1They never could meet in public, and put up a pretense of hatred. If they ever acted in love, people might suspect her secret, for why would two cousins kiss as they did?
So in secrecy they lived, meeting rarely. Yet every meeting was that much sweeter for it.
They dated others, and mockingly called each other "cousin" when others were near, though they both knew it in truth to be a reminder of their forbidden love.
But as Bella became more and more entwined in the Black family's web of deceit and hatred, Sirius struggled to break further away. She never told him how they beat her; her father, her then boyfriend Rodolphus, many of the other Death Eaters. Beauty was a dangerous commodity in a house of cruel men. Sirius was the only thing holding her up, and when he left, her heart went with him. What did it matter if a few Muggles died without Sirius? What did it matter how they screamed, when her heart screamed so much louder while her obedient lips stayed shut?
Now, what did it matter how hard Rodolphus hit her, or what any of them did, because she never saw their faces. She never saw anything anymore but a wand emitting a jet of light, pushing him back through the veil. Her wand.