrix, considering the horrors she had committed in the future. Or would commit. He rubbed his temples. Thinking about time travel gave him a headache. "Look," he said, "the future is definitely not a good place right now. There's things here I really ought to do for the benefit of the people in the future. And there is no we in this."
"It's my hairpin, my spell."
"And I don't think you had anything to do with sending me here."
"According to you, the hairpin did, in the future, so my future self must have had something to do with it."
"Look, just leave me alone, okay!"
"Hell no! Do you have any idea what I could do with that kind of magic at my disposal?"
Harry shuddered. "On second thought, give me that damn pin. It's too dangerous."
"No way!"
Harry felt a strong urge to kill her… again, but decided to forego that and began reviewing his options. He was in the past, a past he knew nothing about. He had no contacts, no relatives, no friends and no money. Dumbledore wouldn't even know who he was, and unless he planned on revealing himself to the headmaster, there was nothing he could do about it. Even then, it was unlikely that anyone would believe him. No, he needed help, at least from someone. But Bellatrix? he thought.
She was thinking, too, and figured out a solution before he did. "So… you're the Black heir, right?"
"Yes."
"The sole heir?"
"The one and only."
"All right," she started, "why don't you pick up one of those galleons over there and try walking out of the vault with it. Actually, never mind that. Take that wand, and try walking out of the vault with it."
Harry realized what she was getting at. She wanted proof. He grasped the wand tightly in his hand, holding it where she could see it, and proceeded to the entrance. At his touch, the door opened, unlocked, and he stepped out into the underground tunnel. A goblin in a Gringotts card arched a nonexistent eyebrow at him. He merely smiled, waved him off, and stepped back into the vault.
"Happy?" he said dryly.
"Excellent," she grinned, surprising him. He blinked as he realized she actually had a rather pretty smile. In the future, there always was an underlying cruelty and desire to inflict pain and insanity in any of her expressions that wasn't present now. "I'll make you a deal," she offered. "You load up a few thousand galleons into some bags and take them out for me, and I'll help you out."
"Why don't you just help yourself?" he asked in bewilderment. "I mean, you are in here."
"I'm only here for this," she said, holding up the hairpin. "My grandfather left it for me. Besides, I'm not 'of age' yet to take money without the supervision of the Black family head." With a grin, she added, "which is you."
"So let me get this straight," Harry snorted, trying to conceal a chuckle. "You want my help to rob the Black vault, and in return you'll help me do what, exactly?"
She seemed a little hesitant to define just exactly what she would offer to do for him. "I'll help you get on your feet. You can take a part of that money, and I'll help you find a job. I'll collaborate with you on whatever background you want for yourself, and I can provide you with the contacts to draw up the necessary paperwork-for a price, of course. These papers don't come cheap. But," she intoned, "I also want in on whatever you figure out about the magic of this thing." She gestured towards the pin in her hand.
Harry stared at her for a moment, briefly probing her mind with the limited legilimency he knew. The few seconds he had before she realized what he was doing, forcing him to withdraw from her mind, were enough to determine that the offer, at least, was honest, and that she intended to keep her end of the bargain-for now, at least.
"That wasn't very polite," she told him angrily.
"I had to know if I can trust you," he replied evenly.
They stared at each other for a few moments, before she backed down. "Fine," she acknowledged. "But if you do it again, I'll rip your lungs out, understood?"
"You're welcome to try, Black."
"So, what do you say?" she asked, purposefully choosing to ignore his barb.
He sighed as he weighed his options. "All right."
"Excellent!" Bellatrix chimed happily, grabbing a bag and tossing it to him. "Load up!"
Feeling slightly guilty, Harry loaded several thousand galleons into the sack. Wordlessly, she conjured another sack for Harry and he helped himself to a sizeable amount of gold. "Let's get out of here," Harry said as soon as he was finished.
"My thoughts exactly," Bellatrix replied, shrinking her sack and dropping it into a pocket in her robes. She pulled the hairpin from her robe's sleeve. As she arranged her hair so as to be able to wear it, she nodded toward Harry's acquired wand. "You may as well take that too, but the goblins won't have to ask questions if they don't see you carrying it around. I'm going to wait for a bit before depositing my share."
Harry looked down at the wand he had used to defend himself. The shaft felt like black ash, tipped with silver, though he didn't know what the core was. He didn't really care, either, so long as it worked. "Good point," he said, pocketing it.
They exited the vault, both much richer, and were taken to the lobby by the goblin Harry had seen. Happily, the goblin in question did not comment about Harry's strange appearance, especially not after a galleon was discreetly pressed into his hands.
They soon found themselves in front of Gringotts, at a busy intersection in Diagon Alley. Bellatrix turned to him with a triumphant smirk. "That was a job well done!"
"If you say so," he shrugged.