Chapter 8: Freedom at last

Severus portkeyed into the main room at Tom's house. Tom arrived in the room a few moments later as the portkey alarms went off. At the uncharacteristic smile on Severus' face Tom gave him a questioning look. "Things have gone even better than we ever suspected. Dumbledore is in Azkaban along with his entire inner circle. We were all questioned under veritaserum and the new minister of magic asked all of the right questions. It came out that you were innocent and she would like to request permission to come here with a witness and question you before she gives an official pardon."

"And you're sure this isn't a trap Severus? This seems too good to be true."

"It's possible, but not likely. I told her that you may wish to make arrangements to ensure your safety and she said that would be acceptable and that either I can relay it or you can communicate with her by owl if you have one."

At this point Tom dared to smile and dared to hope. He went to his study and got out some parchment.

Madame Minister,

My friend Severus Snape just relayed to me your offer and I am definitely interested. I wish nothing more than to clear my name and be able to live my life. I'm afraid for security reasons I cannot allow you entrance into my home. As much as I hope it is not, so long on the run has made me paranoid about walking into traps. I am also willing to bet that you are not comfortable entering my home and risking a trap as well. I understand that your questioning of Mr. Snape has likely not assuaged all of your fears regarding me. I would like to propose an alternate arrangement. I will meet you at a time of my choosing and a place of your choosing. I understand that you will need a witness in order to put through the paperwork so I will bring a witness of my own. We can each also bring an emergency portkey for security. I would be free on tomorrow afternoon around 2 PM. Please get back to be if this time is unacceptable or to let me know the place you choose.

Sincerely,

Tom Riddle

After sending the owl he went to talk to Harry. He didn't want him to worry when Tom wasn't home for a while tomorrow.

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Amelia Bones was sitting in her new office as minister dealing with the storm caused by Dumbledore's confession and arrest. His trial was set for next week and was going to be a media nightmare. She heard a tapping at her window and saw an owl that was clearly not one of the ministry's. She opened the window and cast spells at the letter to be sure that it wasn't carrying a curse or poison. When it tested clean she opened it. After reading it she wasn't sure whether to be amused at his paranoia or disgusted that it was neccesary. She penned back a letter immediately.

Mr. Riddle,

I find your arrangement acceptable, and will meet you at 2PM tomorrow at the warehouse across from the Lucky Duck in muggle London. I feel that a non-wizarding area would be best for this meeting so that you are not spotted and attacked by any concerned citizens. I hope that we can get this mess cleared up and get you free.

Amelia Bones

Minister of Magic

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The next day arrived both too slow and too fast for Tom. He was nervous but excited. He was able to set his portkey to go off even if he was incapacitated or injured so that wouldn't be a problem. He arrived at the specified warehouse ten minutes early with Severus and waited. When Amelia Bones arrived they greeted each other pleasantly and she conjured some chairs for the foursome to sit in. Her scribe sat down to write out the conversation.

Amelia administered the veritaserum and began the questioning.

What is your name?

Tom Marvolo Riddle

How old are you?

41

Are you Lord Voldemort?

No

Have you commited any of the crimes attributed Lord Voldemort?

Yes, one

Which one?

The kidnapping of Harry Potter from Hogwarts

What were the circumstances of the kidnapping?

With Harry's permission Severus Snape gave him a portkey to my home in case he was in danger from the headmaster. He took the portkey to escape the killing curse and has been with me protected since.

Is that the only crime you have commited?

I have also done some minor shoplifting in my youth.

Anything else?

No

At that point the veritaserum wore off and Madame Bones handed him his copy of his official pardon from the ministry. "I will be filing that as soon as we return. With your permission I would like to release the transcript of the questioning to the daily prophet in order to help clear your name with the public. I can release it along with Dumbledore's questioning to help quell doubts. I doubt that everyone will believe it, but most will at least once they see you out and around peacefully. I would stay hidden for a few more days at least to let the papers spread the word."

Tom looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Thank you so much madame minister. You can't know how much this means to me. You're free to publish anything that will help and just let me know through Severus if I'm asked to make a public statement before I officially come out of hiding." He shook her hand excitedly.

She couldn't help but be happy with him. His joy was so big it was contagious. After a rather long and tear filled goodbye Tom headed back to his manor and the minister headed back to the ministry.

When Tom arrived back at the manor Harry was waiting anxiously for him. Tom ran to Harry and picked him up and swung him around crying "I'm free! I'm finally free!" His laughter was contagious and before long Tom, Harry and Severus were all collapsed on the floor laughing. "In a few days Harry I'm taking you shopping. The minister said before she left that she would see to it that I'm compensated for all the years I was in hiding. It won't be much per year since I never was able to get a job after school before all this happened, but twenty years worth adds up. We're gonna get you done up right. Then we will see your parents will and who they left you with when they died. Maybe you'll even be able to stay with me." Tom was babbling by this point and Harry got the giggles even more.

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EPILOGUE:

The next day the headlines read ALBUS DUMBELDORE IS LORD VOLDEMORT!! TOM RIDDLE FRAMED!!

TOM RIDDLE FORCED INTO HIDING FOR 20 YEARS BY LIES!!

It seemed that the entire paper was filled with stories of the scandal. Everything from Dumbledore's past was outlined along with his veritaserum confession. Tom's questioning by veritaserum followed. There were editorials raging about the injustices of what happened to Tom, articles about his childhood, his life at Hogwarts, his grades, and so on. The only thing they didn't know just yet was where he had been hiding and who was helping to protect him. Tom waited another two days to go out and gave a few statements to reporters along the lines of "I'm glad the truth is out now." and "No, I don't hold a grudge against the wizarding world. Only against Dumbledore and his people." and "Yes I've missed being able to be out in public" It took all day to shop with all the people and reporters fawning over him, but being in near seclusion for so long he loved every minute of it.

Harry decided to go back to school now that the major threats were gone and was welcomed back as a hero by his classmates. The rest of the school was still wary of the Slytherins but not everything can change overnight. Over the next few years though relations improved between the houses though the friendly rivalry was still there.

Tom was offered the post of Transfiguration professor to replace McGonagal since he had the highest transfiguration scores on his NEWTs in over a century. When Severus Snape retired as headmaster fifty years later Tom took over and kept the post for another 100 years until he died at the ripe old age of 192. He became the most popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had.

Harry recovered well from his abuse and was adopted by Tom the summer after he finished his first year. When he completed Hogwarts he went into politics determined to prevent the kind of injustice that plagued the world in his childhood.

Severus Snape retired fairly young from the headmaster post in order to open his own apothecary. He much preferred making potions to the administrative work as headmaster. He created many potions that changed the world, such as the mind recovery potion used for victims driven mad by the cruciatus, the cure for lycanthropy, and many others.

Albus Dumbledore only lived for 10 years in Azkaban before the dementors weakened him to the point he died. All of his followers died well before that.

A/N: Well that's the story. I know it was kinda short. This was my first fanfiction story and I'm still getting the hang of it. The next big story I do will hopefully be much longer, though I may throw a few one-shots out there in the meantime. Thanks for reading and don't forget to hit the review button and tell me what you thought.