OoP : Sirius BIG question no-one has asked before (spoiler)

[tigerpatronus]

No: HPFGUIDX 65995


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Sayuri" <sayuri_tama at h...> 
wrote:
> "Cousins by marriage" in my family always meant someone who was 
your 
> cousin through marraiges but not a blood relative. <snip> 
> On another note, even if Molly IS Sirius's blood-related cousin, 
why 
> couldn't Arthur be his cousin, too? It seems to me that the Black 
> family tree is a major indicant that the pure-blood wizarding world 
> is horribly inbred, much like the European royal families. A 
> marriage of distant cousins (Arthur and Molly) wouldn't be out of 
> place, then.

Yeah, but just because two people are your cousins doesn't mean they 
share genes in common. For example: My parents both have siblings. My 
dad's sister marries someone else and has a kid. My mom's brother 
marries someone else and has a kid. Those two kids are both my 
cousins but share no genetic material, so there may be icky-factor if 
they married, there is no chance of three-headed babies. Thus, the 
term "kissin' cousins." See below for 2 cousins who share no DNA with 
each other.


         mat gparents                      pat gparents
              I                                 I
              I                                 I
          ----------                        ----------
          I        I                        I         I
 wife ---bro       My mom----------------My dad      sis-------hubby
       I                       I                            I
       I                       I                            I
     my cousin 1              Me                          My cousin 2


TK