A confined flare above filaments

We present the dynamics of two filaments and a C-class flare observed in NOAA 11589 on 2012 October 16. We used the multi-wavelength high-resolution data from SDO, as well as THEMIS and ARIES ground-based observations. The observations show that the filaments are progressively converging towards each other without merging. We find that the filaments have opposite chirality which may have prevented them from merging. On October 16, a C3.3 class flare occurred without the eruption of the filaments. According to the standard solar flare model, after the reconnection, post-flare loops form below the erupting filaments whether the eruption fails or not. However, the observations show the formation of post-flare loops above the filaments, which is not consistent with the standard flare model. We analyze the topology of the active region's magnetic field by computing the quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) using a linear force-free field extrapolation. We find a good agreement between the photospheric footprints of the QSLs and the flare ribbons. We discuss how slipping or slip-running reconnection at the QSLs may explain the observed dynamics.