Series of AIA 94 Å images of the active region NOAA 12297 showing the evolution of the M2.7 flare as well as the extended period following it. Co-temporal LOS magnetogram contours are overplotted in panel l. Contour levels are ±200 G. Red and yellow contours refer to positive and negative magnetic flux, respectively. PIXON re-constructed co-temporal RHESSI 3−6 keV (yellow), 6−12 keV (red), 12−25 keV (blue) contours are overplotted in panels b–d, f, h, j, and k. Contour levels are [50, 70, 90]% of the corresponding peak flux. The sky-coloured arrows in panel a indicate a fan-spine-like configuration while the red dashed oval outlines the coronal loops associated with the QSL structure. The yellow star indicates the common location (LCO) where both the spine-like coronal lines and the QSL-associated coronal loops terminated on the photosphere. The red arrows in panels e, f, and h indicate an expanding loop system. The yellow arrows in the inset of panel f indicate parallel flare ribbons. The sky-coloured arrows in panel l indicate a few large coronal loops connecting the leading part of the active region to the trailing part. The boxes in panels f and i also indicate the FOV of Fig. 7.