Fleur Delacour was brilliant. She was smart, skilled, and determined to outshine all those who doubted her. She was also lonely and... frustrated. She was a vision of independence, always strong and proud, but though she could, and did, stand tall on her own, it grew tiring after awhile. She wanted... no, she needed to let go. To let herself be weak, to let herself rely on someone else for a change, to not need to be strong. But as a Veela, it was dangerous to let anyone participate in the kinds of things she wanted to do. She was an object of desire, that was how the world saw her. Something to be taken and possessed. It meant she couldn't afford to let anyone in except her family and childhood friends, and they needed her to be strong. She was just so tired. With every passing day it felt like she was burning out, like the Veela flames within were consuming her faster than she could renew, and soon there would be nothing left but a husk of who she used to be.
She'd tried before, to find someone she could relax with, someone she could let go with, someone she could be weak with, but it always ended in failure. As time passed she became more and more desperate culminating in the worst mistake of her life wherein she found someone willing to let her be herself, but who she knew wasn't right, wasn't safe. She'd seen the red flags and, in her desperation, ignored them. It was a disaster, and in the aftermath she gave up. She spent the day after it happened smiling bright and strong and reassuring her family that everything was fine, and she spent the night muffins her face in a stuffed toy and crying. She realized she'd never get what she needed. She'd have to stand tall and strong every day for the rest of her life, even as the crashing waves and burning flames tore what was left of her to pieces.
And then she met Harry.
Basically, Fleur spends her whole life forced into a constant state of strength and readiness leading to profound burnout and mild depression, but she doesn't want to be that way. She wants to relax and let go, and let someone else be strong for her, but she hasn't been able to find anyone who she feels safe to be with. Desperation drove her to compromise with someone who really wasn't safe, and it went horribly leading her to essentially give up. Then she meets Harry and she discovers that his kindness, compassion, and integrity are exactly the kind of thing she needs to feel safe and let herself let go.
TLDR: Emotional story about frustrated sub!Fleur letting in compassionate gentle!dom!Harry.