"One more inch. That's all I need."

"One? I still have six! I don't understand any of this!"

"None of us do, Ron."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ed sat at a table in the library, trying to finish their essays that were due within the next two hours.

Ed sighed. "I guess I'll have to add more on the unicorns…there's more information on them then there is on those stupid kelpies."

Within the next half an hour, the four had finished their essays, and were grateful for it.

Suddenly, Ed smacked himself on the head. "We are such idiots."

"What? Are you calling us idiots?"

"What am I an expert in?"

"Alchemy?"

"And what are you experts in?"

"Magic and…oh."

"Yeah."

It had just dawned on the group that they could have written each other's essays for the other—Ed knew all about human transmutation and Hermione knew the most about unicorns and kelpies.

Ed sighed. "Oh, well. We'll have to just keep it in mind for next time this happens."

"Next time?" Ron said, skeptical on the subject. "There shouldn't be a next time. It was your fault that we got into this mess in the first place! Accusing a teacher of being something that doesn't even exist…"

"Ron…" Harry said, a warning in his voice.

"You and your stupid homunculus thing. We should've never listened to you! You're just a half-pint shrimp!"

Ed's eye twitched. "Half-pint…shrimp…"

"Twenty-three pizzas with shrimp on top, complete with four half-pint milk cartons. It's already paid in full, Mr. Elric…"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP?" Ed yelled, jumping up to punch Ron.

A tap from behind stopped him cold in his tracks. "Might I suggest first quieting down then refraining from harming your friend?"

It was Aileen, holding a basket of cookies in one hand, the other outstretched still resting on Ed's shoulder.

"Madame Pince will be furious if she heard this." She held out the cookies. "Anyways, these are for you. Someone sent them to me in hopes of getting them to you."

Aileen turned and walked out of the library, her black skirt flowing behind her.

Ed looked down at the basket. Inside were about two dozen cookies, all coated in pink frosting and had exquisite designs on them.

The only problem was that they were all designed to look like shrimp.

Ed began to twitch again. "It was Mustang, wasn't it?"

A note fluttered to the ground. Ed picked it up.

I'm hoping these reach you through Ai. She's been good so far. See you soon, Fullmetal runt!

It was unsigned, but Ed knew only one person who would sent him a gift like this. Mustang.

Dropping the cookies on the table, he shoved the card into his pocked and headed towards the exit. Before he reached the door, he realized something.

Running up the spiral staircase to the second floor of the library, Ed grabbed the book he had seen earlier.

…the legendary eighth homunculus. It is female in appearance and looks surprisingly like a Veela. Silence is its name, for its lips are sealed eternally and cannot speak: it has no vocal chords.

No known witch or wizard has ever seen such a creature, wild silver hair glowing like the moon and eerie green eyes that seem so large and sad. They resemble a cat's, with vertical slits instead of pupils…

"AH-HA!" Ed cried, unaware that the librarian was standing right behind him. She reached into the stack of books in her hands and whacked him several times, chasing him down the stairs and out of the library. She had allowed him to check out the book, but only because he had lied and said it was for an essay.

"Magical Creatures and Where To Find Them Part II: A Wizard's Guide to Recently Discovered Outside Creatures of the Dark Magics?" Hermione said, examining the book.

"Yeah! It has all this information on homunculi! I even found an entry that sounds like they're talking about Aileen! Look!" Ed whispered, pointing to "The Eight Homunculus: Fact or Fiction?"

Hermione read it over once. "I don't know. It does sound like Professor Owarii, but I don't think Ron would let me do this. It goes against my own morals as well."

"Fine," Ed huffed. "I'll do it myself."

"Professor Owarii?" Ed called, unsure if she was there or not.

"Oh, Edward. I was just finishing up the Philosopher's Stone. It's got a little time to sit, but I've—"

"Enough of the chit-chat. I know you're a homunculus. I saw your orobus and there's a description of you right here in this book. I didn't imagine it that night."

Aileen took a long look at the chapter on homunculi. All of a sudden, students began walking in from lunch.

"So sorry, Edward. Maybe we can do lunch sometime?" Aileen said, pushing Ed out the door.

"Hey! My book!" Ed said, but his voice was lost in the sea of students entering the classroom. He backed away, stumbling out into the gardens. It was all he could do from getting crushed.

Ed returned to the Gryffindor tower, where he pulled out his research notes. A whole class period passed before he realized what he had missed. The stone.

"Damn!"

On the mountains adjacent to Hogwarts, there was a forest, and in that forest there were three people. But no one knew if they were people at all.

"Here's the stone, Lust," Aileen said, holding the crimson stone out. It was fairly small, but Lust didn't seem to mind.

"You're sure this is the real thing?" she asked, examining it in the light streaming through the forest canopy.

"As real as my orobus."

"Good." The stone began to glow. A red, crackly light began to issue from the stone, surrounding Lust.

"Finally…I will become human…"

Suddenly, the red light changed to a purple glow that sparked around Lust's body. In a flash of light, both Lust and the stone were gone.

Aileen's eyes went wide with terror. "I didn't mean to!"

Envy stood where he was. "Didn't mean to what?"

"I didn't make a real stone! It was just an imperfect one! I didn't think that this would happen!"

Envy shook his head. "It doesn't matter now. She's gone."

"But…I killed her!"

Envy laughed. "Killed her? More like helped her. Now she doesn't have to worry about trying to be human. She's probably happier now."

"Why can't we just stay like this?" Aileen said in a low voice.

"Huh?"

"We're ageless! In our real forms we can never die! If we truly can become human, then what's the point? We'd just die anyways!" Aileen fell to her knees, tears running down her face.

Envy put a hand on Aileen's shoulder. "I don't want to become human. That was Lust. I don't even remember why she did in the first place. Now come on. We have to get back to the castle." He held out a hand for Aileen, who took it and stood up, brushing tears from her face.

Back at the castle, Aileen pulled a key from her belt and opened the classroom door. A voice made them stop dead in their tracks.

"Miss me?"

:gasp: Who could it be? It's probably obvious, but who cares. I need to write the next chapter, which might be the last…depends on how far I stray from the plotline written down here…No, Al is not going to be in here. Kudos to anyone who knows who sent the shrimp cookies. And thanks to The Black Inferno Alchemist for reminding me that this story does need a bit of humor once in a while…read, review, and hope the last chapter(s) come before the night's over!