flyingcarpet @ September 12 2003, 19:24:46 UTC

Lucius is suspicious too.

I can't say I blame him. She hasn't seemed very receptive lately.

luna_lg @ September 13 2003, 06:48:24 UTC

*crosses her fingers and prays that they're finally getting back together again*

black_dog @ September 13 2003, 07:59:28 UTC

The portkey thing is an extremely cool power play by Narcissa, I think. You can almost see Lucius shaking with doubt, but he's totally on the spot here, if he refuses he loses face completely.

I don't see Narcissa actually portkeying Lucius to Antarctica. But I do see her enjoying his predicament very much. Notice how, when Lucius talks about "see[ing] her again," Narcissa evades a reassuring answer.

Anonymous @ September 13 2003, 14:55:05 UTC

It's both a subtle power play and an exercise in trust, I think. Certainly it's scary and romantic at the same time -- they're meeting in a mysterious place of Narcissa's choosing, and Lucius has to be willing to set aside his doubts and put his safety in his wife's hands. Should be interesting to see how it turned out and where they wound up meeting: a desolate, neutral landscape where they could hash out their differences? A more romantic locale where they could rediscover each other? Hmmm.

black_dog @ September 13 2003, 15:35:42 UTC

Interesting. I may be underestimating how much remaining affection they have for each other, and their own past fondness for games of one sort or another. And there definitely is a certain romance in the mystery of the invitation.

I guess my take on the current state of their relationship is that they perceive some actual danger in one another, especially in light of their recent exchange of veiled threats. So I think that the invitation has a hint of genuine menace to it, even if that is a pose on Narcissa's part. Lucius must confront a real, not merely a playful possibility that Narcissa intends to harm him.

I imagine Lucius reacting with fear and calculation ("would she actually dare do something to me?") rather than primarily being intrigued in a romantic way. I think that's borne out by his Antarctica joke, and his uneasy reach for reassurance about seeing one another soon. If I had to speculate on Narcissa's intentions, I would say that it is all a rather cold-blooded test: Is Lucius still committed enough to me to take a risk? Is he so far gone in his own schemes and calculations that he takes for granted that this is a trap? And I think she is not above simply making him sweat, at this point, too.

Impossible to know what's really happening, of course, until we see how it plays out. But it's fun to tease out the possibilities so that we are ready for whatever happens!