"I don't think so," Bellatrix disagreed. "You have no desire to return to the future - that tells me one thing: you don't like whatever happens there, and you're planning to make changes. I don't know what you're planning to change, but if it's got anything to do with me, I'm entitled to know about it!"
"What I intend to do is none of your business." Harry replied evenly. He'd tried the nice approach, and went for bluntness now.
"The hell it is!" Bellatrix hissed. "You know me, or at least, you will know me. I'm certain of that much. That means whatever you do will directly impact what happens to me." She glared at him. "Trust me, you do not want me as your enemy."
Harry suppressed a smirk. Compared to the Bellatrix of his time, this version of her was no threat. She was skilled and powerful, that was for sure, but she was nowhere near what she would become in a decade or two. No, most of her power right now was in her social connections. Not that Harry cared much about those - they were merely a means to meet Voldemort, and kill him before he could start any of the madness that would erupt in the future.
"Like it or not, Black, whatever I do to change the future concerns no one but me." And old Tom, Harry added mentally.
Bellatrix's violet eyes flashed in anger. "Awfully high-handed, aren't we?"
Harry clammed up, deciding that the conversation was over. Arguing with her at this point was useless, and he refused to reveal anything more. He knew why she was angry. There was no altruism behind her reasoning - she wasn't trying to force Harry to reveal his knowledge of the future to make it better. Instead, she wanted that knowledge for her own personal gain, wanted to know if what he would do would benefit her. She felt threatened, because whatever he did without her knowledge would be beyond her control.
A crazy idea sprang into his mind, to feed her just enough information to convince her that he was on her side, that whatever he did would be beneficial for Bellatrix Black in the future. In a single move, he could snatch her up and deprive Voldemort of his most notorious and arguably most dangerous follower. However, as quickly as that idea had come, he discarded it. There were simply too many unknowns about the Bellatrix Black of this time. He didn't know if she would honor the commitments she made, and while he knew what motivated her - power, wealth, and ambition - there was no guarantee that she wouldn't find the coming Dark Lord's offer that much more promising. Or that she would strike out on her own.
No, for now it would be much too risky to let anyone know of his plans, even the seventeen-year old with the connections. "Yes," he admitted, "it is high-handed of me. I am making decisions for everyone I ever associated with in the future. However, it isn't as if I've got many options, and you can be assured that whatever the future is, any changes I make will make it better for everyone involved."
She eyed him suspiciously. "You're a fighter," she concluded. "You've been trained for warfare. I read the report in the paper, and listened to what those brain-dead idiots were saying after they got their parents to bail them out of jail."
"I used stunners and banishing charms," Harry defended himself.
"It's not about the spells. It's about this," she tapped her temple. "Tactics. Knowledge, experience. You didn't even blink when I asked you about demolishing a group of ruffians back at the inn, which tells me that you're no stranger to combat. The training and expertise it took to take down even those morons is not something you're taught in school or even in auror training."
Harry remained silent. There wasn't really anything he could say or do that wouldn't reveal more to her than she was deducting now.
"That means you were probably at war with someone in the future," she said. "And that means there was another side. Judging from the way you want to change things, I take it things didn't go so well for you, and now you want to change that." Her eyes hardened suddenly. "So don't give me that crap about making it better for everyone, because you're clearly not going to be making things better for whoever was fighting against you and kicking your butt!"
He stared at her evenly, trying to figure out how to derail her from finding out more. "And what," he began slowly, trying to appeal to her sense of self-preservation, "makes you think that you weren't on my side in this theoretical war of yours?" He paused to let the question sink in. "Let's assume for a moment that what you think is correct. You believe I was involved in a war? You also seem to believe that I know your future self. You figure it out."
He could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she mulled that new information over. Her eyes clouded over as she frowned, and finally shook her head. "So if I was on your side, why won't you tell me what's going on, then?"
Harry waved a hand dismissively. "It's all theoretical." At least, to her it was. He was almost afraid of how quickly she had deducted things from things that he had done without thinking about them.
She stared at him intently, and then sighed. "I suppose so. For now, at least. I suppose I can keep helping you… for a price."
Harry wasn't sure how much Bellatrix would value being one of Voldemort's lieutenants, but as far as his own opinion went, there certainly were better fates. "Let's just say that if you stick around and make the right choices, you've got plenty to gain." Including an actual life for yourself, he thought to himself.
"How much?"
"A lot."
She hummed in thought. "If you were to change the future… how significant of a change would it be?"
"Extremely," Harry replied curtly.
"Significant enough to become the Minister of Magic, if people were to find out that you were responsible, perhaps?"
"Sure," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "Don't know who'd even want that miserable position, much less as a reward, though."
"You're sorely lacking in ambition," Bellatrix concluded dryly.
"It depends on your definition of ambition, I guess."
"I guess we'll see how it goes."
"I guess so," he said.
"For now, I'll stick with you, as long as it benefits me," she finally decided.
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